| Genre: | Sitcom |
| Director: | Charles Maxwell |
| Starring: | Hank McCune |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | English |
| Producer: | Samuel Z. Arkoff Dick Farrell Hank McCune |
| Camera: | Single-camera |
| Runtime: | 25 minutes |
| Company: | United Television Productions |
| Channel: | NBC |
The Hank McCune Show is an American television sitcom. Filmed without a studio audience, the series is notable for being the first television program to incorporate a laugh track.[1]
The series began as a local program in New York 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. It was briefly resurrected as a syndicated program in 1953–54,[2] but without a laugh track.[3]
The premise foreshadowed that of The Larry Sanders Show in that it contained a show within a show. Former radio comedian 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, Arthur Q. Bryan, Sara Berner, Tammy Kiper,[4] and Florence Bates.
United Television Productions produced the show,[5] and Harold Schuster was the producer.[6] Mort Lachman and Cy Rose were the writers.
Although ratings "weren't terrible", the sponsor left after the then-minimum 13 weeks of shows.[7]
Bing Crosby Enterprises produced the syndicated version of The Hank McCune Show. It was distributed by CBS's TV film sales division.[8]