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Off-Ramp

Disneyland's 1955 opening was a disaster, and why wasn't Cummings fired?

By Off-Ramp Staff
Published Jul 20, 2012
During ABC's live broadcast of the grand opening of Disneyland in 1955, Bob Cummings realizes the camera is on him. Just moments before, he'd been passionately embracing the young woman in a bonnet with the stricken look on her face.
During ABC's live broadcast of the grand opening of Disneyland in 1955, Bob Cummings realizes the camera is on him. Just moments before, he'd been passionately embracing the young woman in a bonnet with the stricken look on her face.
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ABC
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About the Show

Over 11 years and 570 episodes, John Rabe and Team Off-Ramp scoured SoCal for the people, places, and ideas whose stories needed to be told, and the show became a love-letter to Los Angeles. Now, John is sharing selections from the Off-Ramp vault to help you explore this imperfect paradise.

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Disneyland's 1955 opening was a disaster, and why wasn't Cummings fired?
Disneyland's 1955 opening was a disaster, and why wasn't Cummings fired? KPCC's Kevin Ferguson walks us through the broadcast and event.

It's a logistical nightmare: open an amusement park the likes of which the world has never known. Then have the plumbers go on strike and scoundrels counterfeiting the tickets. Then, try to do a live broadcast with dozens of cameras. Then, discover one of your hosts is making out -- on camera -- with one of the dancers.

But, Disneyland kept making people happy, ABC stayed on the air, and Bob Cummings kept acting til he was 80.

Off-Ramp host John Rabe and producer Kevin Ferguson engage in a little schadenfreude.

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