Judy Garland’s TV breakthrough changed her career and television variety shows. This first in a multi-episode series of Advanced TV Herstory is a glimpse into Judy Garland’s short-lived yet legendary CBS variety show, The Judy Garland Show.  

Emmy-nominated performer and Garland scholar Angela Ingersoll and I talk TV, feminism, and the entertainment industry.  The series ran 26 episodes in 1963-1964 and boasted a historic budget for such a show. Executives expected it top long-running fan favorite, Bonanza, in the ratings. Angela recounts Garland’s groundbreaking TV debut and why she initially resisted television. We also discuss how her concert career rebuilt her confidence. CBS wanted that bottled up and served on Sunday nights. 

Only Judy Garland could invite and perform dazzling numbers alongside stars like Barbra Streisand and Mickey Rooney. Garland’s career was resurrected, but the network created behind-the-scenes production challenges, as Angela explains. Other episodes in the podcast series unpack the sexism and mismanagement that overshadowed Garland’s brilliance. After the series ended, Garland toured the world singing many hits that aired during the series’ run.

I recommend that listeners interested in The Judy Garland Show read Coyne Steven Sanders’ 1990 Rainbow’s End: The Judy Garland Show. It contains interviews with people involved with the series and is a fascinating look inside 1960s television. These first-hand accounts include Garland’s performance of Battle Hymn of the Republic, which aired after the Kennedy assassination.