Stars Over Hollywood

For the radio program, see Stars over Hollywood.

Stars Over Hollywood is an American anthology series of "original comedies and light dramas"[1] produced by Revue Productions. Revue's first television series, it was a filmed in Hollywood and aired on the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) from September 6, 1950, to August 29, 1951.[2]

Among the guest stars were Mary Stuart in the premiere presentation "Beauty Is a Joy", Raymond Burr, Cameron Mitchell (actor), Ann Rutherford, and Bruce Cabot. Otherwise, the program was described in one TV reference book as "generally featuring lesser-known actors and actresses.[2]

Stars Over Hollywood's producer was Axel Gruenberg.[3] He and Jack Hively were writers for the program. Armour and Company was the sponsor.[4]

Rod Serling's first script, "Grady Everett for the People," was presented on the program[5] on September 13, 1950.[6]

Episodes of Stars Over Hollywood were part of a syndicated syndication package, Famous Playhouse, that was distributed by MCA Inc. in 1953. Other programs in the package were Chevron Theater and Gruen Theater.[7]

Critical response

In 1950, media critic John Crosby wrote: "Stars Over Hollywood is the latest of the programs filmed especially for television in Hollywood and has all the conspicuous weaknesses of the others. ... All the TV productions emanating from Hollywood are slipshod. The actors seem insufficiently rehearsed; the quality of the writing is painfully bad; the casting seems to have been done out of card catalogues, and the direction, to put it mildly, is superficial."[8]

References

  1. ^ "Wednesday". Radio Television Mirror. 36 (2): 76. July 1951. Retrieved 13 December 2014.
  2. ^ a b Brooks, Tim & Marsh, Earle (1979). The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network TV Shows: 1946-Present. Ballantine Books. ISBN 0-345-25525-9. P. 587.
  3. ^ Alicoate, Jack, Ed. (1953). The 1953 Radio Annual. Radio Daily Corp. P. 1123.
  4. ^ "Futures". Ross Reports on Television including The Television Index. August 15, 1950. p. 2. Retrieved July 27, 2022.
  5. ^ McNeil, Alex (1996). Total Television. Penguin Books USA, Inc. ISBN 0-14-02-4916-8. P. 788.
  6. ^ Parisi, Nicholas (October 24, 2018). Rod Serling: His Life, Work, and Imagination. University Press of Mississippi. pp. 36–37. ISBN 978-1-4968-1945-1. Retrieved September 11, 2023.
  7. ^ Plotnik, Gene (April 11, 1953). "TV Film Competition Forces Syndicators to Ready Plans". Billboard. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
  8. ^ Crosby, John (September 17, 1950). "Radio and Television in Review". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved 13 December 2014.


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