Week of 4/27: Du Mont: The Original Fourth Network

By Sylvia Gurinsky

Television critics, viewers, etc. have marked the 25th anniversary of the Fox network. (Frankly, except for about a half-dozen shows and baseball, the less said about Fox, the better.)

It gives a good opportunity to go back and look at another network that once battled CBS, NBC and ABC: Du Mont, which bowed in 1946.

Du Mont was actually the second network that went on the air, behind NBC. The company was already well known for the electronic products - including television sets - it produced. The idea, according to a website about the network, was probably to sell more television sets.

The network managed to have some prominent shows, such as "Ted Mack's Amateur Hour," - Think "American Idol" without the nastiness - and "Calvacade of Stars," which gave birth to "The Honeymooners." Jackie Gleason originated Ralph Kramden, while Pert Kelton played Alice:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2JUV7zA1NQ


It also featured Bishop (later Archbishop) Fulton Sheen in "Life Is Worth Living," as well as the children's show "Captain Video and His Video Rangers." It featured the first live television, including the first live prime-time football, and the first prime-time soap opera.


Most importantly, Du Mont made early efforts to feature black and Asian actors and actresses in prominent roles at a time when the Big Three did not. Check out this anti-racism public service announcement from 1949, at a time when McCarthyite sentiments had already started bubbling up:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Bj5Rfs-6I0

But Du Mont was hindered by a number of issues. CBS, NBC and ABC all had strong radio show connections. The company had a battle with Paramount Pictures, which owned a piece of Du Mont. And various FCC rules limited Du Mont to lower-power UHF stations. Add to that the lack of money to create quality programming, and Du Mont went off the air in 1956.

The memories live on, as do about 300 kinescopes of Du Mont shows and the website:

http://www.dumonthistory.tv/index.html

See you next week. Until then, Happy Viewing!