The Philco Television Playhouse

The Philco Television Playhouse
Fred Coe, producer of The Philco Television Playhouse
Genre	Anthology drama
Directed by	Fred Coe Vincent J. Donehue Gordon Duff Herbert Hirschman Delbert Mann Robert Mulligan Arthur Penn Ira Skutch
Composer(s)	Morris Mamorsky
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	7
No. of episodes	251
Production
Producer(s)	Fred Coe Gordon Duff Ira Skutch
Running time	46–50 minutes
Release
Original network	NBC
Picture format	Black-and-white
Audio format	Monaural
Original release	October 3, 1948 (1948-10-03) – October 2, 1955 (1955-10-02)
Chronology
Related shows	Goodyear Television Playhouse The Alcoa Hour

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.

Overview

The first season featured adaptations of popular Broadway plays and musicals. The first episode was Dinner at Eight by George S. Kaufman and Edna Ferber. The second season consisted mostly of adaptations of popular novels from the Book of the Month Club. During later seasons, both original stories and adaptations were used. The title of the show was briefly changed to Repertory Theatre and Arena Theatre during part of the first season, but then reverted to The Philco Television Playhouse.

The series launched the television writing careers of Robert Alan Aurthur, Paddy Chayefsky, Sumner Locke Elliott, Horton Foote, Tad Mosel, William Templeton, Arnold Schulman, and Gore Vidal. Its most famous drama was Chayefsky's Marty (May 24, 1953), which starred Rod Steiger and was later made into a movie that won an Academy Award for Ernest Borgnine.

Among the many performers on the Philco Television Playhouse were Dennis Cross, Lillian Gish, Janet De Gore, Melvyn Douglas, Grace Kelly, Jack Klugman, Cloris Leachman, Walter Matthau, Steve McQueen, Paul Muni, ZaSu Pitts, Eva Marie Saint, Everett Sloane, Kim Stanley, Eli Wallach and Joanne Woodward. Many of these actors were making their first television appearance; one was Jose Ferrer, who recreated his stage performance in a one-hour television condensation of Cyrano de Bergerac a full year before the 1950 film version, for which Ferrer won an Oscar, was released. Another was Paul Muni, who starred in the 1948 presentation Counsellor-at Law.

Beginning in 1951, Philco shared sponsorship of the program with Goodyear, with the title alternating between Philco Television Playhouse and Goodyear Television Playhouse to reflect that week's sponsor. In 1955, the show was retitled The Alcoa Hour. The three series were essentially the same, with the only real difference being the name of the sponsor.

When Peggy Mann's first novel, A Room in Paris, was published by Doubleday in 1955, it was immediately adapted for The Philco Television Playhouse. In the months after the August 7, 1955 live telecast with John Cassavetes, Popular Library released their paperback edition with cover illustration by Mitchell Hooks.

In the sixth season, Cathleen Nesbitt and Maureen Stapleton starred in Chayefsky's The Mother (April 4, 1954). This is one of the rare teleplays from television's Golden Age to be restaged on TV decades later, a Great Performances production on October 24, 1994, with Anne Bancroft and Joan Cusack.

The seventh season began September 19, 1954, with E. G. Marshall and Eva Marie Saint in Chayefsky's Middle of the Night, a play which moved to Broadway 15 months later and was filmed by Columbia Pictures in 1959.

On August 7, 1955, John Cassavetes played an American artist expatriate in A Room in Paris. This adaptation of Peggy Mann's novel (her first novel for adults) was published March 3, 1955, by Doubleday, followed by Popular Library's paperback edition.

The final Philco production, on October 2, 1955, was Robert Alan Aurthur's A Man Is Ten Feet Tall, co-starring Don Murray and Sidney Poitier, which was adapted and expanded into the 1957 MGM feature film, Edge of the City, with Poitier recreating his original role and John Cassavetes in Murray's part.

U.S. television ratings

Seasonal rankings (based on average total viewers per episode) of The Philco Television Playhouse on NBC.

Season	TV season	Ranking	Viewers (in millions)
3rd	1950–1951	#3	4.620
4th	1951–1952	#12	6.181
5th	1952–1953	#17	7.609
6th	1953–1954	#19	8.450
7th	1954–1955	#

Awards and nominations

Year	Result	Award	Category	Recipient
1954	Winner	Peabody Award
1951	Nominated	Emmy Award	Best Dramatic Show
1952	Nominated	Emmy Award	Best Dramatic Show
1953	Nominated	Emmy Award	Best Dramatic Show
1954	Nominated	Emmy Award	Best Dramatic Show
1955	Nominated	Emmy Award	Best Written Dramatic Material	Paddy Chayefsky
	Nominated	Emmy Award	Best Dramatic Show
	Nominated	Emmy Award	Best Actress in a Single Performance	Eva Marie Saint (For episode "Middle of the Night")
1956	Nominated	Emmy Award	Best Original Teleplay Writing	Robert Alan Aurthur (For episode "A Man Is Ten Feet Tall")

In popular culture

In 2006, the NBC series Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip referenced The Philco Television Playhouse as The Philco Comedy Hour, a comedy show that aired on the fictional NBS network. Eli Wallach made a guest appearance on Studio 60, playing a former show writer who was blacklisted in the 1950s.

Episodes

Season 1 (1948-49)

No. in series	No. in season	Title	Original air date
1	1	"Dinner at Eight"	October 3, 1948 (1948-10-03)
2	2	"Rebecca"	October 10, 1948 (1948-10-10)
3	3	"Counselor-at-Law"	October 17, 1948 (1948-10-17)
4	4	"Angel in the Wings"	October 24, 1948 (1948-10-24)
5	5	"Street Scene"	October 31, 1948 (1948-10-31)
6	6	"This Thing Called Love"	November 7, 1948 (1948-11-07)
7	7	"Camille"	November 14, 1948 (1948-11-14)
8	8	"An Inspector Calls"	November 21, 1948 (1948-11-21)
9	9	"I Like It Here"	November 28, 1948 (1948-11-28)
10	10	"Suspect"	December 5, 1948 (1948-12-05)
11	11	"Parlor Story"	December 12, 1948 (1948-12-12)
12	12	"A Christmas Carol"	December 19, 1948 (1948-12-19)
13	13	"The Old Lady Shows Her Medals"	December 26, 1948 (1948-12-26)
14	14	"Ramshackle Inn"	January 2, 1949 (1949-01-02)
15	15	"Cyrano de Bergerac"	January 9, 1949 (1949-01-09)
16	16	"Papa Is All"	January 16, 1949 (1949-01-16)
17	17	"Pride and Prejudice"	January 23, 1949 (1949-01-23)
18	18	"Dark Hammock"	January 30, 1949 (1949-01-30)
19	19	"The Late Christopher Bean"	February 6, 1949 (1949-02-06)
20	20	"The Story of Mary Surratt"	February 13, 1949 (1949-02-13)
21	21	"Twelfth Night"	February 20, 1949 (1949-02-20)
22	22	"St. Helena"	February 27, 1949 (1949-02-27)
23	23	"The Druid Circle"	March 6, 1949 (1949-03-06)
24	24	"Quality Street"	March 13, 1949 (1949-03-13)
25	25	"Dinner at Antoine's"	March 20, 1949 (1949-03-20)
26	26	"Becky Sharp"	March 27, 1949 (1949-03-27)
27	27	"And Never Been Kissed"	April 3, 1949 (1949-04-03)
28	28	"What Makes Sammy Run?"	April 10, 1949 (1949-04-10)
29	29	"Mr. Mergenthwirker's Lobblies"	April 17, 1949 (1949-04-17)
30	30	"Burlesque"	April 24, 1949 (1949-04-24)
31	31	"Macbeth"	May 1, 1949 (1949-05-01)
32	32	"Romeo and Juliet"	May 15, 1949 (1949-05-15)
33	33	"This Time, Next Year"	June 5, 1949 (1949-06-05)
34	34	"It Pays To Advertise"	June 12, 1949 (1949-06-12)
35	35	"Summer Formal"	June 19, 1949 (1949-06-19)
36	36	"Jenny Kissed Me"	June 26, 1949 (1949-06-26)
37	37	"Dark of the Moon"	July 3, 1949 (1949-07-03)
38	38	"For Love or Money"	July 10, 1949 (1949-07-10)
39	39	"The Five Lives of Richard Gordon"	July 17, 1949 (1949-07-17)
40	40	"You Touched Me!"	July 24, 1949 (1949-07-24)
41	41	"The Fourth Wall"	July 31, 1949 (1949-07-31)
42	42	"Enter Madame"	August 7, 1949 (1949-08-07)
43	43	"A Murder Has Been Arranged"	August 14, 1949 (1949-08-14)
44	44	"Pretty Little Parlor"	August 21, 1949 (1949-08-21)
45	45	"Three Concerned Moon"	August 28, 1949 (1949-08-28)

Season 2 (1949-50)

No. in series	No. in season	Title	Original air date
46	1	"What Every Woman Knows"	September 4, 1949 (1949-09-04)
47	2	"Pride's Castle"	September 11, 1949 (1949-09-11)
48	3	"The Little Sister"	September 18, 1949 (1949-09-18)
49	4	"The Lonely"	September 25, 1949 (1949-09-25)
50	5	"The Queen Bee"	October 2, 1949 (1949-10-02)
51	6	"Something's Got To Give"	October 9, 1949 (1949-10-09)
52	7	"The Last Tycoon"	October 16, 1949 (1949-10-16)
53	8	"Because of the Lockwoods"	October 23, 1949 (1949-10-23)
54	9	"Damion's Daughter"	October 30, 1949 (1949-10-30)
55	10	"The House of the Seven Gables"	November 6, 1949 (1949-11-06)
56	11	"The Promise"	November 13, 1949 (1949-11-13)
57	12	"Medical Meeting"	November 20, 1949 (1949-11-20)
58	13	"The Wonderful Mrs. Ingram"	November 27, 1949 (1949-11-27)
59	14	"Mist on the Water's"	December 4, 1949 (1949-12-04)
60	15	"The Beautiful Bequest"	December 11, 1949 (1949-12-11)
61	16	"The Strange Christmas Dinner"	December 18, 1949 (1949-12-18)
62	17	"In Beauty Like the Night"	December 25, 1949 (1949-12-25)
63	18	"Little Boy Lost"	January 1, 1950 (1950-01-01)
64	19	"Bethel Merriday"	January 8, 1950 (1950-01-08)
65	20	"Murder at the Stork Club"	January 15, 1950 (1950-01-15)
66	21	"The Marriages"	January 22, 1950 (1950-01-22)
67	22	"Uncle Dynamite"	January 29, 1950 (1950-01-29)
68	23	"The Sudden Guest"	February 5, 1950 (1950-02-05)
69	24	"Ann Rutledge"	February 12, 1950 (1950-02-12)
70	25	"Letter to Mr Priest"	February 19, 1950 (1950-02-19)
71	26	"Hometown"	February 26, 1950 (1950-02-26)
72	27	"The Life of Vincent Van Gogh"	March 5, 1950 (1950-03-05)
73	28	"The Uncertain Molly Collicutt"	March 12, 1950 (1950-03-12)
74	29	"The Trial of Steve Kent"	March 19, 1950 (1950-03-19)
75	30	"The Second Oldest Profession"	March 26, 1950 (1950-03-26)
76	31	"Nocturne"	April 2, 1950 (1950-04-02)
77	32	"Dirty Eddie"	April 9, 1950 (1950-04-09)
78	33	"The End Is Known"	April 16, 1950 (1950-04-16)
79	34	"The Man in the Black Hat"	April 23, 1950 (1950-04-23)
80	35	"The American"	April 30, 1950 (1950-04-30)
81	36	"The Feast"	May 7, 1950 (1950-05-07)
82	37	"Brat Farrar"	May 14, 1950 (1950-05-14)
83	38	"The Charmed Circle"	May 21, 1950 (1950-05-21)
84	39	"Semmelweis"	May 28, 1950 (1950-05-28)
85	40	"Sense and Sensibility"	June 4, 1950 (1950-06-04)
86	41	"The Bump on Brannigan's Head"	June 11, 1950 (1950-06-11)
87	42	"Anything Can Happen"	June 18, 1950 (1950-06-18)
88	43	"Hear My Heart Speak"	June 25, 1950 (1950-06-25)
89	44	"The Reluctant Landlord"	July 2, 1950 (1950-07-02)
90	45	"The Tentacles"	July 9, 1950 (1950-07-09)

Season 3 (1950-51)

No. in series	No. in season	Title	Original air date
91	46	"High Tor"	September 10, 1950 (1950-09-10)

External links

Works directed by Delbert Mann

Films	Marty The Bachelor Party Desire Under the Elms Separate Tables Middle of the Night The Dark at the Top of the Stairs Lover Come Back The Outsider That Touch of Mink A Gathering of Eagles Quick, Before It Melts Dear Heart Mister Buddwing Fitzwilly The Pink Jungle Kidnapped Birch Interval Love's Dark Ride Brontë Night Crossing

Television	Lights Out (1949) The Philco Television Playhouse (1949 - 1955) Goodyear Television Playhouse (1951 - 1955) Producers' Showcase (1955) Playwrights '56 (1955 - 1956) Ford Star Jubilee (1956) Omnibus (1956 - 1957) DuPont Show of the Month (1958) Playhouse 90 (1958 - 1959) NBC Sunday Showcase (1959) Startime (1960) Heidi (1968) CBS Playhouse (1968) David Copperfield (1969) Jane Eyre (1970) She Waits (1972) No Place to Run (1972) The Man Without a Country (1973) The First Woman President (1974) The Legendary Curse of the Hope Diamond (1975) A Girl Named Sooner (1975) Francis Gary Powers: The True Story of the U-2 Spy Incident (1976) Tell Me My Name (1977) Breaking Up (1978) Home to Stay (1978) Tom and Joann (1978) Thou Shalt Not Commit Adultery (1978) Torn Between Two Lovers (1979) All Quiet on the Western Front (1979) To Find My Son (1980) Insight (1981) All the Way Home (1981) The Member of the Wedding (1982) The Gift of Love: A Christmas Story (1983) Love Leads the Way: A True Story (1984) A Death in California (1985) The Last Days of Patton (1986) The Ted Kennedy Jr. Story (1976) Tell Me My Name (1977) Breaking Up (1986) April Morning (1988) Ironclads (1991) Against Her Will: An Incident in Baltimore (1992) Incident in a Small Town (1994) Lily in Winter (1994)

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