Bing migrated from radio to television slowly, in part because of the greater demands of the new medium. His first major television effort was co-hosting with Bob Hope an all-night telethon to raise money for the U.S. Olympic team in June 1952. The telethon was transmitted on both CBS and NBC networks and its goal was to raise $500,000. The telethon drew more than a million dollars in pledges, but less than half of that was received.
1954 began with a burst of activity from Bing on the small screen. He hosted his first television special Jan. 3, 1954, with Jack Benny as his special guest. The show was sponsored by General Electric, his radio program sponsor at the time, and broadcast over CBS. This program was filmed and has since been released in many formats. In the spring of '54 Bing and George Burns were guests on Jack Benny's final show of the season. The photo below of Benny, Crosby and Burns is from that show. On April 25 Bing returned to host a second General Electric special. Then, except for a few guest shots, Bing avoided any major TV project until he agreed to star in the first filmed made-for-tv movie, "High Tor," co-starring Julie Andrews, which was broadcast March 10, 1956, on CBS. Bing retreated to mere guest appearances on other shows until 13 October 1957 when he hosted "The Edsel Show," the first prime‑time network television special broadcast from videotape, with guests Frank Sinatra, Louis Armstrong and Rosemary Clooney. In December of 1957 Bing co-hosted the Timex Christmas show with Frank Sinatra, "Happy Holidays with Bing & Frank," on ABC. In January of 1958 Bing hosted a variety show, "Bing Crosby and his Friends," in conjunction with CBS coverage of the final round of the Pebble Beach Pro-Am golf tournament.
The success of the Edsel Show in 1957 led General Motors' Oldsmobile division to contract with Bing to sponsor a series of programs on the ABC network. Oldsmobile did this despite the fact that the success of the Edsel Show could not save the Edsel car, which was discontinued by Ford in 1959. Oldsmobile sponsored 6 variety specials for Bing from 1958 through 1960 as well as his golf tournament beginning in 1959.
Throughout the 1950s Bing continued to produce annual Christmas shows for CBS radio. His first TV Christmas special aired on ABC in 1957 with Frank Sinatra as co-host. His second TV Christmas special did not appear until 1961, although the only thing Christmas about this show were the commercials and Bing's singing "White Christmas" at the end. A Bing Christmas special became an annual TV event from then until his death. His 1962 Christmas special was ABC's first prime-time special to be broadcast in color. In 1966 Bing made his first of many appearances hunting, fishing and lecturing on conservation on ABC's "The American Sportsman."
In 1964 Bing plunged big-time into television. On January 4 he appeared as the first host of a new ABC variety show, The Hollywood Palace, which was a mid-season replacement for the Jerry Lewis show, which had been cancelled. The "Palace" lasted until 1970, when Bing hosted the series finale Feb. 7. All together Bing hosted 31 of the hour-long shows, more than any other host. Bing hosted only two of the shows during the first year and a half, when the show was broadcast in black-and-white. Bing's other hosting chores were from the colorful years, beginning with the fall 1965 season. Also in 1964 Bing began work on a weekly situation comedy for ABC TV. Bing starred as "Bing Collins" in a domestic musical-comedy that co-starred Beverly Garland as his wife and Frank McHugh as a freeloading friend of the family (McHugh played Bing's priestly pal in "Going My Way"). Guests on the show included Phil Harris and son Gary. Despite the critic's initial approval, the show was cancelled after the first season.
In 1966 Bing and Bob Hope appeared on a Danny Thomas special, "The Road to Lebanon," which spoofed the Road pictures. The following year Bing was offered the role of detective "Columbo" in a TV movie launch of a proposed TV series. Bing replied that he liked the script and the character, but "I'm retired now, I'm playing golf" and "television is a real rat race and a meat grinder." Instead, Peter Falk was recruited for the role. In 1970 Bing and his second family starred in the partially animated NBC musical "Goldilocks." In 1971 Bing starred as a despotic physician in a 90-minute ABC movie Dr. Cook's Garden.
On 3 March 1977 Bing recorded a 90-minute celebration of his 50 years in show business that was broadcast March 20 on CBS. The show was sponsored by Kraft Foods through their advertising agency, J. Walter Thompson. The venue was Ambassador Auditorium in Pasadena, California. Performing guests included Bob Hope, the Mills Brothers, Rosemary Clooney, Pearl Bailey and Bette Midler. At the end of the show Bing fell into an orchestra pit and ruptured a disc in his back. In May, following a month-long stay in the hospital, he was interviewed at his home for Barbara Walter's third celebrity special, which aired later that month. Bing's final TV special was his last Christmas show, co-starring Twiggy and David Bowie, which was recorded in September, 1977, in London and aired following his death.
Bing Crosby's Major TV Programs and Appearances: