Studio One (U.S. TV series)

Last updated
Studio One
StudioOneScreen.jpg
Westinghouse Studio One title card
Genre Anthology drama
Written by Patrick Alexander
Sumner Locke Elliot
Horton Foote
Frank D. Gilroy
Mel Goldberg
Arthur Hailey
Ben Hecht
Robert Herridge
Ernest Kinoy
Joseph Liss
Loring Mandel
Don Mankiewicz
Abby Mann
Worthington Miner
Tad Mosel
Reginald Rose
Arnold Schulman
Rod Serling
William Templeton
Gore Vidal
Dale Wasserman
Directed by Yul Brynner
James B. Clark (director)
Vincent J. Donehue
John Frankenheimer
David Greene (director)
Buzz Kulik
Sidney Lumet
Fletcher Markle
Worthington Miner
Robert Mulligan
Ralph Nelson
Paul Nickell
Daniel Petrie
David Lowell Rich
Franklin Schaffner
Jack Smight
Lela Swift
Presented byArt Hannes (announcer)
John Cannon (announcer)
Narrated by John Cannon
Theme music composerVic Oliver
Opening theme"Prelude to the Stars"
Ending themesame
Country of originUnited States
Original language(s)English
No. of seasons10
No. of episodes467 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s) Worthington Miner
Producer(s) Worthington Miner
Herbert Brodkin
Running time4850 minutes
Production company(s) CBS Productions
Distributor CBS Television Distribution
Release
Original network CBS
Picture format Black-and-white
Audio format Monaural
Original releaseNovember 7, 1948 (1948-11-07) – September 29, 1958 (1958-09-29)

Studio One is an American radio anthology drama series that was also adapted to television. It was created in 1947 by Canadian director Fletcher Markle, who came to CBS from the CBC. It aired under several variant titles: Studio One in Hollywood, Studio One Summer Theatre, Westinghouse Studio One and Westinghouse Summer Theatre.

Anthology series radio or television series that presents a different story and a different set of characters in each episode

An anthology series is a radio, television or book series that presents a different story and a different set of characters in each episode or season. These usually have a different cast each week, 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.

Fletcher Markle actor, screenwriter, television producer, television and film director

Fletcher Markle was a Canadian actor, screenwriter, television producer and director. Markle began a radio career in his native Canada, before working in films as an actor, and on television as a host as well as in his other creative roles.

CBS is an American English language commercial broadcast television and radio network that is a flagship property of CBS Corporation. The company is headquartered at the CBS Building in New York City with major production facilities and operations in New York City and Los Angeles.

Contents

Radio

Fletcher Markle directing CBS Radio's Studio One (1948) Fletcher Markle 1948.jpg
Fletcher Markle directing CBS Radio's Studio One (1948)

On April 29, 1947, Fletcher Markle launched the 60-minute CBS Radio series with an adaptation of Malcolm Lowry's Under the Volcano. Broadcast on Tuesdays, opposite Fibber McGee and Molly and The Bob Hope Show at 9:30 pm, ET, the radio series continued until July 27, 1948, showcasing such adaptations as Dodsworth , Pride and Prejudice , The Red Badge of Courage , and Ah, Wilderness . Top performers were heard on this series, including John Garfield, Walter Huston, Mercedes McCambridge, Burgess Meredith, and Robert Mitchum.

Malcolm Lowry British writer

Clarence Malcolm Lowry was an English poet and novelist who is best known for his 1947 novel Under the Volcano, which was voted No. 11 in the Modern Library 100 Best Novels list.

<i>Fibber McGee and Molly</i> American radio comedy series

Fibber McGee and Molly was an American radio comedy series. A staple of the NBC Red Network for the show's entire run and one of the most popular and enduring radio series of its time, the prime time situation comedy ran as a standalone series from 1935 to 1956, then continued as a short-form series as part of the weekend Monitor from 1957 to 1959. The title characters were created and portrayed by Jim and Marian Jordan, a real-life husband and wife team that had been working in radio since the 1920s.

<i>Dodsworth</i> (novel) novel by Sinclair Lewis

Dodsworth is a satirical novel by American writer Sinclair Lewis, first published by Harcourt Brace & Company in March 1929. Its subject, the differences between US and European intellect, manners, and morals, is one that frequently appears in the works of Henry James.

CBS Radio received a Peabody Award for Studio One in 1947, citing Markle's choice of material and the authenticity of his adaptations "in a production, which at its best, is distinguished for its taste, restraint, and radio craftsmanship". [1]

Peabody Award international awards for excellence in radio and television

The George Foster Peabody Awards program, named for the American businessman and philanthropist George Peabody, honor the most powerful, enlightening, and invigorating stories in television, radio, and online media. Programs are recognized in seven categories: news, entertainment, documentaries, children's programming, education, interactive programming, and public service. Peabody Award winners include radio and television stations, networks, online media, producing organizations, and individuals from around the world.

Move to television

Jackie Gleason The Laugh Maker Studio One 1953.jpg
Jackie Gleason in "The Laugh Maker" (1953)
1984 Norma Crane Eddie Albert Studio One 1953.jpg
Eddie Albert (third from left) on the set of "1984" (1953), the first screen adaptation George Orwell's novel
Trembled.jpg
Alexander Scourby (right) in "The Night America Trembled" (1957)

In 1948, Markle made a leap from radio to television. Sponsored by Westinghouse Electric Corporation, the television series was seen on CBS (which Westinghouse later owned between 1995 and 2000), from 1948 through 1958, under several variant titles: Studio One Summer Theatre, Studio One in Hollywood, Summer Theatre, Westinghouse Studio One, and Westinghouse Summer Theatre. It was telecast in black-and-white only.

Offering a wide range of dramas, Studio One received Emmy nominations every year from 1950 to 1958. The series staged some notable and memorable teleplays among its 467 episodes. Some created such an impact, they were adapted into theatrical films. William Templeton's 1953 adaptation of George Orwell's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four , starring Eddie Albert as Winston Smith, led to the 1956 feature-film version with Edmond O'Brien in the principal role. Reginald Rose's drama "Twelve Angry Men", about the conflicts of jurors deciding a murder case, originated on Studio One on September 20, 1954; and the 1957 motion picture remake with Henry Fonda was nominated for three Academy Awards. Sal Mineo had the title role in the January 2, 1956, episode of Reginald Rose's "Dino", and he reprised the role for the movie Dino (1957).

William Templeton (screenwriter) Scottish playwright and screenwriter

William Pettigrew Templeton was a Scottish playwright and screenwriter who made a major contribution to the Golden Age of Television writing a string of episodic dramas for American prime time television during the 1950s and 1960s, a time when many hour-long anthology drama series received wide critical acclaim. Templeton had a long film career both in the UK and the US. His adaptation of The Fallen Idol a 1948 film with Ralph Richardson directed by Carol Reed and based on the short story The Basement Room by Graham Greene was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Direction and Best Adapted Screenplay, and won a BAFTA Award for Best British Film.

<i>Nineteen Eighty-Four</i> dystopian novel written by George Orwell

Nineteen Eighty-Four, often published as 1984, is a dystopian novel by English writer George Orwell published in June 1949. The novel is set in the year 1984 when most of the world population have become victims of perpetual war, omnipresent government surveillance and propaganda.

Eddie Albert actor

Edward Albert Heimberger, known professionally as Eddie Albert, was an American actor and activist. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1954 for his performance in Roman Holiday, and in 1973 for The Heartbreak Kid.

In 1954, "Crime at Blossoms", scripted by Jerome Ross, was given an Edgar Award for Best Episode in a TV Series. Nathaniel Hawthorne's granddaughter received a plaque in recognition of her grandfather's writing achievements during the April 3, 1950 telecast of The Scarlet Letter. "The Night America Trembled" [2] was Studio One's September 9, 1957 top-rated television recreation of Orson Welles' October 30, 1938 radio broadcast of The War of the Worlds . The cast included Alexander Scourby, Ed Asner (credited as Edward Asner), and Vincent Gardenia; James Coburn (credited as Jim Coburn), Warren Beatty and Warren Oates all made their television debuts in bit parts. John Astin appeared uncredited as a reporter.

The Edgar Allan Poe Awards, named after Edgar Allan Poe, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America, based in New York City. They honor the best in mystery fiction, non-fiction, television, film, and theater published or produced in the previous year.

Nathaniel Hawthorne American novelist and short story writer

Nathaniel Hawthorne was an American novelist, dark romantic, and short story writer.

Orson Welles American actor, director, writer and producer

George Orson Welles was an American actor, director, writer, and producer who worked in theatre, radio, and film. He is remembered for his innovative work in all three: in theatre, most notably Caesar (1937), a Broadway adaptation of William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar; in radio, the long-remembered 1938 broadcast "The War of the Worlds"; and in film, Citizen Kane (1941), consistently ranked as one of the greatest films ever made.

Another notable presentation was an adaptation in 1952 of a medieval mystery play about the birth of Christ, "The Nativity", based on the Chester and York Mystery Plays of the 14th and 15th centuries, reworked into Elizabethan English. With musical accompaniment by the Robert Shaw Chorale, and presented during the Christmas season of 1952, this was one of the few medieval mystery plays telecast on commercial network television. The cast included Thomas Hardie Chalmers, Miriam Wolfe, Hurd Hatfield, and Paul Tripp. [3]

During the 1953 presentation "Dry Run", whole sections of a submarine were built inside the studio, and the entire cast was nearly electrocuted when water that was being used for special effects got very close to power cables. [4]

Worthington Miner, Martin Manulis, and others produced. As spokeswoman for Westinghouse, Betty Furness became strongly identified with Westinghouse products, and she was also seen in eight Studio One dramas. The show's musical directors were Milton C. Anderson, who also created music for Playhouse 90 , and Eugene Cines. The show's musical orchestra was also directed in several episodes during the 1950s by Alfredo Antonini. [5] The show's run ended when Westinghouse switched its sponsorship to the Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse , which premiered in 1958. [6] The series finished at number 24 in the Nielsen ratings for the 1950–1951 season. [7]

Lost episode

For years, the second half of the original TV production of Twelve Angry Men was considered lost. However, in 2003, Joseph Consentino, a researcher-producer for The History Channel, discovered a complete kinescope of the Studio One production in the home of the late New York defense attorney (and later judge) Samuel Leibowitz. Consentino was researching a History Channel documentary about Leibowitz, and the discovery was announced by the Museum of Television & Radio (now The Paley Center for Media). [8]

A third-season episode of the ABC legal drama Boston Legal , "Son of the Defender", used clips from the two-part Studio One episode "The Defender" (February 25 – March 4, 1957), featuring William Shatner as an attorney joining his lawyer father, played by Ralph Bellamy, in the defense of a 19-year-old, played by Steve McQueen, who is accused of murder. Utilizing clips of the older show for flashbacks, the Boston Legal episode portrayed Shatner's Studio One character as a young Denny Crane trying his first case alongside his father. [9]

Many Studio One episodes are available for viewing at the Paley Center for Media in New York City and Los Angeles, and some are available through Netflix.

Awards and nominations

YearResultEmmy Award CategoryRecipient
1950NominatedBest Kinescope Show
1951 Best Dramatic Show
1952Won
1953Nominated
1954
1955Best Individual Program of the Year
Best Dramatic Show
WonBest Written Dramatic Material Reginald Rose (For "Twelve Angry Men")
Best Direction Franklin J. Schaffner (For "Twelve Angry Men")
Best Actor in a Single Performance Robert Cummings (For "Twelve Angry Men")
1956NominatedBest Dramatic Series
WonBest Camerawork - Live ShowT. Miller
1957NominatedBest Single Performance by an Actress Nancy Kelly (For "The Pilot")
Best Single Performance by an Actor Sal Mineo (For "Dino")
1958Best Teleplay Writing - One Hour or More Arthur Hailey (For "No Deadly Medicine")
Best Dramatic Anthology Series
Actress - Best Single Performance - Lead or Support Piper Laurie (For "The Deaf Heart")
Actor - Best Single Performance - Lead or Support Lee J. Cobb (For "No Deadly Medicine")

Home media

In 2008, Koch Vision released the Studio One Anthology. Episodes include "1984", "The Arena", "Confessions of a Nervous Man", "Dark Possession", "The Death and Life of Larry Benson", "Dino", "Julius Caesar", "June Moon", "The Medium", "Pontius Pilate", "The Remarkable Incident at Carson Corners", "The Storm", "The Strike", "Summer Pavilion", "Twelve Angry Men", and "Wuthering Heights". The episodes contain the original Westinghouse commercials. Bonus features include the "Studio One Seminar" from the Paley Center for Media; an interview with director Paul Nickell, footage from the Archive of American Television and a featurette on the series.

The episode "Twelve Angry Men" is also included as a bonus on the Criterion Collection DVD and Blu-ray releases of the 1957 film. [10]

Amazon.com is also issuing several made-to-order DVDs of episodes not included in the Koch Vision Anthology.

Related Research Articles

A teleplay is a screenplay or script used in the production of a scripted television program or series. In general usage, the term is most commonly seen in reference to a standalone production, such as a television film, a television play or an episode of an anthology series; in internal industry usage, however, all television scripts are teleplays, although a "teleplay" credit may be subsumed into a "written by" credit depending on the circumstances of its creation.

Westinghouse may refer to:

Desilu Productions American production company

Desilu Productions was an American production company founded and co-owned by husband and wife Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball, best known for shows such as I Love Lucy, Star Trek, and The Untouchables. Until 1962, Desilu was the second-largest independent television production company in the U.S., behind MCA's Revue Productions, until MCA bought Universal Pictures and Desilu became and remained the number-one independent production company, until being sold in 1967.

Mercedes McCambridge American actress

Carlotta Mercedes Agnes McCambridge was an American actress of radio, stage, film, and television. Orson Welles called her "the world's greatest living radio actress." She won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for All the King's Men (1949) and was nominated in the same category for Giant (1956). She also provided the voice of Pazuzu in The Exorcist (1973).

<i>Hallmark Hall of Fame</i> television series

Hallmark Hall of Fame, originally called Hallmark Television Playhouse, is an anthology program on American television, sponsored by Hallmark Cards, a Kansas City-based greeting card company. The longest-running primetime series in the history of television, it first aired in 1951 and continues into the present day. From 1954 onward, all of its productions have been broadcast in color. It is one of the first video productions to telecast in color, a rarity in the 1950s. Many television movies have been shown on the program since its debut, though the program began with live telecasts of dramas and then changed to videotaped productions before finally changing to filmed ones.

<i>Playhouse 90</i> television series

Playhouse 90 was an American television anthology drama series that aired on CBS from 1956 to 1960 for a total of 133 episodes. The show was produced at CBS Television City in Los Angeles, California. Since live anthology drama series of the mid-1950s usually were hour-long shows, the title highlighted the network's intention to present something unusual: a weekly series of hour-and-a-half-long dramas rather than 60-minute plays.

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References

  1. "Studio One". The Peabody Awards. Retrieved 2018-02-22.
  2. Westinghouse Studio One's "The Night America Trembled" at archive.org
  3. https://archive.org/details/Nativity
  4. The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946-Present. Ballantine Books. 2003. p. 1144. ISBN   0-345-45542-8.
  5. https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0031350/
  6. "Westinghouse-Desilu Playhouse". The Museum of Broadcast Communications. Retrieved 23 December 2008.
  7. http://www.classictvhits.com/tvratings/1950.htm
  8. Cynthia Littleton (16 April 2003). "Mt&r Finds '54 'Angry Men'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2008-11-04.
  9. "Shatner, Age 26, To Appear With Shatner, Age 76". Studio Briefing . 21 March 2007. Retrieved 2008-11-04.
  10. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B005HK13QS/

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