Circus of the Stars

Circus of the Stars is an annual television special, broadcast by the CBS network in the United States, in which celebrities performed circus-type acts. It was filmed at the main Universal Pictures studio lot. With 19 shows in total, the first was broadcast in 1977 and the last was in 1994. Over the years the series featured many leading movie and television stars.
Towards the end of its life, the program title was changed slightly. In 1992, it was Circus of the Stars and Sideshow, in 1993 it became Circus of the Stars Gives Kids the World, and in 1994, it was Circus of the Stars Goes to Disneyland. The concept has also been performed in other countries, notably Stars in der Manege in Germany.

Other versions and variations

The concept of celebrities turning their hand to circus acts has proved attractive to program makers around the world. The German show Stars in der Manege began in 1959 and continued annually as a charity fundraising special until 2008. It was made each winter in the Circus Krone Building in Munich, and broadcast on or around Boxing Day.
Production company Endemol has developed a reality television format called Celebrity Circus, which takes stars from fields such as entertainment and sport, and shows them being trained in circus acts over a period of weeks. A version aired in Australia in 2005, and a Portuguese version in 2006. A British version was mooted and announcements were made that NBC had picked up the format for the American market in 2008. Variety reported that ABC might be looking to relaunch Circus of the Stars, while CBS and Fox were purportedly interested in circus concepts, as well.

List of celebrities who appeared on ''Circus of the Stars''

The following list illustrates the range and status of celebrities who appeared on Circus of the Stars over the course of its original run. The list is compiled mainly from entries at the Internet Movie Database verified in many cases through material from official biographies and fan sites.

†Mark-Paul Gosselaar was cast and did weeks of rehearsals but got injured before the show could be filmed.
Linda Evans was to appear in show 6 in 1981, but was injured by a 200 lb. female leopard during rehearsal. Evans was knocked down by the leopard and bitten below the breast. After the incident, Evans opted not to appear on the show. This was the second incident in the history of the show regarding a big cat. During taping of show 1, Gary Collins was knocked down by a tiger, but was not injured.

Original transmission details

Circus of the Stars: January 10, 1977Circus of the Stars #2: December 5, 1977Circus of the Stars #3: December 8, 1978Circus of the Stars #4: December 16, 1979Circus of the Stars #5: December 14, 1980Circus of the Stars #6: December 13, 1981Circus of the Stars #7: December 5, 1982Circus of the Stars #8: December 18, 1983Circus of the Stars #9: December 2, 1984Circus of the Stars #10: December 8, 1985Circus of the Stars #11: December 9, 1986Circus of the Stars #12: December 15, 1987Circus of the Stars #13: November 25, 1988Circus of the Stars #14: November 22, 1989Circus of the Stars #15: November 21, 1990Circus of the Stars #16: November 29, 1991Circus of the Stars and Sideshow: November 27, 1992Circus of the Stars Gives Kids the World: November 26, 1993Circus of the Stars Goes to Disneyland: December 16, 1994