The Breakfast Club Variety Show

In 1934, a time before household televisions were even an option and all the radio shows were typically aired in the evening, Don McNeill had the plucky, inspired idea to create Breakfast Club.

A variety show intended to pep up America’s mornings, Breakfast Club first aired from an American Broadcast Network, Chicago-based studio. The show was completely impromptu, fusing witty, rapid fire dialogue with contributions sent in by listeners. Audiences submitted songs, prayers, poetry and anecdotes, while McNeill interviewed guest stars and conducted spontaneous marches around the breakfast table.

Several factors contributed to Breakfast Club’s widespread popularity. Listeners appreciated McNeill’s interactive approach to radio. They enjoyed hearing themselves and their submissions on the air. The show’s homespun appeal and McNeill’s dedication to “making a neighborhood of a nation,” as McNeill biographer John Doolittle called it, were also major selling points.

Breakfast Club was the first program to have full sponsorship, and McNeill’s popularity grew exponentially in the first few years the show aired. Luminaries like Bob Hope, Jerry Lewis, Jimmy Stewart, Jane Russell, Joe Lewis, Lucille Ball, and Groucho Marx all stopped by to say hello on-air.

In 1945, when McNeill arrived at Madison Square Garden to give a talk, 17,000 fans were there to greet him. Known for his hammy antics, McNeill even ran for US president as a joke in 1948.

Two years later, ABC offered him a 20-year contract to air Breakfast Club, then an unheard of feat.