It was one of the thrills of my life when I got a chance to do my own TV show. I'd almost given up hope of getting another chance as an actor

By the late 1940s, it seemed Buster Keaton's career had ended. With the exception of increasingly rare daywork, he'd barely worked in almost 5 years, other than a four week part in a famous Paris based circus in 1947 and prior to that, touring in a summer theater production of The Gorilla in 1941.

But in 1949, comedian Ed Wynn had a variety show on the relatively new broadcast format of television and he invited Keaton to appear on his CBS show, which was televised live only on the West Coast and then recorded on kinescope, then film prints were made and distributed to other parts of the country.(there was no transcontinental broadcast until September, 1951).

'So it was one of the thrills of my life when I got a chance in December of 1949 to do my own weekly TV show on KHJ (KTTV), the 'Los Angeles Times' broadcasting station. By then I had almost given up hope of getting another real chance as an actor.' Buster Keaton

Of the 13 episodes produced and aired from The Buster Keaton Show, only these 9 episodes exist today and two of them are especially unique: The one from 2/2/50 has never been viewed since its original air date and the episode from 2/23/50 was never before available on any other format.

The series initially received high ratings on the West Coast but the lack of a studio audience response and its laughter (canned laughter didn't exist) to Keaton's brilliant physical humor, doomed the series.

These episodes were restored by renowned archivist/preservationist Jeff Joseph and have been digitally upgraded to high resolution.

Bonus Materials

• Three comedians in closeup (CBC-TV)(16:18) in HD
• 'This Is Your Life' (TV episode featuring Buster Keaton)(29:22) in HD
• 'Circus Time' (7:27) in HD
• 'Cops' (1922)(17:49) in SD
• 'The Goat' (1921)(19:24) in SD

 

Cast & Crew

Actors:

•       Buster Keaton as Buster Keaton

Director: Arthur Hilton

Director: Philippe De Lacy

Track Listing

Disc 1:

• Buster Keaton; Margaret Dumont - The Bakery Story
• Buster Keaton - The Billboard Story
• Buster Keaton - The Gorilla Story
• Buster Keaton - The Army Story
• Buster Keaton - The Collapsible Clerk
• Buster Keaton - The Western Story
• Buster Keaton - The Detective Story
• Buster Keaton - February 23, 1950 (first time ever available)(
• Buster Keaton - February 2, 1950 (not seen since original air date

Additional Details

Label: Liberation Hall

Genre: Television

Language: English

Run Time: 332:08 mins

Region: 0

Release Date: 09/16/25

UPC: 810177214625