Author Meets the Critics | |
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Genre | Talk show |
Created by | Phyllis Adams Jenkins |
Presented by |
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Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
Production | |
Producer | Martin Stone |
Camera setup | Multi-camera |
Running time | 24–26 minutes |
Original release | |
Network | NBC (1948, 1951) ABC (1949) DuMont (1952-1954) |
Release | April 4, 1948 – October 10, 1954 |
Author Meets the Critics is an American radio and television talk show. After beginning on radio, it was also broadcast on television by the National Broadcasting Company, American Broadcasting Company, and then the DuMont Television Network.
On the series, two literary critics debated a recently published book, one in favor and the other against. Later, the author of the book appeared to meet the critics. Columnist Jack Gaver outlined the concept in his column "Up and Down Broadway, in 1946: "The author of a current best-seller is tossed in with a couple of guest critics and a commentator and, if he survives 30 minutes of unscripted pro and con, may decide never to write another book. Sometimes the boys get rough and lucky is the writer who draws a couple of critics of such opposed views that they go after each other instead of him." [1]
John K. M. McCaffery was the television moderator from 1948 to 1951 [2] (continuing his radio role). Faye Emerson had a brief stint as moderator during 1952. Then Virgilia Peterson was the moderator during its DuMont run from 1952 to 1954. [2]
The DuMont episodes of the series were produced by Phyllis Adams Jenkins (1923-2004), a pioneer in providing serious programming intended for daytime television audiences. She later produced other series, including What's the Problem?, the daytime series Home featuring Arlene Francis during the 1950s, and Dinah Shore's daytime series during the 1960s.[ citation needed ]
On his series, Ernie Kovacs parodied it as "Author Heats the Critics", with the author attacking the critics, rather than the other way around.
Martin Stone first proposed producing the program in 1940, but radio executives found the concept "too highbrow"; [3] the program was first conceived of by Stone and "Albany newspaper man" Richard Lewis. [1] It first made air in December 1940, on an Albany station, before moving to Schenectady, and then to New York City. [3] (It was on the AM radio station WHN in New York City, by 1942.) [4] Stone produced the program remotely during much of this era, as he was serving as general counsel for the Lend-Lease Administration and in the United States Navy, during World War II. [3]
After six years on local radio stations, the national radio broadcaster Mutual network began airing the program. It carried the series on radio from June 12, 1946 to April 2, 1947. [5] It was sponsored by the Book-of-the-Month club, on Mutual. In summer 1946, Stone left Mutual "under agreement", airing the show on WQXR on Thursdays with the club sponsorship, and on Mutual without sponsorship. On May 20, Mutual filled his old time slot with Books on Trial, [6] a series sponsored by the Literary Guild, featuring a "prosecuting attorney and jury." Stone took the situation to court, alleging appropriation and effort to confuse. [1] Stone lost in court, as State Supreme Court Justice Bernard Botein found no conflict of ideas. [7] NBC debuted the series as a weekly radio program, on Sundays, beginning June 1, 1947. [3] By that point, "almost 1,000 of the world's top-flight authors and other literary figures" had appeared on the program. [3] In one episode before NBC, author Gontran de Poncins walked out on a debate about Kabloona . [3]
The television series began as a mid-season replacement on NBC on April 4, 1948, but was transferred to ABC during 1949. The show was transferred back to NBC during 1951, and then to DuMont from January 10, 1952, to October 10, 1954. [2]
The DuMont Television Network was one of America's pioneer commercial television networks, rivaling NBC and CBS for the distinction of being first overall in the United States. It was owned by Allen B. DuMont Laboratories, a television equipment and television set manufacturer, and began operation on April 13, 1940.
Faraway Hill was the first soap opera broadcast on an American television network, airing on the DuMont Television Network on Wednesday nights at 9:00 PM between October 2 and December 18, 1946. A Variety article stated the Caples advertising agency bought time on DuMont for "experimentation purposes," and had "walked where other video programmers feared to tread," moving soap operas from radio to the "infant medium television."
In the United States, there are three major traditional commercial broadcast television networks — NBC, CBS, and ABC — that due to their longevity and ratings success are informally referred to as the "Big Three". They dominated American television until the 1990s and are still considered major U.S. broadcast companies to this day.
A Woman to Remember is a soap opera which ran on the DuMont Television Network from February 21 to July 15, 1949. The show began on February 21 as a daytime series at 3 pm ET. However, starting May 2, the show aired Monday through Friday from 7:30 to 7:45 pm ET.
Melville Brandt was an actor and NBC staff announcer.
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The following is the 1953–54 network television schedule for the four major English language commercial broadcast networks in the United States. The schedule covers primetime hours from September 1953 through March 1954. The schedule is followed by a list per network of returning series, new series, and series cancelled after the 1952–53 season.
The 1946–47 United States network television schedule was nominally from September 1946 to March 1947, but scheduling ideas were still being worked out and did not follow modern standards.
Boxing from St. Nicholas Arena was an American sports program originally broadcast on NBC from 1946 to 1948, and later on the now-defunct DuMont Television Network from 1954 to 1956.
Down You Go is an American television game show originally broadcast on the DuMont Television Network. The Emmy Award-nominated series ran from 1951 to 1956 as a prime time series primarily hosted by Dr. Bergen Evans. The program aired in eleven different timeslots during its five-year run.
The Ted Steele Show is the title of several television and radio programs that were hosted by bandleader Ted Steele (1917–1985).
Leave It to the Girls is an American radio and television talk show, created by Martha Rountree, and broadcast, in various forms, from the 1940s through the 1980s.
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Keep Posted (later known as The Big Issue is an American public affairs TV series on the DuMont Television Network which was sponsored by The Saturday Evening Post for its first two seasons.
The O'Neills is a radio and TV serial drama. The radio iteration of the show aired on Mutual, CBS and NBC from 1934 to 1943. Created by actress-writer Jane West, the series was sponsored at various times by Gold Dust, Ivory Snow, and Standard Brands. It was telecast on the DuMont Television Network in 1949 and 1950.
The Walter Compton News is an American television news series that aired from 1947 to 1948 on the DuMont Television Network Monday through Friday from 6:45 pm to 7 pm ET.
Meet Your Congress was a public affairs TV series on NBC and on the DuMont Television Network. The show premiered on NBC on July 1, 1949, airing Saturdays at 8pm ET. The DuMont series aired from July 8, 1953, until July 4, 1954.
Our Secret Weapon: The Truth is a public affairs program broadcast on the DuMont Television Network from October 22, 1950, to April 17, 1951, and hosted by conservative commentators Leo Cherne and Ralph de Toledano.
Amanda is an American music television program starring Amanda Randolph that debuted on the DuMont Television Network on November 1, 1948. The ending date for the show is unclear, but it still appears in a TV schedule from October 1949.
Twenty Questions, based on the guessing game Twenty questions, started as a radio quiz show in 1946. The television series ran on NBC in 1949, on ABC from 1950 to 1951 and on the DuMont Television Network from 1951 to 1954.