Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse

Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse

Series title card
Also known as ''Desilu Playhouse''
Genre Anthology
Created by Desi Arnaz
Presented by Desi Arnaz
Narrated by Betty Furness
Theme music composer 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 Martin
Producer(s) Desi Arnaz
Bert Granet
Running time 45–48 minutes
Production company(s) Desilu Productions
Release
Original network CBS
Picture format Black-and-white
Audio format Monaural
Original release October 6, 1958 (1958-10-06) – June 10, 1960 (1960-06-10)
Chronology
Preceded by Westinghouse Studio One
Related shows I Love Lucy
The Twilight Zone
The Untouchables

Westinghouse 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 1950s television series The Twilight Zone and The Untouchables.[1][2]

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 musicals 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.

William Lundigan, Aldo Ray and Lucille Ball as the title character, "K. O. Kitty", the comedy shown as the show's fifth episode. Lucy plays a dance teacher who inherits a boxer's contract.

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 Little Ricky, filmed the last Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Show, entitled "Lucy Meets The Moustache" and featuring guest stars Ernie Kovacs and Edie Adams. This last hour-long 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

Joan Fontaine and Maximilian Schell appeared in the drama Perilous in 1959.

In the fall of 1958, "The Time Element". starring William Bendix, aired to positive reviews. Written by Rod Serling, the show's popularity gave Serling the leverage to convince CBS to give the go-ahead to Serling's concept for a science fiction/fantasy anthology series (which was what Serling had in mind when writing the "The Time Element") that he called The Twilight Zone which debuted in the fall of 1959.[2]

In April 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

Actors

Aftermath

Westinghouse bought CBS in 1995, and renamed itself after its prime asset in 1997.

Further reading

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Westinghouse-Desilu Playhouse". The Museum of Broadcast Communications. Retrieved 23 December 2008.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Westinghouse-Desilu Playhouse". Television Heaven. Retrieved 23 December 2008.
  3. ↑ "Desilu Playhouse (dramatic anthology, host Desi Arnaz)". Classic U.S. TV Series Theme Music. Retrieved 23 December 2008.
  4. ↑ "Full cast and crew for "Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse"". The Internet Movie Database (IMDb). Retrieved 1 January 2009.
  5. ↑ Document Number: H1000089528 Contemporary Authors Online, Gale, 2010. Reproduced in Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Gale, 2010
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