''Family Theater'' is a weekly half-hour dramatic anthology radio program which aired on the

Mutual Broadcasting System The Mutual Broadcasting System (commonly referred to simply as Mutual; sometimes referred to as MBS, Mutual Radio or the Mutual Radio Network) was an American commercial radio network in operation from 1934 to 1999. In the Old-time radio, golden ...

in the United States from February 13, 1947, to September 11, 1957.

Production history

''Family Theater'' developed from a Rosary prayer program on a local radio station in Albany, New York, started in 1943 by Holy Cross priest

Patrick Peyton Patrick Peyton, CSC (January 9, 1909 – June 3, 1992), also known as "The Rosary Priest", was an Irish-born Catholic priest, member of the Congregation of Holy Cross, and founder of the Family Rosary Crusade. He popularized the phrases "The f ...

. On Mother's Day 1945, he produced a similar national radio program on the Mutual Broadcasting System. In 1947, Peyton formed

Family Theater Productions Family Rosary Crusade is a worldwide campaign that eventually became a Roman Catholic movement, which was founded by Patrick Peyton, an Irish-American priest who is being considered for sainthood by the Vatican. The endeavor came to be a person ...

, a film and radio studio extension of the Family Rosary Crusade founded by Peyton to promote family prayer. The program had no commercial sponsor. By agreement with the Mutual network, the radio dramas were nonsectarian but focused on moral problems. Mutual provided the airtime, while Peyton covered production costs through donations. A total of 482 original episodes were produced.Phelan, Patricia. "Family Theater", ''The Concise Encyclopedia of American Radio'', (Christopher H. Sterling, Cary O'Dell, eds.), Routledge, 2010, p. 275
/ref> The program featured not only religious stories, but also half-hour adaptations of literary works such as ''

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'', ''

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'', and ''

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''. Peyton and Family Theater Productions continued in radio and expanded into films and television. Peyton arranged for many of Hollywood's stars in film and radio at the time to appear on ''Family Theater''. Throughout its ten-year run, well-known actors and actresses, including James Stewart, Gregory Peck, Dennis Morgan,

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, Shirley Temple,

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, Jane Wyatt, Charlton Heston, Lizabeth Scott, Bing Crosby, Jack Benny, Gene Kelly, Kate Smith, William Shatner, and Chuck Connors, appeared as announcers, narrators, or stars. Many donated their services. ''Family Theater'' was broadcast in the United States, Canada, Latin American, Australia, Mozambique, and the Philippines and won a number of industry awards. The motto of Family Theater Productions is "The family that prays together stays together."

Television

In 1951, while the radio version was still on the air, ''Family Theater'' moved to television, where it aired in Broadcast syndication, syndication. The spelling of the title was altered to ''Family Theatre'' and the series was extended to one hour. Father Peyton also hosted the TV version, which ran for seven years. One of the TV episodes was "Hill Number One", famous for featuring an early appearance by James Dean as John the Apostle (not John the Baptist, as is commonly thought). It combined a Korean War story with the story of the Crucifixion of Christ.

Present day

After Peyton's death in 1992, Family Theater Productions became part of Holy Cross Family Ministries, sponsored by the Congregation of Holy Cross. ''Family Theater'', now digitally remastered, continues to air in reruns in the United States and many other parts of the world. EWTN, for instance, airs the program on Sunday nights under the name "Family Theater Classic Radio". In addition, the program is available to download or stream on internet services such as the Internet Archive.

References

External links

*
OTR Network Library: ''Family Theater'' (384 episodes)Zoot Radio, free old time radio show downloads of ''Family Theater''
* * * {{Internet Archive film, id=HillNumberOne, name=Family Theatre ep. "Hill Number One: A Story of Faith and Inspiration" American Christian radio programs American radio dramas Christian radio dramas Mutual Broadcasting System programs Catholic radio programs 1947 radio programme debuts 1957 radio programme endings Radio programs adapted into television shows 1951 American television series debuts 1958 American television series endings 1950s American anthology television series 1940s American radio programs 1950s American radio programs Anthology radio series Congregations of Holy Cross Christian entertainment television series Black-and-white American television shows English-language television shows First-run syndicated television programs in the United States