Fireside Theater

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This program should not be confused with The Firesign Theatre.

The first successful filmed series on American television, Fireside Theater was an anthology drama show that ran from 1949-1958, featuring a different hour long drama every week. Stories were low budget, often based on public domain stories or written by freelance writers such as Rod Serling. While it was panned by critics, it remained in the top ten most popular shows for most of its run. It predated the other major pioneer of filmed TV in America, I Love Lucy, by two years.

From 1952 to 1958, the program was presented by a host. This role was first filled by Frank Wisbar (1952-1953), then by Gene Raymond (1953-1955), and finally by the person most associated with the series in the public mind, Jane Wyman (1955-1958). When episodes of this program were rerun on ABC during the summer of 1963, it was under the title Jane Wyman Presents; during the period first-run episodes were hosted by Miss Wyman it was sometimes known as The Jane Wyman Show.

The otherwise-unrelated comedy troupe The Firesign Theatre based their name on this series.