Remembering The Long History Of Celebrity TV Bowling

AMC has just announced that is has ordered eight episodes of Chris Hardwiok's celebrity bowling TV series. But as fans of classic TV already know, this is a format that was first tried in the earliest days of television.

"Bowling Headliners" aired on ABC in 1948 and 1959 before it moved to the Dumont Network for another two years. The show was featured on one of the earliest covers of TV Guide, back when the magazine was still just a local New York City publication.

Celebrity bowling shows also began airing on local TV stations in the early 1950s and there were several variations of the format that were syndicated to stations throughout the 1950s. The most high-profile attempt during this period might have been 1959's "Jackpot Bowling Featuring Milton Berle." That show included pro bowlers, but each episode also featured a guest "celebrity bowler."

In the 1961 clip below, the weekly guest was singer Bobby Darin.

The most recent celebrity bowling series seems to be this series, which sometimes airs on ESPN Classic. Episodes of the show are also available on the MEtv web site. Hosted by Jed Allen, it ran in sydication from 1971 through 1978, although there was a brief attempt to revive it in 1987.

The clip below features Kate Jackson and Edward Albert Vs Frankie Avalon and Rory Calhoun.