Ford Theatre

:"This article is about a radio and television series. For the site of the assassination of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln, see Ford's Theatre."Infobox Radio Show
show_name = Ford Theater


imagesize =
caption =
other_names =
format = Anthology drama
runtime = 1 hour
country = USA
language = English
home_station = NBC (10/05/47-06/27/48)
CBS (10/08/48-07/01/49)
syndicates =
television = "Ford Theatre"
presenter = NBC: Howard Lindsay
CBS: Nelson Case
starring = NBC: Numerous radio actors
CBS: Numerous Hollywood stars
creator =
writer = NBC: Will Glickman, Charles Gussman, Lillian Schoen, Stanley Evans
CBS: Hugh Kemp, Brainerd Duffield
director = NBC: George Zachary
CBS: Fletcher Markle
producer =
executive_producer =
narrated =
record_location = NBC: New York City
CBS: Hollywood
first_aired =
last_aired =
num_series = 2
num_episodes = 78
audio_format = Monaural sound
opentheme =
endtheme =
website =
podcast = Infobox television
show_name = The Ford Television Theatre


caption =
format = anthology
runtime = 30 minutes
creator = Ford Motor Company (live episodes)
Screen Gems Television (filmed episodes)
starring =
country = USA
network = NBC (1952-1956)
ABC (1956-1957)
first_aired = 2 October, 1952
last_aired = 26 June, 1957
num_episodes = 195

"Ford Theatre" (spelled "Ford Theater" for the radio version) is a radio and television anthology series broadcast in the United States in the 1940s and 1950s. At various times, the television was to appear on all of the then-three major U.S television networks, while the radio version also was broadcast on two separate networks and on two separate coasts. "Ford Theatre" was named for its sponsor, the Ford Motor Company, which had an earlier success with its concert music series, "The Ford Sunday Evening Hour" (1934-42).

Radio

"Ford Theater" as a radio series lasted only for two seasons. It broadcast its first season from New York City on NBC with such actors as Ed Begley, Shirley Booth, Gary Merrill, Everett Sloane and Vicki Vola . This season ran from October 5, 1947 to June 27, 1948. Due to poor ratings, Ford moved the show to Hollywood and CBS for the second season, where top Hollywood actors headed the casts. This season lasted from October 8, 1948 to July 1, 1949, where it received much higher ratings. However, with television arising as a popular season, Ford decided to end its radio show and focus solely on television.

Television

The first "Ford Theatre" on U.S. television appeared on October 17, 1948, near the dawn of regularly-scheduled prime time network programming. It was an hour-long drama, broadcast, as was most television of the era, live. This series used primarily Broadway actors. The program began as a monthly series, switching to bi-weekly a year later, in alternation on Friday nights at 9 PM Eastern time with the "54th Street Revue". During this period, programming included adaptations of "Little Women", with June Lockhart and Kim Hunter, and "One Sunday Afternoon", with Burgess Meredith and Hume Cronyn. During the following season, the final one for the program on CBS, the alternation, in the same time slot, was with "Maganavox Theater".

A half-hour, filmed "Ford Theatre" returned to the airwaves on NBC for the 1951-52 season on Thursday nights at 9:30 PM Eastern time. At this time, production was moved from New York to Hollywood, and featured actors based there, rather than on Broadway. Some of these programs were comedies rather than dramas. Performers appearing during this era included Claudette Colbert, Charles Coburn, Peter Lawford, Ida Lupino, Thomas Mitchell, Ann Sheridan, and Barry Sullivan, among others. Also appearing, for the first time together, were Ronald Reagan and Nancy Davis, in an episode entitled "First Born", which first aired on February 3, 1953.

After four seasons on NBC, the program was shown for a final season on ABC during the 1956-57 season. The time slot was changed to Wednesdays at 9:30. The last prime time broadcast of the program was aired on July 10, 1957.

ee also

*Lux Radio Theater
*Suspense
*The Screen Guild Theater
*Screen Director's Playhouse
*The United States Steel Hour aka "Theater Guild on the Air"
*Academy Award Theater
*Author's Playhouse
*Cavalcade of America
*CBS Radio Workshop
*General Electric Theater
*The Campbell Playhouse
*Mercury Theatre on the Air

References

*Brooks, Tim and Marsh, Earle, "The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows"
* [http://www.audio-classics.com/lthefordtheater.html Audio Classics Archive Radio Logs: "The Ford Theater"]

Listen to

*InternetArchiveOTR|id=FordTheater|title=Ford Theater

External links

* [http://www.otrsite.com/logs/logf1001.htm Jerry Haendiges Vintage Radio Logs: "Ford Theater"]
*imdb title|id=0191690|title="The Ford Theatre Hour" (1948-1951)
*imdb title|id=0041024|title="The Ford Television Theatre" (1952-1957)