The Gallery of Madame Liu-Tsong

The Gallery of Madame Liu-Tsong is a largely forgotten show from the early days of American broadcast television. Its run was only brief. It only ran for thirteen episodes. Worst yet, there are no known episodes of the show. Regardless, The Gallery of Madame Liu-Tsong is remarkable because it starred the legendary Anna May Wong, making it the first American television show to have an East Asian American lead. 

The Gallery of Madame Liu-Tsong centred on the Liu-Tsong of the title, the owner of a chain of Chinese art gallery who often finds herself solving mysteries on the side. The episodes had such titles as "The Egyptian Idol," "The Man with a Thousand Eyes," and "The House of Quiet Dignity." 

The origins of The Gallery of Madame Liu-Tsong go back to Anna May Wong's trip to China in 1936. Miss Wong recorded her trip in articles that she wrote for such publications as The Los Angeles Times, The San Francisco Chronicle, The New York Herald Tribune, and Photoplay. Sh also filmed much of her trip in a travelogue called My China Film. The trip would lead Anna May Wong to consider the production of a play that dealt with modern China. She would play a Chinese travel guide who would educate audiences on China and the West. Nothing ever came of the idea, although the tour guide would evolve into gallery Liu-Tsong. As to the name "Liu-Tsong," Anna May Wong's birth name was "Wong Liu Tsong." 

The Gallery of Madame Liu-Tsong debuted on August 27 1951 on the DuMont Television Network. It ran until November 21 1951. According to Not Your China Doll: The Wild and Shimmering Life of Anna May Wong by Katie Gee Salisbury, the show was plagued by "bad writing and meagre sets." To make matters worse, it aired against two high rated shows, Kraft Television Theatre on NBC (which came in at no. 23 in the Nielsen ratings for the year) and Strike It Rich on CBS (which ranked no. 25 in the Nielsens for the season). DuMont cancelled The Gallery of Madame Liu-Tsong after one season.

As mentioned early, no copies of The Gallery of Madame Liu-Tsong are known to exist. Reportedly, in the early Seventies, DuMont's library of  35mm and 16mm kinescopes were unceremoniously dumped in the East River in New York City Here it must be pointed out that The Gallery of Madame Liu-Tsong was not the only historic show to air on DuMont. The first science fiction show, Captain Video and His Video Rangers, the variety show Cavalcade of Stars (on which The Honeymooners originated and which made Jackie Gleason a star), and Rocky King Detective, one of the earliest police procedurals all aired on DuMont.

Sadly, while East Asian Americans would appear in guest appearances on shows and in supporting roles as well (Hey Boy on Have Gun--Will Ttavel and Hop Sing on Bonanza), it was not until Jack Soo starred on Valentine's Day in 1964 that there would be another show with an East Asian American lead. While The Gallery of Madame Liu-Tsong did not last long, it certainly made history.