[1] When it returned in October 1949, the interviews had been eliminated, with the entire program allocated to scenes from the spotlighted Broadway production.
[4] Jack Gould's review in The New York Times called the network debut of Tonight on Broadway "a decided disappointment for a premiere which had been heralded as a 'milestone' in television.
'"[10] The review summed up the episode as essentially an advertising vehicle for Mr. Roberts (the featured play) and said, "certainly television merits a better fate than being used merely as an animated billboard.
A review in the New York Daily News said that the premiere episode "provided fine fodder for video fans" and commended Ben Sylvester for his work on the script.
"[14] Additionally, he wrote, the actors were "playing to the 10th row rather than to a spot 10 feet away from their noses, which is where the television audience sits.