The Pearl Bailey Show is an American variety show that aired on ABC Saturdays 8:30–9:30 P.M. from January 1971 to May 1971. A Cooper-Finkel Company production in association with the Pearl Bailey Production Corporation, the show starred veteran entertainer Pearl Bailey.
Overview Pearl Bailey had a decades long successful career as a singer and stage and film actress by the time she was given her her own variety show in 1971. Bailey's husband, drummer Louis Bellson, was the conductor of the Orchestra for the show. The Robert Sidney Dancers and the Allan Davies Singers were regulars, performing a variety of musical entertainment.
The Pearl Bailey Show featured an array of guest performances by prominent entertainers, including Lucille Ball, Bing Crosby, Louis Armstrong, B.B. King, The Supremes, Tony Bennett, Ike & Tina Turner, and Liberace. "She got everybody she wanted. Nobody would turn her down," recalled the show's producer Bob Finkel. Despite the array of guests, the show was cancelled in less than four months, Finkel suggests due to Bailey "harassing" the executives at ABC with "suggestions and complaints."
Episodes
+Episode No.AirdateGuests1January 23, 1971Louis Armstrong Bing Crosby
Andy Williams2January 30, 1971Lucille Ball George Kirby
Sergio Mendes & Brasil '663February 6, 1971Liza Minnelli Steve Lawrence
Cab Calloway4February 13, 1971Ethel Waters Robert Goulet
Hines, Hines and Dad5February 20, 1971 (reaired on May 8, 1971)Phil Harris Kate Smith
George Kirby6February 27, 1971Perry Como B.B. King
Little Steps7March 6, 1971Jimmy Durante Tony Bennett
The Supremes8March 13, 1971Wayne Newton Joan Rivers
Moms Mabley9March 20, 1971Debbie Reynolds Erroll Garner
Perle Mesta
Sarah Vaughan10March 27, 1971Douglas Fairbanks Jr. The Ike & Tina Turner Revue
David Merrick
George Kirby11April 3, 1971Danny Thomas Lola Falana
Carmen McRae
Orie Sasaki12April 10, 1971Peggy Lee Moms Mabley
Erroll Garner
The Pastor Brothers
Ray Brown13April 17, 1971Gregory Peck Mike Douglas
Carol Lawrence
Phyllis Diller14April 24, 1971Ella Fitzgerald Donna McKechnie15May 1, 1971Liberace Leontyne Price—May 8, 1971Rerun of episode #5
References
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