''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 radio, television, video game or film series that spans different genres and presents a different story and a different set of characters in each different episode, season, segment, or short. These usually have a dif ...

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 automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. The company sells automobi ...

, 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 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 ...

with such actors as Ed Begley, Shirley Booth,

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 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 CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

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 Howard Lindsay, born Herman Nelke, (March 29, 1889 – February 11, 1968) was an American playwright, librettist, director, actor and theatrical producer. He is best known for his writing work as part of the collaboration of Lindsay and Crouse ...

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 network programming. It was an hour-long drama, broadcast live, as was most television of the era. This series used primarily

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

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, the state of Quintana Roo in Mexico, Panama, Colombia, mainland Ecuador, Peru, and a small por ...

with the ''

54th Street Revue ''54th Street Revue'' is an American variety television program that was broadcast on CBS from May 5, 1949, through March 25, 1950. The program was a "showcase for up-and-coming professionals", originating from a theater on 54th Street in New York ...

.'' During this period, programming included adaptations of '' Little Women,'' with

June Lockhart June Lockhart (born June 25, 1925) is an American actress, beginning a film career in 1930s & 1940s in such films at ''A Christmas Carol'' and '' Meet Me in St. Louis''. She primarily acted in 1950s and 1960s television, and with performances on ...

and Kim Hunter, 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 theater, film, and television. Active for more than six decades, Meredith has been called "a virtuosic actor" and "on ...

and

Hume Cronyn Hume Blake Cronyn Jr. OC (July 18, 1911 – June 15, 2003) was a Canadian-American actor and writer. Early life Cronyn, one of five children, was born in London, Ontario, Canada. His father, Hume Blake Cronyn, Sr., was a businessman and ...

. 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 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

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Scott Brady Scott Brady (born Gerard Kenneth Tierney; September 13, 1924 – April 16, 1985) was an American film and television actor best known for his roles in Western films and as a ubiquitous television presence. He played the title role in the televi ...

Claudette Colbert Claudette Colbert ( ; born Émilie Claudette Chauchoin; September 13, 1903July 30, 1996) was an American actress. Colbert began her career in Broadway productions during the late 1920s and progressed to films with the advent of talking pictures ...

Charles Coburn Charles Douville Coburn (June 19, 1877 – August 30, 1961) was an American actor and theatrical producer. He was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Academy Award three times – in ''The Devil and Miss Jones'' (1941), '' The More the M ...

, Ed Hinton,

Vivi Janiss Vivi may refer to: People * Vivi Bach (1939–2013), Danish actress and singer * Vivi Fernandez (born 1977), Brazilian model * Vivi Flindt (born 1943), Danish ballerina * Vivi Friedman (1967–2012), Finnish film director * Vivi Gioi (1917–1975 ...

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

Sam Levene Sam Levene (born Scholem Lewin; August 28, 1905 – December 28, 1980) was a Russian Empire-born American Broadway, film, radio, and television actor and director. In a career spanning over five decades, he appeared in over 50 comedy and dr ...

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 an English-American actress, singer, director, writer, and producer. T ...

, 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, th ...

, Ann Sheridan, Barry Sullivan, and

Beverly Washburn Beverly Washburn (born November 25, 1943) is an American actress. She is best known for her roles in the Walt Disney drama ''Old Yeller'' (1957) and the American General Pictures horror '' Spider Baby'' (1967). Early years Washburn was born in L ...

. Also appearing for the first time together were Ronald Reagan and

Nancy Davis Nancy Davis Reagan (; born Anne Frances Robbins; July 6, 1921 – March 6, 2016) was an American film actress and First Lady of the United States from 1981 to 1989. She was the second wife of president Ronald Reagan. Reagan was born in New ...

, 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 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

– the radio series

* *

Listen to

*{{InternetArchiveOTR, id=FordTheater, title=Ford Theater

Watch

Episodes of the television version of ''Ford Theatre'' from the Internet Archive
1948 American television series debuts 1957 American television series endings 1940s American radio programs 1940s American anthology television series 1950s American anthology television series American Broadcasting Company original programming American live television series Black-and-white American television shows CBS original programming English-language television shows NBC original programming Television series by Screen Gems Television series by Sony Pictures Television Ford Motor Company NBC radio programs CBS Radio programs Anthology radio series