Early Television and the Anthology Drama

by Guy Belleranti

Anthology dramas were prominent among early television. These weekly series featured stories where each episode was its own story with its own characters, i.e. they didn’t have the same characters appearing week after week.

NBC’s Kraft Television Theater in 1947 was the first anthology series and perhaps the first network television series as well. Many others followed.

Anthology dramas were usually presented live. They featured many actors and directors who later became big name stars.

Some of the better known anthology series included:

 Studio One – ran on CBS from 1948 to 1958. Yul Brynner directed an episode in 1949. Some of the names to appear on this series included Jack Lemon, Charlton Heston, James Dean, Nina Foch, Leslie Nielsen, Franchot Tone and E.G. Marshall.

 Danger – ran on CBS from 1950 to 1955. This series emphasized psychological suspense and murder, ala the later Alfred Hitchcock Presents.

Directors on Danger, then mostly unknowns included Yul Brynner, Sidney Lumet and John Frankenheimer. Contributing writers included Roald Dahl, Rod Serling, Steve Allen and Ambrose Bierce. And among the actors were Grace Kelly, Rod Steiger, James Dean, Jack Lemon, Carroll Baker, John Cassavetes, Walter Matthau and Paul Newman.

 The Web – featured suspense stories based upon the short stories of famous mystery writers. E.G. Marshall, Eva Marie Saint, John Carradine, Paul Newman and more appeared on this live anthology series which ran from 1950 to 1954. Interestingly, this was a Mark Goodson-Bill Todman production, the same team who later produced the game show classics To Tell the Truth and I’ve Got a Secret.

 Suspense – ran from 1949 to 1954. This featured live presentations of people in dangerous situations. Writing credits included Robert Louis Stevenson, William Faulkner, John Dickson Carr, Charles Dickens and Roald Dahl. Boris Karloff, Brian Keith, Cloris Leachman, Charlton Heston, Eva Gabor, Hume Cronyn and Franchot Tone were among the actors to appear. The theme music was provided by none other than Bernard Herrmann of Psycho and Vertigo fame.

Lux Video Theatre – began as a 30 minute anthology series then later became 60 minutes. Running from 1950 to 1959 many big names appeared on this as well. The series also featured shortened versions of such classics as Sunset Boulevard, Witness for the Prosecution, Double Indemnity and Casablanca.

Other anthology series included Fireside Theatre (1949-1955), Armstrong Circle Theater (1950-1963), General Electric Theater (1953-1962), Robert Montgomery Presents (1950-1957), Climax! (1954-1958) and Playhouse 90 (1956-1961).

These were very high quality, intelligent programs, and it is too bad similar anthology-style series are no longer produced.

more articles by  Guy Belleranti

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