Off the Record (TV series)

American TV series or program

Off the Record is a comedy television series that aired on the DuMont Television Network in October 1948.^[1][2][3]

Broadcast history

The show, slated to air Tuesdays at 7pm ET, and starring Zero Mostel and Joey Faye, only lasted two episodes, October 19 and October 26, 1948.^[4] Mostel claimed he had been promised a live audience, but the available studio was too small to hold an audience.^[3] The setting was a radio station, a set at the Wanamaker Studios.

The 1948 show is not to be confused with a 15-minute show in 1951–52, also called Off the Record, aired from DuMont station WTTG in Washington, DC. This latter show, hosted by Art Lamb and Aletha Agee, featured singers lip-synching to current pop songs, and is on YouTube.^[5]

Preservation status

As with most DuMont series, no episodes are known to exist.

See also

• List of programs broadcast by the DuMont Television Network
• List of surviving DuMont Television Network broadcasts
• 1948-49 United States network television schedule

References

1. "Zero Televised", Life magazine feature (November 22, 1948)
2. Arthur Sainer, Zero Dances: A Biography of Zero Mostel p. 124
3. Bob Leszczak, Single Season Sitcoms 1948-1979: A Complete Guide, p. 144
4. DuMont historical website
5. 1951–52 episode on YouTube

Bibliography

• David Weinstein, The Forgotten Network: DuMont and the Birth of American Television (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2004) ISBN 1-59213-245-6
• Alex McNeil, Total Television, Fourth edition (New York: Penguin Books, 1980) ISBN 0-14-024916-8
• Tim Brooks and Earle Marsh, The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network TV Shows, Third edition (New York: Ballantine Books, 1964) ISBN 0-345-31864-1

External links

• DuMont historical website
• screengrab of Zero Mostel and Joey Faye on Off the Record (1948)