The Continental (1952 TV series)

Did You Know?

• Cesana obtained a recording contract with Capitol Records during the run of The Continental, although he confessed to Time magazine, "I'm the only Italian living who can't sing."
• Recordings by Renzo Cesana, in which he recites song lyrics to musical accompaniment, appear as unnamed tracks at the end of several CDs in the Capitol Records Ultra-Lounge series, always unmentioned in the liner notes.
• Among the recordings are "Violets for Your Furs" and "Walk the Lonesome Night."

Synopsis

The Continental began as a 15-minute syndicated radio show on Los Angeles station KHJ in February 1951. It was created, written, and produced by Cesana, who also owned the advertising agency behind it—a common arrangement in an era when advertisers heavily shaped programming. The radio version aired right after The Lonesome Gal, a nationally syndicated program where host Jean King spoke soothingly to male listeners while playing records. Cesana’s show failed to find an audience and was soon canceled.

He then convinced television station KNBH to air a video version, which ran twice weekly starting in June 1951. The CBS network picked it up briefly, airing from January 22 to April 17, 1952. On CBS, the show used a subjective camera: Cesana spoke directly and suavely to women viewers, each episode featuring a different romantic rendezvous, with lounge music from Eddie Baxter on an electronic organ. Occasionally, Cesana recited song lyrics.

A later ABC version had The Continental interacting with couples on first dates. Cesana returned as the character on New York radio station WMGM in 1953. In 1954, a package of 13 new quarter-hour television episodes was syndicated.

Pop culture references

Though it only aired for a short time, The Continental has been spoofed and mentioned many times since it ended. Mad magazine’s 14th issue ran a parody called “The Countynental” by Harvey Kurtzman and Jack Davis. The 1954 Pepé Le Pew cartoon “The Cat’s Bah” opens in a style similar to the show, with an unseen female interviewer whose presence is only hinted at. Comedian Red Skelton did a parody titled “The Transcontinental.”

On The Colgate Comedy Hour, Jerry Lewis made fun of The Continental while also doing an impression of Marlon Brando. In the 1956 Popeye cartoon “Parlez Vous Woo,” Bluto poses as “The International,” a smooth TV host that Olive Oyl would rather watch at home than go on a date with Popeye. The most famous reference is the recurring Saturday Night Live sketch featuring Christopher Walken as the title character, which closely resembles the Mad parody.

The Yahoo! Sports soccer blog Dirty Tackle has a running series where Bulgarian player Dimitar Berbatov is presented as The Continental. The opening of the Monk season 8 episode “Mr Monk and the Critic” seems to pay tribute to this format. On The Uncle Floyd Show, host Floyd Vivino often performed a parody skit as “Ricardo Romantico.” In the film Old Boyfriends, Talia Shire lights a cigarette while watching an episode of The Continental.