The Ford Show (also known as The Ford Show, Starring Tennessee Ernie Ford and The Tennessee Ernie Ford Show) is an American variety program, starring singer and folk humorist Tennessee Ernie Ford, which aired on NBC on Thursday evenings from October 4, 1956, to June 29, 1961. The show was sponsored by the Ford Motor Company, whose founders shared a last name with the host but had no known relation. Beginning in September 1958, the show was telecast in color, and was broadcast from NBC Studios at 3000 W. Alameda Avenue in Burbank, California. It is also one of the first places that showed Charles M. Schulz's Peanuts characters in animated form, which, like the later specials, was directed by Bill Melendez. It became one of the most popular segments of his show. Selected guest stars Ben Alexander Cliff Arquette Lloyd Bridges Sally Brophy Terry Burnham Allen Case Andy Devine Robert Horton Lee Marvin Darren McGavin Tom Nolan John Payne Cesar Romero Roger Smith Mickey Spillane Craig Stevens Guy Williams Charles Laughton Jo Stafford Shari Lewis Production notes The Ford Show was produced and directed by Bud Yorkin. Television icon Norman Lear was also a writer on The Ford Show, though he has claimed that Roland Kibbee was in fact the show's main writer and that he merely wrote the opening monologues. Lear has also stated that both Yorkin and Kibbee were in charge on the show's production. The program was officially named not for the host, but for the show's sponsor, the Ford Motor Company. See also For other TV series sponsored by Ford Motor Company, see Ford Television Theatre, Ford Startime, Ford Festival, and Ford Star Jubilee References External links 1956 American television series debuts 1961 American television series endings 1950s American variety television series 1960s American variety television series Black-and-white American television shows English-language television shows NBC original programming Ford Motor Company