- Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse
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Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse 
Series title cardAlso known as Desilu Playhouse Genre Anthology Created by Desi Arnaz Presented by Desi Arnaz Narrated by Betty Furness Theme music composer John Waldo "Johnny" Green Opening theme "Westinghouse Logo" Ending theme "Desilu Playhouse Closing Theme" Country of origin United States No. of seasons 2 No. of episodes 48 Production Executive producer(s) Bert Granet
Quinn MartinProducer(s) Desi Arnaz
Bert GranetRunning time 45–48 minutes Production company(s) Desilu Productions Broadcast Original channel CBS Picture format Black-and-white Audio format Monaural Original run October 6, 1958 – June 10, 1960 Chronology Related shows The Twilight Zone
The UntouchablesWestinghouse Desilu Playhouse is an American television anthology series produced by Desilu Productions. The show ran on CBS television between 1958 and 1960. Two of its 48 episodes served as pilots for the 1960s television shows The Twilight Zone and The Untouchables.[1][2]
Contents
History
Between 1951 and 1957, Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball starred in and produced (via their Desilu production company) the popular I Love Lucy show. In early 1958, Desi Arnaz convinced CBS to purchase Desilu Playhouse with the promise that a bi-monthly Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Show (later rebroadcast as The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour) would be among the dramas, comedies and musical numbers planned for the show. Westinghouse paid a then-record $12 million to sponsor the show, which resulted in the cancellation of the prestigious anthology series Studio One, also sponsored by Westinghouse.
Lucille Ball's first television role that was not Lucy Ricardo. She played a dance teacher who inherited a boxer in 1958.
The show debuted on Monday nights in the 10:00–11:00 pm [Eastern] time slot on October 6, 1958, hosted by Desi Arnaz, with Betty Furness continuing as the Westinghouse spokesperson (as she had been on Studio One). The first show was "Lucy Goes to Mexico," a Lucy-Desi Hour with guest star Maurice Chevalier. The dramatic "Bernadette" (a biography of Saint Bernadette), starring Pier Angeli, premiered in week two.[1] Later shows included comedies, dramas and musicals, and various one-off comedies and dramas starring Lucille Ball in non-"Lucy" character performances.[2]
In October 1959, the show moved to Friday nights from 9:00–10:00 pm [Eastern]. The show lasted only one more year, due to an inability to attract big guest stars, the growing popularity of westerns and police shows (it was opposite ABC's highly-rated 77 Sunset Strip that season), and the Arnaz-Ball divorce in 1960. Just prior to their marital breakup, Ball and Arnaz, along with Vivian Vance, William Frawley, and Keith Thibodeaux, filmed the last Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Show entitled "Lucy Meets The Moustache" featuring guest stars Ernie Kovacs and Edie Adams. This last installment of the "I Love Lucy" format and characters was broadcast on April 1, 1960. The final telecast of The Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse, "Murder is a Private Affair", aired on June 10, 1960.[1]
Notable episodes
In the fall of 1958, "The Time Element," starring William Bendix, aired to positive reviews. Written by Rod Serling, the show became the pilot and first show of The Twilight Zone, which debuted in the fall of 1959.[2]
In February 1959, Desilu Playhouse aired a two-part drama called "The Untouchables". Paul Monash adapted the 1947 memoirs of treasury agent Eliot Ness, played by Robert Stack. After CBS passed on the idea to produce a weekly version, The Untouchables became a hit series on ABC and ran for four seasons (1959–1963).[2]
Production notes
Music
Music for the show was composed by John Waldo "Johnny" Green. The show opened with "Westinghouse Logo" and closed with "Desilu Playhouse Closing Theme" during the end credits.[3]
Notable crew members
Several notable people contributed to one or more episodes of the show, including (in alphabetical order):[4]
Producers
Directors
Writers
- James B. Allardice
- Madelyn Davis
- Oscar Fraley
- John Mantley
- Eliot Ness
- Rod Serling[5]
- William Templeton
Actors
- Desi Arnaz
- Lucille Ball
- Martin Balsam
- Richard Benedict
- John Beradino
- Neville Brand
- Rory Calhoun
- Wally Cassell
- Pat Crowley
- Frank DeKova
- Abel Fernandez
- William Frawley
- Betty Furness
- Bruce Gordon
- Jean Hagen
- Donald Harron
- Richard Keith
- Barton MacLane
- Joe Mantell
- Margo
- Sid Melton
- Martin Milner
- George Murphy
- Barbara Nichols
- Hugh O'Brian
- Roger Perry
- Paul Picerni
- Aldo Ray
- Joe De Santis
- Mickey Simpson
- Red Skelton
- Robert Stack
- Barry Sullivan
- Vivian Vance
- Bill Williams
- Walter Winchell
- James Westerfield
- Jack Weston
- Jesse White
- Ed Wynn
- Keenan Wynn
Aftermath
Westinghouse would buy CBS in 1995, and rename itself after its prime asset in 1997.
Further reading
- Anderson, Christopher. Hollywood TV: The Studio System in the Fifties. Austin, Texas: University of Texas Press, 1994. ISBN 0292704577
- Andrew, Bart. The "I Love Lucy" Book. New York: Doubleday, 1985. ISBN 0385190336
- Sanders, Coyness Steven, and Tom Gilbert. Desilu: The Story of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. New York: William Morrow, 1993. ISBN 0688135145
References
- ^ a b c "Westinghouse-Desilu Playhouse". The Museum of Broadcast Communications. http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/W/htmlW/westinghouse/westinghouse.htm. Retrieved 23 December 2008.
- ^ a b c d "Westinghouse-Desilu Playhouse". Television Heaven. http://www.televisionheaven.co.uk/desilu.htm. Retrieved 23 December 2008.
- ^ "Desilu Playhouse (dramatic anthology, host Desi Arnaz)". Classic U.S. TV Series Theme Music. http://www.classicthemes.com/50sTVThemes/themePages/desiluPlayhouse.html. Retrieved 23 December 2008.
- ^ "Full cast and crew for "Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse"". The Internet Movie Database (IMDb). http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0051328/fullcredits#cast. Retrieved 1 January 2009.
- ^ Document Number: H1000089528 Contemporary Authors Online, Gale, 2010. Reproduced in Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Gale, 2010
External links
- Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse at the Internet Movie Database
- Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse at TV.com
- Desilu Playhouse "Silent Thunder" Complete 52min episode from 16mm film - aired Nov. 24, 1958
Categories:- 1958 television series debuts
- 1960 television series endings
- 1950s American television series
- 1960s American television series
- American Broadcasting Company network shows
- Anthology television series
- Black-and-white television programs
- English-language television series
- Television series by CBS Paramount Television
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