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Goodyear Playhouse
''Goodyear Television Playhouse'' is an American anthology series that was telecast live on NBC from 1951 to 1957 during the first Golden Age of Television. Sponsored by Goodyear, Goodyear alternated sponsorship with Philco, and the ''Philco Television Playhouse'' was seen on alternate weeks. In October 1955, Alcoa took over alternating sponsorship from Philco, the title was shortened to ''The Goodyear Playhouse'' and it aired on alternate weeks with ''The Alcoa Hour''. Producer Fred Coe nurtured and encouraged a group of young, mostly unknown writers that included Robert Alan Aurthur, George Baxt, Paddy Chayefsky, Horton Foote, Howard Richardson, Tad Mosel and Gore Vidal. Notable productions included Vidal's ''Visit to a Small Planet'' (1955), Richardson's ''Ark of Safety'' and Chayefsky's ''The Catered Affair''. From 1957 to 1960, it became a taped, half-hour series titled ''Goodyear Theater'', seen on Mondays at 9:30 p.m. ''Goodyear Television Playhouse'' finished #16 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anthology Series
An anthology series is a radio, television, video game or film series that spans different genres and 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 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. Etymology 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 a collection of poetry, later retitled anthology – see Gr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Golden Age Of Television
The first Golden Age of Television is an era of television in the Television in the United States, United States marked by its large number of live productions. The period is generally recognized as beginning in 1947 with the first episode of the drama anthology ''Kraft Television Theater''Anthony Slide, ed., ''The Television Industry: A Historical Dictionary'', Greenwood Press, 1991, p. 121. and ending in 1960 with the final episode of ''Playhouse 90'' (although a few Golden Age shows and stars continued into the 1960s). The Golden Age was followed by the network era, wherein television audiences and programming had channel drift, shifted to less critically acclaimed fare, almost all of it taped or filmed. Limitations of early television Prior to 1928, there had been some attempts at television programming using the mechanical television process. One of the first series made specifically for television to have a sustained run was CBS's 1931–1933 murder-mystery series ''The Te ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eddie Albert
Edward Albert Heimberger (April 22, 1906 – May 26, 2005) was an American actor and activist. He was twice nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor; the first nomination came in 1954 for his performance in ''Roman Holiday'', and the second in 1973 for '' The Heartbreak Kid''. Other well-known screen roles of his include Bing Edwards in the ''Brother Rat'' films, traveling salesman Ali Hakim in the musical ''Oklahoma!'', and the sadistic prison warden in 1974's '' The Longest Yard''. He starred as Oliver Wendell Douglas in the 1960s television sitcom '' Green Acres'' and as Frank MacBride in the 1970s crime drama ''Switch''. He also had a recurring role as Carlton Travis on '' Falcon Crest'', opposite Jane Wyman. Early life Edward Albert Heimberger was born in Rock Island, Illinois, on April 22, 1906, the eldest of the five children of Frank Daniel Heimberger, a real estate agent, and his wife, Julia Jones. His year of birth is often given as 1908, but this is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nielsen Ratings
Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen ratings, an audience measurement system of television viewership that for years has been the deciding factor in canceling or renewing television shows by television networks. As of May 2012, it is part of Nielsen Holdings. NMR began as a division of ACNielsen, a 1923-founded marketing research firm. In 1996, NMR was split off into an independent company, and in 1999, was purchased by the Dutch conglomerate VNU. In 2001, VNU also purchased ACNielsen, thereby bringing both companies under the same corporate umbrella. NMR is also a sister company to Nielsen//NetRatings, which measures Internet and digital media audiences. VNU was reorganized and renamed the Nielsen Company in 2007. History The Nielsen TV Ratings have been produced in the U ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Catered Affair
''The Catered Affair'' (also known as ''Wedding Party'') is a 1956 American comedy-drama film directed by Richard Brooks and produced by Sam Zimbalist from a screenplay by Gore Vidal, based on a 1955 television play by Paddy Chayefsky. The film stars Bette Davis, Ernest Borgnine, Debbie Reynolds, Barry Fitzgerald and Rod Taylor. It was Taylor's first film for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer after signing a long-term contract with the studio. The film score was by André Previn and the cinematographer was John Alton. Plot Agnes Hurley (Davis) is a disillusioned housewife, married to Bronx cab driver Tom Hurley (Borgnine). She wants something better for her daughter, Jane (Reynolds). When Jane announces her engagement to Ralph Halloran (Taylor), Aggie sees this as an opportunity to have a romantic elaborate wedding, with caterers and all the trimmings, like she never had because they could never afford it. However, the daughter does not want it because it is causing awkward conflicts with her ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Visit To A Small Planet
''Visit to a Small Planet'' is a 1960 American black-and-white science fiction comedy film directed by Norman Taurog and starring Jerry Lewis, Joan Blackman, Earl Holliman, and Fred Clark. Distributed by Paramount Pictures, it was produced by Hal B. Wallis. ''Visit to a Small Planet'' debuted as an original television production by Gore Vidal, then was reworked by Vidal as a Broadway play starring Cyril Ritchard and Eddie Mayehoff. The film was released on February 4, 1960. It was re-released in 1966 on a double bill with another Jerry Lewis film, ''The Bellboy''. Plot Kreton is an alien from the planet X-47 who is fascinated by human beings. Against the wishes of his teacher, he repeatedly visits Earth. During his latest visit, his teacher reluctantly agrees to allow him to stay and study the humans. Kreton becomes friends with a suburban family and stays with them after they agree to keep his alien status a secret. Along the way, he falls in love with their daughter. However, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gore Vidal
Eugene Luther Gore Vidal (; born Eugene Louis Vidal, October 3, 1925 – July 31, 2012) was an American writer and public intellectual known for his epigrammatic wit, erudition, and patrician manner. Vidal was bisexual, and in his novels and essays interrogated the social and cultural sexual norms he perceived as driving American life. Beyond literature, Vidal was heavily involved in politics. He twice sought office—unsuccessfully—as a Democratic Party candidate, first in 1960 to the U.S. House of Representatives (for New York), and later in 1982 to the U.S. Senate (for California). A grandson of a U.S. Senator, Vidal was born into an upper-class political family. As a political commentator and essayist, Vidal's primary focus was the history and society of the United States, especially how a militaristic foreign policy reduced the country to a decadent empire. His political and cultural essays were published in ''The Nation'', the ''New Statesman'', the ''New York Revie ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tad Mosel
Tad Mosel (May 1, 1922 – August 24, 2008) was an American playwright and one of the leading dramatists of hour-long teleplay genre for live television during the 1950s. He received the 1961 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his play '' All the Way Home''. Biography Early years Mosel was born George Ault Mosel, Jr. in Steubenville, Ohio, to George Ault Mosel, Sr. and Margaret Norman. Raised as a Presbyterian, he was eight years old when his father's wholesale grocery business failed following the stock market crash, and the family moved to the suburbs of New York City. In 1931, George, Sr. launched a successful New York advertising company. Remembering his youth in Larchmont, New York, and New Rochelle, New York, Mosel stated: :My brother and I were given a sense of security. My brother is four years older than I am. We had a good, wonderful home. I had a marvelous mother and father... I adored my mother and father. They were both wonderful parents. Mosel's interest in theater began ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Howard Richardson (playwright)
Howard Dixon Richardson (December 2, 1917 – December 30, 1984) was an American playwright, best known for the 1945 play '' Dark of the Moon''. Born in Spartanburg, South Carolina, Richardson graduated in 1938 from the University of North Carolina and then traveled through Europe (1938–39), returning to the University of North Carolina in 1940 for his M.A. From 1940 to 1942, he studied at the University of Iowa, where he wrote the play ''Barbara Allen'' (published in 1942), aka ''Night Song'', inspired by the Scottish-English folk song, "The Ballad of Barbara Allen". He served with the Army in 1943. Broadway Richardson wrote ''Dark of the Moon'' with his cousin and frequent collaborator, William Berney. They were unsuccessful in an effort to get ''Dark of the Moon'' on Broadway until an article about a Boston production of ''Dark of the Moon'' in the September 11, 1944 issue of ''Life'' attracted the attention of Broadway producers. With Richard Hart and Carol Stone heading the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Horton Foote
Albert Horton Foote Jr. (March 14, 1916March 4, 2009) was an American playwright and screenwriter. He received Academy Awards for his screenplays for the 1962 film ''To Kill a Mockingbird'', which was adapted from the 1960 novel of the same name by Harper Lee, and his original screenplay for the film ''Tender Mercies'' (1983). He was also known for his notable live television dramas produced during the Golden Age of Television. Foote received the 1995 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his play '' The Young Man From Atlanta''. He was the inaugural recipient of the Austin Film Festival's Distinguished Screenwriter Award. In 2000, he was awarded the National Medal of Arts. Early life Foote was born in 1916 in Wharton, Texas, the son of Harriet Gautier "Hallie" Brooks (1894–1974) and Albert Horton Foote (1890–1973). His younger brothers were Thomas Brooks Foote (1921–44), who died in aerial combat over Germany during World War II, and John Speed Foote (1923–95). Television Foot ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paddy Chayefsky
Sidney Aaron "Paddy" Chayefsky (January 29, 1923 – August 1, 1981) was an American playwright, screenwriter and novelist. He is the only person to have won three solo Academy Awards for writing both adapted and original screenplays. He was one of the most renowned dramatists of the Golden Age of Television. His intimate, realistic scripts provided a naturalistic style of television drama for the 1950s, dramatizing the lives of ordinary Americans. Martin Gottfried wrote in ''All His Jazz'' that Chayefsky was "the most successful graduate of television's slice of life school of naturalism." Following his critically acclaimed teleplays, Chayefsky became a noted playwright and novelist. As a screenwriter, he received three Academy Awards for '' Marty'' (1955), ''The Hospital'' (1971) and ''Network'' (1976). The movie ''Marty'' was based on his own television drama about two lonely people finding love. ''Network'' was a satire of the television industry and ''The Hospital'' was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George Baxt
George Baxt (June 11, 1923 – June 28, 2003) was an American screenwriter and author of crime fiction, best remembered for creating the gay black detective, Pharaoh Love. Four of his novels were finalists for the Lambda Literary Award for Gay Mystery. Life and work George Leonard Baxt was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Russian/Jewish immigrants. After working for several years as an agent he moved to Britain in the late 1950s and began a new career as a writer for television and the cinema. His most notable screenplays include '' The City of the Dead'' (1960) starring Christopher Lee and three collaborations with director Sidney Hayers noted for their taut suspense and black humour: '' Circus of Horrors'' (1960), the thriller '' Payroll'' (1961) from the novel by Derek Bickerton and ''Night of the Eagle'' (1962) which he re-wrote following a draft by Charles Beaumont and Richard Matheson, though his credit was omitted from the US version which was released as ''Burn, Witch, B ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
