A Very Special Evening

This is the pilot episode of a show that would have had Bill Cullen welcoming viewers to a musical performance on location in nightclubs across the country. For the pilot, Paul Anka performed at the Copacabana in New York following his appearance earlier that evening on the "Eydie Gorme-Steve Lawrence" television show. (The Steve and Eydie program aired on the 21st, and this pilot filmed in the wee hours of the following morning.) Bill introduced the performer and closed the show, but did not interact with Anka. Celebrities such as Dick Clark, Tommy Sands and Nancy Sinatra were on hand to witness the performance. The series would have traveled to various nightclubs to capture performers' acts on a live stage rather than a TV studio. The show's producer/director was a young CBS News employee named Don Hewitt. Hewitt, at the time already an up-and-coming star in the news business, would later achieve his greatest success and fame as the creator and guiding force behind "60 Minutes".