The Music Scene (TV series)
The Music Scene is a television series aired by ABC as part of its Fall 1969 lineup, in the Monday, 7:30 to 8:15 timeslot, primarily featuring rock and pop music.Overview
The show had many hosts, with comedian David Steinberg the most frequently-appearing one. Many huge names of the era, including James Brown, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Three Dog Night, Tom Jones on the initial program, and Janis Joplin, Bobby Sherman, The Miracles, Sly & the Family Stone, Isaac Hayes, Stevie Wonder, Bo Diddley and Mama Cass Elliot, among many others, appearing on subsequent shows.
Existing promos initially used to sell this show to ABC affiliates featured the improvisational group The Committee, which featured actor Howard Hesseman, as well as the Rolling Stones. The promos implied that the Stones would be appearing with some regularity on the program. However, The Committee never actually appeared on the show, and neither did the Rolling Stones.
Surprisingly, despite the level of talent presented, this show did not fare well in Nielsen ratings. Advertisers of the era were more interested in shows achieving a mass audience rather than one of primarily younger people who were deemed as having less disposable income than the then-coveted middle aged, middle income viewers that most network programming then targeted. The program was cancelled mid-season. Two DVDs of highlights from the show have been released.
This program and the show that followed it, The New People, are extremely rare examples of U.S. network television programming designed to run for 45 minutes.
