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Mon, 07.26.1948

The Bob Howard TV Show Debuts

On this date in 1948, Bob Howard became one of the first Black male hosts on television.  The New York CBS affiliate hired the Black entertainer to star in The Bob Howard Show.

A 15-minute program that ran every weeknight, The Bob Howard Show was primarily a one-man operation in which Howard sang and played the piano. Even then, his material was a familiar mix of the old and the (relatively) new. On his first program, he performed the tune that Black actor Dooley Wilson made famous in the movie Casablanca, "As Time Goes By," and the old minstrel favorite, "Dark Town Strutters' Ball." Aware of the demands of the then-new medium, Howard knew how to play to the camera.

When he sang a song like "Them There Eyes," he widened his eyes exuberantly and smiled broadly.  Between songs, he chatted and often promoted upcoming CBS shows. For later generations, Howard's act would hardly look offbeat or unusual. He was one more black song-and-dance man selling his talents.  Yet, The Bob Howard Show helped transform the white-American living rooms and American culture. Americans sat in their homes and saw a black man hosting the proceedings, being in charge, and running the show.

No one at CBS seemed particularly concerned about any adverse reactions, quite a contrast from what would happen only a few years later when another Black man, Nat "King" Cole, hosted his own show.  white television in 1948 seemed to be just learning about itself as a medium.  After 13 months, The Bob Howard Show went off the air.

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