The Donald O'Connor Show

In 1954, fresh from successful runs hosting 'The Colgate Comedy Hour', Jimmy Durante and Donald O'Connor moved over to Saturday nights to alternate on 'Texaco Star Theater', a program that in previous seasons had been headlined by Milton Berle. In their new show, both stars carried over elements from the Comedy Hour. For O'Connor, it was the segments with Sid Miller, in which the two played a struggling songwriting team that, in the course of the show, ended up singing, dancing, and doing comedy. Joyce Smight was seen as their secretary Doreen. Like 'The Colgate Comedy Hour', 'Texaco Star Theater' was pre-empted every fourth week by a special (called a "spectacular" in those days). O'Connor's episodes were mostly, if not all, filmed, while Durante's were a combination of live and on film. The two stars alternated throughout the 1954-55 season, but in the fall of 1955, O'Connor left, and Durante took over the time slot, lasting one more season.