TV Reader's Digest | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Genre | Drama, Anthology |
Directed by | William Beaudine John Brahm Peter Godfrey (director) Phil Karlson Arnold Laven Ted Post |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
No. of seasons | 2 |
No. of episodes | 39 |
Production | |
Executive producer | Harry Joe Brown |
Production locations | Los Angeles, California, United States |
Running time | 25 minutes |
Original release | |
Network | ABC |
Release | January 17, 1955 – July 9, 1956 |
TV Reader's Digest is the title of a 30-minute American television anthology drama series, which aired on ABC from January 17, 1955, to July 9, 1956. [1] Its theme music was "Polonaise" from Act III of Eugene Onegin .
Based on articles that appeared in Reader's Digest magazine, [1] the episodes were true stories that were varied in their themes, plots, and content. Themes included crime, heroism, mystery, romance, and human interest.
Hugh Reilly was the initial host. He was succeeded by Gene Raymond. [1]
Some of the actors who were cast in the episodes include Chuck Connors, Peter Graves, Lee Marvin, [2] Claude Akins, Leon Askin, Jean Byron, John Howard, Vivi Janiss (as Mary Todd Lincoln in "How Chance Made Lincoln President"), Francis McDonald, Martin Milner, Jerry Paris, Gene Raymond, Max Showalter, and Michael Winkelman. Clint Eastwood made his first Western appearance as Lt. Wilson in the episode "Cochise, Greatest of the Apaches", which aired January 30, 1956. [3]
Date | Title | Actor(s) |
---|---|---|
January 17, 1955 | "Last of the Old Time Shooting Sheriffs" [4] | -- |
February 21, 1955 | "Top Secret" [4] | -- |
March 14, 1955 | "The American Master Counterfeiters" [4] | -- |
March 21, 1955 | "America's First Great Lady" | Gloria Talbott [5] |
April 25, 1955 | "The Great Armored-Car Robbery" [4] | -- |
May 16, 1955 | "France's Greatest Detective" [4] | -- |
June 6, 1955 | "Human Nature Through a Rear View Mirror" [4] | -- |
June 27, 1955 | "Comrade Lindeman's Conscience" [4] | -- |
October 31, 1955 | "The Archer-Shee Case" [4] | -- |
November 7, 1955 | "The Brainwashing of John Hays" [4] | -- |
November 14, 1955 | "The Making of a Submariner" [4] | -- |
November 21, 1955 | "The Voyage of Capt. Tom Jones, Pirate" | Louis Hayward [6] |
December 12, 1955 | "Emergency Case" [4] | -- |
January 2, 1956 | "In the Eye of the Hurricane" [4] | -- |
January 16, 1956 | "The Man Who Beat Death" [4] | -- |
January 23, 1956 | "A Bell for Okinawa" [4] | -- |
March 12, 1956 | "Night Court" [4] | -- |
April 23, 1956 | "Uncle Sam's C-Men" [4] | -- |
May 14, 1956 | "Britain's Most Baffling Murder Case" [4] | -- |
June 18, 1956 | "Go Fight City Hall" [4] | -- |
June 25, 1956 | "Family Reunion, U.S.A." [4] | -- |
Chester Erskine created the show [7] and was the producer. [1] William Beaudine, Harry Horner, and William Seiter were the directors. [8] Episode writers included Frank Gruber, [9] Frederick Hazlitt Brennan, and Cleveland Amory.[ citation needed ] Studebaker-Packard initially sponsored the program, but the company's financial problems caused that relationship to end. [10]
Erskine gained the rights to make the series after he went through every issue the magazine had published since 1928 to ensure that the TV series would reflect the magazine "as faithfully as possible". [11]
The show replaced Soldier Parade. [8] It was broadcast on Mondays from 8 to 8:30 p.m. Eastern time. [2]
A review of the premiere episode in the trade publication Variety said that Erskine "appears to have successfully translated that human interest element that's made the Reader's Digest a lierary phenom into television terms." [9] It commended Gruber's writing and Beaudine's directing and described the cast as "excellent". [9]
J. P. Shanley, writing in The New York Times , found the December 5, 1955, episode ("The Sad Death of a Hero", about the 1925 Scopes trial) to be "an uninspired presentation." [12] Shanley wrote, "Douglass Dumbrille was effective as the uncompromising Fundamentalist Bryan." [12] Carl Benton Reid "had some impressive moments" as Darrow, the review said. [12] The main negative factor was introduction of "a side issue" about a journalist covering the trial and a teacher who influenced her. [12]
The year 1956 in television involved some significant events. Below is a list of television-related events during 1956.
Highway Patrol is a 156-episode action crime drama series produced for syndication from 1955 to 1959. It was "one of the most popular syndicated series in television history", and it was the first American series broadcast in West Germany on that country's commercial TV channel.
Armstrong Circle Theatre is an American anthology drama television series which ran from June 6, 1950, to June 25, 1957, on NBC, and from October 2, 1957, to August 28, 1963, on CBS. It alternated weekly with The U.S. Steel Hour. It finished in the Nielsen ratings at number 19 for the 1950–51 season and number 24 for 1951–52. The principal sponsor was Armstrong World Industries.
Everett H. Sloane was an American character actor who worked in radio, theatre, films, and television.
The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp is the first Western television series written for adults. It premiered four days before Gunsmoke on September 6, 1955. Two weeks later came the Clint Walker western Cheyenne. The series is loosely based on the life of frontier marshal Wyatt Earp. The half-hour, black-and-white program aired for six seasons on ABC from 1955 to 1961, with Hugh O'Brian in the title role.
Navy Log is an American television drama anthology series created by Samuel Gallu that presented stories from the history of the United States Navy. This series ran on CBS from September 20, 1955, until September 25, 1956. On October 17, 1956, it moved to ABC, where it aired until September 25, 1958. It changed networks because CBS "could not schedule it to the sponsor's wishes". The program aired for a total of three seasons and 104 episodes.
Cheyenne is an American Western television series of 108 black-and-white episodes broadcast on ABC from 1955 to 1962. The show was the first hour-long Western, and was the first hour-long dramatic series of any kind, with continuing characters, to last more than one season. It was also the first series to be made by a major Hollywood film studio which did not derive from its established film properties, and the first of a long chain of Warner Bros. original series produced by William T. Orr.
The Philco Television Playhouse is an American television anthology series that was broadcast live on NBC from 1948 to 1955. Produced by Fred Coe, the series was sponsored by Philco. It was one of the most respected dramatic shows of the Golden Age of Television, winning a 1954 Peabody Award and receiving eight Emmy nominations between 1951 and 1956.
The Alcoa Hour is an American anthology television series that was aired live on NBC from October 16, 1955, to September 22, 1957.
The Adventures of Jim Bowie is an American Western television series that aired on ABC from 1956 to 1958. Its setting was the 1830s-era Louisiana Territory. The series was an adaptation of the book Tempered Blade, by Monte Barrett.
Cimarron City is an American one-hour Western television series, starring George Montgomery as Matt Rockford and John Smith as Lane Temple, airing on NBC from October 11, 1958, to September 26, 1959. Cimarron City is a boomtown in Logan County, Oklahoma, north of Oklahoma City. Rich in oil and gold, Cimarron City aspires to become the capital of the future state of Oklahoma, to be created in 1907.
Front Row Center is the title of two American television programs with different formats that were broadcast on different networks.
Danger is a CBS television dramatic anthology series that began on September 26, 1950, and ended on May 31, 1955. Its original title was Amm-i-dent Playhouse. The show "was one of the first television dramatic series to make effective use of background music"
Marilyn Erskine is an American actress who started performing at the age of three on radio, and has since appeared in radio, theater, film and television roles from the 1920s through the 1970s.
Playwrights '56, a.k.a. The Playwright Hour, is a 60-minute live American dramatic anthology series produced by Fred Coe for Showtime Productions. Twenty episodes aired on NBC from October 4, 1955, to June 19, 1956. It shared a Thursday time slot with Armstrong Circle Theatre.
Star Stage is a half-hour American television anthology series that began on September 9, 1955, and ended on September 7, 1956.
The Best in Mystery is an American anthology and mystery television series that ran for three years as a summer replacement series for the crime drama The Big Story.
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre is an American Western anthology television series broadcast on CBS from October 5, 1956 until May 18, 1961.
Appointment with Adventure is an American dramatic anthology television program that was broadcast from April 3, 1955, until April 1, 1956, on CBS.
Guy Lombardo's Diamond Jubilee is an American musical television program that was broadcast on CBS from March 20, 1956, until June 19, 1956.