''Ford Theatre'', spelled ''Ford Theater'' for the original radio version and known, in full, as ''The Ford Television Theatre'' for the TV version, is a radio and television

anthology series An anthology series is a written series, radio, television, film, or video game series that presents a different story and a different set of characters in each different episode, season, segment, or short. These usually have a different ca ...

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 Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational corporation, multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. T ...

, which had an earlier success with its concert music series, '' The Ford Sunday Evening Hour'' (1934–42).

Radio

''Ford Theater'' as a radio series lasted for only two seasons. Its first season was broadcast from New York City on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

with such actors as

Ed Begley Edward James Begley Sr. (March 25, 1901 – April 28, 1970) was an American actor of theatre, radio, film, and television. He won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in the film '' Sweet Bird of Youth'' (1962) an ...

Shirley Booth Shirley Booth (born Marjory Ford; August 30, 1898October 16, 1992) was an American actress. One of 24 performers to achieve the Triple Crown of Acting, Booth was the recipient of an Academy Award, two Primetime Emmy Awards and three Tony Awards. ...

Gary Merrill Gary Fred Merrill (August 2, 1915 – March 5, 1990) was an American film and television actor whose credits included more than 50 feature films, a half-dozen mostly short-lived TV series, and dozens of television guest appearances. He starr ...

Everett Sloane Everett H. Sloane (October 1, 1909 – August 6, 1965) was an American character actor who worked in radio, theatre, films, and television. Early life Sloane was born in Manhattan on October 1, 1909, to Nathaniel I. Sloane and Rose (Gerst ...

and

Vicki Vola Victoria Vola (August 27, 1916 – July 21, 1985) was an American actress. She was best known for her portrayal of Edith Miller on both the radio and television runs of '' Mr. District Attorney''. Early years Vola was born in Denver, Colorado. ...

. This season ran from October 5, 1947, to June 27, 1948. Due to poor ratings, Ford moved the show to

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

and CBS Radio 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. Howard Lindsay became the program's master of ceremonies on October 5, 1947.

Television

The first ''Ford Theatre'' on U.S. television appeared on October 17, 1948, near the beginning of regularly scheduled

prime time Prime time, or peak time, is the block of broadcast programming taking place during the middle of the evening for television shows. It is mostly targeted towards adults (and sometimes families). It is used by the major television networks to ...

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 biweekly a year later, in alternation on Friday nights at 9:00 pm

Eastern time The Eastern Time Zone (ET) is a time zone encompassing part or all of 23 states in the eastern part of the United States, parts of eastern Canada, and the state of Quintana Roo in Mexico. * Eastern Standard Time (EST) is five hours behi ...

with the '' 54th Street Revue.'' During this period, programming included adaptations of ''

Little Women ''Little Women'' is a coming-of-age novel written by American novelist Louisa May Alcott, originally published in two volumes, in 1868 and 1869. The story follows the lives of the four March sisters— Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy—and details th ...

,'' with

June Lockhart June Lockhart (born June 25, 1925) is an American retired actress, beginning a film career in the 1930s and 1940s in such films as A Christmas Carol (1938 film), ''A Christmas Carol'' and ''Meet Me in St. Louis''. She appeared primarily in 1950 ...

and

Kim Hunter Kim Hunter (born Janet Cole; November 12, 1922 – September 11, 2002) was an American theatre, film, and television actress. She achieved prominence for portraying Stella Kowalski in the original production of Tennessee Williams' ''A Streetcar ...

, and ''One Sunday Afternoon,'' with

Burgess Meredith Oliver Burgess Meredith (November 16, 1907 – September 9, 1997) was an American actor and filmmaker whose career encompassed radio, theater, film, and television. Active for more than six decades, Meredith has been called "a virtuosic actor" ...

and

Hume Cronyn Hume Blake Cronyn Jr. (July 18, 1911 – June 15, 2003) was a Canadian-American actor, screenwriter and playwright. He appeared in many stage productions, television and film roles throughout his career, and garnered numerous accolades, includ ...

. During the following season, the final season for the program on CBS, the alternation in the same time slot was with ''Magnavox Theater.'' Garth Montgomery was the producer, with Carl Beier as associate producer. Franklin Schaffner was the director. A half-hour filmed ''Ford Theatre'' returned to the airwaves on

for the 1951–52 season on Thursday nights at 9:30 pm Eastern. At this time, production was moved from New York to

, and featured actors based there rather than on Broadway. Some of these programs were comedies instead of dramas. Performers appearing during this era included Frank Bank, Scott Brady,

Claudette Colbert Claudette Colbert (koʊlˈbɛər/ kohl-BAIR, born Émilie "Lily" Claudette Chauchoin (ʃoʃwɛ̃/ show-shwan); September 13, 1903 – July 30, 1996) was an American actress. Colbert began her career in Broadway theater, Broadway productions dur ...

, Charles Coburn, Ed Hinton,

Vivi Janiss Vivi Janis (born Vivian Audrey Jamison; May 29, 1911 – September 7, 1988) was an American actress, known for such films as ''The Phantom from 10,000 Leagues'' (1955), ''Man on the Prowl (film), Man on the Prowl'' (1957), and ''First, You Cry'' ...

Peter Lawford Peter Sydney Ernest Lawford (né Aylen; 7 September 1923 – 24 December 1984) was an English-American actor.Obituary ''Variety Obituaries, Variety'', 26 December 1984. He was a member of the "Rat Pack" and the brother-in-law of US president Jo ...

Sam Levene Sam Levene (born Scholem Lewin; August 28, 1905 – December 28, 1980) was an American Broadway theatre, Broadway, films, radio, and television actor and Television director, director. In a career spanning over five decades, he appeared in over ...

Ida Lupino Ida Lupino (4 February 1918Recorded in ''Births Mar 1918'' Camberwell Vol. 1d, p. 1019 (Free BMD). Transcribed as "Lupine" in the official births index – 3 August 1995) was a British actress, director, writer, and producer. Throughout her 48-y ...

, Thomas Mitchell, Dennis Morgan,

Karen Sharpe Karen Kay Sharpe (born September 20, 1934) is an American film and television actress. She is known for playing Laura Thomas in the American western television series '' Johnny Ringo''. Life and career Sharpe was born in San Antonio, Texas, t ...

, Ann Sheridan, Barry Sullivan, and Beverly Washburn. Also appearing for the first time together were

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...

and

Nancy Davis Nancy Davis Reagan (; born Anne Frances Robbins; July 6, 1921 – March 6, 2016) was an American film actress who was the first lady of the United States from 1981 to 1989, as the second wife of President Ronald Reagan. Reagan was born in ...

, 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. During this period, ''Ford Theatre'' finished in the

Nielsen ratings Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rat ...

at number 30 for the 1952–1953 season, number seven in 1953–1954, number 9 in 1954–1955, and number 13 in 1955–1956. 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 9:30 pm. The last prime time broadcast of ''Ford Theatre'' was on July 10, 1957. From 9:00 to 9:30 p.m. on Saturdays during the summer of 1958, NBC broadcast the anthology series ''Opening Night'', which consisted entirely of reruns of episodes of ''Ford Theatre'' from the 1956–1957 season.Brooks and Marsh (1995), p. 779. First aired on June 14, 1958, ''Opening Night'' was broadcast every other week, alternating in its time slot with '' Club Oasis with Spike Jones''. Its final episode aired on September 8, 1958. In 1954,'' Billboard'' voted ''Ford Theatre'' the best filmed network television drama series.

Episodes

Season 1 (1948–49)

Season 2 (1949–50)

Season 3 (1950–51)

Season 4 (1952–53)

Season 5 (1953–54)

Season 6 (1954–55)

Season 7 (1955–56)

Season 8 (1956–57)

References

External links

Radio *

' at the Digital Deli Too *

' at Jerry Haendiges Vintage Radio Logs * Television *

' at CVTA * * {{IMDb title, id=0041024, title=The Ford Television Theatre
''Ford Theatre'' episodes
' at the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...

1947 radio programme debuts 1949 radio programme endings 1940s American radio programs Ford Motor Company NBC radio programs CBS Radio programs Anthology radio series Television series by Screen Gems