Week of June 17: Banner Achievements

By Sylvia Gurinsky

Producer Bob Banner's specialty was variety.

Indeed, Banner, who died this week, left plenty - not just in entertainment shows, but also in television films, during a career that lasted almost 45 years.

After producing and directing "The Dinah Shore Chevy Show" during the late 1950s, he then worked for the "Garry Moore Show," where he came into contact with a young talent named Carol Burnett; among the specials he produced for Burnett was 1964's "Once Upon a Mattress." Here's the definitely not bashful Burnett singing "Shy":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouL9ZMzEZ4k

Banner would later go on to produce the first three seasons of "The Carol Burnett Show."

Banner worked on variety shows with singers Perry Como and Andy Williams and the occasional television movie, such as "Lisa, Bright and Dark," a Hallmark Hall of Fame presentation that aired on NBC in 1973 and is considered a landmark in the portrayal of mental illness.

For three seasons, he was the executive producer of "Star Search," a syndicated show hosted by Ed McMahon that introduced quite a few of today's top musical and comedy performers. Here's a 1984 opening including an image of Brad Garrett, years before "Everybody Loves Raymond":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jMdxd4NS-Y

Alas, neither the 1964 version of "Once Upon a Mattress," nor "Lisa, Bright and Dark" are yet available on DVD. Someday, perhaps, it will be possible to celebrate those banner achievements of Bob Banner.

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See you next week. Until then, Happy Viewing!