''Eye Witness'' is a 30-minute American television anthology series that was broadcast live from New York City on the

NBC television network 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 are l ...

beginning March 30, 1953, and ending June 29, 1953. Richard Carlson was the initial host, and

Lee Bowman Lee Bowman (December 28, 1914 – December 25, 1979) was an American film and television actor. According to one obituary, "his roles ranged from romantic lead to worldly, wisecracking lout in his most famous years". Career Born in Cincinnati, ...

succeeded him. Robert Montgomery was the producer, and the series was produced by his company, Neptune Productions.

Perry Lafferty Perry Francis Lafferty (October 3, 1917 – August 25, 2005) was an American television producer and network television executive who produced several television programs, including the CBS programs ''All in the Family'', ''M*A*S*H'', '' Maude ...

was the director. The show's stories dealt with characters involved in strange twists of fate and the supernatural. Each week, the guest host or hostess starred the following week on Montgomery's other NBC series, ''

Robert Montgomery Presents ''Robert Montgomery Presents'' is an American dramatic television series which was produced by NBC from January 30, 1950, until June 24, 1957. The live show had several sponsors during its eight-year run, and the title was altered to feature the ...

''. Among its guest stars were

Eva Marie Saint Eva Marie Saint (born July 4, 1924) is an American actress of film, theatre and television. In a career spanning over 70 years, she has won an Academy Award and a Primetime Emmy Award, alongside nominations for a Golden Globe Award and two Brit ...

, John Newland,

Nita Talbot Nita Talbot (born Anita Sokol) (born August 8, 1930) is an American actress. She received an Emmy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for the 1967–68 season of '' Hogan's Heroes''. Film Born in New York City on Au ...

Melville Cooper George Melville Cooper (15 October 1896 – 13 March 1973) was an English actor. His many notable screen roles include the High Sheriff of Nottingham in ''The Adventures of Robin Hood'' (1938), Mr. Collins in ''Pride and Prejudice'' (1940) and ...

, James Gregory,

Fay Bainter Fay Okell Bainter (December 7, 1893 – April 16, 1968) was an American film and stage actress. She won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for ''Jezebel'' (1938) and has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Early life Bainter wa ...

and

Emlyn Williams George Emlyn Williams, CBE (26 November 1905 – 25 September 1987) was a Welsh writer, dramatist and actor. Early life Williams was born into a Welsh-speaking, working class family at 1 Jones Terrace, Pen-y-ffordd, Ffynnongroyw, Flints ...

. ''Eye Witness'' was on Monday nights from 9 to 9:30 Eastern Time. It replaced '' Hollywood Opening Night'' on NBC's schedule. Its competition included ''

I Love Lucy ''I Love Lucy'' is an American television sitcom that originally aired on CBS from October 15, 1951, to May 6, 1957, with a total of 180 half-hour episodes, spanning six seasons. The show starred Lucille Ball, her husband, Desi Arnaz, along wit ...

'' and '' The Big Idea'' on Dumont. The sponsor was Ennds, a product of Pearson Pharmacal Company. Pearson, however, sought to withdraw sponsorship as a result of "the roasting the show got from most critics" following its premiere. By May 9, 1953, Ennds had ended its sponsorship, and NBC was offering a discounted approach to any sponsor willing to take the time slot with ''Eye Witness'' "or any one of several other shows" that NBC could provide. The proposal said that if the show received a Nielsen rating of 16 or lower, the sponsor would pay nothing for talent and production. An episode rated 16-20 would cost $2,352.94, and one rated 20-25 would cost $5,882.35. Ratings above 25 would increase proportionately.

Critical reception

Media critic John Crosby attributed NBC with "a surprising burst of initiative" in scheduling what the network described as an "'off beat' mystery" opposite ''I Love Lucy'', rather than scheduling a similar kind of situation comedy. He added, however, that in one episode the presentation was so off beat and combined with "elaborate trickery" that "you never have seen or heard so much malarkey in your life." He concluded, "''Eye Witness'' is a pretty bad show." A review in the trade publication ''

Broadcasting Broadcasting is the distribution of audio or video content to a dispersed audience via any electronic mass communications medium, but typically one using the electromagnetic spectrum ( radio waves), in a one-to-many model. Broadcasting beg ...

'' described the premiere episode as one with "the stock situation, typed characters, trite dialogue and obvious conclusion that you might find in a primer on how to write a TV script". It summarized the presentation as taking "the line of least resistance, which in this case led straight to mediocrity".

References

External links

''Eye Witness (TV series)'' at CTVA with episode list
* 1950s American anthology television series 1953 American television series debuts 1953 American television series endings American live television series NBC original programming Black-and-white American television shows {{US-tv-prog-stub