''CBS Playhouse'' is an American anthology

drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...

television series that aired on CBS from 1967 to 1970. Airing twelve plays over the course of its run, the series won ten

Primetime Emmy Award The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the Primetime ...

s and featured many noteworthy actors and playwrights.

History

The ''CBS Playhouse'' series was announced in 1966, with CBS announcing a $500,000 outlay for new scripts to film. CBS was specifically looking to "encourage authors to write original and significant dramas for television," and offered $25,000 per optioned script. This occurred shortly after ABC announced its dramatic arts program '' ABC Stage 67'', along with many CBS dramas. ''Playhouse'' ultimately commissioned thirteen playwrights to write scripts for the series. The first program aired in 1967, called '' The Final War of Olly Winter'' starring

Ivan Dixon Ivan Nathaniel Dixon III (April 6, 1931 – March 16, 2008) was an American actor, director, and producer best known for his series role in the 1960s sitcom ''Hogan's Heroes'', and for his starring roles in the 1964 independent drama '' Not ...

and written by noted playwright Ronald Ribman. According to CBS, over 30 million people watched the broadcast, making it a popular hit for the time. Twelve broadcasts ultimately occurred before production stopped due to lack of sponsorship funding. CBS would later revive the genre in '' CBS Playhouse 90'', which would refer back to both ''CBS Playhouse'' and the early drama series ''

Playhouse 90 ''Playhouse 90'' was an American television anthology drama series that aired on CBS from 1956 to 1960 for a total of 133 episodes. The show was produced at CBS Television City in Los Angeles, California. Since live anthology drama series of the ...

'' that broadcast in the late 1950s.

Episodes

CBS broadcast twelve teleplays over the three television seasons between 1967 and 1970.

1967-68 Season

* '' The Final War of Olly Winter'' * '' Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night'' * '' Dear Friends'' * '' My Father and My Mother'' * '' Secrets''

1968-69 Season

* '' The People Next Door'' * '' Saturday Adoption'' * ''

The Experiment ''The Experiment'' is a 2002 BBC documentary series in which 15 men are randomly selected to be either "prisoner" or guard, contained in a simulated prison over an eight-day period. Produced by Steve Reicher and Alex Haslam, it presents the fi ...

'' * '' Shadow Game''

1969-70 Season

* ''

Appalachian Autumn "Appalachian Autumn" is the first television play episode of the third season of the American television series ''CBS Playhouse''. It is a drama about the poverty of the fictional coal mining town of Harper's Gap in West Virginia, and the attempts ...

'' * ''

Sadbird "Sadbird" is the second television play episode of the third season of the American television series ''CBS Playhouse''. The episode was a coming-of-age drama about a young man finding his own in the toy business after years of rejecting the corpo ...

'' * ''

The Day Before Sunday "The Day Before Sunday" is the third television play episode of the third season of the American television series ''CBS Playhouse''. The episode told the story of an unmarried middle-aged In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or m ...

Episode status

The broadcasts have been preserved in a variety of archives, with all twelve broadcasts archived between the

Paley Center for Media The Paley Center for Media, formerly the Museum of Television & Radio (MT&R) and the Museum of Broadcasting, founded in 1975 by William S. Paley, is an American cultural institution in New York with a branch office in Los Angeles, dedicated to ...

, the

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a Normal school, teachers colle ...

film archive, and the Peabody Awards Collection.

Awards

The ''CBS Playhouse'' series of broadcasts were nominated for a number of awards over the course of its run. In total, the dramatic series was nominated for twenty-eight

Primetime Emmy Awards The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the Primetime ...

, including ten wins, and seven

Directors Guild of America The Directors Guild of America (DGA) is an entertainment guild that represents the interests of film and television directors in the United States motion picture industry and abroad. Founded as the Screen Directors Guild in 1936, the group merg ...

awards, including three wins. ''CBS Playhouse'' was also honored with a

Peabody Award The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program, named for the American businessman and philanthropist George Peabody, honor the most powerful, enlightening, and invigorating stories in television, radio, and ...

in 1967.Profile for ''CBS Playhouse''
from PeabodyAwards.com (accessed 11/8/2014)

References

External links

* {{WritersGuildofAmericaAnthologyAnyLength 1967 American television series debuts 1970 American television series endings 1960s American anthology television series 1970s American anthology television series 1960s American drama television series 1970s American drama television series CBS original programming English-language television shows Peabody Award-winning television programs