| Genre | Anthology drama |
|---|---|
| Running time | 1 hour |
| Country | United States |
| Languages | English |
| Home station | NBC (10/05/47-06/27/48) CBS (10/08/48-07/01/49) |
| TV adaptations | Ford Theatre |
| Hosts | NBC: Howard Lindsay CBS: Nelson Case |
| Starring | NBC: Numerous radio actors CBS: Numerous Hollywood stars |
| Writers | NBC: Will Glickman, Charles Gussman, Lillian Schoen, Stanley Evans CBS: Hugh Kemp, Brainerd Duffield |
| Directors | NBC: George Zachary CBS: Fletcher Markle |
| Recording studio | NBC: New York City CBS: Hollywood |
| No. of series | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 78 |
| Audio format | Monaural sound |
Ford Theatre (spelled Ford Theater for the radio version) was a radio and television anthology series broadcast in the United States in the 1940s and 1950s. At various times the television series appeared on all three major television networks, while the radio version was broadcast on two separate networks and on two separate coasts. Ford Theatre was named for its sponsor, the Ford Motor Company, which had an earlier success with its concert music series, The Ford Sunday Evening Hour (1934–42).
Contents |
Ford Theater as a radio series lasted for only two seasons. Its first season was broadcast from New York City on NBC with such actors as Ed Begley, Shirley Booth, Gary Merrill, Everett Sloane and Vicki Vola. This season ran from October 5, 1947 to June 27, 1948. Due to poor ratings, Ford moved the show to Hollywood and CBS for the second season, where top Hollywood actors headed the casts. This season, which lasted from October 8, 1948 to July 1, 1949, received much higher ratings. However, with television rising in popularity, Ford decided to end its radio show and focus solely on television.
| The Ford Television Theatre | |
|---|---|
| Format | Anthology |
| Country of origin | United States |
| No. of episodes | 195 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 22–24 minutes |
| Production company(s) | Ford Motor Company (Live episodes) Screen Gems Television (Filmed episodes) |
| Distributor | Sony Pictures Television |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | NBC (1952–1956) ABC (1956–1957) |
| Picture format | Black-and-white Color (1954–1956) |
| Audio format | Monaural |
| Original run | October 2, 1952 – June 26, 1957 |
The first Ford Theatre on U.S. television appeared on October 17, 1948, near the dawn of regularly scheduled prime time network programming. It was an hour-long drama, broadcast live, as was most television of the era. This series used primarily Broadway actors. The program began as a monthly series, switching to bi-weekly a year later, in alternation on Friday nights at 9pm Eastern time with the 54th Street Revue. During this period, programming included adaptations of Little Women, with June Lockhart and Kim Hunter, and One Sunday Afternoon, with Burgess Meredith and Hume Cronyn. During the following season, the final season for the program on CBS, the alternation in the same time slot was with Magnavox Theater.
A half-hour filmed Ford Theatre returned to the airwaves on NBC for the 1951-52 season on Thursday nights at 9:30pm Eastern. At this time production was moved from New York to Hollywood, and featured actors based there rather than on Broadway. Some of these programs were comedies instead of dramas. Performers appearing during this era included Claudette Colbert, Charles Coburn, Peter Lawford, Ida Lupino, Thomas Mitchell, Ann Sheridan, Ed Hinton, Barry Sullivan and Beverly Washburn. Also appearing for the first time together were Ronald Reagan and Nancy Davis, in an episode entitled "First Born", which first aired on February 3, 1953. In October 1954, Ford Theatre became the first network television series to be filmed regularly in color.[1]
After four seasons on NBC, the program was shown for a final season on ABC during the 1956-57 season. The time slot was changed to Wednesdays at 9:30pm. The last prime time broadcast of Ford Theatre was on July 10, 1957.