The Joke's On Me
Posted: Sun May 12, 2013 3:07 am
This 1961 episode of General Electric Theatre is, as far as I know, the only solo stint Bud Abbott did for the camera. Does it survive?
Chris Snowden wrote:Bud Abbott must have had the same lousy agent as Bela Lugosi. He was a natural to play fast-talking wise guys, detectives, Damon Runyon-type characters... you name it. He should have gotten all the work he wanted, and he was sure in need of some career security, once his relationship with Lou Costello deteriorated to the permafrost level just as television became popular. I don't know why he didn't move on to character parts.
There are dozens of episodes of General Electric Theater circulating in the grey market, and a few stray episodes can be found in cheapjack public-domain compilation DVDs. But the entire run seems to be sitting in the vaults. I've heard that Nancy Reagan was presented with a complete set in the last ten or twenty years, in recognition of husband Ronald's hosting services on the show.