initially known as "the les crane show", the program had included crane's exchanges with members of the audience in addition to celebrity guests. crane's style was described as "informal, highly spontaneous, and often controversial". the show was renamed when crane left after four months. a revised format used a rotation of stars as hosts, beginning with shelley berman. other hosts included william b. williams, nipsey russell, jimmy cannon, pat boone, and allan sherman. orchestra leaders were cy coleman, elliot lawrence, and donn trenner. in june 1965, crane returned as the regular host, accompanied by russell.