''Behind Closed Doors'' is an American spy 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 television, satellite, or cable television, cable, excluding breaking news, television adverti ...

. It stars Bruce Gordon and aired on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

during the 1958–1959 television season.

Synopsis

An anthology series, ''Behind Closed Doors'' each week depicted international intrigue and

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

counterespionage Counterintelligence is an activity aimed at protecting an agency's intelligence program from an opposition's intelligence service. It includes gathering information and conducting activities to prevent espionage, sabotage, assassinations or ot ...

incidents during the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

.McNeil, Alex, ''Total Television: The Comprehensive Guide to Programming From 1948 to the Present, Fourth Edition'', New York: Penguin Books, 1996, , p. 84.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. 88.

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

Commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries this naval rank is termed frigate captain. ...

Matson both hosts the series and appears as a character in some of its episodes.

Rear Admiral Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star "admiral" rank. It is often regarde ...

Ellis M. Zacharias Ellis is a surname of Welsh and English origin. Retrieved 21 January 2014 An independent French origin of the surname is said to derive from the phrase fleur-de-lis. Surname A *Abe Ellis (Stargate), a fictional character in the TV series ''St ...

provides comments at the end of each episode.

Cast

* Bruce Gordon...Commander Matson * Rear Admiral (ret.) Ellis M. Zacharias...Himself

Production

Harry Ackerman Harry Stephen Ackerman (November 17, 1912 – February 3, 1991) was an American television producer, credited with creating or co-creating twenty-one series, seven of which were at one time being broadcast simultaneously. Some of the sitcoms in ...

, then vice-president of

Screen Gems Screen Gems is an American brand name used by Sony Pictures' Sony Pictures Entertainment Motion Picture Group, a subsidiary of Japanese multinational conglomerate, Sony Group Corporation. It has served several different purposes for its parent ...

, created ''Behind Closed Doors''. The episodes of ''Behind Closed Doors'' are based on the files of

, who served in the

from 1912 to 1946 and spent a 25-year career in

naval intelligence Military intelligence is a military discipline that uses information collection and analysis approaches to provide guidance and direction to assist commanders in their decisions. This aim is achieved by providing an assessment of data from a ...

, culminating in a tour as the Deputy Director of Naval Intelligence. The title of the series was the same as that of a book he had written, and he served as the technical consultant for the series. His files covered real-life events of the era before the

, so although inspired by real-life pre-Cold War events, the storylines of ''Behind Closed Doors'' were updated, relocated, and fictionalized to depict the Cold War period. Zacharias's comments at the end of each episode highlighted the themes and lessons of the episode. ''Behind Closed Doors'' was a Screen Gems production. Sam Gallu was its

executive producer Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the making of a commercial entertainment product. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights o ...

, and Sidney Marshall produced the series. Whitehall Pharmaceuticals and Liggett & Myers Tobacco Company were the sponsors. The show's main competition was ''

Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre ''Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre'' is an American Western anthology television series that was broadcast on CBS from October 5, 1956, until September 20, 1962. Format Many episodes were based on novels by Zane Grey, to all of which Four Star F ...

'' and

Pat Boone Patrick Charles Eugene Boone (born June 1, 1934) is an American singer and actor. He was a successful pop singer in the United States during the 1950s and early 1960s. He sold more than 45 million records, had 38 Top 40 hits, and appeared in mo ...

's program.

Broadcast history

''Behind Closed Doors'' premiered on October 2, 1958, and 26 episodes were produced. It aired on

on Thursdays at 9:00 p.m.

Eastern Time The Eastern Time Zone (ET) is a time zone encompassing part or all of 23 states in the eastern part of the United States, parts of eastern Canada, the state of Quintana Roo in Mexico, Panama, Colombia, mainland Ecuador, Peru, and a small port ...

. The show was cancelled after a single season, and its last episode was broadcast on April 9, 1959.

Episodes

SOURCE tvguide.com Behind Closed Doors SEASON 1 EPISODE GUIDE Accessed 23 November 2020
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References

External links

* {{IMDb title, id=0051253
Opening of ''Behind Closed Doors'' Episode 22 "Mightier Than the Sword" on YouTube

''Behind Closed Doors'' Episode 1 "The Cape Canaveral Story" on YouTube
1950s American drama television series American spy drama television series 1958 American television series debuts 1959 American television series endings Black-and-white American television shows NBC original programming Television shows set in the United States English-language television shows Television series about the Cold War