Radio

The Silver Summer Revue - CBS Radio

Bowers appeared in 1948, on The Silver Summer Revue, a 30 minute program on CBS TV which ran from June 18 to October 1. The show, subtitled, The Raymond Paige Show and Musicomedy, was a summer replacement for The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet. Others in the cast were Johnny Desmond, Julie Conway, Helen Carroll, and the Escorts.

Television

School House - Dumont Network

On January 18, 1949, Bowers appeared on the Dumont Network television show, School House. The show starred Kenny Delmar as the school master. This pioneer live Tuesday-evening musical-comedy revue series ran for only one season. The final broadcast was on April 12, 1949. Arnold Stang and Wally Cox also appeared in this series. This was the television debut of Wally Cox who later appeared on NBC in his own series Mr. Peepers (1952-1953)

In School House Bowers sings and plays the clarinet. The embedded video below is from Internet Arcive and is the only known episode to exist. Bowers performance of Betty, Clara and Me starts about eight minutes into the progrram and is immediately followed by his excellent vocal and clarinet performance of Sunny Side of the Street.

If you are unable to see the embedded video, copy and paste the following URL in the address line of your web browser: http://www.archive.org/details/schoolHouse1949

Kenny Appearing on School House
1949

From School House, episode #10, Dumont TV Network, air date: January 18, 1949.

Make Mine Music - CBS TV - New York

On March 8, 1949, Kenny Bowers and Byron Palmer were added to the bi-weekly musical variety show Make Mine Music. The show aired on CBS TV on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 7:45 pm. The show went off the air in May, 1949.

Note: - Directing and Guest Appearances

In an article published in the Chicago DailyTribune, July 10, 1955, we read that Kenny directed early TV programs for WCBS-TV in New York City and made guest appearances on such shows as Milton Berle's, Studio One, Toast of the Town, The Web, and Danger. We are trying to verify this.

Swingalong - WBKB TV - Chicago

Bowers appeared on Chicago's WBKB television show Swingalong in 1954.

Jolly 7 Gang - WBKB TV - Chicago

The Jolly 7 Gang with "Jolly" Joe Kelly and Kenny Bowers premiered on WBKB at 5:00 p.m. on February 28, 1954. Children participated in stunts and games on the half-hour week-day show. Kenny played the part of a mechanical robot. Describing his part to a newspaper writer, Kenny said, "It's a real pain in the neck and the hottest job in town. But, when I hear the kids laugh, I don't care. I've always wanted to be a clown. I suppose a feel for pantomime helps too."

The photograph of Kenny at the right is from an article that appeared in the Chicago Daily Tribune on May 9, 1954.

Close-Up - WBKB - Chicago

April 16, 1955, Billboard announces "Kenny Bowers, musician-comedian, showman, does a a one-week guest shot on Howard Miller's "Close-Up" show beginning next week."

Cartoonland - WNBQ - Chicago

Bowers moved to WNBQ early in 1955. His first regular show was Cartoonland, where, as Cousin Kenny, he introduced cartoons and performed comedy pantomimes on noon-time Cartoonland on TV channel 5, WNBQ, in 1955.

Contact - WNBQ - Chicago

This show aired week days at 5:35 p.m. It was a musical variety show that featured Kenny Bowers, Tom Mercein, Joseph Gallicchio's orchestra and a different female vocalist every few weeks. The show began in July, 1955. Betty Johnson, a member of the WLS Breakfast Club, was the first guest. In a newspaper interview about the show, Kenny said, "What I like about Contact is that it has pace. There is no ad libbing. Absolutely none. Every lead is set, and the thing is tied together tight as a drum. There is nothing like pace. It's what makes a good stage revue." Photograph of Kenny at right is from the Chicago Daily Tribune of July 10, 1955.

Kenny's Klub - WNBQ - Chicago

This was another noon-time children's show and featured puppets. It aired at 12:30 p.m. on WNBQ in Chicago in 1955 - 1956. The caption under the photo at the right reads, "Blinky, the light bulb, gives Kenny Bowers a 'volt' of confidence on Kenny's Klub, telecast daily at 12:30 p.m. over WNBQ." The photograph appeared in the Chicago Daily Tribune on January 1, 1956.

Light Time - National Lutheran Council

Kenny Bowers appeared in occasional Light Time episodes, at least in its first season. Kenny seems to have been replaced as the sidekick by Tom Williams for the second and third seasons. All of the hiring of actors was handled by the production company, Fred A. Niles Productions, Inc., rather than by the National Lutheran Council.

To see an episode of Light Time on Google video CLICK HERE Note: None of the first season of this show are currently available on the web, so the episodes in which Kenny appeared are not available.