Editing Milton Berle (section)

===Mr. Television===
Berle first appeared on television in 1929 in an experimental broadcast in [[Chicago]] which he hosted in front of 129 people.<ref name="MBC">{{cite web|url=http://www.museum.tv/eotv/miltonberle.htm|title=The Milton Berle Show|publisher=[[Museum of Broadcast Communications]]|access-date=April 17, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160814194644/http://www.museum.tv/eotv/miltonberle.htm|archive-date=August 14, 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> He would return to television 20 years later.<ref>[http://www.miamiherald.com/business/technology/story/1336054.html "Broadcast pioneer NBC prepares for cable takeover"] ''Miami Herald'', November 16, 2009</ref>

Berle would revive the structure and routines of his vaudeville act for his debut on commercial TV, hosting The ''[[Texaco Star Theater|Texaco Star Theatre]]'' on June 8, 1948, over the [[NBC]] Television Network.<ref name="Epstein2002"/><ref name="Madigan2001"/><ref>Sackett, Susan (1993) p.1954 quotation: {{blockquote|. When the program premiered on Tuesday, June 8, 1948, on [[NBC]] Television, the format was strictly vaudeville, with dancers, jugglers, acrobats, and guest stars in sketches--in short, a close approximation of the show that Berle was already doing for ABC on Wednesday nights.}}</ref> They did not settle on Berle as the permanent host right away; he was originally part of a rotation of hosts (Berle himself had only a four-week contract). [[Jack Carter (comedian)|Jack Carter]] was the host for August. Berle was named the permanent host that fall. Berle's highly visual style, characterized by vaudeville slapstick and outlandish costumes, proved ideal for the new medium.<ref name="Young2010p706">Young, William H. and Young, Nancy K. (2010) [https://books.google.com/books?id=YjbR9EXABPEC&pg=PA706 ''World War II and the Postwar Years in America: A Historical and Cultural Encyclopedia, Volume 1''], p.706 quotation: {{blockquote|Radio exists as an aural medium, and no matter how physically animated a performer may be or how clownish his or her costume ... Berle's comedic gift shone in slapstick, something he had mastered in his vaudeville experiences. Many radio stars found it difficult to make the transition to TV ... Not so Berle. Radio had confined the comedian, making him reliant on his wealth of jokes and little else. ... Berle clearly considered no costume too outlandish, no stunt too foolish.}}</ref> Berle modeled the show's structure and skits directly from his vaudeville shows and hired writer Hal Collins to revive his old routines.<ref name="Epstein2002">Epstein, Lawrence J. (2002) [https://books.google.com/books?id=iTarGWLM5CEC&pg=PT86 ''The Haunted Smile: The Story of Jewish Comedians in America''], ch.6 ''The Magic Box'', pp. 86–7, quotation: {{blockquote|Berle had hired the writer Hal Collins to revive old vaudeville, burlesque, and radio routines that Berle has used successfully. ... The shows were clearly vaudeville brought into the home. ... Berle was the ringmaster, the master of ceremonies who did his opening monologue and introduced each new act. Keeping to his own vaudeville tradition of entering into the acts of other performers, Berle often interrupted or joined in the act. When "Buffalo Bob" Smith came on, Berle appeared dressed as Howdy Doody.}}</ref><ref name="Madigan2001">Madigan, S.P. ''Texaco Star Theatre'' entry in Browne, Pat (2001) [https://books.google.com/books?id=U3rJxPYT32MC&pg=PA833 ''The guide to United States popular culture''], p.833, quotation:
{{blockquote|Texaco Star emulated a vaudeville variety hour, with several guests each week, including singers, comedians, ventriloquists, acrobats, dramatic performances, and so forth.}}</ref>

Berle dominated Tuesday night television for the next several years, reaching the number one slot in the [[Nielsen ratings]] with as much as a 97% share of the viewing audience.<ref>{{cite book |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/fifties00halb |chapter=Ch. Thirteen |title=[[The Fifties (book)|The Fifties]] |publisher=[[Villard (imprint)|Villard]] |author=David Halberstam |author-link=David Halberstam |year=1993 |isbn=9780679415596 }}</ref> Berle and the show each won [[Emmy Award]]s after the first season. Fewer movie tickets were sold on Tuesdays. Some theaters, restaurants, and other businesses shut down for the hour or closed for the evening so their customers would not miss Berle's antics.<ref name="tvmuseum"/> Berle's autobiography notes that in [[Detroit]], "an investigation took place when the water levels took a drastic drop in the reservoirs on Tuesday nights between 9 and 9:05. It turned out that everyone waited until the end of the ''Texaco Star Theatre'' before going to the bathroom."<ref name="Sackett1993p1954">Sackett, Susan (1993) [https://books.google.com/books?id=viLuAAAAMAAJ ''Prime-time hits: television's most popular network programs, 1950''] p.1954 quotation: {{blockquote|The city of Detroit was baffled when the reservoir water levels dropped each Tuesday evening shortly after 9:00 pm. An investigation revealed that Detroit's citizens were waiting until Berle was off the air to go to the bathroom; the simultaneous flushing of thousands of toilets created havoc with Detroit's water works.}}</ref><ref>Milton Berle, Haskel Frankel (1974)  [https://books.google.com/books?id=-0BaAAAAMAAJ ''Milton Berle: an autobiography, with Haskel Frankel''] p.271</ref>

Television sales more than doubled after ''Texaco Star Theatre''<nowiki/>'s debut, reaching two million in 1949. Berle's stature as the medium's first superstar earned him the sobriquet "Mr. Television".<ref name="tvmuseum"/> He also earned another nickname after ending a 1949 broadcast with a brief ad-libbed remark to children watching the show: "Listen to your Uncle Miltie and go to bed".<ref>{{cite book|title=Milton Berle: An Autobiography|url=https://archive.org/details/miltonberleautob00berl_0|url-access=registration|editor-last=Berle|editor-first=Milton|editor2-last=Frankel|editor2-first=Haskel|publisher=Delacorte Press|year=1974|pages=[https://archive.org/details/miltonberleautob00berl_0/page/337 337]|isbn=0-440-05609-8}}</ref> [[Francis Craig]] and [[Kermit Goell]]'s "[[Near You]]" became the theme song that closed Berle's TV shows.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.classicthemes.com/50sTVThemes/themePages/texacoStarTheater.html|title=Texaco Star Theater / The Milton Berle Show|work=classicthemes.com}}</ref>

Berle risked his newfound TV stardom at its zenith to challenge Texaco when the sponsor tried to prevent black performers from appearing on his show:

<blockquote>I remember clashing with the advertising agency and the sponsor over my signing [[the Four Step Brothers]] for an appearance on the show. The only thing I could figure out was that there was an objection to black performers on the show, but I couldn't even find out who was objecting. "We just don't like them," I was told, but who the hell was "we?" Because I was riding high in 1950, I sent out the word: "If they don't go on, I don't go on." At ten minutes of eight—minutes before showtime—I got permission for the Step Brothers to appear. If I broke the color-line policy or not, I don't know, but later on, I had no trouble booking [[Bill Robinson]] or [[Lena Horne]].<ref>Milton Berle, Haskel Frankel (1974)  [https://books.google.com/books?id=-0BaAAAAMAAJ ''Milton Berle: an autobiography, with Haskel Frankel''] p.285</ref></blockquote>

Berle's mother Sadie was often in the audience for his broadcasts; she had long served as a "plant" to encourage laughter from his stage show audiences.<ref name="childwonder"/> Her unique, "piercing, roof-shaking laugh"<ref name="childwonder"/><ref name=Ruth/> would stand out, especially when Berle made an entrance in an outrageous costume. After feigning surprise he would "ad-lib" a response; for example: "Lady, you've got all night to make a fool of yourself. I've only got an hour!"

Berle asked NBC to switch from live broadcasts to film, which would have made possible reruns (and residual income from them); he was angered when the network refused. However, NBC did consent to make a [[kinescope]] of each show. Later, Berle was offered 25% ownership of the [[TelePrompTer Corporation]] by its inventor, [[Irving Berlin Kahn]], if he would replace [[cue card]]s with the [[teleprompter|new device]] on his program. He turned down the offer.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=SWcxAAAAIBAJ&sjid=mwEEAAAAIBAJ&pg=7291,3455107&dq=milton+berle+son&hl=en|title=Berle Recalls Beginning of TV|date=June 13, 1968|author=Humphrey, Hal|newspaper=Toledo Blade|access-date=January 23, 2011}}</ref>

A frequent user of tranquilizers, Berle frequently endorsed [[Meprobamate|Miltown]] on his show and became one of its leading advocates in 1950s America. Due to his promotion of the drug, Berle was dubbed "Uncle Miltown" by ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/302287405|title=The age of anxiety: a history of America's turbulent affair with tranquilizers|first=Andrea|last=Tone|date=2009|publisher=Basic Books|isbn=9780786727476|location=New York|oclc=302287405}}</ref>

For Berle's contribution to television, he was inducted to the [[Hollywood Walk of Fame]] in 1960.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://walkoffame.com/milton-berle/|title=Milton Berle|date=October 25, 2019|website=Hollywood Walk of Fame|language=en-US|access-date=April 22, 2020}}</ref>

Berle's imperious, abrasive and controlling manner on the show was the inspiration for the 1957 [[CBS]] [[Playhouse 90]] production of "[[The Comedian (Playhouse 90)|The Comedian]]". starring [[Mickey Rooney]] as egomanaical TV comic Sammy Hogarth, who ran his weekly show through explosive tantrums, intimidation, bullying and cruelty. Writer [[Ernest Lehman]] had been assigned to profile Berle for a magazine, and captured Berle's high-handedness so completely that the magazine declined to run it, but suggested he fictionalize it and recast it as a novella. When it was picked up for the show, [[Rod Serling]] wrote the teleplay. [[John Frankenheimer]] directed the live production which received considerable acclaim. The cast included [[Edmond O'Brien]], [[Kim Hunter]] and jazz singer [[Mel Tormé]] in his first dramatic role, portraying Hogarth's spineless brother Lester. While some speculated the play was based on [[Jackie Gleason]]'s loud, controlling personality, Berle, aware the production echoed his own reputation, was quoted as saying, "I wasn't that bad". The episode won two [[Emmy Awards]].{{Citation needed|date=September 2022}}