Ann and Harold is a very early BBC television programme, and ran for five episodes, all broadcast in 1938. It is known to be the world's first drama serial ever transmitted, and explained the trials of a couple named Ann and Harold respectively, and starred Ann Todd. Little else is known about this programme.
No material exists of the show today, as it was aired live before any means of recording programmes existed. In fact, it is unknown if even any photographs survive of this programme.
Telecrime was a British drama series that aired on the BBC Television Service from 1938 to 1939 and in 1946. One of the first multi-episode drama series ever made, it is also one of the first television dramas written especially for television not adapted from theatre or radio. Having first aired for 5 episodes from 1938 to 1939, Telecrime returned in 1946, following the resumption of television after World War II, and aired as Telecrimes.
A whodunit crime drama, Telecrime showed the viewer enough evidence to solve the crime themselves. Most episodes were written by Mileson Horton. All 17 episodes are lost. Aired live, their preservation was not technically possible at the time.
Broadway plays are presented live in condensed one hour versions.
Public Prosecutor is a 26-episodes American television series produced in 1947–1948, and first aired in 1951.
Kraft Television Theatre is an American drama/anthology television series
Actors Studio is an American TV show which aired for 65 episodes, from September 26, 1948 to October 26 on the fledgling ABC Television Network; then from November 1, 1949 to June 23, 1950 on CBS Television. It was hosted by Mark Connelly.
The series showcased short pieces of adapted, classic and original drama, performed and produced live each week. Among some of the known authors were William Saroyan, James Thurber, Ring Lardner, Edgar Allan Poe, Irwin Shaw and Budd Schulberg. Featured actors included Martin Balsam, Richard Boone, Marlon Brando, Hume Cronyn, Julie Harris, Jean Muir and Jessica Tandy. Recurring performers included Jocelyn Brando, Tom Ewell, Steven Hill, Kim Hunter and Cloris Leachman.
In February 1950, the series moved to Friday nights and was expanded to one hour, alternating every other week with broadcasts of Ford Theatre. In March, the name of the show was changed to The Play's the Thing.
The series received a Peabody Award in 1948 for pioneering in the field of televised drama.
The Chevrolet Tele-Theatre is an American anthology series that aired live on NBC Mondays at 8 pm EST from September 27, 1948 to June 26, 1950. Guests who appeared on the series included Faye Emerson, Edward Everett Horton, Basil Rathbone, Nina Foch, and Boris Karloff.
The Philco Television Playhouse is an American 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.
Ford Theatre, spelled Ford Theater for the radio version and known as Ford Television Theatre for the TV version, was a radio and television anthology series broadcast in the United States in the 1940s and 1950s. At various times the television series appeared on all three major television networks, while the radio version 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.
An American radio–television anthology series, created in 1947 by Canadian director Fletcher Markle, who came to CBS from the CBC. Studio One, presented by Westinghouse, was one of the first of the anthology TV programs. The episodes were often abridged remakes of movies from years gone by and many future well-known television and movie actors appeared in the productions.
Lamp Unto My Feet is an American religious television program that was produced by CBS and broadcast on Sunday mornings from 1948 to 1979.
Colgate Theatre is a 30-minute dramatic television anthology series telecast on NBC during 1949 and 1958 for a total of 50 episodes. The first edition, a live anthology, was telecast on Sunday nights at 8:30pm through the summer of 1950. The second series [Tuesdays, 9:30pm] consisted of filmed pilot episodes of unsold series, and was a last-minute replacement for the game series Dotto, which was ended during August 1958, due to accusations that it was rigged. It served as a filler for the sponsor until The George Burns Show premiered on October 14, 1958.
Suspense is an American television anthology series that ran on CBS Television from 1949 to 1954. It was adapted from the radio program of the same name which ran from 1942 to 1962. Like many early television programs, the show was broadcast live from New York City. It was sponsored by the Auto-Lite corporation, and each episode was introduced by host Rex Marshall, who promoted Auto-Lite spark plugs, car batteries, headlights, and other car parts.
Some of the early scripts were adapted from Suspense radio scripts, while others were original for television. Like the radio program, many scripts were adaptations of literary classics by well-known authors. Classic authors such as Edgar Allan Poe, Agatha Christie, and Charles Dickens all had stories adapted for the series, while contemporary authors such as Roald Dahl and Gore Vidal also contributed. Many notable actors appeared on the program, including Bela Lugosi, Boris Karloff, Franchot Tone, Robert Emhardt, Leslie Nielsen, Lloyd Bridges, and many more.
The program was a live television series, but most episodes were recorded on kinescope. However, only about 90 of the 260 episodes survive today.
Your Show Time is an American anthology drama series that debuted as a midseason replacement on NBC Television in January 1949. Hosted and narrated by Arthur Shields, the series ran until July 1949.
Fireside Theater is an American anthology drama series that ran on NBC from 1949 to 1958, and was the first successful filmed series on American television. Stories were low budget and often based on public domain stories or written by freelance writers such as Rod Serling. While it was panned by critics, it remained in the top ten most popular shows for most of its run. It predated the other major pioneer of filmed TV in America, I Love Lucy, by two years.
The Clock is a 30-minute American anthology television series based upon the American Broadcasting Company radio series which ran from 1946–48. The half-hour series mostly consisted of original dramas concerning murder, mayhem or insanity. Series narrator Larry Semon was the only regular; each week a new set of guest stars were featured. The title of the series was derived from a clock which was a major plot element in each story. The show's musical theme was "The Sands of Time". Ninety-one episodes aired from 1949 to 1952, most of them on NBC, except for the final season which aired on ABC. Courtesy of Wikipedia.
Mama was a weekly Maxwell House and Post-sponsored CBS television comedy-drama series from July 1, 1949 until March 17, 1957.
Lights Out was an extremely popular American old-time radio program, an early example of a network series devoted mostly to horror and the supernatural, predating Suspense and Inner Sanctum. Versions of Lights Out aired on different networks, at various times, from January 1934 to the summer of 1947 and the series eventually made the transition to television.
In 1946, NBC Television brought Lights Out to TV in a series of four specials, broadcast live and produced by Fred Coe, who also contributed three of the scripts. NBC asked Cooper to write the script for the premiere, "First Person Singular", which is told entirely from the point of view of an unseen murderer who kills his obnoxious wife and winds up being executed. Variety gave this first episode a rave review ("undoubtedly one of the best dramatic shows yet seen on a television screen"), but Lights Out did not become a regular NBC-TV series until 1949.
Based on a popular radio series, each show tells a different reporter's Big Story, a true story selected from newspapers across the United States. Comments from the actual reporter open and close each show but the permanent narrator drives the plot line and a featured actor dramatizes the reporter's role.
The Silver Theatre is a television series that was broadcast on the CBS television network from 1949 to 1950. It was a live anthology series consisting of dramatic teleplays about romance. It was sponsored by the International Silver Company.