The Unexpected (TV series)

The Unexpected, aka Time Square Playhouse is a 30-minute US television anthology series produced by Ziv Television Programs, Inc.^[1] for first-run syndication. Thirty-nine episodes aired from March 5, 1952 to December 10, 1952.

Casts

Herbert Marshall hosted the series.^[2] Guest stars included Craig Stevens, Raymond Burr, Gale Storm, Bonita Granville, Marie Windsor, Kenneth Tobey, Marshall Thompson, Hans Conried, Tom Drake, Virginia Grey, Jim Davis (actor), and Coleen Gray.

Robert E. Lee and Jerome Lawrence were writers for the series.^[1]

Episode list

No. overall	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date
1	"Calculated Risk"	Eddie Davis	Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee	March 5, 1952 (1952-03-05)
A debt-ridden man considering suicide is offered a way out of his woes.
2	"The Hitchhiker Was A Lady"	Eddie Davis	Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee	March 12, 1952 (1952-03-12)
A trucker is accused of murder because he gave a girl a lift unaware that she was dying from a bullet wound.
3	"The Man From Yesterday"	Eddie Davis	Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee	March 19, 1952 (1952-03-19)
A magazine writer searches for the mysterious author of a best-selling novel.
4	"Fury And Sound"	Sobey Martin	Jerome Lawrence, Robert E. Lee, and Irving Reis	March 26, 1952 (1952-03-26)
When a megalomaniac radio program producer makes advances towards the beautiful wife of his downtrodden assistant director, the man decides to exact his revenge by putting a hidden microphone in the producer's apartment to project strange noises at all hours of the night.
5	"The Slide Rule Blonde"	Eddie Davis	Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee	April 2, 1952 (1952-04-02)
A gambler tries to stop a girl who's out to break the bank at a Las Vegas casino.
6	"Born Again"	Eddie Davis	Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee	April 9, 1952 (1952-04-09)
A man is tormented by a nightmare because he has been told that he is the reincarnation of another person.
7	"Split Second"	Eddie Davis	Story by : Maurice Level Teleplay by : Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee	April 16, 1952 (1952-04-16)
A man's life flashes before him as he jumps from a bridge to his death.
8	"Mardi Gras"	Eddie Davis	Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee	April 23, 1952 (1952-04-23)
While Ellen Martin is exploring New Orleans, the boat she's traveling on completely changes and her aunt disappears.
9	"Legal Tender"	Eddie Davis and Sobey Martin	Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee	April 30, 1952 (1952-04-30)
A girl is determined to avenge the murder of her fiance by bank robbers.
10	"House Of Shadows"	Sobey Martin	Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee	May 7, 1952 (1952-05-07)
Two young lovers are falsely accused of murdering a man in an old mansion.
11	"Eclipse"	Sobey Martin	Story by : Selma Lagerlöf Teleplay by : Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee	May 14, 1952 (1952-05-14)
A tennis player accepts a bribe to lose a tournament and then pulls a double cross.
12	"The Professional Touch"	Paul Landres	Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee	May 21, 1952 (1952-05-21)
A toxicologist, frustrated in love, plans a perfect crime as an emotional release.
13	"The Witch Of The Eight Islands"	Eddie Davis	Story by : Robert Louis Stevenson Teleplay by : Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee	May 28, 1952 (1952-05-28)
A seaman tries to dispose of a magic bottle that can bring him only harm.
14	"The Eyeglasses"	Sobey Martin	Story by : Doris Gilbert Teleplay by : Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee	June 4, 1952 (1952-06-04)
Elsa Carren finds a pair of eyeglasses through which she sees her husband planning to murder her.
15	"Lifeline"	George Cahan	Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee	June 11, 1952 (1952-06-11)
A fortune teller predicts the advent of a tall, dark and handsome stranger in the life of a spinster school teacher.
16	"False Colors"	Sobey Martin	Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee	June 18, 1952 (1952-06-18)
A 7-year-old orphan, believing that his foster parents do not want him, stows away on an airliner.
17	"Leopards In Lightning"	Sobey Martin	Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee	June 25, 1952 (1952-06-25)
An American private detective tries to solve the mystery of a lost safari.
18	"The Magnificent Lie"	Sobey Martin	Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee	July 2, 1952 (1952-07-02)
A doctor attending an aged alchemist pays his debts in gold.
19	"The Perfectionists"	Eddie Davis	Jerome Lawrence, Robert E. Lee, and Mindret Lord	July 16, 1952 (1952-07-16)
Two bank robbers are sheltered from the police by a woman who kills troublesome beaus.
20	"Slightly Dead"	Unknown	Unknown	July 30, 1952 (1952-07-30)
An actor, thought to have committed suicide, shows up at his own funeral.
21	"The Producer"	Unknown	Unknown	August 6, 1952 (1952-08-06)
Egotistical radio producer Kingsley Roacher browbeats his employees, especially assistant Charley Fowler, who plots a bizarre revenge.
22	"The Emperor Of Nothing"	Sobey Martin	Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee	August 13, 1952 (1952-08-13)
A practical joke is played on an old man who calls himself the Emperor of Biarritz.
23	"The Perfect Mrs.Clesney"	Unknown	Frank Burt and Robert Libott	August 20, 1952 (1952-08-20)
A woman who witnessed her husband's death is led to believe that he is still alive.
24	"One For The Money"	Sobey Martin	Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee	August 27, 1952 (1952-08-27)
A girl devoted 25 years of her life caring for her invalid mother, foregoing love and marriage.
25	"The Mask"	George Cahan	Story by : Robert W. Chambers Teleplay by : Jerome Lawrence, Robert E. Lee, and Budd Lesser	April 3, 1952 (1952-04-03)
A jewelry-store engraver whose face is always bandaged commits a robbery but no one can identify him.
26	"The Doctor Prescribes"	Eddie Davis	David Boehm	September 10, 1952 (1952-09-10)
A doctor is so busy with his medical work he has little time for his wife.
27	"The Puppeteers"	Sobey Martin	Doris Gilbert	September 17, 1952 (1952-09-17)
A woman searches for her fiance, a night-club puppeteer who has mysteriously disappeared.
28	"The Woman Who Left Herself"	Eddie Davis	Herb Meadow	September 24, 1952 (1952-09-24)
A woman who tries to escape from an unhappy marriage.
29	"Blackmail"	Sobey Martin	Story by : Herman C. McNeile Teleplay by : Jerome Lawrence, Robert E. Lee, and Edith Martin	October 1, 1952 (1952-10-01)
An actress is being blackmailed but she doesn't know by whom.
30	"Mr.O"	Sobey Martin	Roy Hamilton	October 8, 1952 (1952-10-08)
Life gets complicated for an immigrant mechanic when he is discovered to be European royalty.
31	"High Adventure"	Eddie Davis	Stuart Jerome	October 15, 1952 (1952-10-15)
A woman and her invalid son are menaced by a murderer at a remote mountain resort.
32	"Bright Boy"	Eddie Davis	Jack Laird	October 22, 1952 (1952-10-22)
A young man double crosses his partners in crime and makes off with $28,000 in stolen loot.
33	"Confidentially Yours"	Sobey Martin	Robert L. Richards	October 29, 1952 (1952-10-29)
A con man stranded in a small town, who decides to fleece the citizens.
34	"Landscape In Black"	Sobey Martin	Hugh Brooke and Robert L. Richards	November 5, 1952 (1952-11-05)
A New York art dealer searches for an eccentric artist in a South American village.
35	"Desert Honeymoon"	Eddie Davis and Sobey Martin	Story by : Sam Ross Teleplay by : Doris Gilbert	November 12, 1952 (1952-11-12)
Alan Liveright, spending his honeymoon at a Palm Springs resort, searches for his stolen watch, a wedding present from his bride.
36	"The Numbers Games"	Eddie Davis and Sobey Martin	Hugh Brooke, Tom Gries, and Patrick Whyte	November 19, 1952 (1952-11-19)
An Army officer is haunted by the fear of death as he tries to capture an enemy position.
37	"Beyond Belief"	Sobey Martin	Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee	November 26, 1952 (1952-11-26)
A psychology student assists a scientist in the creation of a mechanical mind that's capable of fantastic feats.
38	"Escape To Nowhere"	Sobey Martin	Jack Laird	December 3, 1952 (1952-12-03)
An unhappily married couple, touring Mexico, are menaced by bandits.
39	"Some Day They’ll Give Us Guns"	Sobey Martin	Story by : Paul W. Fairman Teleplay by : Tom Gries and Hal Smith	December 10, 1952 (1952-12-10)
A German youth counselor befriends three European children orphaned by the Nazis.

References

1. Erickson, Hal (1989). Syndicated Television: The First Forty Years, 1947-1987. McFarland & Company, Inc. p. 73. ISBN 0-7864-1198-8.
2. Terrace, Vincent (2011). Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2010 (2nd ed.). Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. p. 1129. ISBN 978-0-7864-6477-7.

External links

• The Unexpected at IMDb
• The Unexpected at CVTA with episode list