''Stand By for Crime'' is an American television

police drama The police show, or police crime drama, is a subgenre of procedural drama and detective fiction that emphasizes the investigative procedure of a police officer or department as the protagonist(s), as contrasted with other genres that focus on eithe ...

that aired on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

on Saturday nights from January 11 to August 27, 1949. The series stars veteran newsman

Mike Wallace Myron Leon Wallace (May 9, 1918 – April 7, 2012) was an American journalist, game show host, actor, and media personality. He interviewed a wide range of prominent newsmakers during his seven-decade career. He was one of the original correspo ...

under his real name, Myron Wallace. The series is notable for being the first program to be transmitted from

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

to New York City. It was ABC's component when each network presented 15 minutes of its programming on January 11, 1949, when the Bell System opened its coaxial cable linking TV's Midwestern and Eastern networks.

Plot

''Stand By For Crime'' was unique in its format. The series was seen up to the point of the murder, with Inspector Webb, later Lt. Kidd, looking through the clues. However, before the killer was revealed, viewers were invited to phone in their own guesses as to who the killer was.

Cast

* Boris Aplon as Inspector. Webb * Myron Wallace as Lt. Anthony Kidd * George Cisar as Sgt. Kramer Wallace replaced Aplon as the lead in May 1949 because Aplon, a radio actor, had difficulty working without a script.

Production

Greg Garrison Marvin Ginsburg (February 20, 1924 – March 25, 2005), known professionally as Greg Garrison, was an American producer and director in television. Career Garrison started his television career by accident at the age of 22. Among his first pro ...

was the producer. Jane Ashman and Nancy Goodwin were writers for this

sustaining program A sustaining program is a radio or television program that, despite airing on a commercial broadcast station, does not have commercial sponsorship or advertising. This term, mostly used in the United States, was common in the early days of radio, b ...

. It originated from WENR in Chicago.

Critical reception

A review of the January 11, 1949, episode in the trade publication ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' began, "With a little better pacing, perhaps more blood and guts, there seems to be no reason why this package couldn't become standard TV fare." It also said that the characters were "all keenly etched", and it compliment Aplon for his portrayal of Webb.

References

External links

* 1949 American television series debuts 1949 American television series endings 1940s American drama television series American Broadcasting Company original programming American crime drama television series Black-and-white American television shows English-language television shows {{US-drama-tv-prog-stub