Frank Sinatra was just emerging from his career slump when he was tapped for a televised production of Cole Porter's musical Anything Goes. It's telling that he wasn't the star of the 1954 episode of the Colegate Comedy Hour but was second-billed to Ethel Merman, who had long ago played the part on Broadway. Merman was still a commanding presence, singing out as if to the last row in the music hall, but Sinatra added a suave insouciance to his role—in between caressing Porter's wonderful songs with great empathy. Shortly after his television debut on the Colegate show, Sinatra would hit his stride, starring in Otto Preminger's great film Man With the Golden Arm and recording a series of classic LPs for Capitol Records.
Sinatra's Anything Goes has been released on DVD as part of the Archive of American Television series.
