Ethel Waters and Lillian Gish in the presentation of The Sound and the Fury, 1955

Playwrights '56, a.k.a. The Playwright Hour, is a 60-minute live American dramatic anthology series produced by Fred Coe[1] 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.[1]

Stars included Mary Astor, Ralph Bellamy, Joan Blondell, George Chandler, Robert Culp, Paul Douglas, Tom Ewell, Norman Fell, Nina Foch, John Forsythe, Lillian Gish, Alice Ghostley, Lee Grant, James Gregory, Louis Jean Heydt, Steven Hill, Vivi Janiss, Henry Jones, E. G. Marshall, John McGiver, Steve McQueen, Dina Merrill, Jack Mullaney, Paul Newman, Phyllis Kirk, Edmond O'Brien, J. Pat O'Malley, Nehemiah Persoff, Tom Poston, Peter Mark Richman, Janice Rule, Kim Stanley, Warren Stevens, Karl Swenson, Franchot Tone, Ethel Waters, James Whitmore, Estelle Winwood, Jane Wyatt, and Dick York.

Among its notable writers were Horton Foote, Gore Vidal, Tad Mosel, Arnold Schulman, and A. E. Hotchner. Directors included Arthur Penn, later renowned for Bonnie and Clyde, and Delbert Mann, the 1955 Academy Award winner for directing Marty.

The program was sponsored by Pontiac automobiles.[2] When it was canceled, an article in the trade publication Billboard cited cost as a factor, noting that it "ran about $30,000 a week more than its more successful counterpart".[3] Most of the episodes originated from WRCA-TV[4] in Brooklyn, New York,[5] with the rest coming from KRCA-TV's[4] Hollywood studios.[5] After the program's June 19, 1956, broadcast, it was replaced by The Kaiser Aluminum Hour.[6]

Along with Producers' Showcase, Playwrights '56 shared the 1956 prime-time Emmy for Best Art Direction -Live Series.[7]

Partial List of Episodes of Playwrights '56
DateTitleStar(s)
October 4, 1955The AnswerNina Foch, Paul Douglas, Albert Dekker[4]: B 
October 18, 1955The BattlerDewey Martin, Phyllis Kirk, Paul Newman[8]
November 8, 1955Snow JobJoan Blondell, James Gregory, Meg Bundy[9]
November 22, 1955Daisy, DaisyTom Ewell, Jane Wyatt[10]
December 6, 1955The Sound and the FuryLillian Gish, Ethel Waters, Janice Rule, and Franchot Tone.[11]
December 20, 1955The Waiting PlaceKim Stanley, Louis Jean Heydt, Louise Platt[12]
January 3, 1956The Day the Trains Stopped RunningJoseph Sweeney, Elizabeth Patterson, Mary Welch[13]
January 17, 1956LostSteven Hill[1]
January 31, 1956This Business of MurderJames Whitmore[14]
February 14, 1956Return to CassionJohn Forsythe, Kurt Kasznar, Dina Merrill[15]
February 28, 1956FlightKim Stanley[1]
March 27, 1956The Undiscovered CountryCyril Ritchard, Nina Foch[16]
May 22, 1956KeyholeE. G. Marshall, Lee Grant, Henry McNaughton[17]
May 8, 1956You Sometimes Get RichLarry Blyden, Georgiann Johnson[18]
June 19, 1956Honor (final broadcast)[6]Dick York, Ralph Bellamy, Leo G. Carroll, Carol Goodner[19]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 McNeil, Alex (1996). Total Television (4th ed.). New York, New York: Penguin Books USA, Inc. p. 665. ISBN 0-14-02-4916-8.
  2. ↑ Adams, Val (March 23, 1956). "Sponsor to drop 'Playwrights '56'". The New York Times. p. 53. ProQuest 113497637. Retrieved March 5, 2021 – via ProQuest.
  3. ↑ "Show Deaths Total 41; Some Flop, Others Just Fade Out". Billboard. September 22, 1956. p. 2. Retrieved March 5, 2021.
  4. 1 2 3 "Tuesday (4)" (PDF). Ross Reports on Television. October 3, 1955. p. 3. Retrieved March 6, 2021.
  5. 1 2 Holland, Jack (January 13, 1956). "Playwrights '56 ... a Big Gamble?" (PDF). TV-Radio Life. 32 (22): 47. Retrieved March 5, 2021.
  6. 1 2 "Tuesday (5)" (PDF). Ross Reports on Television. July 1, 1956. p. 58. Retrieved March 6, 2021.
  7. ↑ "Playwrights '56 and Producers's Showcase". Television Academy. Archived from the original on March 6, 2021. Retrieved March 6, 2021.
  8. ↑ "'Playwrights '56' to offer 'Battler'". The New York Times. October 8, 1955. p. 37. ProQuest 113190059. Retrieved March 5, 2021 – via ProQuest.
  9. ↑ "Tuesday November 8" (PDF). Ross Reports on Television. November 4, 1955. p. B. Retrieved March 6, 2021.
  10. ↑ Gould, Jack (November 23, 1955). "TV: 'Playwrights 56'". The New York Times. p. 49. ProQuest 113386449. Retrieved March 5, 2021 – via ProQuest.
  11. ↑ Preis, Angela (December 4, 1955). "Something for Everyone Lined Up on Television". The Courier-Journal. Kentucky, Louisville. p. 78. Retrieved March 4, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ↑ "Tuesday December 20 (Cont'd)" (PDF). Ross Reports on Television. December 18, 1955. p. C. Retrieved March 6, 2021.
  13. ↑ "Tuesday January 3". Ross Reports on Television. January 1, 1956. p. C. Retrieved March 6, 2021.
  14. ↑ Shanley, J. P. (February 1, 1956). "TV: Overcome by Smoke". The New York Times. p. 63. ProQuest 113933150. Retrieved March 5, 2021 – via ProQuest.
  15. ↑ "Tuesday February 14 (Cont'd)" (PDF). Ross Reports on Television. February 12, 1956. p. C. Retrieved March 6, 2021.
  16. ↑ Gould, Jack (March 28, 1956). "Television: Misanthropy". The New York Times. p. 63. ProQuest 113479300. Retrieved March 5, 2021 – via ProQuest.
  17. ↑ "Tuesday, May 22" (PDF). Ross Reports on Television. May 20, 1956. p. B. Retrieved March 6, 2021.
  18. ↑ Gould, Jack (May 9, 1956). "TV: Give-Away Satire". The New York Times. p. 67. ProQuest 113853936. Retrieved March 5, 2021 – via ProQuest.
  19. ↑ "TV: Drama of Civil War". The New York Times. June 20, 1956. p. 63. ProQuest 113800306. Retrieved March 5, 2021 – via ProQuest.
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