Despite her difficult attitude and legendary substance abuse, Judy Garland was a hot commodity in television. CBS was constantly courting her to make a variety show for them and in 1963, Judy's money problems convinced her to finally take CBS' offer.
Originally meant to be a full fledged variety show with music and comedy skits, the show never caught on with viewers. CBS decided to tweak the format, asking Judy to lay off the booze and stop touching her guests. They also fired most of the cast (which included Jerry Van Dyke) and made her show more of a concert program.
Despite legendary performances like this one with Barbra Streisand, the pills, booze, attitude and low ratings killed Judy's show.
