The digital television network getTV will air “The Judy Garland Show” and “The Merv Griffin Show” beginning Oct. 12 as part of its new Variety Night.
“The Judy Garland Show” will be televised for the first time since it aired on CBS in the 1963-64 season. Frequent Garland co-star Mickey Rooney appeared on the episode to air Oct. 12.
Barbra Streisand, Diahann Carroll, Mel Torme, Bobby Darin, Ethel Merman, June Allyson, Jack Jones, and Garland’s daughters Liza Minnelli and Lorna Luft were among other guests on the series, which will air at 8 p.m. Mondays.
getTV will mark the 50th anniversary of “The Merv Griffin Show” by airing 50 episodes which have not been seen since they originally aired in the 1960s. A 1967 episode with then-Sen. Robert F. Kennedy discussing civil unrest and comedian Carl Reiner will air on Oct. 12.
Guests on the episode airing Oct. 26 include actress Jayne Mansfield with her children, including her then-2-year-old daughter Mariska Hargitay, now the star of the long-running NBC crime drama “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.”
The original episodes were 90 minutes long and will be edited to one hour when they air Mondays at 10 p.m.
Specials and episodes of variety shows starring Andy Williams, Dionne Warwick and Jim Nabors will air at 9 p.m. Mondays.
“Judy Garland is riveting to watch, and we want to remind people why she has been called the world’s greatest entertainer,” said Jeff Meier, getTV’s senior vice president of programming.
“‘The Merv Griffin Show,’ which was originally produced as a disposable daily talk show, has become an amazing time capsule, capturing huge stars in casual conversation, spotlighting incredible talent before they were famous, and featuring frank social and political discussions that are still poignant today.”
Channel numbers for getTV can be found at get.tv/get-the-channel.
