The Dinah Shore (Chevy) Show
A
popular radio and television performer for over 40 years, Dinah
Shore was known for the warmth of her personality and for her
sincere, unaffected stage presence.
 Television favoured her natural, relaxed style, and like Perry
Como (to whom she was quite often compared) Shore was one of the
medium's first popular singing stars.
Even though by her own admission, Dinah Shore did not have a
great voice, she put it to good advantage by enunciating lyrics
clearly and singing the melody without distracting ornamentation.
The result was the very definition of "easy listening".
By the time Dinah Shore first appeared on television, she was
already very well-known as a big band singer and radio
performer.
She was also appearing in the best night clubs, making movies,
and selling approximately two million records per year.
The Dinah Shore Show first appeared on television in 1951
as a twice a week program on NBC. The 15-minute show was broadcast
on Tuesday and Thursday evenings at 7:30 P.M.
The program was produced by Alan Handley, who
made a special effort to make the musical production numbers
interesting. The imaginative backdrops he provided for her songs
were inspired by travel posters, New Yorker cartoons, history,
literary classics, and Hollywood.
In 1956, Shore began a one hour program on NBC, renamed (to incorporate
the sponsor's name) as The
Dinah Shore Chevy Show.
 The show was extremely popular and its
theme song, See the USA in your Chevrolet, and Shore's
famous farewell kiss to the television audience, remain television
icons.
The high production values of her 15-minute program continued
on the 60-minute show, and the line-up usually contained two or
three guests from the worlds of music, sports and movies.
The Dinah Shore Chevy Show was produced in Burbank,
California and went off the air in May 1963.
After that time,
Dinah appeared in a number of specials and later did a series of
interview shows in the 1970s including Dinah!, Dinah and
Friends, Dinah and Her New Best Friends, and Dinah's
Place.
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