Judy by the Numbers: "Just Imagine"
Wednesday, October 19, 2016 at 9:30AM 
Anne Marie has been chronicling Judy Garland's career chronologically through musical numbers...
By episode 6, The Judy Garland Show was in trouble and it hadn’t even aired yet. CBS, still spooked by the Bonanza’s killer ratings, wanted The Judy Garland Show to be more, well, everything: More Hollywood glamour, more slapstick, more music, more ratings. With that in mind, after Tony Bennett fizzled and a planned episode with Nat King Cole fell through, the network fired most of the writers and producers by Episode 6. TV wunderkind Norman Jewison – who’d directed the original special – was brought on to save the show before it even got a chance to fail. Jewison’s first directives: More guests, more duets, and let’s knock Judy off that Hollywood high horse...
The Show: The Judy Garland Show Episode 6
The Songwriters: Lew Brown, Buddy DeSylva, Ray Henderson
The Cast: Judy Garland, Steve Lawrence, June Allyson, directed by Bill Hobin
The Story: As readers of last week’s post have pointed out, the variety show as a format was flagging even before Judy and CBS started taping. Nonetheless, though the production team was let go, Jewison forged ahead with the variety format, choosing to add more segments where Judy interacted with her guests, and shaking up the content – if not the structure – of the show.
June Allyson’s episode was the first to be shot under Jewison. Though during their studio system days MGM had used Allyson as Garland’s replacement, the two actresses were good friends, and that pleasant dynamic shines through as they talk and sing together. This duet sung laughingly together highlights their similarities as much as their differences. Though Allyson is not Garland’s vocal equal, both are broadly comic, sunniest while singing, and adept at performing to each other and the crowd. Ultimately, this number – and the entire newly-staffed episode – shows that at The Judy Garland Show, the more things changed, the more they stayed the same.
Reader Comments (3)
It's such a June Allyson dress.
And they call it Metro, not MGM
While this set-up on the show didn't always work it does in this instance. They really are having a great time trading memories, though if you weren't familiar with their natural personalities you might assume they'd each had a drink or two! Whoever gave June that helmet head hairdo should be ashamed of themselves!
June related that story of their first actual meeting at the bus stop in her auto-biography. She was standing at that bus stop but said she was headed in to the studio waiting for her third bus when she heard "Hey! Get in!" "Come on, damn it. The light's changing!" Judy had seen her on the set of Girl Crazy watching Rooney and she rehearse and June said from that moment on Judy took her under her wing and offered much advice including not letting the studio send her out to entertain at birthday parties because they were treated like hired hands making them eat in the kitchen and so forth. They did become very close friends and remained so until Judy's passing.
I don't know that the variety show was on the way out at this point. Danny Kaye had started the same year as Judy, and his show lasted several years. Course, he was lucky enough not to have been scheduled opposite "Bonana."' And Red Skelton was doing well. And Carol Burnett (sp?) had not even come along yet.