Crawford Mystery Theatre

Crawford Mystery Theatre
Format	Mystery/Game show
Created by	Jerry Fairbanks
Starring	Warren Hull (host) John Howard Anne Gwynne Walter Sande
Country of origin	USA
No. of episodes	26
Production
Running time	30 minutes (1951–1952)
Broadcast
Original channel	DuMont
Original run	September 6, 1951 – September 27, 1951 (network) 28 February 1952 (local)

Crawford Mystery Theatre (also known as Public Prosecutor) is an early American television program broadcast on the now defunct DuMont Television Network and also seen in first-run syndication. The series ran from 1951 to 1952.^[1]

Broadcast history

Originally named Public Prosecutor, the program starred John Howard, Walter Sande, and Anne Gwynne in a typical murder-mystery setting. The series is most notable for being television's first filmed series (although not the first filmed series broadcast),^[2] paving the way for later filmed TV series such as I Love Lucy four years later.^[1]

Uniquely, after running in syndication earlier that year as Public Prosecutor, the program aired on the DuMont Network from 6 September 1951 to 27 September 1951. Retitled Crawford Mystery Theatre, after sponsor Crawford Clothes, the series was padded out to thirty minutes with the addition of a panel segment. Before the guilty party was revealed, three studio panelists would attempt to guess his or her identity. This version of the show was hosted by Warren Hull.

Theater was produced by Jerry Fairbanks Productions. After the network cancellation, the program continued to air locally on DuMont's New York City station, WABD. The final program aired on February 28, 1952.^[1]

Episode status

An episode of Crawford Mystery Theatre survives at the Museum of Broadcast Communications in Chicago. Public Prosecutor has over 20 surviving episodes.

See also

• List of programs broadcast by the DuMont Television Network
• List of surviving DuMont Television Network broadcasts

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} McNeil, Alex. Total Television. Fourth edition, p 677. New York: Penguin Books. ISBN 0-14-024916-8.
2. ^ The NBC anthology series Your Show Time became American television's first filmed dramatic series to be broadcast, in January 1949. Stanley Rubin, "A (Very) Personal History of the First Sponsored Film Series on National Television", E-Media Studies, vol. 1, issue 1 (2008).

Bibliography

• David Weinstein, The Forgotten Network: DuMont and the Birth of American Television (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2004) ISBN 1-59213-245-6
• Alex McNeil, Total Television, Fourth edition (New York: Penguin Books, 1980) ISBN 0-14-024916-8
• Tim Brooks and Earle Marsh, The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network TV Shows, Third edition (New York: Ballantine Books, 1964) ISBN 0-345-31864-1

External links

• Public Prosecutor at the Internet Movie Database
• Crawford Mystery Theater at the Internet Movie Database
• DuMont historical website