Mayberry R.F.D. is an American television series produced as a spin-off and direct continuation of The Andy Griffith Show. When star Andy Griffith decided to leave his series, most of the supporting characters returned for the new program, which ran for three seasons (78 episodes) on the CBS Television Network from 1968–1971. During the final season of The Andy Griffith Show, widower farmer Sam Jones (Ken […]
The Vise is a half-hour dramatic anthology television series which aired at 9:30 p.m. EST on Fridays on ABC from December 1955 to June 1957.
Produced in London and hosted by Australian actor Ron Randell, the suspense series depicted people unwittingly trapped in “the vise” of fate due to their own actions, usually of a criminal nature. Each episode boasted a different cast and was an entity unto itself. Donald Gray, a native of South Africa, played the title role of private detective Mark Saber.
In 1957, The Vise was altered and moved from ABC to NBC under the title Saber of London, with Gray still in the lead role. Petula Clark, Honor Blackman, and Patrick McGoohan – at the time all unknown in the States – were among those who appeared on the show.
The Grand Ole Opry started as the WSM Barn Dance in the new fifth-floor radio studio of the National Life & Accident Insurance Company in downtown Nashville on November 28th, 1925. On October 18th, 1925, management began a program featuring “Dr. Humphrey Bate and his string quartet of old-time musicians.” On November 2nd, WSM hired […]
Ozark Jubilee is the first U.S. network television program to feature country music’s top stars, and featured performers located in Springfield, Missouri which has long emulated Nashville, Tennessee as a center of American country music. The weekly live stage show premiered on ABC-TV on January 22nd, 1955, was renamed Country Music Jubilee on July 6th, […]
Stage Show was a popular music variety series on American television originally hosted on alternate weeks by big band leaders and brothers Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey. Produced by Jackie Gleason, the CBS-TV show included the first national television appearances by Elvis Presley. Introduced by Cleveland, Ohio disc jockey Bill Randle, Presley first appeared on January 28th, 1956, performing “Shake, Rattle and Roll”, “Flip, Flop and Fly” […]
Midwestern Hayride, sometimes known as Midwest Hayride, was an American country music show originating in the 1930s from WLW-AM and later from WLWT-TV in Cincinnati, Ohio. During the 1950s it was carried nationally by NBC and then ABC television. The program featured live country music (performed mainly by local musicians but on lesser occasions by national stars) and what was then called “hayseed” comedy, much of which […]
Your Hit Parade is an American radio and television music program that was broadcast from 1935 to 1955 on radio, and seen from 1950 to 1959 on television. It was sponsored by American Tobacco’s Lucky Strike cigarettes. André Baruch continued as the announcer when the program arrived on NBC television in summer 1950 (Del Sharbutt […]
Perry Como made the move to television when NBC initially televised the Chesterfield Supper Club radio program on December 24th, 1948. A very special guest on that first television show was Como’s eight-year-old son, Ronnie, as part of a boys’ choir singing “Silent Night” with his father. The show was the usual Friday night Chesterfield Supper Club with an important […]
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This Is Your Life was an American documentary series broadcast on NBC radio 1948 to 1952, and on NBC television 1952 to 1961. It was originally hosted by its producer Ralph Edwards. In the show, the host surprises a guest, and proceeds to take them through their life in front of an audience, including special […]
Cavalcade of America is an anthology drama series that was sponsored by the DuPont Company, although it occasionally presented a musical, such as an adaptation of Show Boat, and condensed biographies of popular composers. It was initially broadcast on radio from 1935 to 1953, and later on television from 1952 to 1957. Originally on CBS, […]
Two for the Money is an American game show television program which ran from 1952 to 1957. The show ran for one season on NBC, and four seasons on CBS. It was a Mark Goodson-Bill Todman production, and was initially sponsored by Old Gold cigarettes. Humorist Herb Shriner was the host for most of the […]
Masquerade Party is an American television game show. During its original run from 1952–1960, the show appeared at various times on all three major networks except DuMont (ABC, NBC, and CBS). A syndicated revival was produced for one season in 1974-75. A panel of celebrities met with another celebrity that was in heavy make-up and/or costume; this disguise would always […]
I’ve Got a Secret is a panel game show produced by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman for CBS television. Created by comedy writers Allan Sherman and Howard Merrill, it was a derivative of Goodson-Todman’s own panel show What’s My Line?. Instead of celebrity panelists trying to determine a contestant’s occupation, the panel tries to determine a contestant’s “secret”: something that is unusual, amazing, embarrassing, or humorous about that person. The […]
Life is Worth Living is an inspirational American television series which ran on the DuMont Television Network from February 12th, 1952 to April 26th, 1955, then on ABC until 1957, featuring the Venerable Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen. (Similar series, also featuring Sheen, followed in 1958–61 and 1961–68.) Hosted by Bishop (later Archbishop) Fulton J. Sheen, the series consisted mainly of Sheen speaking to the camera and […]
“Ladies and Gentlemen: The story you are about to hear is true. The names have been changed to protect the innocent.” Dragnet is an American radio, television and motion picture series, enacting the cases of a dedicated Los Angeles police detective, Sergeant Joe Friday, and his partners. The show takes its name from the […]
I Love Lucy is a landmark American television sitcom starring Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Vivian Vance, and William Frawley. The black-and-white series originally ran from October 15th, 1951, to May 6th, 1957, on CBS. After the series ended in 1957, however, a modified version continued for three more seasons with 13 one-hour specials, running from 1957 to 1960, known first as The Lucille Ball-Desi […]
The Goodyear Television Playhouse is an American anthology series that was telecast live on NBC from 1951 to 1957 during the “Golden Age of Television.” Sponsored by Goodyear, Goodyear alternated sponsorship with Philco, and the Philco Television Playhouse was seen on alternate weeks. In 1955, the title was shortened to The Goodyear Playhouse and it […]
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars is an anthology series that was telecast from 1951 until 1959 on CBS. Offering both comedies and drama, the series was sponsored by the Joseph Schlitz Brewing Company. The title was shortened to Schlitz Playhouse, beginning with the fall 1957 season. Initially, the show was broadcast live, but starting in the […]
The Red Skelton Show is an American variety show that was a television staple for two decades, from 1951 to 1971. The host of the show, Richard Bernard “Red” Skelton, who had previously been a radio star, had appeared in several motion pictures as well. Although his television series is largely associated with CBS, where it appeared for more than fifteen years, it actually began and […]
You Asked for It was a popular human interest show created and hosted by Art Baker. Initially titled The Art Baker Show, the program originally aired on American television between 1950 and 1959. On the show, viewers were asked to send in postcards describing something that they wanted to see on television, such as the […]
You Bet Your Life is an American quiz show that aired on both radio and television. The original and best-known version was hosted by Groucho Marx of the Marx Brothers, with announcer and assistant George Fenneman. The show debuted on ABC Radio in October 1947, then moved to CBS Radio in September 1949 before making the transition to NBC-TV in October 1950. Because of its simple format, it was […]
Lux Video Theatre is an American anthology series that was produced from 1950 until 1959. The series presented both comedy and drama in original teleplays, as well as abridged adaptations of films and plays. The Lux Video Theatre was a spin-off from the successful Lux Radio Theater series broadcast on the NBC Blue Network (1934-1935) and CBS (1935–55). Lux Video Theatre began as a live 30-minute Monday evening […]
Truth or Consequences is an American television game show originally hosted on NBC radio by Ralph Edwards (1940–1957) and later on television by Edwards (1950–1954), Jack Bailey (1954–1955), and Bob Barker (1956–1975). The television show ran on CBS, NBC and also in syndication. The premise of the show was to mix the original quiz element […]
Your Hit Parade is an American radio and television music program that was broadcast from 1935 to 1955 on radio, and seen from 1950 to 1959 on television. It was sponsored by American Tobacco’s Lucky Strike cigarettes. André Baruch continued as the announcer when the program arrived on NBC television in summer 1950 (Del Sharbutt […]
Armstrong Circle Theatre is an American anthology drama television series which ran from 1950 to 1957 on NBC, and then until 1963 on CBS. It alternated weekly with The U.S. Steel Hour. The series featured original dramas by noted writers, although sometimes comedies were shown. Its guidelines specifically called for the avoidance of violence. Originally a half-hour production, in 1955 the show expanded […]
Beat the Clock is a Goodson-Todman game show that aired on American television in several versions since 1950. The original show, hosted by Bud Collyer, ran on CBS from 1950 to 1958 and ABC from 1958 to 1961. The show was revived in syndication as The New Beat the Clock from 1969 to 1974, with Jack Narz as host until 1972, when he was replaced by the show’s […]
What’s My Line? is a panel game show which originally ran in the United States on the CBS Television Network from 1950 to 1967, with several international versions and subsequent U.S. revivals. The game tasks celebrity panelists with questioning contestants in order to determine their occupations. It is the longest-running U.S. primetime network television game-show. […]
Robert Montgomery Presents is an American dramatic television series which was produced by NBC from January 30th, 1950 until June 24th, 1957. The live show had several sponsors during its seven-year run, and the title was altered to feature the sponsor, usually Lucky Strike cigarettes, for example, Robert Montgomery Presents Your Lucky Strike Theater, ….The Johnson’s Wax Program, and so on. Initially offering hour-long […]
The Gene Autry Show is an American western/cowboy television series which aired for 91 episodes on CBS from July 23rd, 1950 until August 7th, 1956, originally sponsored by Wrigley’s Doublemint chewing gum.
Series star Gene Autry had already established his singing cowboy character on radio and the movies. Now he and his horse Champion were featured in a weekly television series of western adventures. Gene’s role changed almost weekly from rancher, to ranch hand, to sheriff, to border agent, etc. Gene’s usual comic relief and sidekick, Pat, was played by Pat Buttram, better known to later television viewers as “Mr Haney” on “Green Acres”. During the first season, Gene’s sidekick was played by Chill Wills twice (as Chill) and by Fuzzy Knight four times (as Sagebrush). These two actors even wore Pat’s costume. Alan Hale, Jr.(a.k.a. – “The Skipper” from “Gilligan’s Island”) played a bad guy in several episodes of Seasons 1 and 2, but he also played Gene’s sidekick, Tiny, in two episodes of Season 1.
By this time, Autry had established his own production company, Flying ‘A’ Productions, and acted as executive director for the series.
The series lasted five seasons. The first four were in black and white, and the final season (thirteen episodes) was in color. Color was experimented with in two episodes of the first season. The theme song Back In the Saddle Again was written by Autry and Ray Whitley and sung by Autry.
Among the guest stars, Nan Leslie and Mike Ragan were cast in different roles four times from 1950 to 1955.
The Munsters is an American television sitcom depicting the home life of a family of benign monsters. The series originally aired on Thursday at 7:30pm on CBS from September 24th, 1964, to May 12th, 1966. Seventy episodes were produced.
The series stars Fred Gwynne as Herman Munster and Yvonne De Carlo as his wife, Lily Munster. The show was a satire of both traditional monster movies and the wholesome family fare of the era, and was produced by the creators of Leave It to Beaver. It ran concurrently with the similarly themed The Addams Family.
The Munsters was broadcast weekly on BBC1 in the UK. It was cancelled after ratings dropped to a low due to the premiere of ABC’s Batman, which was in color. Though ratings were low during its initial two-year run, The Munsters found a large audience in syndication. This popularity warranted a spin-off series, as well as several films, including one with a theatrical release.
My Living Doll is an American science fiction sitcom that aired for 26 episodes on CBS from September 27th, 1964 to March 17th, 1965. This series was produced by Jack Chertok and was filmed at Desilu studios by Jack Chertok Television, Inc., in association with the CBS Television Network. The series was unusual in that it was bought by the network without a formal pilot film (at the request of CBS’ president, James T. Aubrey), due to the success of Chertok’s previous series, My Favorite Martian.
The series starred Bob Cummings as Dr. Bob McDonald, a psychiatrist who is given care of Rhoda Miller, a lifelike android (played by Julie Newmar) in the form of a sexy, Amazonian female, by her creator, a scientist who did not want her to fall into the hands of the military.
Rhoda’s real name is AF 709, and she is a prototype robot that Dr. Carl Miller (Henry Beckman) built for the U.S. Air Force. Through a series of mishaps, the robot ends up in the care of Dr. Miller’s friend, Air Force psychiatrist Bob McDonald, when Miller is transferred to Pakistan. Bob is initially reluctant but soon becomes intrigued by the experiment of educating this sophisticated but naive robot. Bob’s initial goal is to teach Rhoda how to be a “perfect” woman, which he defines as one who “does what she’s told” and “doesn’t talk back.” He also strives to keep her identity secret from the world.
