Once Upon a Tune


Once Upon a Tune is a weekly half-hour American musical anthology television series that aired on the DuMont Television Network, premiering on March 6, 1951, and running to May 15, 1951.

Overview

Once Upon a Tune began as a local program in New York before it was shown on the network. The series presented original musical productions which were often satirical and tongue-in-cheek adaptations of either classic fairy tales or contemporary Broadway musicals. Bea Arthur made her TV debut on this series. Regulars on the series were Reginald Beane, Phil Hanna, Holly Harris, Ed Holmes, and Bernice Parks.

Episode status

The Paley Center for Media holds kinescope copies of three episodes - one spoofing "Three Little Pigs", one spoofing "Rapunzel", and the third on a 57-minute kinescope film reel.
According to Edie Adams, an actress who worked at DuMont for several years, much of the network's programming archive was destroyed in the 1970s.

Production

The producer was Bob Loewi, and the writer was Sid Frank. The program was broadcast on Tuesdays from 10 to 11 p.m. Eastern Time.