Goodyear alternated sponsorship with Philco, and the Philco Television Playhouse was seen on alternate weeks. In October 1955, Alcoa took over alternating sponsorship from Philco, the title was shortened to The Goodyear Playhouse and it aired on alternate weeks with The Alcoa Hour.
From 1957 to 1960, it became a taped, half-hour series titled Goodyear Theater, seen on Mondays at 9:30 p.m.
Goodyear Television Playhouse finished #16 in the Nielsen ratings for the 1951–1952 season, #15 for 1952–1953 and #22 for 1953–1954.[1]
Episodes
Season 1 (1951–52)
No. in series
No. in season
Title
Original air date
1
1
"October Story"
October 14, 1951 (1951-10-14)
A chance human interest interview reveals a girl has created a television that would only cost a few dollars. NBC executives become interested and hire a young man to help the girl complete her plans at her home.
2
2
"The Copper"
October 28, 1951 (1951-10-28)
A wimpy, accident prone little man aspires to marry a tough police sergeant's daughter, and becomes a rookie cop. He's given an undercover assignment, posing as a convict in a prison to learn more about his inmates.
Goodyear Television Playhouse was a production of Showcase Productions, Incorporated".[4]Herbert Brodkin was the producer. During his 12-week vacation in 1956, associate producer Philip Barry Jr. produced the series.[5] Other producers included Gordon Duff. Directors included Arthur Penn..[3]
Critical response
A review in The New York Times praised Heckart's performance in "My Lost Saints" (1955), saying, "Miss Heckart's brilliant work overshadowed the deficiencies in script construction."[3] The review said that the episode might not have exceeded soap-opera status had it not been for Heckart's acting, but she created "a moving and entirely believable characterization" of a housekeeper who faced a crisis.[3] It concluded, "She raised what was basically an ordinary drama to a level of distinction."[3]
References
^"TV Ratings". Classic TV Hits. Retrieved March 11, 2020.
