Third series
The third series ran from April 11 to May 30, 1952, with stories by Nell Bell, John Collier ("De Mortuis"), Eric Knight, William Daniel Steele, James Street, James A. Michener and James Thurber. [3]
NBC Presents: Short Story is a half-hour American radio program offering dramatizations of contemporary American short stories that began on NBC on February 21, 1951, and ended on May 30, 1952. [1] The primary goal of the series, as stated by script editor Hugh Kemp, was to combat what appeared to be a widespread lack of respect for the short story as a form. "America's serious writers have, by and large, put into their short stories the same kind of penetrating insight that has gone into their widely read novels. [...] In this series we hope to get some of the material off the dusty shelves and out into the homes of the vast audience of radio." [2]
Throughout the program's run, epsiodes were directed by Andrew C. Love. [1] Overall supervision of production was by Margaret Cuthbert and Wade Arnold, and the announcers were Lamont Johnson, [3] Don Stanley and John Wald. [1] Cast members included Fritz Feld, Lucien Prival, John Dodsworth, Robert Boon and Ramsay Hill, [4] as well as Hy Averback, Parley Baer, Jeff Corey, Howard Culver, John Dehner, Georgia Ellis, Paul Frees, Virginia Gregg, Isabel Jewell, Jack Kruschen, Alma Lawton, Felix Nelson, Dan O'Herlihy and Barney Phillips. [3]
Broadcasting from Hollywood, the series premiered on February 21, 1951, on NBC with an adaptation of "Fifty Grand" by Ernest Hemingway. Script editor Kemp supervised adaptations by George Lefferts, Ernest Kinoy, Clarise A. Ross, and Vincent McConnor. [1] The series was first heard on Wednesdays at 10:30 p.m. EST and then moved in May to Fridays at 8 p.m. Featuring stories by Conrad Aiken, Ring Lardner, Sherwood Anderson, Stephen Vincent Benét, and John Steinbeck, the first series continued until July 13. Brooklyn College cooperated with NBC by scheduling a literary appreciation course with a Short Story tie-in. This was part of NBC's College by Radio plan. [3]
Moving to Fridays at 9:30 p.m. EST, the second series ran from November 23, 1951, to March 14, 1952, with William Welch as script editor and Wade Arnold as executive producer. The College by Radio plan was discontinued. Stories in the second series were by Benét, Ray Bradbury ("The Rocket"), James M. Cain, Erskine Caldwell. John Cheever, Anton Chekhov, John Galsworthy, Graham Greene, Lardner, Steinbeck, Frank Stockton, Ben Ames Williams and others. [3]
The third series ran from April 11 to May 30, 1952, with stories by Nell Bell, John Collier ("De Mortuis"), Eric Knight, William Daniel Steele, James Street, James A. Michener and James Thurber. [3]
There were several related shows that also offered literary adaptations: Best Plays (1952–53), [5] Short Short Story, [6] and The World's Great Novels (1944–48). [7] With "the best published short shorts... originals by famous authors", Short Short Story was a 15-minute daytime drama series that aired three days a week. [6]
Ringgold Wilmer Lardner Jr. was an American screenwriter. A member of the "Hollywood Ten", he was blacklisted by the Hollywood film studios during the late 1940s and 1950s after his appearance as an "unfriendly" witness before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) leading to Lardner being found guilty of contempt of Congress.
Stephen Vincent Benét was an American poet, short story writer, and novelist. He wrote a book-length narrative poem of the American Civil War, John Brown's Body, published in 1928, for which he received the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, and for the short stories "The Devil and Daniel Webster", published in 1936, and "By the Waters of Babylon", published in 1937.
Collier's was an American general interest magazine founded in 1888 by Peter Fenelon Collier. It was launched as Collier's Once a Week, then renamed in 1895 as Collier's Weekly: An Illustrated Journal, shortened in 1905 to Collier's: The National Weekly and eventually to simply Collier's. The magazine ceased publication with the issue dated the week ending January 4, 1957, although a brief, failed attempt was made to revive the Collier's name with a new magazine in 2012.
Dimension X was an NBC radio program broadcast mostly on an unsponsored, sustaining basis from April 8, 1950, to September 29, 1951. The first 13 episodes were broadcast live, and the remainder were prerecorded. Fred Wiehe and Edward King were the directors, and Norman Rose was heard as both announcer and narrator, opening the show with: "Adventures in time and space... told [or transcribed] in future tense..." For two months, beginning on July 7, 1950, the series was sponsored by Wheaties.
The Six Shooter is a United States Western old-time radio program starring James Stewart as a gunfighter. It was created by Frank Burt, who also wrote many of the episodes, and lasted only one season of 39 episodes on NBC. Initially, it was broadcast on Sundays at 9:30 pm Eastern Time, through October 11. Then it was heard at 8:30 pm for three weeks. Finally, on November 8, 1953, through March 21, 1954, it was broadcast Sundays at 8 pm; beginning April 1, 1954, through the final episode, it was on Thursdays at 8:30 pm. One old-time radio directory called the program "a last, desperate effort by a radio network (NBC) to maintain interest in adventure drama by employing a major Hollywood movie star in the leading role."
Big Town is a popular long-running radio drama featuring a corruption-fighting newspaper editor initially played from 1937 to 1942 by Edward G. Robinson in his first radio role, with echoes of the conscience-stricken tabloid editor he had played in the film Five Star Final. Edward Pawley played the lead role longer, 1943–52, in plots that made the editor more of a hands-on crime-fighter. During the later Pawley years, Big Town was adapted to film and television series, and a comic book published by DC Comics.
House Party is an American radio daytime variety/talk show that aired on CBS Radio and on ABC Radio from January 15, 1945 to October 13, 1967. The show had an equally long run on CBS Television as Art Linkletter's House Party and, in its final season, The Linkletter Show, airing from September 1, 1952 to September 5, 1969.
Arch Oboler was an American playwright, screenwriter, novelist, producer, and director who was active in radio, films, theater, and television. He generated much attention with his radio scripts, particularly the horror series Lights Out, and his work in radio remains the outstanding period of his career. Praised as one of broadcasting's top talents, he is regarded today as a key innovator of radio drama. Oboler's personality and ego were larger than life. Radio historian John Dunning wrote, "Few people were ambivalent when it came to Arch Oboler. He was one of those intense personalities who are liked and disliked with equal fire."
The Collier Hour, also known as Collier's Radio Hour, broadcast on the NBC Blue Network from 1927 to 1932, was radio's first major dramatic anthology.
CBS Daytime is a division within CBS that is responsible for the daytime television block programming on the CBS' late morning and early afternoon schedule. The block has historically encompassed soap operas and game shows.
Against the Storm is a radio daytime drama which had three separate runs over a 13-year period; the initial run was on the NBC Red Network from October 16, 1939, to December 25, 1942, with revivals of the series on Mutual from April 25 to October 21, 1949, and ABC from October 1, 1951, to June 27, 1952. Created and written by Sandra Michael, the drama was the only daytime radio serial to ever win a Peabody Award, for "Outstanding Entertainment in Drama" in 1941.
The American Album of Familiar Music is a radio program of popular music broadcast from October 11, 1931, to June 20, 1954, first on NBC, then on ABC and finally on local stations. Directed by James Haupt, the show was produced by Frank and Anne Hummert, better remembered today for creating Ma Perkins and numerous other soap operas.
Author's Playhouse is an anthology radio drama series created by Wynn Wright, that aired on Mutual in 1940–1941, and on the NBC Blue Network from March 5, 1941, until October 1941. It then moved to the NBC Red Network where it was heard until June 4, 1945. Philip Morris was the sponsor between 1942 and 1943.
Cameo Theatre is an American anthology series that aired on NBC during the Golden Age of Television, from 1950 to 1955, three times as a summer replacement and once as a mid-season replacement for other series.
NBC University Theater was a brand the National Broadcasting Co. applied to a category of radio programming. Although not actually a university, some colleges and universities collaborated in some of the programming, either contributing to its content or including the programming in their curriculum. NBC University Theater's most well-known radio series was The World's Great Novels. NBC used the name "University Theater" or similar from about 1923–1947.
Clara, Lu, 'n Em is a radio soap opera, which first aired on June 16, 1930, over WGN-AM Chicago, Illinois. The show was picked up by the NBC Blue radio network and premiered at 10:30 p.m. Eastern Time on January 27, 1931. Thus, it became the first nationally broadcast radio soap opera. When Clara, Lu 'n Em was moved to a regular daytime time slot on February 15, 1932, it became the first networked daytime soap opera.
Your Family and Mine is an American radio drama series that aired April 25, 1938–April 28, 1939, on NBC, and May 1, 1939–April 26, 1940, on CBS. Sponsored by Sealtest, the 15-minute soap opera program aired weekdays at 5:15 p.m. ET on NBC, and at 2:30 p.m. ET on CBS.
Hallmark Playhouse is an American old-time radio dramatic anthology series. It was broadcast on CBS from June 10, 1948 until February 1, 1953, and was described by one author as "a program that consistently produced the highest levels of production quality and value." Beginning on February 8, 1953, the program underwent changes of title, host, and format. It was broadcast as The Hallmark Hall of Fame until March 27, 1955, still on CBS.
The Story of Mary Marlin is an American soap opera radio program. It was broadcast from October 3, 1934, until April 12, 1945, and returned from September 24, 1951, until April 11, 1952. After 1937 it was among the highest-rated soap operas. A version was also broadcast in Australia in 1959-1960.
My True Story is an American radio dramatic anthology series that ran from February 15, 1943, until February 1, 1962, and was adapted into an American television series that ran from May 5, 1950, until September 22, 1950. Material for episodes of both programs was taken from articles in True Story magazine. Margaret Sangster wrote the scripts for both series.