The Julie Andrews Hour

The Julie Andrews Houris a television variety series starringJulie Andrewsthat was produced byATVand distributed byITC Entertainment.It aired on theABCtelevision network in the United States. It was known asThe Julie Andrews Showin the United Kingdom, and aired there on theITVnetwork.

The Julie Andrews Hour
Genre	Variety show
Written by	Frank PeppiattandJohn Aylesworth George Arthur Bloom Bob Ellison Lila Garrett Hal Goodman Larry Klein
Presented by	Dick Tufeld(announcer)
Starring	Julie Andrews Supporting cast: Rich Little Alice Ghostley Garrett Lewis The Dick Williams Singers Choreographer:Tony Charmoli
Theme music composer	Richard RodgersandOscar Hammerstein II
Opening theme	"The Sound of Music"
Ending theme	"Time Is My Friend"
Composers	Julie Andrews andLeslie Bricusse
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
No.of seasons	1
No.of episodes	24
Production
Executive producers	Nick Vanoff William O. Harbach
Production companies	ATV ITC Entertainment
Original release
Network	ITV(UK) ABC(USA)
Release	1972(1972)– 1973(1973)

Production history

In order to secure Andrews,Sir Lew Gradeand ABC offered her a generous five-year contract which included not only Andrews starring in a weekly television variety show, but also allowing her to do films. In 1963, when another major star,Judy Garland,was signed to a weekly television variety series, it failed to catch on with the public. One of the main reasons for its demise was its constant change of format and the fact that critics and audiences felt that Garland was not shown off to her best advantage. In order to avoid that error, Andrews asked producerNick Vanoffwhat the premise of the show would be about. Vanoff immediately answered her by saying "Julie Andrews... without Julie Andrews there is noJulie Andrews Hour."

The premiere instalment of the show was presented on Wednesday, 13 September 1972 at 10p.m. ET. As a way of introducing Julie Andrews to the vast television audience, the entire hour of the first episode showcased the singer performing in musical numbers ranging from her years on Broadway (The Boy Friend,My Fair Lady,andCamelot) to her motion picture career (Mary Poppins,The Sound of Music,andStar!). Appearing with Andrews on this episode were impressionistRich Littleand comedienneAlice Ghostley(who had appeared with Andrews in the 1957CBSlive television version ofRodgers&Hammerstein'sCinderella). Both Little and Ghostley would become semi-regulars.

The series received positive reviews. Unfortunately, its American time slot proved to be daunting because it was up against the popularCBSdetective series,Cannon.The late later time slot of 10p.m. was also a factor, too late for children and families. On Thanksgiving Eve, 22 November 1972,The Julie Andrews Hourdevoted an entire episode salutingWalt Disney.To make it more of a "family special", ABC switched the time slot ofThe Julie Andrews Hourthat night to 8:30p.m. andThe ABC Wednesday Movie Of The Weekto 9:30p.m. The ratings improved a little, so ABC then made a decision to alternate Andrews' time period each week. (One week it would be 10:00p.m., and the next week it would be 8:30p.m.) This continued until January 1973, when the series was moved to Saturday nights at 9:00p.m. The ratings went from bad to worse, as Andrews' chief competition wasThe Mary Tyler Moore ShowandThe Bob Newhart Show(both highly rated series) on CBS. (Ironically, Moore had been Andrews' co-star in the 1967 hit film,Thoroughly Modern Millie.)

Andrews was nominated for aGolden Globe Award(for Best Actress In A Leading Role — Musical Or Comedy Series for the show);she lost out toJean StapletoninAll in the Family.When the 1972-1973Emmy Awardnominations were announced,The Julie Andrews Hourreceived an impressive ten nominations.

Despite this achievement and positive reviews, ABC announced it was cancelling the series after its 24th episode in April 1973. After Andrews completed the last installment of the program, she and her husbandBlake Edwardsleft for Barbados to filmThe Tamarind Seedwhich was part of her contract agreement with ABC and ITC. In May, 1973,The Julie Andrews Hourwent on to win seven Emmy Awards out of its ten nominations, including the Outstanding Variety Musical Series award given to the show's producers, Nick Vanoff and William O. Harbach, and the star.

In recognition of all the awards the show received, ABC and ITV offered Andrews five variety specials which were produced in England between 1973 and 1975, also under the auspices of Lew Grade. This was also arranged to help fulfill Andrews's five-year contract. After her fifth special aired in the spring of 1975, the contract was mutually dissolved. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, several edited episodes ofThe Julie Andrews Hourwere shown on syndicated stations throughout the United States as "specials".

Musical themes

The show opened with an excerpt of the title song fromThe Sound of MusicbyRodgers and Hammerstein.Andrews performed "Time Is My Friend" to close each episode. The music was written by Andrews with lyrics by her close friendLeslie Bricusse.

External links

• The Julie Andrews HouratIMDb