Miles Davis & John Coltrane, in "So what", live, 1958.

Amongst the shows that graced the screens in the early days of tv in New Zealand was a U.S.-made series, produced, I think, by CBS, called The Robert Herridge Theatre. The only reason I think it made it across the Pacific was that it must have been offered at a cheap price.

It didn't last for long in the U.S., maybe eight shows in all, a strange assemblage of unrelated pieces—adaptions of short stories including Poe's The Telltale Heart, a couple of live jazz shows, at least one made for tv drama, & a ballet version of Frankie & Johnnie danced by two of the principal dancers from Balanchine's New York City Ballet & with Jimmy Rushing singing the title song. Such a variety could never attract a sponsor, so it lapsed. (Though Herridge as MC—see this clip here—may have been another reason.

I don't know how many shows NZ TV bought. I know I saw the ballet, & I also saw the episode that caused such an outcry in those conservative times that the series was abruptly terminated in NZ. That was an adaption of Shirley Jackson's short story The Lottery, with its somewhat gruesome ending that came out of nowhere.

But before they pulled it, they did show a half hour of Miles live, with a Gil Evans orchestra, although the clip of So what I came across today is essentially a quintet with Coltrane in fine form.

Which of the shows are still around today I am unsure. I know there's a dvd of the Miles one, & there's an audio of part of the other jazz program. But I think the rest are maybe lost—whether forever or in some archive. I don't know how the drama would stack up today—they were live recordings in a primitive system—but the Miles & Coltrane clip is still wonderful.

Miles Davis & John Coltrane, in "So what", live, 1958.