''Armstrong Circle Theatre'' is an American anthology drama

television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed be ...

which ran from June 6, 1950, to June 25, 1957, on

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, and from October 2, 1957, to August 28, 1963, 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 ...

. It alternated weekly with ''

The U.S. Steel Hour ''The United States Steel Hour'' is an anthology series which brought hour long dramas to television from 1953 to 1963. The television series and the radio program that preceded it were both sponsored by the United States Steel Corporation (U. S. ...

''. It finished in the Nielsen ratings at #19 for the 1950-1951 season and #24 for 1951-1952. The principal sponsor was

Armstrong World Industries Armstrong World Industries, Inc. is a Pennsylvania corporation incorporated in 1891. It is an international designer and manufacturer of walls and ceilings. Based in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, AWI has a global manufacturing network of 26 facilities ...

. Between July 8 and September 16, 1959, CBS aired reruns of six documentary dramas originally broadcast during the 1958–1959 season as episodes of ''Armstrong Circle Theatre'' under the title ''Armstrong by Request''.Brooks, Tim, and Earle Marsh, ''The Complete Directory to Prime-Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946-Present (Sixth Edition)'', New York: Ballantine Books, 1995, , p. 57. ''Armstrong by Request'' aired during ''Armstrong Circle Theatre''′s time slot and also alternated with ''The United States Steel Hour''.

Synopsis

The program's first season featured episodes that tried "to please every body in a mass audience, using only highly formularized plays. The next season brought a different approach, with more emphasis on characters than on plot. Edward B. Roberts worked with writers from all over the United States to find scripts. By mid-November 1952, he estimated that he had talked to 3,000 writers and looked at 20,000 scripts. Authors received $750 for each accepted script. The series featured original dramas by noted writers, although sometimes comedies were shown. Its guidelines specifically called for the avoidance of violence. Originally a half-hour production, in 1955 the show expanded to an hour and began to emphasize dramatized versions of real-life contemporary events (including the sinking of the SS ''Andrea Doria'' and a documentary on the history of Communism in the Soviet Union. Upon moving to CBS, the show emphasized several Cold War topics, including

espionage Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information (intelligence) from non-disclosed sources or divulging of the same without the permission of the holder of the information for a tangib ...

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and escapes from

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David Susskind David Howard Susskind (December 19, 1920 – February 22, 1987) was an American producer of TV, movies, and stage plays and also a TV talk show host. His talk shows were innovative in the genre and addressed timely, controversial topics beyond th ...

, producer of the program, called the new episodes "actuals", describing them as "dramatizations based on truth".

Hosts and narrators

Nelson Case Nelson Case (February 3, 1910 – March 23, 1976) was an American radio and television announcer. Case was the son of Walter and Ethel Case. His father was a newspaperman, and his mother was a driving force in the Long Beach Community Players. He ...

(1950-1951) *Joe Ripley (1952-1953) *Bob Sherry (1953-1954) *

Sandy Becker George Sanford Becker (February 19, 1922 – April 9, 1996), who was known professionally as Sandy Becker, was an American television announcer, actor, and comedian who hosted several popular children's programs in New York City. The best known ...

(1954-1955) *

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(1955-1957) *

Douglas Edwards Douglas Edwards (July 14, 1917 – October 13, 1990) was an American radio and television newscaster and correspondent who worked for the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) for more than four decades. After six years on CBS Radio in the 1940s ...

(1957-1961) *

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(1961-1962) * Henry Hamilton (1962-1963)

Guest stars

The series featured numerous guest stars including: *

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* Barbara Britton * James Broderick *

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* Jackie Cooper * James Dean *

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* Peter Falk *

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* Otto Kruger *

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* Jack Lemmon * Julie London *

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Gene Lockhart Edwin Eugene Lockhart (July 18, 1891 – March 31, 1957)"Gene Lockhart"
''The ...

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* Walter Matthau *

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* Darren McGavin * Patrick McVey *

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* Paul Newman *

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* Susan Oliver *

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* George Segal *

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* Kim Stanley *

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* Harold J. Stone * Suzanne Storrs *

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* Ron Thompson *

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* Jack Whiting *

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Directors

* Paul Bogart *William Corrigan *

Marc Daniels Marc Daniels (January 27, 1912 – April 23, 1989), born Danny Marcus, was an American television director. He directed on programs such as I Love Lucy, Gunsmoke, Star Trek, Mission: Impossible, Hogan's Heroes, and more. Life and career Da ...

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 ...

Robert Mulligan Robert Patrick Mulligan (August 23, 1925 – December 20, 2008) was an American director and producer. He is best known for his humanist dramas, including ''To Kill a Mockingbird'' (1962), '' Summer of '42'' (1971), ''The Other'' (1972), '' Same ...

Daniel Petrie Daniel Mannix Petrie (November 26, 1920 – August 22, 2004) was a Canadian film, television, and stage director who worked in Canada, Hollywood, and the United Kingdom; known for directing grounded human dramas often dealing with taboo subject ...

Ted Post Theodore I. Post (March 31, 1918 – August 20, 2013) was an American director of film and television. Highly prolific, Post directed numerous episodes of well-known television series including '' Rawhide'', ''Gunsmoke'', and ''The Twilight Zone'' ...

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* Garry Simpson * Robert Stevens

Episodes

1950-1951

1952-1953

1954

1955-1956

1956-1957

1957-1958

1962-1963

References

External links

*
''Armstrong Circle Theatre'' at CVTA
{{DEFAULTSORT:Armstrong Circle Theatre 1950 American television series debuts 1963 American television series endings 1950s American anthology television series 1960s American anthology television series Black-and-white American television shows English-language television shows CBS original programming NBC original programming