The Nat King Cole Show debuted on NBC on November 5, 1956. The variety program was the first of its kind hosted by an African-American, which created controversy at the time. Beginning as a 15-minute pops show on Monday night, it expanded to a half hour in July 1957. Despite the efforts of NBC, as well as many of Cole's industry colleagues who worked for industry scale (or even for no pay) in order to help the show save money, it was ultimately done in by lack of a national sponsor.
