In the early days of television, it was common for some shows, including newscasts, to air for just 15 minutes, a practice that Cartoon Network revived several years back with Space Ghost Coast-to-Coast, the forerunner of their [adult swim] division.
In 1956, Revue Studios took a chance with a 15 minute show featuring the Ames Brothers, sponsored by Royal Crown Cola, at the time positing themselves as a legitimate competitor to Pepsi & Coca-Cola. Mostly musical numbers with a short dramatization of their career trajectory, this is the sort of music your parents and grandparents listened to in the 40's & 50's.
Ed Ames, the youngest of the four brothers, is the only one still around. Better known, of course, for his four year run on Daniel Boone (1964-8), Ed is still performing at 89. There is an audio clip on YouTube of Ed performing a full-length version of the Daniel Boone theme, and one of him and co-stars Fess Parker and Darby Hinton reuniting to do the shorter, more familiar version. I'll have those up soon.
Rating: A.
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