Elvis (1968 TV program)

Singer Presents  ... Elvis, commonly referred to as the '68 Comeback Special, is an Elvis Presley concert television special that aired on NBC on December 3, 1968. It marked Presley's return to live performance after a seven-year period during which he focused on his film appearances.

The concert was initially planned as a Christmas special by the network and Presley's manager, Colonel Tom Parker. Producer Bob Finkel hired director Steve Binder, who, rather than creating a Christmas special, created a concert that would reflect the musical trends of the time and appeal to a younger audience. Filming took place in June 1968 at NBC Studios in Burbank, California. The special included a sit-down session that showcased Presley in an informal setting, surrounded by fans and a small band.

The special received positive reviews and topped the Nielsen television ratings for the week in which it aired. It became the most-watched show of the television season, earning 42% of the television audience. Later known as the Comeback Special, it relaunched Presley's singing career.

After he returned from serving in the United States Army in March 1960, Presley enjoyed success with his album releases. G.I. Blues, the soundtrack album to his 1960 film G.I. Blues, topped both the Billboard pop albums chart and the UK Albums Chart in October 1960. On March 25, 1961, Presley played a concert in Hawaii to benefit the construction of the USS Arizona Memorial. It would be his last public performance for seven years. Presley's next number-one album on the Billboard pop albums chart was Something for Everybody, released in June 1961.

Presley's manager Colonel Tom Parker shifted the focus of Presley's career to films and stopped him from touring. The films were low-budget, formulaic comedies that were successful at the box office, while the resulting albums sold well. Presley attempted to move into more dramatic roles, trying to reduce the prominence of musical numbers to center on his acting with Flaming Star (1960) and Wild in the Country (1961). Both releases flopped, and by 1964 Parker decided to limit all recordings exclusively to film soundtracks. Parker then set the Presley formula: the films would promote album releases, while album releases would promote the films.

To reduce costs, producer Hal Wallis shortened filming schedules, almost abandoning rehearsals and retakes. He stopped shooting on location; all films were to be shot in the studio, and less-experienced crews were used to reduce labor costs. Scenes were limited to long shots, medium shots and close-ups to speed the process. Meanwhile, studio recordings also declined in quality; session musicians did most of the work as Presley simply did not have time to focus on recording. He was paid $750,000 and received 50% of the film profits for his appearance in Tickle Me (1965), a sum that consumed most of the film's budget. Because Allied Artists was experiencing financial problems, Parker inserted unused songs from other studio sessions on the soundtrack and instructed the studio to work them into the film. The tight production worked, and Tickle Me was a box-office success.

Girl Happy (1965) marked the first failure of this approach. The soundtrack was Presley's least successful release, while the film barely grossed $2 million. Despite the success of Parker's model, Presley grew increasingly discontented. With the passage of time, he felt that his connection to the music business was weakening, causing depression and alienation as the quality of his films deteriorated. During a five-year span from 1964 through 1968, Presley had only one top-ten hit, "Crying in the Chapel" (1965), a gospel number recorded in 1960. While the 1964 film Viva Las Vegas enjoyed success, the ensuing films saw a progressive decline. By 1967, the difficulty of negotiating with Parker and the poor performance of the films led Wallis to opt out of his contract with Presley.

In October 1967, Parker approached Tom Sarnoff, NBC West Coast vice president, to propose a Christmas television special. The US$1,250,000 package (about $11.8 million in 2024 prices) included the financing of a motion picture (for US$850,000), its soundtrack (for US$25,000), the television special (US$250,000) and US$125,000 reserved for the costs related to a rerun. The special was to be included in the feature Singer Presents ..., sponsored by the Singer Corporation.