The Danny Kaye Show
Special #2 Reviews
The following are mixed reviews on Danny's second TV special that aired in 1961.
The positive remarks are highlighted in yellow. The negative in green.
“Danny Kaye ‘Subdued’”
Kentucky New Era – Nov. 6, 1961
By: Cynthia Lowry (AP TV-
NEW YORK (AP) – That infrequent but welcome visitor to television, Danny
Kaye, made his annual house call Monday night via CBS. As usual, one’s reaction to
his dancing, singing and foreign language double-
Danny, however, seemed in a rather subdued and sentimental mood.
His best moments came when he was sitting quietly on a stool, half singing, half
talking sad songs about youth and age. One song would have been a lot more effective
if it hadn’t been used all last season as the musical background for a camera commercial.
Least
amusing moments came in the hour show’s full-
Bill Fiset . . . About Television
“The Danny Kaye Show”
Oakland Tribune – Nov. 7, 1961
By:
Bill Fiset
He who speaks with forked tongue has dexterity to say “Git, gat, gittle”
– but not last night.
Last night Danny Kaye devoted his annual TV special
to pure whimsy, and for the most part it was quite charming.
Most reviewers
probably are raving today about “The Danny Kaye Show” because Kaye classifies as
a sacred cow among performers. Danny Kaye addicts are like Judy Garland addicts,
or those who dote on Mary Martin, Harry Belafonte or Maurice Chevalier. There can
be no criticism, for every song and gesture of a sacred cow is fabulous.
Well,
a nonconformist would perhaps agree that Danny Kaye doesn’t have much of a singing
voice. It’s on the thin side, and a little number he did last night called “I Am
an Is,” a happy pill, would have been delightful in a kindergarten class—but coming
from an adult?
Danny Kaye is a personality split. He’ll lapse into something
like “I Am an Is” and yet in the same hour turn out some remarkable moments. On the
theory a person never sees himself as others see him. Kaye in a sketch portrayed
a strong man to his son, a slob to his wife, a rabbit to his boss, a tyrant to his
secretary and so on, all very effectively.
In a cocktail party sketch
he accidentally fell under post-
A group of dancers
performed to the rhythm of a steam locomotive, a typewriter, a sports car engine,
a computer, a merry-