Editing Abbott and Costello (section)

==Television==
[[File:Abbott and costello this is your life.jpg|thumb|Abbott and Costello on NBC's ''[[This Is Your Life (American franchise)|This Is Your Life]]'' November 21, 1956]]

In January 1951, Abbott and Costello joined the roster of rotating hosts of ''[[The Colgate Comedy Hour]]'' on NBC. ([[Eddie Cantor]] and [[Martin and Lewis]] were among the others.) Each show was a live hour of [[vaudeville]] in front of an audience, revitalizing the comedians' performances and giving their old routines a new sparkle.

From the fall of 1952 to the spring of 1954, a filmed half-hour series, ''[[The Abbott and Costello Show]]'', appeared in syndication on over 40 local stations across the United States. Loosely based on their radio series, the show cast the duo as unemployed wastrels. One of the show's [[running gag]]s involved Abbott perpetually hounding Costello to get a job, while Abbott was happily unemployed. The show featured [[Sidney Fields]] as their landlord and [[Hillary Brooke]] as a neighbor and sometime love interest for Costello. Other regulars were future Stooge [[Joe Besser]] as Stinky, a whiny child in a [[Little Lord Fauntleroy]] suit; [[Gordon Jones (actor)|Gordon Jones]] as Mike the cop, who always lost patience with Costello; Joe Kirk, an Italian immigrant caricature whose role varied with the requirements of the script; and [[Bobby Barber]], who played many "extra" parts.

The simple plot lines were often an excuse to recreate comedy routines from their films and burlesque days, including "Who's on First?" Since Costello owned the series (with Abbott working on salary), this allowed them to own these versions of the classic routines as well.  The 2nd season was more story-driven. There was no continuity. Although ''The Abbott and Costello Show'' originally ran for only two seasons, it found a larger viewership in reruns from the 1960s to the 1990s. The shows have also been released in three different DVD sets over the years.