''Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre'' is an American Western anthology television series that was broadcast on

CBS 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 Entertainm ...

from October 5, 1956, until September 20, 1962.

Format

Many episodes were based on novels by

Zane Grey Pearl Zane Grey (January 31, 1872 – October 23, 1939) was an American author and dentist. He is known for his popular adventure novels and stories associated with the Western genre in literature and the arts; he idealized the American frontie ...

, to all of which Four Star Films held exclusive rights.

Dick Powell Richard Ewing Powell (November 14, 1904 – January 2, 1963) was an American actor, musician, producer, director, and studio head. Though he came to stardom as a musical comedy performer, he showed versatility, and successfully transformed into ...

was the host and the star of some episodes. Many of the guest stars made their TV debuts on the program. Powell said that working with Grey's stories proved to be both a benefit and a challenge. While he spoke of "the vast output of wonderful action stories from Zane Grey's pen", he acknowledged the challenge of "trying to compress a novel into half an hour of storytelling on television." Some stories could be adapted relatively easily, while others had to be skipped or only parts of them could be used for scripts. Over time, script writers used up the supply of adaptable material from Grey and began to adapt other authors' stories.

Preview and reception

A preview of the show in the trade publication ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' indicated that it would appeal to women viewers as well as to men. It noted that among the stories adapted from Grey's work "There will usually be strong love interests." In early February 1957, ''Billboard'' evaluated ''Zane Grey Theatre'' as "one of the strong contenders for the title of most important new show, according to many of its ratings."

Schedule

Note:All times Eastern Source: ''The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows 1946-Present'' In the summer of 1959, episodes of the program were repeated on a "rerun subsidiary" titled ''Frontier Justice'', with Melvyn Douglas as host, on Mondays from 9 to 9:30 P.M. ET. All of the summer 1962 episodes were reruns. In August 1961, ''Zane Grey Theatre'' was one of four programs whose episodes were sold to

Procter & Gamble The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G) is an American multinational consumer goods corporation headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, founded in 1837 by William Procter and James Gamble. It specializes in a wide range of personal health/consumer hea ...

to be broadcast in Canada. ''Zane Grey Theatre'' ended because Powell moved to another program, ''

The Dick Powell Show ''The Dick Powell Show'' is an American television anthology series that ran on NBC from September 26, 1961, until September 17, 1963, primarily sponsored by the Reynolds Metals Company. Overview The series was an anthology of various dramas ...

''.

Production

Four Star Films was the producing company, with Powell as executive producer. Producers included

Helen Ainsworth Helen Ainsworth (October 10, 1901 – August 18, 1961), also known as Cupid Ainsworth, was a stage and motion picture actress. She went to Hollywood in the 1920s as an agent, and she helped a number of actors attain stardom: Guy Madison, Marily ...

, Hal Hudson, and

Aaron Spelling Aaron Spelling (April 22, 1923 June 23, 2006) was an American film and television producer and occasional actor. His productions included the TV series ''Family'' (1976–1980), '' Charlie's Angels'' (1976–1981), ''The Love Boat'' (1977–1986 ...

. Directors included Felix Feist, William D. Faralla,

James Sheldon Leonard James Schleifer (November 12, 1920 – March 12, 2016) was an American television director. Sheldon directed for television programs including ''The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series), The Twilight Zone'', ''The Fugitive (1963 TV series), T ...

, and

Budd Boetticher Oscar "Budd" Boetticher Jr. ( ; July 29, 1916 – November 29, 2001) was an American film director. He is best remembered for a series of low-budget Westerns he made in the late 1950s starring Randolph Scott. Early life Boetticher was born in ...

. Writers included

Marion Hargrove Edward Thomas Marion Lawton Hargrove Jr. (October 13, 1919 – August 23, 2003) was an American writer. Early years Hargrove was born in Mount Olive, North Carolina. He worked on the newspaper at his Charlotte, North Carolina, high school and ...

. Sponsors included

Johnson Wax S. C. Johnson & Son, Inc. (commonly referred to as S. C. Johnson) is an American multinational, privately held manufacturer of household cleaning supplies and other consumer chemicals based in Racine, Wisconsin. In 2017, S. C. Jo ...

Episodes

Season 1 (1956–1957)

Season 2 (1957–1958)

Season 3 (1958–1959)

Season 4 (1959–1960)

Season 5 (1960–1961)

Home media

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre 1956 American television series debuts 1962 American television series endings 1950s American anthology television series 1960s American anthology television series 1950s Western (genre) television series 1960s Western (genre) television series CBS original programming English-language television shows Television series based on American novels