20-522: The Screen Guild Theater is a radio anthology series broadcast from 1939 until 1952 during the Golden Age of Radio . Leading Hollywood stars performed adaptations of popular motion pictures. Originating on CBS Radio, it aired under several different titles including The Gulf Screen Guild Show , The Gulf Screen Guild Theater , The Lady Esther Screen Guild Theater and The Camel Screen Guild Players . Fees that would ordinarily have been paid to
40-505: 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
60-664: A different cast in each episode, but several series in 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
80-563: 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
100-632: A variety format, with mixed success. The program increasingly came to rely on adaptations of major motion pictures—presenting a considerable challenge to writers who had to compress the narrative into 22 minutes. Fees these actors would typically charge were donated to the Motion Picture Relief Fund , in order to support the creation and maintenance of the Motion Picture Country Home for retired actors. A 1940 magazine article noted that The Screen Guild Theater
120-512: 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
140-659: Is a segment of content intended for broadcast on radio . It may be a one-time production, or part of a periodically recurring series. A single program in a series is called an episode . A Radio Network is a complex system designed for the transmission of data, information, or signals via radio waves. These networks are an integral part of modern telecommunications, enabling communication between various devices and services over varying distances. Radio networks have evolved significantly since their inception, with numerous types and technologies emerging to cater to diverse needs and applications. There are different types of networks: In
160-445: 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
180-515: The 1950s, a small but growing cohort of rock and pop music fans, dissatisfied with the BBC's output, would listen to Radio Luxembourg – but only to some extent and probably not enough to have any impact on the BBC's monopoly; and invariably only at night, when the signal from Luxembourg could be received more easily. During the post-1964 period, offshore radio broadcasting from ships at anchor or abandoned forts (such as Radio Caroline ) helped to supply
200-562: The Motion Picture Relief Fund. "A table of highlights would run many pages", wrote radio historian John Dunning , who lists the following notable Screen Guild broadcasts: Shirley Temple's parents declined an offer of $ 35,000 for her to perform a radio version of The Blue Bird on a commercial broadcast; instead, she presented it on the Screen Guild program without payment. An attempt was made on her life during
220-692: The demand in western Europe for pop and rock music. The BBC launched its own pop music station, BBC Radio 1 , in 1967. International broadcasts became highly popular in major world languages. Of particular impact were programs by the BBC World Service , Voice of America , Radio Moscow , China Radio International , Radio France Internationale , Deutsche Welle , Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty , Vatican Radio and Trans World Radio . Interest in old-time radio has increased in recent years with programs traded and collected on reel-to-reel tapes , cassettes and CDs and Internet downloads, as well as
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#1732797829489240-623: 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
260-533: 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. Radio program A radio program , radio programme , or radio show
280-498: 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
300-437: 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
320-424: The show. As Temple was singing "Someday You'll Find Your Bluebird", a woman in the audience rose from her seat and pulled out a handgun, pointing it directly at her. The woman hesitated and was disarmed. It was later discovered that she had lost a child on the day it was publicly stated that Temple was born, and blamed her for stealing her daughter's soul. The series benefited during its 1950–51 season on ABC, when it
340-809: The stars and studios were instead donated to the Motion Picture Relief Fund , and were used for the construction and maintenance of the Motion Picture Country House . The Screen Guild Theater had a long run beginning January 8, 1939, lasting for 14 seasons and 527 episodes. Actors on the series included Ethel Barrymore , Lionel Barrymore , Ingrid Bergman , Humphrey Bogart , Eddie Cantor , Gary Cooper , Bing Crosby , Bette Davis , Jimmy Durante , Nelson Eddy , Douglas Fairbanks Jr. , Clark Gable , Judy Garland , Gene Kelly , Sam Levene , Johnny Mercer , Agnes Moorehead , Dennis Morgan , Gregory Peck , Fred Astaire , Frank Sinatra , Shirley Temple , and Dinah Shore . The series began with
360-519: Was "the only sponsored program on the air which gives all its profits to charity." Nearly $ 800,000 had been contributed by the summer of 1942. The first three seasons of the CBS series were sponsored by Gulf Oil . With uncertainties in the oil market due to World War II , Gulf dropped the show, and in 1942 the Lady Esther cosmetics corporation assumed sponsorship. The Lady Esther Screen Guild Theater
380-411: Was consistently one of the top ten radio programs. Reverses in the cosmetics industry led Lady Esther to withdraw in 1947, and Camel Cigarettes purchased a three-year contract. Changing time slots and networks brought about a decline in ratings. In the fall of 1950, the series returned to CBS, where it ran until its final broadcast June 30, 1952. The Screen Guild Theater earned a total of $ 5,235,607 for
400-493: Was expanded to a full hour. Few broadcasts are known to have survived in radio collections: The Screen Guild Theater was hosted by George Murphy in 1939, and Roger Pryor for the remainder of its Gulf-sponsored run. 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
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