Her television show, The Judy Garland Show, premiered on CBS in September 1963. The show was produced by Gary Smith and Dwight Hemion and featured a range of musical performances and guest appearances. It ran for one season, earning her an Emmy nomination. The cancellation was attributed partly to competition from NBC’s Bonanza, which dominated the Sunday night audience. But the show also gave her a new medium for the kind of direct performer-audience connection that had been the core of her professional identity since childhood.
Carnegie Hall and the Later Career
The concert that has most often been cited as the defining moment of Judy Garland’s post-MGM career took place on April 23, 1961, at Carnegie Hall in New York City. The hall was sold out — 3,165 people — and the audience included a substantial number of people who regarded themselves not just as fans but as devoted witnesses to something they believed was exceptional about her art.
What happened that night has been described in many ways since, and the superlatives have accumulated to the point where separating documented response from later mythology requires some care. What can be established is this: Judy Garland performed for more than two hours, with Mort Lindsey conducting the orchestra. She performed more than twenty songs. The audience response was sustained and intense. Myrna Loy reportedly stood on her seat. Music director Mort Lindsey described the atmosphere as resembling a revival meeting.
The recording made that night was released as Judy at Carnegie Hall on Capitol Records. It became one of the best-selling live albums in recording history. It won Grammy Awards for Album of the Year and Best Female Solo Vocal Performance — the Album of the Year recognition making her the first female recipient of that award. The Library of Congress added it to the National Recording Registry in 2003, in only the second year of the registry’s operation.