Kid Shows
Howdy Doody was an American children’s television program with circus and Western frontier themes that was telecast on the NBC network from December 27, 1947, until September 24, 1960. It was a pioneer in children’s television programming and set the pattern for many similar shows. Originally an hour on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays (at 5 […]
Sit-Coms
The sitcom was a 30-minute format featuring a continuing cast of characters that appeared in the same setting week after week. Audience laughter (either live or by way of an added “laugh track”) usually featured prominently in these shows, most of which were built around families. The situation comedy had been an enormously popular program […]
Comedy and Variety Shows
Television and vaudeville combined to create the form of entertainment known as the variety show. Variety shows were made up of short acts — musical numbers, comedy sketches, animal tricks, etc. — usually centered around an engaging host (master of ceremonies). The variety format allowed for a wide range of styles. Common elements to most […]
Anthology Shows
From television’s emergence as a national medium in the late 1940s through the early 1960s, much dramatic programming was broadcast live. A staple of such programming was the “Anthology.” Modeled after both radio drama and the New York stage, the Anthology drama featured a new “play” each week, with a new writer and set of […]
1950s Soap Operas
The soap opera is the open-ended serial narrative, with stories spanning several episodes. One of the defining features that makes a television program a soap opera, according to Albert Moran, is “that form of television that works with a continuous open narrative. Each episode ends with a promise that the storyline is to be continued […]
Religion on TV
In 1954, Congress added the words “under God” to the Pledge of Allegiance, and the phrase “In God We Trust” was included on all U.S. currency in the following year. While these changes were subtle reminders of the ideological struggle of the Cold War (Americans believed in God; Communists were atheists), they also reflected the […]
Norman Vincent Peale
Peale, who served as the pastor of Marble Collegiate Church, New York, from 1932 until 1984, was best known as the author of the best-selling book “The Power of Positive Thinking,” which he wrote in 1952. By the early 1950s the publishing climate for books like Peale’s was highly favorable. Publisher’s Weekly (January 23, 1954) […]
Bishop Fulton J. Sheen – “Life is Worth Living”
Fulton J. Sheen was an American bishop (later archbishop) of the Catholic Church known for his preaching and especially his work on television and radio. Ordained a priest of the Diocese of Peoria, IL in 1919, Sheen quickly became a renowned theologian, earning the Cardinal Mercier Prize for International Philosophy. He pursued advanced study in […]
Billy Graham – William Franklin Graham Jr. (November 7, 1918 – February 21, 2018)
Billy Graham, often called ‘America’s pastor,’ was an American evangelist, a prominent evangelical Christian figure, and an ordained Southern Baptist minister, who became well-known internationally in the late 1940s. In his six decades on television, Graham hosted annual “Crusades,” evangelistic campaigns from 1947 until his retirement in 2005. Rather than affiliate himself with a single […]
Sports on TV in The Fifties
Although the history of sports on U.S. television is synonymous with the history of network television, in the early days of television, local sports broadcasts predominated over nation-wide and regional networks. The first network sports broadcast was NBC’s Gillette Cavalcade of Sports, which premiered in 1944 with the Willie Pep vs. Chalky White Featherweight Championship bout. Gillette […]