Sam Cooke – Twisting the Night Away & The Riddle Song (The Jerry Lewis Show – Dec. 7, 1963)

When Jack Paar left The Tonight Show in March 1962, guest hosts filled in. Carson could not immediately host due to contractual difficulties. One such guest host was Jerry Lewis. Guest hosts usually hosted for one week; Lewis hosted for two. Many considered him a natural. After The Tonight Show hosting duties, ABC offered Jerry Lewis a two-hour comedy variety television series, presumably designed to compete against Johnny Carson. ABC invested heavily they presented Lewis with a multi-million dollar contract (supposedly $45M) and renamed the El Capitan Theater The Jerry Lewis Theater. ABC expected Lewis to make history. Advance word predicted this series was abysmal. Before the program debut, a protester stood outside ABC-TV and displayed a sign: Ban the bomb before it goes off! The premiere episode aired September 21, 1963. It is considered an unparalleled train wreck. Jerry Lewis first words to the viewing audience of the second episode were, Well, I guess you heard what happened to the show! The series was canceled almost immediately after the program debut; however, episodes continued until December 21, 1963. The program was expected to run five years. It lasted thirteen weeks. This excerpt is from the eleventh episode, aired December 7, 1963. It features Sam Cooke singing Twisting the Night Away and The Riddle Song.