CBS Affiliates Meeting - Waldorf-Astoria Hotel

In what was a yearly exercise of the CBS Network, each year the stars of the next seasons television shows would get together with over 1,000 affiliates from across the nation.  It gave the affiliates a chance to meet the likes of the cast of the Dick Van Dyke Show, The Beverly Hillbillies, Clint Eastwood, Burt Reynolds, Lucille Ball and Vivian Vance. Clearly, from the time that this meeting was announced it was evident that the 'headliiners' of this event would be Danny Kaye and Judy Garland.

On May 9th the affiliates were treated to Danny Kaye's one-man show at the Ziegfeld theater and on Friday May 10th, a show at the Waldorf-Astoria.  The show opened with the cast of the Beverly Hillbillies and Phil Silvers and closed by one-woman concert by Judy.

According to "Rainbows End: The Judy Garland Show" by Steve Sanders, Judy was very nervous about this show - knowing that CBS and the affiliates were 'unsure' whether or not Judy would be ready for the rigors of a weekly series.  Upon her entrance to the stage, her heel 'stuck' in a crack of the stage floor!  This was good in the fact that it 'broke the ice' immediately upon her arrival.

To put the affiliates concerns in the forefront - and let them know that she was aware of their concerns, George Schlatter, Judy and Johnny Bradford came up with some new lyrics on the flight from Los Angeles.  She opened her show with:
 

According to George Schlatter, she could have owned CBS right then and there - she tore the roof off the place - and CBS was in the palm of her hand.