The Hank McCune Show
Encyclopedia
The Hank McCune Show was an American
television
situation comedy
. Filmed without a studio audience, it was notable for being the first program to incorporate a laugh track
.
The series began as a local Los Angeles
program in 1949. NBC
placed it on its national primetime schedule at the start of the 1950-51 season. It debuted at 7:00pm Eastern Time on September 9 and was cancelled three months later.
The premise foreshadowed that of The Larry Sanders Show
in that it contained a show within a show. McCune portrayed a television variety show host named after himself, and each week the character managed to blunder his way into a variety of comic predicaments.
The supporting cast included Larry Keating
, Charles Maxwell
, Frank Nelson, and Florence Bates
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
situation comedy
Situation comedy
A situation comedy, often shortened to sitcom, is a genre of comedy that features characters sharing the same common environment, such as a home or workplace, accompanied with jokes as part of the dialogue...
. Filmed without a studio audience, it was notable for being the first program to incorporate a laugh track
Laugh track
A laugh track is a separate soundtrack invented by Charles "Charley" Douglass, with the artificial sound of audience laughter, made to be inserted into television programming of comedy shows and sitcoms.The term "laugh track" does not apply to the genuine audience laughter on shows that shoot in...
.
The series began as a local Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
program in 1949. NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
placed it on its national primetime schedule at the start of the 1950-51 season. It debuted at 7:00pm Eastern Time on September 9 and was cancelled three months later.
The premise foreshadowed that of The Larry Sanders Show
The Larry Sanders Show
The Larry Sanders Show is a satirical television sitcom that aired from August 1992 to May 1998 on the HBO cable television network in the United States. It starred stand-up comedian Garry Shandling as vain, neurotic talk show host Larry Sanders, and centered on the running of his TV show, and the...
in that it contained a show within a show. McCune portrayed a television variety show host named after himself, and each week the character managed to blunder his way into a variety of comic predicaments.
The supporting cast included Larry Keating
Larry Keating
Larry Keating was an American actor born in St. Paul, Minnesota. He is known for his role of next-door neighbor Roger Addison on the television series Mister Ed, which he played from 1961 until his death in 1963...
, Charles Maxwell
Charles Maxwell
Charles Carlton Maxwell was an American character actor who worked primarily in television.Maxwell frequently appeared as a guest star in Western shows such as Bonanza, Gunsmoke, Rawhide, and The Rifleman, among others. He appeared on Bonanza eight different times as eight different characters...
, Frank Nelson, and Florence Bates
Florence Bates
Florence Bates was an American character actress who often played grande dame characters in her films.Born Florence Rabe in San Antonio, Texas, the second child of Jewish immigrants, Bates showed musical talent as a child, but a hand injury inhibited her from continuing her piano studies...
.