The Frank Sinatra Show (1957 TV series)

This was Sinatra's second attempt at a television series, The series was originally slated to consist of one-third variety episodes, one-third dramas starring Sinatra, and one-third dramas hosted by Sinatra. Nelson Riddle directed the orchestra for the variety episodes. The drama segments of the show fared less well against the variety episodes in ratings and the final total was fourteen live variety shows, eight filmed variety shows, four dramas starring Sinatra, and six dramas hosted by Sinatra. Rather than 36 episodes for the season, ABC cut its losses and reduced the total number to 32. Sinatra hated rehearsing, and tried to make eleven shows in fifteen days; the series subsequently received a critical mauling and was Sinatra's last attempt at a television series. Black and white copies of kinescopes of several shows have been released on VHS and DVD. ==Guest appearances==

• Johnny Crawford • Cheerio Meredith • Pat Suzuki • Natalie Wood ==Episodes==

• Bob Hope, Peggy Lee and Kim Novak - Oct. 18, 1957 • That Hogan Man - Oct. 25, 1957 • The Tri-Tones - Nov. 1, 1957 • Peggy Lee - Nov. 8, 1957 • The McGuire Sisters - Nov. 15, 1957 • ''Erin O'Brien - Nov. 22, 1957'' • Dean Martin - Nov. 29, 1957 • A Gun at His Back - Dec. 6, 1957 • Take Me Back to Hollywood - Dec. 13, 1957 • Happy Holidays with Bing and Frank - Dec. 20, 1957 A half-hour show filmed in 35mm color • The Feeling is Mutual - Dec. 27, 1957 • Dinah Shore - Jan. 3, 1958 • Robert Mitchum - Jan. 10, 1958 • Louis Prima and Keely Smith - Jan. 17, 1958 • Jo Stafford - Jan. 24, 1958 • Sammy Davis Jr. - Jan. 31, 1958 • Jeannie Carson - Feb. 7, 1958 • Shirley Jones - Feb. 14, 1958 • A Time to Cry - Feb. 21, 1958 • Van Johnson - Feb. 28, 1958 • Edie Adams - Mar. 7, 1958 • Eydie Gormé - Mar. 14, 1958 • The Man on the Stairs - Mar. 21, 1958 • Eddie Fisher - Mar. 28, 1958 • Spike Jones and Helen Grayco - Apr. 4, 1958 • The Brownstone Incident - Apr. 18, 1958 • Ethel Merman - Apr. 25, 1958 • Ella Fitzgerald - May 9, 1958 • The Green Grass of Saint Theresa - May 16, 1958 • Pat Suzuki and Natalie Wood - May 23, 1958 • Face of Fear - May 30, 1958 • The Seedling Doubt - Jun. 6, 1958 == Production ==

Paul Dudley produced and wrote for The Frank Sinatra Show; William Self was the director. The Bulova Watch Company was a co-sponsor. M Squad on CBS and Mr. Adams and Eve on NBC. Although the premiere's rating was a "whopping 29.1 Trendex, outranking combined network competition", about a month later the trade publication Television Digest reported, "Major salvage job being attempted by ABC-TV on its expensive, but low-rated Frank Sinatra Show". ==Critical response==

The trade publication Broadcasting began a review of the show's premiere episode with "For sheer disappointment, it is hard to beat the long-awaited premiere of the Frank Sinatra Show on ABC-TV. The hour was marked by banality, stilted comedy, and free plugs ..." The review praised Sinatra's singing and said, "He should have sung for the entire hour." ==References==