''Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse'' is an American

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

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 dif ...

produced by Desilu Productions. The show ran on the

Columbia Broadcasting System CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

between 1958 and 1960. Three of its 48 episodes served as pilots for the 1950s television series ''

The Twilight Zone ''The Twilight Zone'' is an American media franchise based on the anthology television series created by Rod Serling. The episodes are in various genres, including fantasy, science fiction, absurdism, dystopian fiction, suspense, horror, sup ...

'' (One Episode) and '' The Untouchables'' (Two Episodes).

History

Between 1951 and 1957,

Desi Arnaz Desiderio Alberto Arnaz y de Acha III (March 2, 1917 – December 2, 1986) was a Cuban-born American actor, bandleader, and film and television producer. He played Ricky Ricardo on the American television sitcom '' I Love Lucy'', in which he c ...

(1917-1986) and

Lucille Ball Lucille Désirée Ball (August 6, 1911 – April 26, 1989) was an American actress, comedienne and producer. She was nominated for 13 Primetime Emmy Awards, winning five times, and was the recipient of several other accolades, such as the Gold ...

(1911-1989) starred in and produced (via their

Desilu Desilu Productions () was an American television production company founded and co-owned by husband and wife Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball. The company is best known for shows such as ''I Love Lucy'', ''The Lucy Show'', ''Mannix'', ''The Untouchabl ...

production company) the immensely popular '' I Love Lucy'' show. In early 1958, Desi Arnaz convinced CBS to purchase ''Desilu Playhouse'' with the promise that a bi-monthly ''Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Show'' (later rebroadcast as ''

The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour ''The'' () is a grammatical Article (grammar), article in English language, English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite ...

'') would be among the dramas, comedies and musicals planned for the show. Westinghouse Electric Company paid a then-record $12 million to sponsor the show, which resulted in the cancellation of the prestigious anthology series '' Studio One'', also sponsored by Westinghouse. Lucille Ball Aldo Ray, William Lundigan Desilu Playhouse 1958

Lucille Ball Aldo Ray, William Lundigan Desilu Playhouse 1958

The show debuted on Monday nights in the 10:00–11:00 pm astern Standard Timeevening time slot on October 6, 1958, hosted by Desi Arnaz, with

Betty Furness Elizabeth Mary Furness (January 3, 1916 – April 2, 1994) was an American actress, consumer advocate, and current affairs commentator. Early years Furness was born in Manhattan, the daughter of wealthy business executive George Choate Furness ...

continuing as the Westinghouse spokesperson (as she had been on ''Studio One''). The first show was "Lucy Goes to Mexico," a Lucy-Desi Hour with guest star

Maurice Chevalier Maurice Auguste Chevalier (; 12 September 1888 – 1 January 1972) was a French singer, actor and entertainer. He is perhaps best known for his signature songs, including " Livin' In The Sunlight", " Valentine", " Louise", " Mimi", and " Thank H ...

. The dramatic "Bernadette" (a biography of the Roman Catholic Church's Saint Bernadette), starring

Pier Angeli Pier Angeli (19 June 193210 September 1971), also credited under her real name, Anna Maria Pierangeli, was an Italian-born television and film actress who starred in American, British and European films throughout her career. Her American motio ...

, premiered in week two. Later shows included comedies, dramas and musicals, and various one-off comedies and dramas starring Lucille Ball in non-"Lucy" character performances. In October 1959, the show moved to Friday nights from 9:00–10:00 pm astern Standard Time The show lasted only one more year, due to an inability to attract big guest stars, the growing popularity then of westerns and police shows being shown on

prime time Prime time or the peak time is the block of broadcast programming taking place during the middle of the evening for a television show. It is mostly targeted towards adults (and sometimes families). It is used by the major television networks to ...

. It ran opposite the competing ABC television network's highly rated ''

77 Sunset Strip ''77 Sunset Strip'' is an American television private detective drama series created by Roy Huggins and starring Efrem Zimbalist Jr., Roger Smith, Richard Long (from 1960 to 1961) and Edd Byrnes (billed as Edward Byrnes). Each episode was o ...

'' that season, and the Arnaz-Ball divorce in 1960. Just prior to their marital breakup, Ball and Arnaz, along with

Vivian Vance Vivian Vance (born Vivian Roberta Jones; July 26, 1909 – August 17, 1979) was an American actress and singer best known for playing Ethel Mertz on the sitcom ''I Love Lucy'' (1951–1957), for which she won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outst ...

William Frawley William Clement Frawley (February 26, 1887 – March 3, 1966) was an American vaudevillian and actor best remembered for playing landlord Fred Mertz in the American television sitcom '' I Love Lucy'', "Bub" O'Casey in the television comedy ser ...

, and Little Ricky, filmed the last '' Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Show'', entitled "Lucy Meets The Moustache" and featuring guest stars

Ernie Kovacs Ernest Edward Kovacs (January 23, 1919 – January 13, 1962) was a Hungarian-American comedian, actor, and writer. Kovacs's visually experimental and often spontaneous comedic style influenced numerous television comedy programs for years afte ...

and

Edie Adams Edie Adams (born Edith Elizabeth Enke; April 16, 1927 – October 15, 2008) was an American comedian, actress, singer and businesswoman. She earned the Tony Award and was nominated for an Emmy Award. Adams was well known for her impersonations ...

. This last hour-long installment of the ''I Love Lucy'' format and characters was broadcast on April 1, 1960. The final telecast of ''The Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse'', "Murder is a Private Affair", aired on June 10, 1960.

Notable episodes

Joan Fontaine Maximilian Schell Desilu Playhouse 1959

In the fall of 1958, " The Time Element". starring William Bendix, aired to positive reviews. Written by

Rod Serling Rodman Edward Serling (December 25, 1924 – June 28, 1975) was an American screenwriter, playwright, television producer, and narrator/on-screen host, best known for his live television dramas of the 1950s and his anthology television series ...

, the show's popularity gave Serling the leverage to convince CBS to give the go-ahead to Serling's concept for a science fiction/fantasy anthology series (which was what Serling had in mind when writing "The Time Element") that he called ''

'' which debuted in the fall of 1959. In April 1959, ''Desilu Playhouse'' aired a two-part drama called "The Untouchables". Paul Monash adapted the 1957

memoirs A memoir (; , ) is any nonfiction narrative writing based in the author's personal memories. The assertions made in the work are thus understood to be factual. While memoir has historically been defined as a subcategory of biography or autobiog ...

of treasury agent

Eliot Ness Eliot Ness (April 19, 1903 – May 16, 1957) was an American Prohibition agent known for his efforts to bring down Al Capone and enforce Prohibition in Chicago. He was the leader of a team of law enforcement agents, nicknamed The Untouchables. ...

, played by Robert Stack. After CBS passed on the idea to produce a weekly version, '' The Untouchables'' became a hit series on ABC and ran for four seasons (1959–1963). Stack was selected only after the agent of Arnaz' personal choice, actor

Van Johnson Charles Van Dell Johnson (August 25, 1916 – December 12, 2008) was an American film, television, theatre and radio actor. He was a major star at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer during and after World War II. Johnson was described as the embodiment ...

, demanded Johnson be paid for 2 episodes at $10,000 each (the normal rate). Arnaz, according to Stack, blew his top at Johnson, fired him and called Stack and offered him the role. Stack accepted at once and began filming the next day

Production notes

Music

Music for the show was composed by John Waldo "Johnny" Green. The show opened with "Westinghouse Logo" and closed with "Desilu Playhouse Closing Theme" during the end credits.

Notable crew members

Several notable people contributed to one or more episodes of the show, including (in alphabetical order):

Producers

* Bert Granet *

Quinn Martin Quinn Martin (born Irwin Martin Cohn; May 22, 1922 – September 5, 1987) was an American television producer. He had at least one television series running in prime time every year for 21 straight years (from 1959 to 1980). Martin is a mem ...

Directors

* Robert Florey *

Claudio Guzmán Claudio Guzmán (August 2, 1927 – July 12, 2008) was a Chilean-American television director, producer, art director, and production designer. Biography Guzmán was born in Rancagua, Chile in 1927. As a young man, Guzmán enrolled at the ...

Douglas Heyes Douglas Heyes (May 22, 1919 – February 8, 1993) was an American film and television writer, director, producer, actor, composer, and author with a long list of accomplishments. He was sometimes credited under the pseudonym Matthew Howard. Pers ...

Arthur Hiller Arthur Hiller, (November 22, 1923 – August 17, 2016) was a Canadian-American television and film director with over 33 films to his credit during a 50-year career. He began his career directing television in Canada and later in the U.S. By t ...

* Jerry Hopper *

Lamont Johnson Ernest Lamont Johnson Jr. (September 30, 1922 – October 24, 2010) was an American actor and film director who has appeared in and directed many television shows and movies. He won two Emmy Awards. Early years Johnson was born in Stockto ...

Phil Karlson Phil Karlson (born Philip N. Karlstein; July 2, 1908 – December 12, 1982) was an American film director. Karlson directed ''99 River Street'', ''Kansas City Confidential'' and '' Hell's Island'', all with actor John Payne, in the early 1950s ...

* Buzz Kulik *

Robert Ellis Miller Robert Ellis Miller (July 18, 1927 – January 27, 2017) was an American film director. Filmography * '' Breaking Point'' (1963) - TV Series * '' Any Wednesday'' (1966) * '' Sweet November'' (1968) * '' The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter'' (1968 ...

Ralph Nelson Ralph Nelson (August 12, 1916 – December 21, 1987) was an American film and television director, producer, writer, and actor. He was best known for directing '' Lilies of the Field'' (1963), '' Father Goose'' (1964), and '' Charly'' (1968 ...

Joseph M. Newman Joseph M. Newman (August 17, 1909 – January 23, 2006) was an American film director most famous for his 1955 film ''This Island Earth''. His credits include episodes of ''The Twilight Zone'' and ''The Alfred Hitchcock Hour''. He was nomin ...

* Ted Post *

Jerry Thorpe Richard Jerome "Jerry" Thorpe was an American television-and-film director and producer. Actor and director Richard Thorpe was his father. Jerry served as the executive producer of 33 episodes of ''The Untouchables'' (starring Robert Stack) du ...

Writers

* James B. Allardice *

Madelyn Davis Madelyn Pugh (March 15, 1921 – April 20, 2011), sometimes credited as Madelyn Pugh Davis, Madelyn Davis, or Madelyn Martin, was a television writer who became known in the 1950s for her work on the '' I Love Lucy'' television series. Earl ...

* Oscar Fraley * John Mantley *

Document Number: H1000089528 Contemporary Authors Online, Gale, 2010. Reproduced in Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Gale, 2010
/ref> * William Templeton

Actors

* Jane Russell *

Martin Balsam Martin Henry Balsam (November 4, 1919 – February 13, 1996) was an American actor. He had a prolific career in character roles in film, in theatre, and on television. An early member of the Actors Studio, he began his career on the New Y ...

* Parley Baer * John Drew Barrymore * Richard Benedict * John Beradino * Warren Berlinger * Neville Brand *

Rory Calhoun Rory Calhoun (born Francis Timothy McCown, August 8, 1922April 28, 1999) was an American film and television actor. He starred in numerous Westerns in the 1950s and 1960s, and appeared in supporting roles in films such as ''How to Marry a Millio ...

* Wally Cassell * Pat Crowley * Frank DeKova * Buddy Ebsen * Abel Fernandez *

Wallace Ford Wallace Ford (born Samuel Grundy Jones; 12 February 1898 – 11 June 1966) was an English-born naturalized American vaudevillian, stage performer and screen actor. Usually playing wise-cracking characters, he combined a tough but friendly-fac ...

* Bruce Gordon * Jean Hagen *

Donald Harron Donald Hugh Harron, (September 19, 1924 – January 17, 2015) was a Canadian comedian, actor, director, journalist, author, playwright, and composer. Harron is best remembered by American audiences as a member of the cast of the long-running co ...

* Earl Holliman *

Vivi Janiss Vivi may refer to: People * Vivi Bach (1939–2013), Danish actress and singer * Vivi Fernandez (born 1977), Brazilian model * Vivi Flindt (born 1943), Danish ballerina * Vivi Friedman (1967–2012), Finnish film director * Vivi Gioi (1917–1975 ...

* Richard Keith * Barton MacLane * Joe Mantell * Margo *

John McIntire John Herrick McIntire (June 27, 1907 – January 30, 1991) was an American character actor who appeared in 65 theatrical films and many television series. McIntire is well known for having replaced Ward Bond, upon Bond's sudden death in Novem ...

Sid Melton Sidney Meltzer (May 22, 1917 – November 2, 2011), known professionally as Sid Melton, was an American actor. He played the roles of incompetent carpenter Alf Monroe in the CBS sitcom '' Green Acres'' and Uncle Charlie Halper, proprietor ...

* Martin Milner * Cameron Mitchell *

George Murphy George Lloyd Murphy (July 4, 1902 – May 3, 1992) was an American dancer, actor, and politician. Murphy was a song-and-dance leading man in many big-budget Hollywood musicals from 1930 to 1952. He was the president of the Screen Actors Guild fro ...

* Barbara Nichols *

Hugh O'Brian Hugh O'Brian (born Hugh Charles Krampe; April 19, 1925 – September 5, 2016) was an American actor and humanitarian, best known for his starring roles in the ABC Western television series ''The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp'' (1955–1 ...

Roger Perry Roger Perry (May 7, 1933 – July 12, 2018) was an American film and television actor whose career began in the late 1950s. He served as an intelligence officer in the United States Air Force during the early 1950s. Career Television In th ...

Paul Picerni Horacio Paul Picerni (December 1, 1922 – January 12, 2011) was an American actor in film and television, perhaps best known today in the role of Federal Agent Lee Hobson, second-in-command to Robert Stack's Eliot Ness, in the ABC hit televisi ...

Aldo Ray Aldo Ray (born Aldo Da Re; September 25, 1926 – March 27, 1991) was an American actor of film and television. He began his career as a contract player for Columbia Studios before achieving stardom through his roles in ''The Marrying Kind ...

Joe De Santis Joseph Vito Marcello De Santis (June 15, 1909 – August 30, 1989) was an American radio, television, movie and theatrical actor and sculptor. Biography Joe De Santis was born Joseph Vito Marcello De Santis to Italian immigrant parents in Ne ...

* Karen Sharpe * Mickey Simpson *

Red Skelton Richard Red Skelton (July 18, 1913September 17, 1997) was an American entertainer best known for his national radio and television shows between 1937 and 1971, especially as host of the television program ''The Red Skelton Show''. He has stars ...

* Patricia Smith * Robert Stack *

Harry Dean Stanton Harry Dean Stanton (July 14, 1926 – September 15, 2017) was an American actor, musician, and singer. In a career that spanned more than six decades, Stanton played supporting roles in films including ''Cool Hand Luke'' (1967), ''Kelly's Heroes ...

Barry Sullivan Barry Sullivan may refer to: *Barry Sullivan (American actor) (1912–1994), US film and Broadway actor *Barry Sullivan (stage actor) (1821–1891), Irish born stage actor active in Britain and Australia *Barry Sullivan (lawyer) Barry Sullivan is ...

Carol Thurston Carol Thurston (born Betty Lou Thurston; September 27, 1920 – December 31, 1969) was an American film and television actress who played the fictitious Emma Clanton in eight episodes (1959-1961) of the ABC/Desilu western television series ...

* Bill Williams *

Walter Winchell Walter Winchell (April 7, 1897 – February 20, 1972) was a syndicated American newspaper gossip columnist and radio news commentator. Originally a vaudeville performer, Winchell began his newspaper career as a Broadway reporter, critic and ...

* James Westerfield * Jack Weston * Jesse White *

James Whitmore James Allen Whitmore Jr. (October 1, 1921 – February 6, 2009) was an American actor. He received numerous accolades, including a Golden Globe Award, a Grammy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, a Theatre World Award, and a Tony Award, plus two ...

Ed Wynn Isaiah Edwin Leopold (November 9, 1886 – June 19, 1966), better known as Ed Wynn, was an American actor and comedian. He was noted for his ''Perfect Fool'' comedy character, his pioneering radio show of the 1930s, and his later career as a d ...

Keenan Wynn Francis Xavier Aloysius James Jeremiah Keenan Wynn (July 27, 1916 – October 14, 1986) was an American character actor. His expressive face was his stock-in-trade; and though he rarely carried the lead role, he had prominent billing in most ...

Aftermath

Westinghouse bought CBS in 1995, and renamed itself after its prime asset in 1997.

References

External links

*
''Desilu Playhouse'' "Silent Thunder"
Complete 52min episode from 16mm film - aired Dec. 8, 1958

{{Westinghouse Television series by CBS Studios Black-and-white American television shows 1950s American anthology television series 1960s American anthology television series 1958 American television series debuts 1960 American television series endings American Broadcasting Company original programming English-language television shows Television series by Desilu Productions