The Nat King Cole Show (1957) | 2 Episodes | Colored on TV

THE NAT “KING“ COLE SHOW (Musical Variety) FIRST TELECAST: November 5, 1956 LAST TELECAST: Decemberi7, 1957 BROADCAST HISTORY: Nov 1956-Jun 1957 , NBC Mon 7:30-7:45 Jul 1957-Sep 1957 , NBC Tue 10:00-10:30 Sep 1957-Dec 1957 , NBC Tue 7:30-8:00 REGULARS: Nat “King“ Cole The Boataneers (1956) The Herman McCoy Singers The Randy Van Home Singers (1957) The Jerry Graff Singers (1957) The Cheerleaders (1957) Nelson Riddle and His Orchestra Nat “King“ Cole was a man ahead of his time, and that fact cost him his network series. When his 15-minute show premiered in 1956, he became the first major black performer to headline a network variety series. There had been previous attempts at black series, but they were either short-lived fill-ins with lesser-known talent such as Sugar Hill Times in 1949 and Hazel Scott in 1950, or rather degrading parodies such as Beulah or Amos ’n’ Andy. Nat’s short Monday evening show, which filled the remainder of the half ho