Explore TV Series

A drama series that ran every other week, attracted top notch actors and actresses, and was broadcast from New York City.

Based on the diaries of the naval adiminister Samuel Pepys, it portrays life at the court of Charles II during the 1660s.

The Adventures of Long John Silver is a family adventure series about the Long John Silver character from Treasure Island. Produced in 1954 in colour in Australia for the American and British markets before the development of Australian television. Long John Silver is the proud captain of his own ship and his own crew. He and his buccaneer cruise around the Caribbean and often stay on the side of the English and fight the French and Spanish. After long and dangerous adventures, he and his crew rest in the tavern of Miss Purity. The series first aired in the United States on syndicated basis in 1956, but irregularly as part of another show. Several episodes were edited together and shown theatrically under the titles: 'Under the Black Flag' and 'South Sea Pirates'. Afterwards, it was sold to the ITV in the UK, and aired in 1957. In 1958, the Australian Broadcasting Company (ABC) screened the series as part of Children's TV Club.

Bleak House is the first BBC adaptation of the Charles Dickens novel of the same name. It was adapted by Constance Cox as an eleven-part series of half-hour episodes first transmitted from 16 October 1959. It stars Andrew Cruickshank in the role of John Jarndyce, Diana Fairfax as Esther Summerson and Colin Jeavons as Richard Carstone. The complete series still exists.

Witness the story of Jesus, beginning with his birth in Bethlehem, to his crucifixion, death, and triumphant resurrection. Filmed mostly on location in the Holy Land.

Starlight Theatre is an American anthology series that aired on CBS television from April 2, 1950 to September 20, 1951.

The Errol Flynn Theatre is a short-lived anthology series presented by Errol Flynn, who would also play the lead in every fourth show. His then-wife Patrice Wymore and son Sean also made appearances. It was shot in England at Bray Studios but was made for the American market.

Schlitz Playhouse of Stars is an anthology series that was telecast from 1951 until 1959 on CBS. Offering both comedies and drama, the series was sponsored by the Joseph Schlitz Brewing Company. The title was shortened to Schlitz Playhouse, beginning with the fall 1957 season.

Robin Hood was produced in 1953 by the BBC, during which time these episodes were transmitted live and then re-acted the following Saturday or Sunday in order for a repeat to be shown. However, in some cases, television programmes were recorded onto 16mm film; the age and technology used in order to film titles such as Robin Hood mean that they no longer survive in their original quality, which means that transmission of these episodes by today's standards would be deemed as 'unacceptable'. However, short clips of this serial have aired as recently as 2007 as part of a documentary presented by Jonathan Ross, covering Robin Hood from its beginnings to the more recent BBC production, and shown as an example of television production in the BBC series of documentaries entitled Children's T.V. On Trial The 1950s. The show lasted only for one season, and starred Patrick Troughton as Robin Hood. Later was aired the TV series The Adventures of Robin Hood.

General Electric Theater is an American anthology series hosted by Ronald Reagan that was broadcast on CBS radio and television. The series was sponsored by General Electric's Department of Public Relations.

Harbormaster is an American adventure/drama series that premiered on September 26, 1957 on CBS. In January 1958, the series was renamed Adventure at Scott Island and began airing on ABC. Harbormaster was a Ziv production.

Murder Bag debuted in 1957, featuring Detective Lockhart and his iconic murder bag for forensic investigations.

The Motorola Television Hour is an hour-long anthology series which alternated bi-weekly with The United States Steel Hour on ABC. The show premiered on November 3, 1953 and was last aired on June 1, 1954. It was sponsored by Motorola.

A team of scientists search for the origin and purpose of a mysterious capsule found on a building site.

Set in the near future against the background of a British space programme, the story of the first crewed flight into space, supervised by Professor Bernard Quatermass of the British Experimental Rocket Group.

Professor Bernard Quatermass of the British Experimental Rocket Group is sought to examine strange meteorite showers. His investigations lead to his uncovering a conspiracy involving alien infiltration at the highest levels of the British Government. As even some of Quatermass's closest colleagues fall victim to the alien influence, he is forced to use his own unsafe rocket prototype, which recently caused a nuclear disaster at an Australian testing range, to prevent the aliens from taking over mankind.

Mr. District Attorney is a popular radio crime drama which aired on NBC and ABC from April 3, 1939 to June 13, 1952. The series focused on a crusading D.A., initially known only as "Mister District Attorney," or "Chief", and was later translated to television. On television the D.A. had a name, Paul Garrett, and the radio version picked up this name in the final years when David Brian played the role. A key figure in the dramas was the D.A.'s secretary, Edith Miller.

The Court of Last Resort is an American television dramatized court show which aired on the NBC from 1957 through 1958. It was co-produced by Erle Stanley Gardner's Paisano Productions, which also brought forth the long-running hit television program, Perry Mason on CBS. Its approach to dealing with potential miscarriages of justice in an entirely extra-judicial format was adopted by the BBC series Rough Justice in the 1980s.

Pursuit is an American television anthology drama series which aired on CBS from October 1958 to January 1959.

A diplomatic courier travels to exotic locales, where danger (and women) seem ever present.

The New Adventures of Charlie Chan is a British-American crime drama series that aired in the United States in syndicated television from June 1957, to 1958. The first five episodes were made by Vision Productions in the United States, before production switched to the United Kingdom under ITC Entertainment and Television Programs of America.

Armchair Theatre is a British television drama anthology series of single plays that ran on the ITV network from 1956 to 1974. It was originally produced by Associated British Corporation, and later by Thames Television from mid-1968.

The O. Henry Playhouse was an early American anthology television series which featured television adaptations of short stories written by 19th-century author O. Henry and primarily set in New York City. The series was both hosted and narrated by Thomas Mitchell, who portrayed the title character, and featured several television and film stars during its run such as DeForest Kelley, Lisa Montell, Otto Kruger, Max Showalter and Ernest Borgnine. The series was syndicated and initially ran from January 23 to May 25, 1957, and its final episode aired on November 19 of that year.

A prisoner of war is sentenced to 25 years in the Soviet Union. His escape from the Soviet gulag takes him through the intense and hopeless terrain of Siberia.

O.S.S. was a Buckeye Productions and Associated Television co-produced wartime television drama series. It ran for 26 half-hour monochrome episodes during the 1957-1958 season and was distributed by ITC Entertainment and networked in the United States by ABC. The series followed the adventures of Frank Hawthorne, an agent with the American Office of Strategic Services, who operated behind Nazi lines in occupied France.

Hawkins Falls, Population 6200 is the first successful American television soap opera. Sponsored by Unilever's blue detergent, Surf, the program began as a one hour comedy-drama on June 17, 1950, and ran in prime time on the NBC network until October 12, 1950. On April 2, 1951, the series was moved to a fifteen-minute daytime slot, where it was retitled Hawkins Falls: A Television Novel, and developed into a soap opera format. Hawkins Falls ran until July 1, 1955, making it NBC's longest running soap opera until The Doctors exceeded it in 1967. The town of Hawkins Falls was patterned after the real-life town of Woodstock, Illinois.

Miss Susan is a daytime drama which aired on NBC from March 12 to December 28, 1951. The show, originating from Philadelphia and later retitled Martinsville, U.S.A., aired for fifteen minutes at 3:00 p.m. ET on weekdays. The main writer was William Kendall Clarke.

An eight part BBC miniseries about the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. This was notable as being the first production featuring an actor depicting Jesus.

Damon Runyon Theater is an American television program that presented dramatized versions of Damon Runyon's short stories. Hosted by Donald Woods, the program, sponsored by Anheuser-Busch's Budweiser beer, aired for a total of 39 episodes on CBS from April 1955 through February 1956.

Northwest Passage is a 26-episode half-hour adventure television series produced by Metro Goldwyn Mayer about Major Robert Rogers during the time of the French and Indian War. The show derived its title and the main characters Rogers, Towne, and Marriner from the 1937 novel of the same name by Kenneth Roberts, and from the 1940 MGM feature film based on the novel. The scope of the novel was much broader than that of the series, and the second half of the book included an historically based attempt by Rogers to find a water route through North America as a "passage" to the Pacific Ocean. This attempt, lending its name to the novel and used by Roberts as a metaphor for the questing human spirit, is referenced in the first episode. One of the earlier series telecast in color, Northwest Passage aired new episodes on NBC from September 14, 1958, to March 13, 1959. Keith Larsen played the lead role; Buddy Ebsen, later the star of CBS's The Beverly Hillbillies and Barnaby Jones, appeared as Sergeant Hunk Marriner, and Don Burnett co-starred as Ensign Langdon Towne.

Italian televison adaptation of Fyodor Dostoevsky's novel of the same name. Although it is to all intents and purposes a television miniseries, the rhythm of the acting is typically theatrical: the long dialogues, the acting style and the actorly interpretation make it a true example of episodic television theatre.

Former spy Richard Hannay is drawn out of retirement to stop a criminal conspiracy involving hypnotism and blackmail. A sinister organisation kidnaps the children of prominent figures to manipulate global affairs, forcing Hannay to confront the deviously charismatic Dominick Medina in a battle of wits and psychological warfare.

Ex-private eye Shannon works his way into New York mob operations, reporting his findings to the District Attorney's office through Asst. D. A. Bonacorsi.

Showcasing the activities of a local RCMP officer and his two assistants as they investigate the dark underbelly of small town Canadian life.

The show featured two-act plays. Two-thirds were live, and the rest on film.

Ford Star Jubilee is an American anthology series that aired once a month on Saturday nights on CBS at 9:00 P.M., E.S.T. from the fall of 1955 to the fall of 1956. The series was approximately 90 minutes long, aired in black-and-white and color, and was typically broadcast live. Ford Star Jubilee was sponsored by the Ford Motor Company.

Intertwining tales of love, greed, and secret identities in 1860s London.

Sword of Freedom was a 1958 drama adventure series for a family audience. Like several of its predecessors, it was produced by Sapphire Films for ITC Entertainment and fitted into the same swashbuckler genre as previous productions. It ran for 39 half-hour monochrome episodes.

The Kaiser Aluminum Hour is a dramatic anthology television series which was broadcast in prime time in the United States during the 1956-57 season by NBC. The Kaiser Aluminum Hour was shown on alternate Tuesday nights at 9:30 pm Eastern time in rotation with the longer-running Armstrong Circle Theatre, with the first broadcast airing on July 3, 1956 and the final one on June 18, 1957. As can be surmised from the title, the program was sponsored by the Kaiser Aluminum Company. Unlike low-budget anthology series such as Fireside Theater, The Kaiser Aluminum Hour featured many well-known Hollywood actors of the era, including Paul Newman, Ralph Bellamy, MacDonald Carey, Hume Cronyn, Robert Culp, Kim Hunter, William Shatner, Forrest Tucker, Jack Warden and Natalie Wood.

This was the first attempt by Warner Brothers to make the movie classic into a series. It was part of a revolving group of shows that included Kings Row on a show called Warner Brothers Presents.

In early 19th century England, Mr and Mrs Bennet's five unmarried daughters vie for the affections of rich and eligible Mr Bingley and his status-conscious friend, Mr Darcy, who have moved into their neighbourhood. While Bingley takes an immediate liking to eldest daughter Jane, Darcy has difficulty adapting to local society and repeatedly clashes with second-eldest Elizabeth.

Your Jeweler's Showcase is an American television anthology drama series. At least 21 episodes aired on CBS from November 11, 1952 to August 30, 1953. From January 6, 1953 to May 26, 1953 it alternated weekly with Demi-Tasse Tales.

A former army officer tries to adapt to life on 'Civvy Street'.

Ruth Woods hosted this anthology series of twice-weekly one act plays. The stories could be either dramatic or light comedy with a different cast for each episode. The series ran for only the 1952-53 season.

First Performance is a Canadian dramatic television series which aired on CBC Television from 1956 to 1958.

In early 19th century England, Mr and Mrs Bennet's five unmarried daughters vie for the affections of rich and eligible Mr Bingley and his status-conscious friend, Mr Darcy, who have moved into their neighbourhood. While Bingley takes an immediate liking to eldest daughter Jane, Darcy has difficulty adapting to local society and repeatedly clashes with second-eldest Elizabeth.

Prudential Family Playhouse is an American anthology drama series that aired on live CBS from October 1950 to March 1951.

Stage 7 is the title of a United States TV drama anthology series that aired in 1955. This program premiered in December 1954 with the title Your Favorite Playhouse with all episodes being repeats from other series. The program's 25 episodes showcased the talents of actors and actresses such as Charles Bronson, Edmond O'Brien, Gene Barry, Phyllis Coates, Frances Rafferty, Macdonald Carey, and Phyllis Thaxter. Some directing was done by Quinn Martin.

The Bigelow Theatre is an American anthology series originally broadcast on CBS Television and on the DuMont Television Network. This series is not to be confused with the similarly named The Bigelow Show, a musical variety program which aired on NBC and CBS in the late 1940s.

Les Belles Histoires des pays d'en haut is a Canadian television drama series, which aired on Radio-Canada from 1956 to 1970. One of the longest-running programs in the history of Canadian television, the series produced 81 episodes during its 14-year run and was one of the first influential téléromans. Written by Claude-Henri Grignon as an adaptation of his 1933 novel Un Homme et son péché and initially set in the 1880s, the series starred Jean-Pierre Masson as Séraphin Poudrier, the wealthy but miserly mayor of the village of Sainte-Adèle, Quebec, and Andrée Champagne as Donalda Laloge-Poudrier, the young daughter of a village resident who is given in marriage to Séraphin as payment for a family debt even though she remains in love with her suitor Alexis Labranche.

Based on the real-life activities of Dutch counterintelligence officer, Lieutenant-Colonel Oreste Pinto, who specialised in the interrogation of suspected spies during World War II and had later published his memoirs under the title Spy Catcher. Each episode showed Pinto questioning refugees to England from Nazi-dominated Europe, and eventually exposing them as enemy agents.

Front Page Detective is an American crime drama series which aired on the DuMont Television Network on Fridays at 9:30pm ET from July 6, 1951 to September 19, 1952, with a few more episodes shown in 1953. The program was then in broadcast syndication for several years thereafter. It chronicles the stories of David Chase a newspaper columnist who helps police solve especially difficult mysteries. The title derived from a popular mystery magazine of the same name.