The Al Pearce Show broadcast live in Hollywood (7:45-8:30 a.m. Pacific Time). It was carried on CBS-owned KNXT, which played music from the end of the Pearce program until regular programming began at 11:30 a.m. The evening version of the show alternated with the highly successful "George Burns and Gracie Allen Show" on Thursday nights at 8:00 pm from July 10, 1952 until September 18, 1952, at which point the ‘’Burns and Allen Show’’ became weekly. However, the "Total Television" reference book by Alex McNeil says "his prime-time half-hour show ... replaced "The Burns and Allen Show" for the summer," giving a starting date
Variety show honed their skills in music hall sketches include Charlie Chaplin, Stan Laurel, George Formby, Gracie Fields, Dan Leno, Gertrude Lawrence and Marie Lloyd. Most of the early top performers on British television and radio did an apprenticeship either in stage variety, or during World War II in Entertainments National Service Association (ENSA). In the UK, the ultimate accolade for a variety artist for decades was to be asked to do the annual Royal Command Performance at the London Palladium theatre, in front of the monarch. Later known as the "Royal Variety Performance" (from 1919), it continues today. In the 1940s,