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

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

from October 5, 1956 until May 18, 1961.

Synopsis

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 frontier ...

, 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, singer, musician, producer, director, and studio head. Though he came to stardom as a musical comedy performer, he showed versatility and successfully transform ...

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.

Episodes

Production

Development

''The Zane Grey Radio Show'' had run for one season beginning in 1947 and had little in common with the stories of Zane Grey. The television series, however, began as an attempt to dramatize adaptions of Zane Grey's short stories and novels. Four Star Films acquired the rights to at least 40 Zane Grey works before filming began. However, it soon became evident that Grey's stories were too complex to fit into a 30 minute episode, and so with few exceptions, the scripts were all original. Four Star Films was the producing company, with Powell as executive producer. Producers included

Helen Ainsworth Helen Ainsworth (born Helen Shumate; October 10, 1901 – August 18, 1961), also known as Cupid Ainsworth, was a stage and motion picture actress. Early years Born Helen Shumate, in San Jose, California, she was the only child of Albert and I ...

, Hal Hudson, and

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

. Directors included Felix Feist, William D. Faralla,

James Sheldon Leonard James Schleifer, also known as James Sheldon (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'', ''Th ...

, and

Budd Boetticher Oscar Boetticher Jr. ( ; July 29, 1916 – November 29, 2001), known as Budd Boetticher, 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 Boet ...

. 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 corporation, multinational corporation, privately held manufacturer of household cleaning supplies and other consumer chemicals based in Racine, ...

Preview

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 advertis ...

'' 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."

Release

Broadcast

Note:All times Eastern ''Zane Grey Theatre'' first aired on Fridays when it replaced ''

Our Miss Brooks ''Our Miss Brooks'' is an American sitcom starring Eve Arden as a sardonic high-school English teacher. It began as a Old Time Radio, radio show broadcast on CBS from 1948 to 1957. When the show was adapted to television (1952–56), it became ...

'' in the fall of 1956, then it moved to Thursdays during its third season. 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. 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. It was founded in 1837 by William Procter and James Gamble. It specializes in a wide range of personal health/con ...

to be broadcast in Canada. ''Zane Grey Theatre'' ended when Powell moved to NBC's, ''

The Dick Powell Show ''The Dick Powell Show'' is an American television anthology series that aired 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 dram ...

'', CBS replaced it with '' The New Bob Cummings Show'' that fall. They reran the show again in the summer of 1962.

Home media

Reception

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." TV Guide called the show "an educated 20th century view of the Old West". After five seasons, CBS ran a sixth season composed of reruns of the best episodes.

Spin-offs

Five television Westerns began as episodes of ''Zane Grey Theatre: Trackdown,'' starring

Robert Culp Robert Martin Culp (August 16, 1930 – March 24, 2010) was an American actor and screenwriter widely known for his work in television. Culp earned an international reputation for his role as Kelly Robinson on ''I Spy (1965 TV series), I Spy'' ( ...

("Badge of Honor"), ''

The Rifleman ''The Rifleman'' is an American Western television series starring Chuck Connors as rancher Lucas McCain and Johnny Crawford as his son Mark McCain. It was set in the 1880s in the fictional town of North Fork, New Mexico Territory. The show ...

'', starring

Chuck Connors Kevin Joseph "Chuck" Connors (April 10, 1921 – November 10, 1992) was an American actor and professional basketball and baseball player. He is one of only 13 athletes in the history of American professional sports to have played in both Majo ...

("Sharpshooter"), ''

Johnny Ringo John Peters Ringo (May 3, 1850 – July 13, 1882) was an American Old West outlaw loosely associated with the Cochise County Cowboys in frontier boomtown Tombstone, Arizona Territory. He took part in the Mason County War in Texas during which h ...

'', starring Don Durrant ("The Loner"), '' The Westerner'', starring

Brian Keith Robert Alba Keith (November 14, 1921 – June 24, 1997), known professionally as Brian Keith, was an American film, television, and stage actor who in his six-decade career gained recognition for his work in films such as the Disney family ...

("Trouble at Tres Cruces"), and ''

Black Saddle ''Black Saddle'' is an American Western television series starring Peter Breck that aired 44 half-hour black-and-white episodes from January 10, 1959, to May 6, 1960. The first season of 20 episodes aired on NBC from January 1959 to September ...

'', starring Chris Alcaide ("A Threat of Violence"). Alcaide was replaced by Peter Breck in the principal role when ''Black Saddle'' was sold as a series. The "lineage" of ''Zane Grey Theatre'' also includes the NBC series, ''Law of the Plainsman'', which originated from a February 17, 1959 episode of ''The Rifleman'' starring Michael Ansara as Marshal Sam Buckhart (''The Indian'').

References

{{Authority control 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 Adaptations of works by Zane Grey American English-language television shows CBS television dramas Television series by Four Star Television Television shows based on American novels