The Seven Lively Arts is an American anthology series that aired on Sunday afternoons on CBS television[1] from November 3, 1957, until February 16, 1958. The series was executive produced by John Houseman, and hosted by New York Herald Tribune critic John Crosby.[2] Alfredo Antonini served as the musical director for several episodes.[citation needed] The title was taken from the influential book of the same name written by the cultural critic Gilbert Seldes, in which he argued that the low arts (comics, vaudeville) deserved as much critical attention as the high arts (opera, literature). The eleven programs produced were—not in order:
In a review in the periodical Film and TV Music Thomas Talbert praised the episode "The Sound of Jazz", writing that it had an element that had been "lacking in TV music presentation".[3] Talbert called the episode "Truly a brilliant program, artistically photographed without stiffness and easily the best that television has offered on modern music."[3]