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Fireside Theatre | |
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Also known as |
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Genre | Anthology drama |
Written by | |
Directed by | |
Presented by |
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Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
No. of seasons | 10 |
No. of episodes | 361(268/93) (list of episodes) |
Production | |
Producers |
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Camera setup | Single-camera |
Running time | 30 mins |
Production companies |
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Original release | |
Network | NBC |
Release | April 5, 1949 – May 22, 1958[ citation needed ] |
Fireside Theatre (later known as Jane Wyman Presents the Fireside Theatre, Jane Wyman Theatre, The Jane Wyman Show and Jane Wyman Presents) is an American anthology drama series that ran on NBC from 1949 to 1958, and was the first successful filmed series on American television. Early episodes (1949-1955) were low-budget and often based on public domain stories. While the series was dismissed by critics, it remained among the top ten most popular shows for most of this period. For the 8th season (1955–1956) Jane Wyman became the host and producer making it only the second filmed prime time network drama anthology to be hosted by a woman. Later episodes (1955–1958) were written by important freelance television writers such as Rod Serling, Aaron Spelling and Gene Roddenberry. It predates the other major pioneer of filmed television production in America, I Love Lucy , by two years.
Fireside Theatre was created by Frank Wisbar, who also wrote and directed many episodes. [1] He was the producer and director for the program's first six years, resigning on December 6, 1954, and leaving when his contract expired on February 15, 1955. [2] From 1952 to 1958, the program was presented by a host. This role was first filled by Wisbar (1952–1953), then by Gene Raymond (1953–1955), and finally by the person most associated with the series in the public mind, Jane Wyman (1955–1958).
On April 2, 1955 series’ sponsor P&G and NBC announced a deal with MCA Inc. for Wyman to assume the role of host. During the period first-run episodes were produced by Wyman’s production company Lewman Ltd. the series ultimately became known as The Jane Wyman Show. Wyman acted in 51 of the 93 episodes she hosted. Episodes rerun weekdays on ABC as part of its 1961-62 and 1962-63 daytime schedule ran under the title Jane Wyman Presents.
Season | Episodes | Originally aired | ||
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First aired | Last aired | |||
1 | 12 | April 5, 1949 | June 28, 1949 | |
2 | 41 | September 6, 1949 | June 27, 1950 | |
3 | 46 | August 29, 1950 | August 21, 1951 | |
4 | 44 | August 28, 1951 | June 24, 1952 | |
5 | 39 | September 30, 1952 | June 30, 1953 | |
6 | 44 | September 1, 1953 | June 29, 1954 | |
7 | 43 | September 7, 1954 | June 28, 1955 | |
8 | 35 | August 30, 1955 | April 24, 1956 | |
9 | 34 | August 28, 1956 | June 11, 1957 | |
10 | 24 | September 26, 1957 | May 22, 1958 |
As an anthology series, Fireside Theatre had no regular cast, just a series of guest stars:
1949-1954, Seasons 1-8
Billboard praised an episode titled "The Lottery", saying that the cast "all turned in taut, exciting performances to make Lottery a real winner". [3] Unlike most episodes of the series, this episode aired live.
In 1954, Billboard’s “3rd Annual TV Program and Talent Awards” listed it as the fourth-best filmed network drama series, ahead of the General Electric Theater ; however, Billboard's list excluded "mystery" shows (which was a separate list topped by Dragnet ). [4]
One of Fireside Theatre's most notable early offerings was a 1951 condensed version of Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol , featuring Ralph Richardson as Ebenezer Scrooge for the only time on American television. He later recreated the role on a spoken word Caedmon Records LP album, with Paul Scofield as narrator. It has since been released on CD. [5]
The Doubleday Book Club also ran a playscripts club called The Fireside Theatre.
1955-1958, Seasons 8-10
Fireside Theatre became a hit for NBC, always in the Top 30 shows at the end of each TV season, until the 1956–1957 season, when its viewership began to decline. After this, it never returned to the Top 30.
Seasonal rankings (based on average total viewers per episode) of Fireside Theatre on NBC. (Note: In the United States, each network television season starts in September and ends in late May, which coincides with the completion of May sweeps.)
Season | TV season | Ranking | Viewers (in millions) |
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3rd | 1950–1951 | #2 | 5.365 |
4th | 1951–1952 | #7 | 6.594 |
5th | 1952–1953 | #10 | 8.282 |
6th | 1953–1954 | #9 | 9.464 |
7th | 1954–1955 | #20 | 9.547 |
8th | 1955–1956 | #24 | 10.121 |
1955-1958, Seasons 8-10
In the first year of Wyman's three-year deal to produce and host the 8th, 9th and 10th seasons of, what would ultimately become, The Jane Wyman Show, her series' lead-in, the new color incarnation of Texaco Star Theatre , continued to decline in the ratings for the 1955-56 season falling behind The Phil Silvers Show on CBS in its timeslot and dropping out of the top 30. It was cancelled in 1956 after eight seasons. By contrast the Wyman-hosted Fireside Theatre added an average half a million viewers per episode(the largest audience in the series history) and finished in the top 25 as the #1 show in its timeslot. Wyman's most direct competitor for the coveted female demographic The Loretta Young Show, also sponsored by P&G on NBC, didn't crack the top 30 shows for the 1955-56 season (it had been #27 in the season prior).
The year 1958 in television involved some significant events. Below is a list of television-related events during 1958.
The year 1957 in television involved some significant events. Below is a list of television-related events during 1957.
The year 1955 in television involved some significant events. Below is a list of television-related events during 1955.
The year 1953 in television involved some significant events. Below is a list of television-related events during 1953.
Jane Wyman was an American actress. A star of both movies and television, she received an Academy Award for Best Actress (1948), four Golden Globe Awards and nominations for two Primetime Emmy Awards. In 1960 she received stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for both motion pictures and television. She was the first wife of President Ronald Reagan.
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An anthology series is a written series, radio, television, film, or video game series that presents a different story and a different set of characters in each different episode, season, segment, or short. These usually have a different cast in each episode, but several series in the past, such as Four Star Playhouse, employed a permanent troupe of character actors who would appear in a different drama each week. Some anthology series, such as Studio One, began on radio and then expanded to television.
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The following is the 1957–58 network television schedule for the four major English language commercial broadcast networks in the United States. The schedule covers primetime hours from September 1957 through March 1958. The schedule is followed by a list per network of returning series, new series, and series cancelled after the 1956–57 season.
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Ford Theatre, spelled Ford Theater for the original radio version and known, in full, as The Ford Television Theatre for the TV version, is a radio and television anthology series broadcast in the United States in the 1940s and 1950s. At various times the television series appeared on all three major television networks, while the radio version was broadcast on two separate networks and on two separate coasts. Ford Theatre was named for its sponsor, the Ford Motor Company, which had an earlier success with its concert music series, The Ford Sunday Evening Hour (1934–42).
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Robert Ellis was an American film and television actor in the 1940s and 1950s, who was the last actor to play Henry Aldrich on the radio series The Aldrich Family.