43-466: Fireside Theatre (later known as Jane Wyman Presents the Fireside Theatre, Jane Wyman Theatre, The Jane Wyman Show and Jane Wyman Presents ) is an American anthology drama series that ran on NBC from 1949 to 1958, and was the first successful filmed series on American television. Early episodes (1949-1955) were low-budget and often based on public domain stories. While the series
86-505: A collection of poetry, later retitled anthology – see Greek Anthology . Anthologiai were collections of small Greek poems and epigrams, because in Greek culture the flower symbolized the finer sentiments that only poetry can express. Many popular old-time radio programs were anthology series. On some series, such as Inner Sanctum Mysteries , the only constant was the host, who introduced and concluded each dramatic presentation. One of
129-543: A half-hour of vaudevillian routines interspersed with music. Wynn's ratings began to slide and the comedian lapsed amidst personal and professional crises, and the show ended in June 1935. Texaco sponsored The Jumbo Fire Chief Program in 1935–36 and The Fire Chief Concert in 1936. Comedian Eddie Cantor was the star of a show called "Texaco Town" from 1936 to 1938. The show's cast featured young singers Bobby Breen and Deanna Durbin , announcer Jimmy Wallington , who read
172-469: A half-hour show, until he withdrew from work for over a year on his doctor's advice. It was during the half-hour version of the show that the more cerebral (if barbed) Allen premiered the continuing comic sketch for which many remember him best: the ensemble, topical takeoffs of "Allen's Alley". Guests included some of the best comedic actors of the time, including Sam Levene , the legendary Broadway actor and Hollywood film character actor. Though some believe
215-571: A hit for NBC, always in the Top 30 shows at the end of each TV season, until the 1956–1957 season, when its viewership began to decline. After this, it never returned to the Top 30. Seasonal rankings (based on average total viewers per episode) of Fireside Theatre on NBC. ( Note : In the United States, each network television season starts in September and ends in late May, which coincides with
258-416: A host. This role was first filled by Wisbar (1952–1953), then by Gene Raymond (1953–1955), and finally by the person most associated with the series in the public mind, Jane Wyman (1955–1958). On April 2, 1955 series’ sponsor P&G and NBC announced a deal with MCA Inc. for Wyman to assume the role of host. During the period first-run episodes were produced by Wyman’s production company Lewman Ltd.
301-563: A new type of anthology format in the U.S. Each season, rather than each episode, is a standalone story. Several actors have appeared in the various seasons, but playing different roles—in an echo of the Four Star Playhouse format. The success of American Horror Story has spawned other season-long anthologies such as American Crime Story and True Detective . Anthology film series are rare compared to their TV and radio counterparts. There have been several attempts within
344-407: A quartet of Texaco singers opened each week's show with the theme song. They did not settle on Berle—who hosted a freshly revived radio version in spring 1948—as the permanent host right away; he hosted the first television Texaco Star Theater in June 1948 but was originally part of a rotation of hosts (Berle himself had only a four-week contract). Comedian Jack Carter was host for August. Berle
387-399: A superstar was clearly spent for steam and fresh ideas, and two subsequent attempts at television comebacks hosting his own show lasted barely a year each. (Berle did, however, contribute his part to the making of a rock and roll legend: in his final season, he opened his stage to Elvis Presley amid the beginning of the hip-swiveling singer's international popularity.) Part of the problem
430-512: A weekly program from the second season until the end of its run in 1956. Ida Lupino was brought on board as the de facto fourth star, though unlike Powell, Boyer, and Niven, she owned no stock in the company. American television networks would sometimes run summer anthology series which consisted of unsold television pilots . Beginning in 1971, the long-run Masterpiece Theatre drama anthology series brought British productions to American television. In 2011, American Horror Story debuted
473-413: Is an American comedy-variety show, broadcast on radio from 1938 to 1949 and telecast from 1948 to 1956. It was one of the first successful examples of American television broadcasting , remembered as the show that gave Milton Berle the nickname "Mr. Television". The classic 1940–1944 version of the program, hosted by radio's Fred Allen , was followed by a radio series on ABC (the former NBC Blue ) in
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#1732801470326516-503: The Golden Age of Television of the 1950s with series such as The United States Steel Hour and The Philco Television Playhouse . Dick Powell came up with an idea for an anthology series, Four Star Playhouse , with a rotation of established stars every week, four stars in all. The stars would own the studio and the program, as Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz had done successfully with Desilu studio. Powell had intended for
559-537: The Internet Archive, it appears the series typically ran 48–50 minutes excluding commercials. Texaco dropped its sponsorship of the show and Buick became the new sponsor in 1953, prompting the show's name change to The Buick-Berle Show . Two years later, it became, simply, The Milton Berle Show , its title until its run ended at last in June 1956. By then, Berle and his audience had probably burned out on each other, and Buick had even dropped sponsorship of
602-558: The cast "all turned in taut, exciting performances to make Lottery a real winner". Unlike most episodes of the series, this episode aired live. In 1954, Billboard ’s “3rd Annual TV Program and Talent Awards” listed it as the fourth-best filmed network drama series, ahead of the General Electric Theater ; however, Billboard ' s list excluded " mystery " shows (which was a separate list topped by Dragnet ). One of Fireside Theatre' s most notable early offerings
645-432: The commercials for Fire Chief gasoline, Harry Park , and bandleader Jacques Renard . The show was a combination of comedy and music. Cantor frequently sang a tune about the "mayor of Texaco Town". Texaco Star Theater (spelled Theatre for most of the radio show's run) was first broadcast on October 5, 1938, and it continued on the air until June 26, 1940. Initial host Adolphe Menjou was succeeded by John Barrymore , who
688-431: The completion of May sweeps .) 1955-1958, Seasons 8-10 In the first year of Wyman's three-year deal to produce and host the 8th, 9th and 10th seasons of, what would ultimately become, The Jane Wyman Show , her series' lead-in, the new color incarnation of Texaco Star Theatre , continued to decline in the ratings for the 1955-56 season falling behind The Phil Silvers Show on CBS in its timeslot and dropping out of
731-623: The earliest such programs was The Collier Hour , broadcast on the NBC Blue Network from 1927 to 1932. As radio's first major dramatic anthology, it adapted stories and serials from Collier's Weekly in a calculated move to increase subscriptions and compete with The Saturday Evening Post . Airing on the Wednesday prior to each week's distribution of the magazine, the program soon moved to Sundays in order to avoid spoilers with dramatizations of stories simultaneously appearing in
774-430: The end of a 1949 broadcast) joked, preened, pratfell, danced, costumed, and clowned his way to stardom, with Americans discovering television as a technological marvel and entertainment medium seeming to bring the country to a dead stop every Tuesday night, just to see what the madcap Berle might pull next. With Berle at the helm, Texaco Star Theater was largely credited with driving American television set sales heavily;
817-403: The height of his popularity. He began losing many of his former fans, who preferred when he kept things more unpredictable, and it would be years before his kind of manic balance would find a television home again. NOTE: The most frequent time slot for the series is in bold text . Note: Each U.S. network television season starts in late September and ends in late May, which coincides with
860-508: The horror genre to have a franchise with an anthology format, such as with the Halloween franchise where the third film, Halloween III: Season of the Witch , was meant to be the beginning of a series of anthology horror films, but due to negative reception that plan was shelved. Anthology video games have been very rare since the 1980s. Texaco Star Theatre Texaco Star Theater
903-540: The line from affability to effrontery. At its worst, the underlying tone of the Berle programs can appear to be one of contempt should the audience not respond approvingly. In some cases, this led to a surprising degree of self-consciousness about TV itself—Texaco's original commercial spokesman, Sid Stone, would sometimes hawk his products until driven from the stage by a cop. But the uneven balance of excess and decorum proved wildly successful." Based on episodes that appear on
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#1732801470326946-498: The magazine. Radio anthology series provided for science fiction , horror , suspense, and mystery genres (all produced in the US, unless noted): The final episode of Suspense was broadcast on September 30, 1962, a date that has traditionally been seen as marking the end of the old-time radio era. However, genre series produced since 1962 include: In the history of television, live anthology dramas were especially popular during
989-718: The number of TV sets sold during Berle's run on the show was said to have grown from 500,000, his first year on the tube, to over 30 million when the show ended in 1956. Texaco Star Theater was also the highest rated television show of the 1950–1951 television season, the first season in which the Nielsen ratings were used. Uncle Miltie was far from alone in keeping the show alive and kicking. His support players included Fatso Marco (1948–1952), Ruth Gilbert as "Maxine", Milton's love-starved secretary (1952–1955), Bobby Sherwood (1952–1953), Arnold Stang (1953–1955), Jack Collins (1953–1955), and Milton Frome (1953–1955). The show's music
1032-455: The other major pioneer of filmed television production in America, I Love Lucy , by two years. Fireside Theatre was created by Frank Wisbar , who also wrote and directed many episodes. He was the producer and director for the program's first six years, resigning on December 6, 1954, and leaving when his contract expired on February 15, 1955. From 1952 to 1958, the program was presented by
1075-608: The past, such as Four Star Playhouse , employed a permanent troupe of character actors who would appear in a different drama each week. Some anthology series, such as Studio One , began on radio and then expanded to television. The word comes from Ancient Greek ἀνθολογία ( anthología , "flower-gathering"), from ἀνθολογέω ( anthologéō , "I gather flowers"), from ἄνθος ( ánthos , "flower") + λέγω ( légō , "I gather, pick up, collect"), coined by Meleager of Gadara circa 60 BCE, originally as Στέφανος ( στέφανος ( stéphanos , "garland")) to describe
1118-437: The program to feature himself, Charles Boyer , Joel McCrea , and Rosalind Russell . When Russell and McCrea backed out, David Niven came on board as the third star. The fourth star was initially a guest star. CBS liked the idea, and Four Star Playhouse made its debut in fall of 1952. It ran on alternate weeks only during the first season, alternating with Amos 'n' Andy . It was successful enough to be renewed and became
1161-435: The series ultimately became known as The Jane Wyman Show . Wyman acted in 51 of the 93 episodes she hosted. Episodes rerun weekdays on ABC as part of its 1961-62 and 1962-63 daytime schedule ran under the title Jane Wyman Presents . As an anthology series, Fireside Theatre had no regular cast, just a series of guest stars: 1949-1954, Seasons 1-8 Billboard praised an episode titled "The Lottery", saying that
1204-410: The show at the beginning of the 1955–1956 season (opting to sponsor Jackie Gleason 's half-hour filmed edition of The Honeymooners ), after ratings fell dramatically during the 1954–1955 as well (the higher ratings of his 1955–56 competition, The Phil Silvers Show on CBS, did not help Berle either); though Berle would remain one of the nation's beloved entertainers, overall, the show that made him
1247-498: The show re-titled Texaco Star Theater with Fred Allen and the program airing on October 2, 1940. Allen's previous sponsor, Bristol-Myers ' Ipana toothpaste and Sal Hepatica laxative, decided to cease their tandem sponsorship of Allen's successful hour, first known as Town Hall Tonight and then, for its final season, The Fred Allen Show . He presided over Texaco Star Theater from 1940 to 1942 as an hour-long show on Wednesday and then Sunday nights, and from 1942 to 1944 as
1290-440: The show's announcer for most of its life with Allen as the feature (he succeeded George Burns and Gracie Allen sidekick Harry Von Zell ), though for a brief spell during its third season the announcer was budding radio personality and future television legend Arthur Godfrey . Kenny Baker also remained for the first two seasons, his previous role with Allen's "rival" Jack Benny serving for a number of situations, although his role
1333-463: The spring of 1948. When Texaco (now Chevron Corporation ) first took it to television on NBC on June 8, 1948, the show had a huge cultural impact. Once Texaco ended its sponsorship in 1953, the show became known as The Milton Berle Show for its final few seasons. The roots of Texaco Star Theater were in a 1930s radio hit, Ed Wynn , the Fire Chief , featuring the manic "Perfect Fool" in
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1376-526: The title Texaco Star Theater was retired temporarily, in favor of Texaco Time , after Allen scaled the show back to a half-hour, the show retained the Texaco Star Theater title officially, the confusion likely stemming from the announcers' first words of introduction: "It's Texaco time starring Fred Allen." They customarily continued the introduction, as the opening music continued, by referring to Texaco Star Theater . Jimmy Wallington became
1419-406: The top 30 shows for the 1955-56 season (it had been #27 in the season prior). Anthology series An anthology series is a written series, radio , television , film , or video game series that presents a different story and a different set of characters in each different episode , season , segment, or short . These usually have a different cast in each episode, but several series in
1462-485: The top 30. It was cancelled in 1956 after eight seasons. By contrast the Wyman-hosted Fireside Theatre added an average half a million viewers per episode(the largest audience in the series history) and finished in the top 25 as the #1 show in its timeslot. Wyman's most direct competitor for the coveted female demographic The Loretta Young Show , also sponsored by P&G on NBC , didn't crack
1505-477: The years went on, as more television performers and creators found their on-camera legs, and brought new or at least more polished ideas to the air, Berle tried refining his camera persona and evolving from the freewheeling, manic style he cultivated so successfully in the Texaco years. The net result: the balance between excess and decorum now weighted more toward decorum, which wasn't exactly what Berle represented at
1548-447: Was a 1951 condensed version of Charles Dickens 's A Christmas Carol , featuring Ralph Richardson as Ebenezer Scrooge for the only time on American television. He later recreated the role on a spoken word Caedmon Records LP album , with Paul Scofield as narrator. It has since been released on CD. The Doubleday Book Club also ran a playscripts club called The Fireside Theatre. 1955-1958, Seasons 8-10 Fireside Theatre became
1591-426: Was dismissed by critics, it remained among the top ten most popular shows for most of this period. For the 8th season (1955–1956) Jane Wyman became the host and producer making it only the second filmed prime time network drama anthology to be hosted by a woman. Later episodes (1955–1958) were written by important freelance television writers such as Rod Serling , Aaron Spelling and Gene Roddenberry . It predates
1634-666: Was greatly reduced by 1942, partly because Baker had become difficult to manage, particularly after a controversial performance of "Ave Maria" sung in German weeks after the United States officially entered World War II. Allen was forced to leave the show in 1944 due to hypertension ; he returned with a different sponsor on NBC , while staying with and further refining his half-hour format a year later. Texaco Star Theater' s next hosts included James Melton (1944–1947), Tony Martin (1947–1948), Gordon MacRae (1948), Jack Carter (1948), and Milton Berle (1948–1949). In 1945 Annamary Dickey
1677-439: Was named the permanent host that fall. He was a smash once the new full season began, Texaco Star Theater hitting ratings as high as 80 and owning Tuesday night for NBC from 8 to 9 p.m. ET . And, as the show landed a pair of Emmy Awards in that first year (the show itself, for Best Kinescope Show; and, Berle as Most Outstanding Kinescoped Personality), Uncle Miltie (he first called himself by that name ad-libbing at
1720-604: Was provided by Alan Roth (1948–1955) and Victor Young (1955–1956). As phenomenally popular as Texaco Star Theater was, it was hardly an undisturbed appeal. "Berle presented himself as one part buffoon and one part consummate, professional entertainer—a kind of veteran of the Borscht Belt trenches," the Museum of Broadcast Communications would observe decades after the show left the air. "Yet even within his shows' sanctioned exhibitionism , some of Berle's behavior could cross
1763-427: Was replaced by Ken Murray . During the almost two-year span, Una Merkel , Irene Noblette, Charlie Ruggles , and Ned Sparks appeared as comedians. Kenny Baker , Jane Froman , and Frances Langford sang, with David Broekman leading the orchestra. Jimmy Wallington was the announcer. The show began as a variety show with dramatizations and songs by guest stars. In 1940, the show became a star vehicle for Allen, with
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1806-450: Was signed to a three-year contract co-hosting the radio program with James Melton through 1947. On television, continuing a practice long established in radio, Texaco included its brand name in the show title. When the television version launched on June 8, 1948, Texaco also made sure its employees were featured prominently throughout the hour, usually appearing as smiling " guardian angels " performing good deeds of one or another kind, and
1849-491: Was variety shows becoming costlier to produce, compared to the Texaco days when, among other factors, name guest stars did not mind the low appearance fees they got for appearing, because they could bank the exposure they got from even one appearance on the Berle show; or with Fred Allen and Ed Wynn in its earlier radio incarnations. But part of the problem was Berle himself: with competition ( Jack Benny , George Burns , Bob Hope , Perry Como , etc.) crowding him more and more as
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