Jukebox Jury

Overview

Jukebox Jury was an hour-long television series hosted by disc jockey Peter Potter which aired in the 1953-1954 season on the American Broadcasting Company, and was syndicated in 1959. The program actually began in 1948 in Los Angeles, California on the CBS Television station KNXT-TV, which has since changed call letters to KCBS. Five years later, Jukebox Jury went national for one season. The show has been compared to a radio program replete with commercial endorsements and movie previews. The jury on the program consisted of six usually young lesser-known film stars or minor recording artists who judged the latest releases from the record companies. Among the "jurors" were Barry Sullivan, Maureen O'Sullivan, and Jane Powell. Mike Connors, long before Tightrope and Mannix, appeared on an early KNXT episode under the name "Touch" Connors. Once the program was added to the network schedule, many who appeared as jurors to yell "Hit" or "Miss" at each song selection were already or later well-known entertainers, having included: Steve Allen, Walter Brennan, Lloyd Bridges, Ann B. Davis, Elinor Donahue, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Dean Martin, Steve McQueen, Jayne Meadows, Johnny Mercer, Sal Mineo, Leslie Nielsen, Debbie Reynolds, Mamie Van Doren, Robert Wagner, and Natalie Wood. Dick Clark used this listen-and-comment technique from persons in his audience on a reduced scale with his later long-running Philadelphia-based ABC series, American Bandstand.