Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse
Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse | |
---|---|
Series title card | |
Also known as | ''Desilu Playhouse'' |
Genre | Anthology |
Created by | Desi Arnaz |
Presented by | Desi Arnaz |
Narrated by | Betty Furness |
Theme music composer | Johnny Green |
Opening theme | "Westinghouse Logo" |
Ending theme | "Desilu Playhouse Closing Theme" |
Country of origin | United States |
No. of seasons | 2 |
No. of episodes | 48 |
Production | |
Executive producer(s) |
Bert Granet Quinn Martin |
Producer(s) |
Desi Arnaz Bert Granet |
Running time | 45–48 minutes |
Production company(s) | Desilu Productions |
Release | |
Original network | CBS |
Picture format | Black-and-white |
Audio format | Monaural |
Original release | October 6, 1958 – June 10, 1960 |
Chronology | |
Preceded by | Westinghouse Studio One |
Related shows |
I Love Lucy The Twilight Zone The Untouchables |
Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse is an American television anthology series produced by Desilu Productions. The show ran on CBS television between 1958 and 1960. Two of its 48 episodes served as pilots for the 1950s television series The Twilight Zone and The Untouchables.[1][2]
History
Between 1951 and 1957, Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball starred in and produced (via their Desilu production company) the popular I Love Lucy show. In early 1958, Desi Arnaz convinced CBS to purchase Desilu Playhouse with the promise that a bi-monthly Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Show (later rebroadcast as The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour) would be among the dramas, comedies and musicals planned for the show. Westinghouse paid a then-record $12 million to sponsor the show, which resulted in the cancellation of the prestigious anthology series Studio One, also sponsored by Westinghouse.
The show debuted on Monday nights in the 10:00–11:00 pm [Eastern] time slot on October 6, 1958, hosted by Desi Arnaz, with Betty Furness continuing as the Westinghouse spokesperson (as she had been on Studio One). The first show was "Lucy Goes to Mexico," a Lucy-Desi Hour with guest star Maurice Chevalier. The dramatic "Bernadette" (a biography of Saint Bernadette), starring Pier Angeli, premiered in week two.[1] Later shows included comedies, dramas and musicals, and various one-off comedies and dramas starring Lucille Ball in non-"Lucy" character performances.[2]
In October 1959, the show moved to Friday nights from 9:00–10:00 pm [Eastern]. The show lasted only one more year, due to an inability to attract big guest stars, the growing popularity of westerns and police shows (it was opposite ABC's highly rated 77 Sunset Strip that season), and the Arnaz-Ball divorce in 1960. Just prior to their marital breakup, Ball and Arnaz, along with Vivian Vance, William Frawley, and Little Ricky, filmed the last Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Show, entitled "Lucy Meets The Moustache" and featuring guest stars Ernie Kovacs and Edie Adams. This last hour-long installment of the I Love Lucy format and characters was broadcast on April 1, 1960. The final telecast of The Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse, "Murder is a Private Affair", aired on June 10, 1960.[1]
Notable episodes
In the fall of 1958, "The Time Element". starring William Bendix, aired to positive reviews. Written by Rod Serling, the show's popularity gave Serling the leverage to convince CBS to give the go-ahead to Serling's concept for a science fiction/fantasy anthology series (which was what Serling had in mind when writing the "The Time Element") that he called The Twilight Zone which debuted in the fall of 1959.[2]
In April 1959, Desilu Playhouse aired a two-part drama called "The Untouchables". Paul Monash adapted the 1947 memoirs of treasury agent Eliot Ness, played by Robert Stack. After CBS passed on the idea to produce a weekly version, The Untouchables became a hit series on ABC and ran for four seasons (1959–1963).[2]
Production notes
Music
Music for the show was composed by John Waldo "Johnny" Green. The show opened with "Westinghouse Logo" and closed with "Desilu Playhouse Closing Theme" during the end credits.[3]
Notable crew members
Several notable people contributed to one or more episodes of the show, including (in alphabetical order):[4]
Producers
Directors
Writers
Actors
- Desi Arnaz
- Parley Baer
- Lucille Ball
- Martin Balsam
- John Drew Barrymore
- Richard Benedict
- John Beradino
- Warren Berlinger
- Neville Brand
- Rory Calhoun
- Wally Cassell
- Pat Crowley
- Frank DeKova
- Buddy Ebsen
- Abel Fernandez
- Wallace Ford
- William Frawley
- Betty Furness
- Bruce Gordon
- Jean Hagen
- Donald Harron
- Earl Holliman
- Vivi Janiss
- Richard Keith
- Barton MacLane
- Joe Mantell
- Margo
- John McIntire
- Sid Melton
- Martin Milner
- George Murphy
- Barbara Nichols
- Hugh O'Brian
- Roger Perry
- Paul Picerni
- Aldo Ray
- Joe De Santis
- Karen Sharpe
- Mickey Simpson
- Red Skelton
- Patricia Smith
- Robert Stack
- Harry Dean Stanton
- Barry Sullivan
- Carol Thurston
- Vivian Vance
- Bill Williams
- Walter Winchell
- James Westerfield
- Jack Weston
- Jesse White
- James Whitmore
- Ed Wynn
- Keenan Wynn
Aftermath
Westinghouse bought CBS in 1995, and renamed itself after its prime asset in 1997.
Further reading
- Anderson, Christopher. Hollywood TV: The Studio System in the Fifties. Austin, Texas: University of Texas Press, 1994. ISBN 0-292-70457-7
- Andrew, Bart. The "I Love Lucy" Book. New York: Doubleday, 1985. ISBN 0-385-19033-6
- Sanders, Coyness Steven, and Tom Gilbert. Desilu: The Story of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. New York: William Morrow, 1993. ISBN 0-688-13514-5
References
- 1 2 3 "Westinghouse-Desilu Playhouse". The Museum of Broadcast Communications. Retrieved 23 December 2008.
- 1 2 3 4 "Westinghouse-Desilu Playhouse". Television Heaven. Retrieved 23 December 2008.
- ↑ "Desilu Playhouse (dramatic anthology, host Desi Arnaz)". Classic U.S. TV Series Theme Music. Retrieved 23 December 2008.
- ↑ "Full cast and crew for "Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse"". The Internet Movie Database (IMDb). Retrieved 1 January 2009.
- ↑ Document Number: H1000089528 Contemporary Authors Online, Gale, 2010. Reproduced in Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Gale, 2010
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse. |
- Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse at the Internet Movie Database
- Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse at TV.com
- Desilu Playhouse "Silent Thunder" Complete 52min episode from 16mm film - aired Dec. 8, 1958
- Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse at CVTA with episode list