Category: Uncategorized

  • Coke Time with Eddie Fisher – ThrowbackMachine.com

    Coke Time with Eddie Fisher

    Coke Time with Eddie Fisher is an American musical variety television series starring singer Eddie Fisher which was broadcast by NBC on Wednesday nights in early prime time from 1953 to 1957.  The program was aired from 7:30 to 7:45 p.m. Eastern Time on Wednesdays and Fridays, and was not seen during the summer months. 

    The program was initially hosted by Don Ameche with Freddy Robbins as the announcer, but in late October 1953 Ameche left the program and Robbins became its host.  As could have been surmised from the title, the program was sponsored by Coca-Cola.  The house band was Axel Stordahl and His Orchestra, and beginning in 1956 the singing group The Echoes appeared as a permanent backup group for Fisher and his frequent guest stars.  The program was generally presented live, but was occasionally filmed in advance or shot on location Coke Time with Eddie Fisher was last aired on February 22nd, 1957, although the series was by then sponsored by Standard Brands‘ Planters peanuts, as Coca-Cola previously cancelled their sponsorship during 1956 due to a dispute with bottlers over a proposed larger Coke bottle.
  • 1956 Archives – Page 2 of 7 – ThrowbackMachine.com

    Sargeant Preston of the Yukon

    Sergeant Preston of the Yukon

    In 1955, the same year the radio show ended, Sergeant Preston of the Yukon premiered as a television series.  Mainly filmed at Ashcroft, Colorado, the series was telecast on CBS from September 29th, 1955, to September 25th, 1958. Richard Simmons starred as Sgt. Preston, and was supported by Yukon King and Rex, now played by […]

    The Adventures of Robin Hood

    The Adventures of Robin Hood is a British television series comprising 143 half-hour, black and white episodes broadcast weekly between 1955 and 1959 on ITV. It stars Richard Greene as the outlaw Robin Hood and Alan Wheatley as his nemesis, the Sheriff of Nottingham.  The show followed the legendary character Robin Hood and his band of merry men in Sherwood Forest and the surrounding vicinity. While some episodes dramatised the traditional Robin Hood […]

    The Adventures of Champion

    The Adventures of Champion

    The Adventures of Champion is an American children’s Western series that aired from September 23rd, 1955 to March 3rd, 1956 for 26 episodes on CBS.  In the United Kingdom, the series was re-broadcast under the title Champion the Wonder Horse. The series starred Barry Curtis as 12-year-old Ricky North, who lived on his uncle’s ranch […]

    The Phil Silvers Show

    The Phil Silvers Show

    The Phil Silvers Show, originally titled You’ll Never Get Rich, was a situation comedy which ran on CBS from 1955 to 1959 for 142 episodes, plus a 1959 special.  The series starred Phil Silvers as Master Sergeant Ernest G. Bilko of the United States Army. The series was created and largely written by Nat Hiken, and won three consecutive Emmy Awards for Best Comedy Series.  The show […]

    Navy Log

    Navy Log is an American drama anthology series that initially aired for one season on CBS. It relates the greatest survival war stories in the history of the United States Navy. This series premiered on September 20th, 1955, but the following year, it was moved to ABC, where it aired until September 25th, 1958. The […]

    Warner Brothers Presents

    Warner Brothers Presents

    Warner Bros. Presents is the umbrella title for three series telecast as part of the 1955-56 season on ABC: Cheyenne, a new Western series that originated on Presents, and two based on classic Warner Bros. films, Casablanca and Kings Row. At first, Warner Bros., like most other Hollywood studios, had seen television as a threat that it wished would disappear. Jack Warner tried to dismiss it as a mere passing fad, but by […]

    Medical Horizons

    Quincy Howe and John Daly

    Medical Horizons is a public affairs television series, focusing on advancements in medical technology, which aired on ABC from September 12th, 1955 to March 5th, 1956.  The program, broadcast live, sometimes offered surgical scenes as well as information about new medical equipment. The series was hosted for the first four episodes by Quincy Howe.  He […]

    Famous Film Festival

    Great Expectations

    Famous Film Festival was an American television prime-time movie series that aired Sunday nights from 7:30-9:00 pm (ET) on ABC during the 1955-56 television season. In 1955, ABC obtained the rights to broadcast 35 British movie titles.  These included Great Expectations (1946), Brief Encounter (1945), Odd Man Out (1947), Caesar and Cleopatra (1945), The Red […]

    Gunsmoke

    Gunsmoke

    Gunsmoke is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman MacDonnell and writer John Meston.  The stories take place in and around Dodge City, Kansas, during the settlement of the American West.  The central character is lawman Marshal Matt Dillon, played by William Conrad on radio and James Arness on television. […]

    It’s Always Jan

    It's Always Jan

    It’s Always Jan is an American situation comedy starring Janis Paige, which aired on CBS in the 1955-1956 season.  It was the lead-in program at 9:30 p.m. Eastern on Saturday evenings to the first season of the long-running western, Gunsmoke, starring James Arness. The program centers on war widow and single mother Jan Stewart and her two single female roommates, secretary Pat Murphy (Patricia Bright), […]

    The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp

    The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp is a western television series loosely based on the life of frontier marshal Wyatt Earp. The half-hour black-and-white program aired for 229 episodes on ABC from 1955 to 1961 and featured Hugh O’Brian in the title role. O’Brian was chosen for the role in part because of his […]

    John Charles Daly and the News

    John Charles Daly and the News

    John Charles Patrick Croghan Daly (generally known as John Charles Daly or simply John Daly (February 20th, 1914 – February 24th, 1991) was an American journalist, game show host and radio personality, probably best known for hosting the panel show What’s My Line?.  He was the vice president of ABC during the 1950s.  On December […]

    MGM Parade

    MGM Parade

    MGM Parade is the title of a documentary television series produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and broadcast by the ABC network during the 1955-56 season on Wednesdays at 8:30pm (E.S.T.), under the alternate sponsorship of American Tobacco (Pall Mall), and General Foods (Instant Maxwell House). Hosted by George Murphy (September 14th, 1955 – March 7th, 1956), Walter Pidgeon (March 14th – May 2nd, 1956) and other MGM stars, the series […]

    The Lawrence Welk Show

    The Laawrence Welk Show

    The Lawrence Welk Show is an American televised musical variety show hosted by big band leader Lawrence Welk.  The series aired locally in Los Angeles for four years (1951–55), then nationally for another 27½ years via the ABC network (1955–71). In 1951, The Lawrence Welk Show started as a local program on KTLA-TV in Los […]

    The Johnny Carson Show

    The Johnny Carson Show

    The Johnny Carson Show is a 1955-56 half hour prime time television variety show starring Johnny Carson. While working as a staff writer on The Red Skelton Show, local Los Angeles television comedian Carson filled in as host when Skelton was injured during a show rehearsal.  As a result of Carson’s performance, CBS created the primetime variety program The Johnny Carson Show, a traditional potpourri of comedy, music, dance, […]

    The Julius LaRosa Show

    The Julius LaRosa Show

    For thirteen weeks during the summer of 1955, Julius La Rosa had a three-times-a-week television series, The Julius La Rosa Show, featuring Russ Case and his Orchestra.  The Julius La Rosa Show aired in an hour-long format in the summers of 1956 and 1957 at 8 p.m. Eastern on Saturdays on NBC as a seasonal replacement for The […]

    The $64,000 Question

    The $64,000 Question

    The $64,000 Question is an American game show broadcast from 1955–1958, which became embroiled in the scandals involving TV quiz shows of the day.  The $64,000 Challenge (1956–1958) was its popular spin-off show. The $64,000 Question premiered June 7th, 1955 on CBS-TV, sponsored by cosmetics maker Revlon and originating from the start live from CBS-TV Studio 52 in New York (later the disco-theater Studio […]

    Damon Runyon Theatre

    The Damon Runyon Theatre

    Damon Runyon Theatre is an American television program that presented dramatized versions of Damon Runyon‘s short stories. Hosted by Donald Woods, the program, sponsored by Anheuser-Busch‘s Budweiser beer, aired for a total of 39 episodes on CBS from April 1955 through February 1956 (repeats continued through June).

    Appointment With Adventure

    Appointment With Adventure

    Appointment with Adventure is a half-hour adventure dramatic anthology television series broadcast live on CBS from 1955-1956.  The program has no host.  It aired at 10 p.m. EST on the Sunday evening schedule between the better known Alfred Hitchcock Presents and What’s My Line?  It ran opposite The Loretta Young Show on NBC and Life […]

    Star Tonight

    Star Tonight, an American television anthology series, aired on ABC from February 1955 to August 1956. It consisted of 80 total episodes, 30 from 1955 and 50 from 1956.  Each episode was a self-contained story, usually adapted from famous plays, short-stories or novels by some of the writers of the day.  It was designed as a showcase for […]

  • The Adventures of Champion – ThrowbackMachine.com

    The Adventures of Champion

    The Adventures of Champion is an American children’s Western series that aired from September 23rd, 1955 to March 3rd, 1956 for 26 episodes on CBS.  In the United Kingdom, the series was re-broadcast under the title Champion the Wonder Horse.

    The series starred Barry Curtis as 12-year-old Ricky North, who lived on his uncle’s ranch in the American Southwest.  Ricky’s uncle, Sandy North, was played by Jim Bannon.  Ricky’s companions were a wild stallion, Champion, and a German Shepherd, Rebel, played by Blaze.  The television program used characters similar to those in the 1949-50 radio serial, The Adventures of Champion.  The radio serial told of young Ricky West (rather than Ricky North), who was raised on a ranch by his adoptive Uncle Smoky.  Ricky was often accompanied by his German Shepherd, Rebel.

    Beginning in 1950, The Gene Autry Show, a western/cowboy television series, aired for 91 episodes on CBS.  The Adventures of Champion was a prime time spinoff for the 1955-1956 season.  In real life, the Wonder Horse, Champion, was owned by Gene Autry who, over many years, owned a succession of celebrity horses bearing the same name.  The horse starring in The Adventures of Champion was known as Television Champion, or TV Champ, for short.  He was distinguished by his chestnut coat, blond mane and tail, four white stockings and broad white facial blaze.  TV Champ made frequent appearances with Autry in films and television during the 1950s.
  • Douglas Edwards with the News – ThrowbackMachine.com

    Douglas Edwards with the News

    Douglas Edwards was America‘s first network news television anchor, anchoring CBS‘s first nightly news broadcast from 1948–1962, which was later to be titled CBS Evening News.

    In 1948, as CBS’s top correspondents and commentators shunned the fledgling medium of television, Edwards was chosen to present regular CBS television news programs and to host CBS’s television coverage of the 1948 Democratic and Republican conventions. The term “anchor” would not be used until 1952, when CBS News chief Sig Mikelson would use it to describe Walter Cronkite’s role in the network’s political convention coverage.
    At first, Edwards would be eclipsed by John Cameron Swayze of NBC News’s Camel News Caravan, but he would eventually regain his ratings lead. By the mid-1950s, the nightly 15-minute newscast Douglas Edwards with the News was watched by nearly 30 million viewers.
  • spin off Archives – ThrowbackMachine.com

    Mayberry R.F.D.

    Mayberry RFD

    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 – ThrowbackMachine.com

    The Vise

    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.

  • music Archives – ThrowbackMachine.com

    Grand Ole Opry

    grand ole opry

    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

    Ozark Jubilee

    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

    Stage Show

    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

    Midwestern Hayride

    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

    Your Hit Parade

    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 […]

    The Perry Como Show

    The Perry Como Show

    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 […]

  • Throwback Machine

  • destination: Prime Time TV – ThrowbackMachine.com

    destination: Prime Time TV

    We’re glad you found us!  Sit back and start clicking your way around Prime Time TV from the 1950s, 60s and 70s!  Have fun and enjoy the show…

    Throwback Machine

  • 1957 Archives – Page 3 of 4 – ThrowbackMachine.com

    This is Your Life

    This Is Your Life

    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 […]

    Dupont Calvalcade Theater

    dupontcalvalcadetheater

    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

    Two for the Money

    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

    Masquerade Party

    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

    Ivegotasecret

    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 Worth Living

    Life Worth Living

    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 […]

    Dragnet

    Dragnet

         “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

    ILoveLucyTitleScreen

    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 […]

    Goodyear Television Playhouse

    Goodyear Television Playhouse

    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

    Schlitz Playhouse of Stars

    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

    The Red Skelton Show

    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

    You Asked For It

    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

    You Bet Your Life

    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

    LUX Video Theatre

    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

    Truth or Consequences

    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

    Your Hit Parade

    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

    ArmstrongCircle

    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

    Beat the Clock

    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

    What's My Line

    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

    Robert Montgomery Presents

    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 […]