''Fireside Theatre'' (also known as ''Jane Wyman Presents'') is an American

anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs or excerpts by different authors. In genre fiction, the term ''anthology'' typically cate ...

drama series In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-ge ...

that ran on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

from 1949 to 1958, and was the first successful

film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmospher ...

ed series on American

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

. Productions were low-budget and often based on

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly waived, or may be inapplicable. Because those rights have expired ...

stories or written by freelance writers such as

Rod Serling Rodman Edward Serling (December 25, 1924 – June 28, 1975) was an American screenwriter, playwright, television producer, and narrator/on-screen host, best known for his live television dramas of the 1950s and his anthology television series ...

. 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.

Overview

Sidney Landfield Jane Wyman Fireside Theater 1955

''Fireside Theatre'' was created by

Frank Wisbar Frank Wisbar (born Franz Wysbar 9 December 1899 – 17 March 1967) was a German film director and screenwriter. Born in Lithuania, Wisbar directed more than 20 films between 1932 and 1967 in Germany and the United States, as well as amassin ...

, who also wrote and directed many episodes. From 1952 to 1958, the program was presented by a host. This role was first filled by Wisbar (1952–1953), then by

Gene Raymond Gene Raymond (born Raymond Guion; August 13, 1908 – May 3, 1998) was an American film, television, and stage actor of the 1930s and 1940s. In addition to acting, Raymond was also a singer, composer, screenwriter, director, producer, and decorat ...

(1953–1955), and finally by the person most associated with the series in the public mind,

Jane Wyman Jane Wyman ( ; born Sarah Jane Mayfield; January 5, 1917 – September 10, 2007)"Actress, P ...

(1955–1958). When episodes of this program were

rerun A rerun or repeat is a rebroadcast of an episode of a radio or television program. There are two types of reruns – those that occur during a hiatus, and those that occur when a program is syndicated. Variations In the United Kingdom, the word ...

on ABC during the summer of 1963, it was under the title ''Jane Wyman Presents''; during the period first-run episodes were hosted by Wyman, the series was sometimes known as ''The Jane Wyman Show''. One of ''Fireside Theatres most notable offerings was a 1951 condensed version of

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian er ...

's ''

A Christmas Carol ''A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas'', commonly known as ''A Christmas Carol'', is a novella by Charles Dickens, first published in London by Chapman & Hall in 1843 and illustrated by John Leech. ''A Christmas ...

'', featuring

Ralph Richardson Sir Ralph David Richardson (19 December 1902 – 10 October 1983) was an English actor who, with John Gielgud and Laurence Olivier, was one of the trinity of male actors who dominated the British stage for much of the 20th century. He w ...

Ebenezer Scrooge Ebenezer Scrooge () is the protagonist of Charles Dickens's 1843 novella '' A Christmas Carol''. At the beginning of the novella, Scrooge is a cold-hearted miser who despises Christmas. The tale of his redemption by three spirits (the Ghos ...

for the only time on American television. He later recreated the role on a spoken word Caedmon Records LP album, with

Paul Scofield David Paul Scofield (21 January 1922 – 19 March 2008) was a British actor. During a six-decade career, Scofield achieved the US Triple Crown of Acting, winning an Academy Award, Emmy, and Tony for his work. He won the three awards in a seve ...

as narrator. It has since been released on CD. The

Doubleday Book Club Bookspan LLC is a New York–based online bookseller, founded in 2000. Bookspan began as a joint endeavor by Bertelsmann and Time Warner. Bertelsmann took over control in 2007, and a year later, sold its interest to Najafi Companies, an Arizon ...

also ran a playscripts club called The Fireside Theatre.

Episodes

Cast

As an anthology series, ''Fireside Theatre'' had no regular cast, just a series of guest stars: *

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* John Archer *

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* Gene Barry *

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* William Bendix * Richard Beymer * Whit Bissell *

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* Neville Brand *

Frank Cady Frank Randolph Cady (September 8, 1915 – June 8, 2012) was an American actor best known for his role as storekeeper Sam Drucker in three American television series during the 1960s – '' Petticoat Junction'', '' Green Acres'', and ...

* Rod Cameron *

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* Anthony Caruso *

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* Dane Clark *

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* Jeanne Cooper * Robert O. Cornthwaite *

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Albert Dekker Thomas Albert Ecke Van Dekker (December 20, 1905 – May 5, 1968) was an American character actor and politician best known for his roles in ''Dr. Cyclops'', ''The Killers (1946 film), The Killers'' (1946), ''Kiss Me Deadly'', and ''The Wild Bun ...

* Reginald Denny *

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* John Doucette *

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* Stephen Dunne *

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Bill Erwin William Lindsey Erwin (December 2, 1914 – December 29, 2010) was an American film, stage and television actor and cartoonist with over 250 television and film credits. A veteran character actor, he is widely known for his 1993 Emmy Award-nomi ...

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* William Fawcett *

Frank Ferguson Frank S. Ferguson (December 25, 1906 – September 12, 1978) was an American character actor with hundreds of appearances in both film and television. Background Ferguson was the younger of two children of W. Thomas Ferguson, a native Scottish ...

* Joe Flynn * Bruce Gordon * Dabbs Greer *

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* Henry Jones *

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* Charles Lane *

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* Peter Leeds *

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* Ralph Meeker *

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* Eve Miller * George Montgomery *

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* Jeff Morrow * Don Murray *

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* Ainslie Pryor * Stuart Randall *

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* Lydia Reed *

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* Ruth Roman * Herbert Rudley *

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* Craig Stevens * Karl Swenson *

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* Tom Tryon *

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* Beverly Washburn * Jesse White *

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Reception

Critical response

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large adverti ...

'' magazine praised an episode titled "The Lottery", saying that the cast "all turned in taut, exciting performances to make Lottery a real winner". Unlike most episodes of the series, this episode aired live. In 1954, ''Billboard'' voted it fourth-best filmed network drama series, ahead of the more fondly remembered ''

General Electric Theater ''General Electric Theater'' was 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. Radio After an audition show ...

''; however, ''Billboard''s list excluded " mystery" shows (which was a separate list topped by '' Dragnet'').The Billboard, 31 Jul 1954
Page 14.

Ratings

''Fireside Theatre'' became a hit for NBC, always in the Top 30 shows at the end of each TV season, until the 1956–1957 season, when its ratings slumped. After this, it never again regained its top spot. Seasonal rankings (based on average total viewers per episode) of ''Fireside Theatre'' on NBC. (''Note'': In the United States, each network television season starts in September and ends in late May, which coincides with the completion of May

sweeps 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 rati ...

References

*Brooks, Tim and Marsh, Earle, ''

The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

External links

* {{IMDb title, id=0041023, title=Fireside Theatre

1949 American television series debuts 1958 American television series endings 1940s American anthology television series 1950s American anthology television series American Broadcasting Company original programming 1940s American drama television series 1950s American drama television series Black-and-white American television shows English-language television shows NBC original programming