Programme output for adults during
the 1950's, included the items below. If you have any information
about these or any other programmes of the era, we would be very
grateful to receive it. Just e-mail the address at the foot of
this page and we will try to feature them on their own pages
Alvin Childress as
Amos
Spencer Williams
Jr. as Andrew Hogg Brown (Andy)
Amos n' Andy
This show from the
early 1950's was based on one of radio's first great
comedies (1920's vintage on NBC). The principal
actors on radio, Charles Correll and Freeman Gosden; who
were white; played a pair of black neer' do wells, and
when publicity photos were taken, were portrayed in
blackface, a la Al Jolson in the first talkie movie 'The
Jazz Singer', from 1927.
By
1953, The CBS network decided that "A & A"
would make a good TV series. Obviously, Cordell and
Gosden could not reprise their radio roles, and the show
was cast with a completely black cast. While the
series garnered good Nielsen ratings, there was an outcry
against the stereotypical portrayals of blacks; while
common in the 20's and 30's; was not quite kosher at the
birth of the American Civil Rights movement. By
1955, CBS brass not only pulled the plug on the series;
but banned any syndication of the series. Only in
the last few years have episodes of 'A & A'
been made available to American audiences, primarily
through the Columbia
House
mail-order firm though tapes can only be ordered in the
NTSC format which is standard in North America.
Starred Lucille
Ball as Lucy Ricardo, Desi Arnaz as Ricky Ricardo with
Vivian Vance as Ethel Mertz, William Frawley as Fred
Mertz and Richard Keith as Little Ricky.
The supreme
situation comedy of the fifties, I Love Lucy was
one of the first ever programmes shown on fledgeling ITV
in Britain in 1955. The premise of I Love Lucy was not
dissimilar to other family sitcoms - wacky wife making
life difficult for a loving but perpetually annoyed
husband.
Lucy Ricardo was
an American of Scottish ancestry (maiden name
MacGillicuddy) married to a Cuban bandleader. Husband
Ricky worked at the Tropicana Club and since Lucy was
keen to prove to him that she could be in showbusiness
too, he spent much of his time trying to keep her off the
nightclub stage.
The series was
made by independent company Desilu, a meld of the first
names of Lucy and her screen partner and real-life
husband Desi Arnaz. (The children's series Whirlybirds was made by the same
company)
'The story you are about to see is
true. Only the names have been changed to protect the
innocent'.
This dramatic
warning introduced every episode of Jack Webb's
hyper-realistic Dragnet.
Authenticity was
assured by using cases actually pulled from files of the
Los Angeles Police Department, with many of the walk-on
parts played by those involved in the real crime.
Visit LikeTelevision for full
Dragnet episodes in Real Video
(1956-1958)
Starred Broderick Crawford as Chief
Dan Matthews. Burly, gravel-voiced Crawford, chief of the
Highway Patrol in a series that was one of the
most popular syndicated programmes in TV history.
Patrol-cars, motorbikes and helicopters helped the action
along but it was the way fast-talking Dan Matthews leant
against his patrol car to radio to headquarters that
really captured the public imagination. 'Ten-four'
(message received and understood) and 'Ten-twenty'
(report your position) became catchphrases around the
world.
'Chan Canasta' - Famous for his sleight of
hand in front of the camera with the cards. His first
show was with BBC in January 1953 and he had his own
series once again with the BBC in 1959.
'White Hunter' starring Rhodes Reason
'Surfside 6' starring Troy Donahue and Lee
Patterson
'Bourbon Street Beat' starred Richard Long as Rex
Randolph
'Hawaiian
Eye' Robert 'Wild, Wild West'
Conrad as Tom Lopaka, Connie Stevens as Cricket
Blake
'Sea
Hunt' (1957-1961) starred Lloyd
Bridges as Mike Nelson
'The O. Henry Playhouse' (1957) starred Thomas Mitchell.
Series about the author O. Henry (the same one who wrote the
Cisco Kid).
'Cannonball' (1958-59) -
"The rumble of the
diesel, the shifting of the gears, name your destination, and
brother, he'll be there, Cannonba-a-a-ll, Cannonba-a-a-all"
This was a series of half-hour family dramas about the adventures
of two truckers who hauled freight on the highways of Canada and
the U.S.A. U.S. actors Paul Birch and William Campbell played
Mike Malone and Jerry Austin in this Route 66 on eighteen wheels.
Canadian talent played supporting roles. Beth Lockerbie was Mary
Malone, Mike's wife, and Beth Morris and Steve Barringer were
Ginny and Butch Malone. Howard Milsom portrayed dispatcher Harry
Butler. Other Canadian character actors who appeared in the show
included Ruth Springford, Alfie Scopp, Sylvia Lennick, Eric
House, and Cy Mack.
'Hey Jeannie ' / 'The Jeannie Carson Show' (1956-57) - a
series about a Scotswoman who emigrates to New York City, whose
first contact, a cab driver who drives her from the airport,
becomes her U.S. Sponsor. So she lives with him and his sister
and gets a job as a waitress in a donut shop.
'Victory at Sea' (1952) - US wartime
documentary series 26 episodes x 30 min bw.The story of
the battle for sea power during World War II (1939-45)
produced by Henry Salomon in co-operation with the United
States Navy. Original musical score by Richard Rodgers
played by the NBC symphony orchestra arranged and
conducted by Robert Russell Bennett.
(1955-1965)
(1956-1958) 
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