''GE True'' (also known as ''General Electric True'') is a 33-episode, American

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 di ...

Program overview

The show had a unique opening: A huge "True" sign, apparently five stories tall, darkened, was seen in deep shadows. Jack Webb announced, "This is True!" Strong symphonic music included timpani rhythms, followed by the majestic opening theme. The True sign became brightly lit as Webb walked alongside the illuminated sign in an off-stage direction. A classic quotation from such figures as

Daniel Webster Daniel Webster (January 18, 1782 – October 24, 1852) was an American lawyer and statesman who represented New Hampshire and Massachusetts in the U.S. Congress and served as the U.S. Secretary of State under Presidents William Henry Harri ...

then appeared. In an overview of the 1962 television season, ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, t ...

'' noted: :Jack ("dum-de-dum-dum") Webb is back. This time he is retelling stories from the files of ''True'' magazine. The first one was set on a hospital ship off

Okinawa is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi). Naha is the capital and largest city ...

, where a doctor (played by

William Conrad William Conrad (born John William Cann Jr., September 27, 1920 – February 11, 1994) was an American actor, producer, and director whose entertainment career spanned five decades in radio, film, and television, peaking in popularity when he s ...

) operated on a marine who had a live and sensitive shell in his body capable of blowing a six-foot hole in a steel deck. It was a hell of a moment, but Webb sank it. "At 1830 hours exactly," he intoned, "the operation began on a human bomb dead center in the circle of death." He hosts the program in an echo-chambered voice, while he stands beside the word TRUE, spelled out in block letters 22 feet high, or roughly 10 times as tall as Jack Webb."The New Season," ''Time'', October 12, 1962
/ref> ''GE True'' aired at 9:30 pm Sundays, following the last season of the former ABC

sitcom A sitcom, a Portmanteau, portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troup ...

, ''

The Real McCoys ''The Real McCoys'' is an American situation comedy starring Walter Brennan, Richard Crenna, and Kathleen Nolan. Co-produced by Danny Thomas's Marterto Productions in association with Walter Brennan and Irving Pincus's Westgate Company ...

'', starring

Walter Brennan Walter Andrew Brennan (July 25, 1894 – September 21, 1974) was an American actor and singer. He won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performances in '' Come and Get It'' (1936), ''Kentucky'' (1938), and '' The Westerner ...

and

Richard Crenna Richard Donald Crenna (November 30, 1926 – January 17, 2003) was an American film, television and radio actor. Crenna starred in such motion pictures as '' The Sand Pebbles'', '' Wait Until Dark'', '' Un Flic'', ''Body Heat'', the first thre ...

, renamed on the CBS schedule as ''The McCoys''. ''GE True'' aired a half-hour later than a predecessor series, ''

General Electric Theater ''General Electric Theater'' was an American anthology series hosted by Ronald Reagan that was broadcast on CBS radio and television. The series was sponsored by General Electric's Department of Public Relations. Radio After an audition s ...

'', hosted by Ronald W. Reagan, which at had aired at 9 pm from 1953 to 1962. Several episodes were directed by William Conrad, Marshal Matt Dillon on radio's ''

Gunsmoke ''Gunsmoke'' is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman Macdonnell and writer John Meston. It centers on Dodge City, Kansas, in the 1870s, during the settlement of the American West. The central chara ...

'' and later the star of the CBS

crime drama Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine ...

, ''

Cannon A cannon is a large-caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder duri ...

''. Like its preceding program, ''The McCoys'', ''GE True'' faced opposition from the highly rated

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters ...

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US * Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that i ...

series, ''

Bonanza ''Bonanza'' is an American Western television series that ran on NBC from September 13, 1959, to January 16, 1973. Lasting 14 seasons and 432 episodes, ''Bonanza'' is NBC's longest-running western, the second-longest-running western series on ...

''. Reruns of the series were subsequently syndicated under the title ''True''. In 2013, the Jack Webb Fan Club of Los Angeles started a campaign to get the series released on DVD.

Selected episodes

In "Open Season" (January 6, 1963),

James Best Jewel Franklin Guy (July 26, 1926 – April 6, 2015), known professionally as James Best, was an American television, film, stage, and voice actor, as well as a writer, director, acting coach, artist, college professor, and musician. Duri ...

portrays the courageous Wisconsin game warden Ernie Swift, who faces the reprisal of the mob after he tickets gangster Frank MacErlane ( David McLean) for illegal fishing. In "Defendant: Clarence Darrow" (January 13, 1963),

Clarence Darrow Clarence Seward Darrow (; April 18, 1857 – March 13, 1938) was an American lawyer who became famous in the early 20th century for his involvement in the Leopold and Loeb murder trial and the Scopes "Monkey" Trial. He was a leading member of t ...

( Tol Avery), the Chicago lawyer who later clashed with

William Jennings Bryan William Jennings Bryan (March 19, 1860 – July 26, 1925) was an American lawyer, orator and politician. Beginning in 1896, he emerged as a dominant force in the Democratic Party, running three times as the party's nominee for President ...

in regard to the

theory of evolution Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation te ...

, is accused in 1912 of having attempted to bribe a juror. Darrow argues passionately over legal procedures with his own lawyer, Earl Rogers (

Robert Vaughn Robert Francis Vaughn (November 22, 1932 – November 11, 2016) was an American actor noted for his stage, film and television work. His television roles include the spy Napoleon Solo in the 1960s series '' The Man from U.N.C.L.E.''; the ...

). In the episode "Firebug" (January 27, 1963),

Victor Buono Victor Charles Buono (February 3, 1938January 1, 1982) was an American actor, comic, and briefly a recording artist. He was known for playing the villain King Tut in the television series ''Batman'' (1966–1968) and musician Edwin Flagg in '' W ...

plays Charles Colvin, a barber in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

, who is by night a

pyromania Pyromania is an impulse control disorder in which individuals repeatedly fail to resist impulses to deliberately start fires, to relieve some tension or for instant gratification. The term ''pyromania'' comes from the Greek word (''pyr'', 'f ...

c. The

United States Forest Service The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands. The Forest Service manages of land. Major divisions of the agency inc ...

believes that one arsonist is causing a series of fires. The episode also stars

Keith Andes Keith Andes (born John Charles Andes, July 12, 1920 – November 11, 2005) was an American film, radio, musical theater, stage and television actor. Early life The son of Mr. and Mrs. William G. Andes, Andes was born in Ocean City, New Jersey ...

and Arch Johnson. In "The Moonshiners" (February 24, 1963), Walter Kopek (

Gene Evans Eugene Barton Evans (July 11, 1922 – April 1, 1998) was an American actor who appeared in numerous television series, television films, and feature films between 1947 and 1989. Background Evans was born in Holbrook, Arizona and raised i ...

), an agent of the

United States Treasury Department The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States, where it serves as an executive department. The department oversees the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and ...

assumes an undercover role to halt a bootlegging operation in Florida, run by mobster Bill Munger ( Robert Emhardt).

James Griffith James Jeffrey Griffith (February 13, 1916 – September 17, 1993) was an American character actor, musician and screenwriter. Education Griffith attended Santa Monica High School, where he was a classmate with Glenn Ford. Both were active i ...

is cast in this episode as Stan Woolman. In the three-part episode "Security Risk", George Ellsworth, played by Charles Aidman, an official with the United States Embassy in

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is official ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, , is a country in Central Europe. Poland is divided into Voivodeships of Poland, sixteen voivodeships and is the fifth most populous member state of the European Union (EU), with over 38 mill ...

, in 1960, is blackmailed through a romantic affair with a young woman named Erica (Erika Peters) into passing secret information to the

communists Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a ...

at the height of the Cold War. He confessed his guilt despite the protection of

diplomatic immunity Diplomatic immunity is a principle of international law by which certain foreign government officials are recognized as having legal immunity from the jurisdiction of another country.

. Karl Swenson and

Parley Baer Parley Edward Baer (August 5, 1914 – November 22, 2002) was an American actor in radio and later in television and film. Despite dozens of appearances in television series and theatrical films, he remains best known as the original "Cheste ...

also appeared in this episode. In "A Pattern for Espionage",

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

Colonel Harvey Madison ( Rex Reason), is approached by a former Russian comrade-in-arms to spy for the communists. Instead, he covertly cooperates with the

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, ...

to uncover a spy ring operated by the former

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

Anthony Eisley Anthony Eisley (January 19, 1925 – January 29, 2003) was an American actor best known as one of the detective leads, Tracy Steele, in the ABC/Warner Brothers television series '' Hawaiian Eye''. Early in his career, he was credited as Fred Eis ...

and Gregory Walcott also appeared in this episode. In "The Tenth Mona Lisa" (1963), Italian farmer Vincenzo Perugia (

Vito Scotti Vito Giusto Scozzari (January 26, 1918 – June 5, 1996), also known as Vito Scotti, was an American character actor who played both dramatic and comedy roles on Broadway, in films, and later on television, primarily from the late 1930s to the ...

) in 1911 steals the ''

Mona Lisa The ''Mona Lisa'' ( ; it, Gioconda or ; french: Joconde ) is a Half length portrait, half-length portrait painting by Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci. Considered an archetypal masterpiece of the Italian Renaissance, it has been described ...

'' from the

Louvre Museum The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. ...

, but is apprehended by a French detective when he attempts to unload the painting on an art dealer. In the two-part 1963 episode "Heydrich", two Czech sergeants assassinate

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hit ...

hangman

Reinhard Heydrich Reinhard Tristan Eugen Heydrich ( ; ; 7 March 1904 – 4 June 1942) was a high-ranking German SS and police official during the Nazi era and a principal architect of the Holocaust. He was chief of the Reich Security Main Office (inc ...

; Chancellor of the

Third Reich Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

takes revenge on an entire village in his search for the sergeants. In "Five Tickets to Hell", the series finale, John Quigley (

Bing Russell Neil Oliver "Bing" Russell (May 5, 1926 – April 8, 2003) was an American actor and Class A minor-league baseball club owner. He was the father of Hollywood actor Kurt Russell and grandfather of ex–major league baseball player Matt Franco ...

), a Chicago mobster travels to Chihuahua,

Mexico Mexico ( Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guate ...

, where he robs the mint of $500,000 and kills seven men in the commission of the crime. Police Lieutenant Juan Garcia ( Carlos Romero) tracks down Quigley and his three accomplices. Barbara Luna appears in this episode as Cotita. Though several sources state the Jack Webb-hosted short film " Red Nightmare" aired as an episode of ''GE True'', contemporary sources do not back this up. (As well, as "Red Nightmare" was explicitly presented as a fantasy and ''not'' a true story, it would not fit the format of the show.)

Guest stars

In addition to the aforementioned, others who guest starred on ''GE True'' include: * Anna-Lisa * Philip Abbott *

Lloyd Bochner Lloyd Wolfe Bochner (July 29, 1924 – October 29, 2005) was a Canadian actor. He appeared in many Canadian and Hollywood productions between the 1950s and 1990s, including the films ''Point Blank'' (1967), '' The Detective'' (1968), '' The ...

* James T. Callahan *

Philip Carey Philip Carey (born Eugene Joseph Carey, July 15, 1925February 6, 2009) was an American actor. Early life and education On July 15, 1925, Carey was born in Hackensack, New Jersey.James Doohan James Montgomery Doohan (; March 3, 1920 – July 20, 2005) was a Canadian actor, author and soldier, best known for his role as Montgomery "Scotty" Scott in the television and film series ''Star Trek''. Doohan's characterization of the Scottish ...

Don Dubbins Donald Gene Dubbins (June 28, 1928 – August 17, 1991) was an American film, stage and television actor. Life and career Born in Brooklyn, New York. Dubbins began his career in 1953, appeariing in the television series '' The Doctor''. He also ...

* Ron Foster *

David Frankham David Frankham (born 16 February 1926) is a British retired actor. After serving in India and Malaya in the Second World War, Frankham worked first as a news reader, and then a writer, interviewer and producer for the BBC from 1948 to 1955. I ...

Kevin Hagen Kevin Hagen (April 3, 1928 – July 9, 2005) was an American actor best known for his role as Dr. Hiram Baker on NBC's ''Little House on the Prairie.'' Early life Hagen was born in Chicago, Illinois, to professional ballroom dancers, Haakon O ...

Stacy Harris Stacy Harris (July 26, 1918 – March 13, 1973) was an American actor with hundreds of film and television appearances. His name is sometimes found misspelled Stacey Harris. Early years Harris was an Army pilot whose leg was injured in a ...

Jonathan Hole Jonathan Hole (August 13, 1904 – February 11, 1998) was an American actor whose entertainment career covered five genres over 50 years. From his early days on the vaudeville stage and in legitimate theater, through radio, television and featu ...

Arte Johnson Arthur Stanton Eric Johnson (January 20, 1929 – July 3, 2019) was an American comic actor who was best known for his work as a regular on television's ''Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In''. Biography Early life Johnson was born January 20, 1929, in ...

Russell Johnson Russell David Johnson (November 10, 1924 – January 16, 2014) was an American actor. He played Professor Roy Hinkley in '' Gilligan's Island'' and Marshal Gib Scott in ''Black Saddle''. Early life Johnson was born in Ashley, Pennsylvania, o ...

Werner Klemperer Werner Klemperer (March 22, 1920 – December 6, 2000) was an American actor. He was known for playing Colonel Wilhelm Klink on the CBS television sitcom ''Hogan's Heroes'', for which he twice won the award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in ...

* Robert Knapp * Sean McClory * James Millhollin *

Mort Mills Mort Mills (born Mortimer Morris Kaplan; January 11, 1919 – June 6, 1993) was an American film and television actor who had roles in over 150 movies and television episodes. He was often the town lawman or the local bad guy in many popular ...

Jeanette Nolan Jeanette Nolan (December 30, 1911 – June 5, 1998) was an American actress. Nominated for four Emmy Awards, she had roles in the television series '' The Virginian'' (1962–1971) and ''Dirty Sally'' (1974), and in films such as ''Macbeth'' ...

Albert Paulsen Albert Paulsen (born Albert Paulson; 13 December 1925 in Guayaquil, Ecuador – 25 April 2004 in Los Angeles, California) was an Ecuadorian-American actor who appeared in many American television series beginning in the 1960s, playing c ...

* Chris Robinson *

Jacqueline Scott Jacqueline Sue Scott (June 25, 1931 – July 23, 2020) was an American actress who appeared on Broadway and in several films, but mostly guest starred in more than 100 television programs. Biography The daughter of John and Maxine Scott, she set ...

Malachi Throne Malachi Throne (December 1, 1928 – March 13, 2013) was an American actor, noted for his guest-starring roles on ''Star Trek'', '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'', ''Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea'', ''Lost in Space'', ''Batman'', '' Land ...

Jerry Van Dyke Jerry McCord Van Dyke (July 27, 1931 – January 5, 2018) was an American actor and comedian. He was the younger brother of Dick Van Dyke. Van Dyke had a long and successful career mostly as a character actor in supporting and guest roles on po ...

Pat Woodell Patricia Joy Woodell (July 12, 1944 – September 29, 2015) was an American actress and singer, best known for her television role as Bobbie Jo Bradley from 1963 to 1965 on '' Petticoat Junction''. Career Woodell was born July 12, 1944, in Wi ...

* Simon Scott

Episodes

References

External links

* {{General Electric 1962 American television series debuts 1963 American television series endings 1960s American anthology television series Black-and-white American television shows CBS original programming English-language television shows General Electric sponsorships Television series by Mark VII Limited Television series by Warner Bros. Television Studios Television shows based on magazines