Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre is an American Western anthology television series broadcast on CBS from October 5, 1956 until May 18, 1961.[1]
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
Joseph Mullendore
United States
English
5
146 (list of episodes)
Hal Hudson
Apacheland Studios, Gold Canyon, Arizona
25 minutes
- Four Star Productions
- Pamric Productions
- Zane Grey Enterprises
October 5, 1956 –
May 18, 1961
Synopsis[edit]
Many episodes were based on novels by Zane Grey,[2] to all of which Four Star Films held exclusive rights.[3] Dick Powell was the host and the star of some episodes.[1] Many of the guest stars made their TV debuts on the program.[3]
Powell said that working with Grey's stories proved to be both a benefit and a challenge. While he spoke of "the vast output of wonderful action stories from Zane Grey's pen", he acknowledged the challenge of "trying to compress a novel into half an hour of storytelling on television."[4] Some stories could be adapted relatively easily, while others had to be skipped or only parts of them could be used for scripts.[4] Over time, script writers used up the supply of adaptable material from Grey and began to adapt other authors' stories.[5]
Production[edit]
Development[edit]
The Zane Grey Radio Show had run for one season beginning in 1947 and had little in common with the stories of Zane Grey. The television series, however, began as an attempt to dramatize adaptions of Zane Grey's short stories and novels. Four Star Films acquired the rights to at least 40 Zane Grey works before filming began. However, it soon became evident that Grey's stories were too complex to fit into a 30 minute episode, and so with few exceptions, the scripts were all original.[9]
Four Star Films was the producing company,[10] with Powell as executive producer.[3] Producers included Helen Ainsworth, Hal Hudson,[1] and Aaron Spelling.[11] Directors included Felix Feist,[2] William D. Faralla, James Sheldon, and Budd Boetticher.[11] Writers included Marion Hargrove.[12]
Sponsors included Johnson Wax.[3]
Reception[edit]
In early February 1957, Billboard evaluated Zane Grey Theatre as "one of the strong contenders for the title of most important new show, according to many of its ratings."[17]
TV Guide called the show "an educated 20th century view of the Old West".[9]
After five seasons, CBS ran a sixth season composed of reruns of the best episodes.[9]
Spin-offs[edit]
Four other television Westerns began as episodes of Zane Grey Theatre: Trackdown, starring Robert Culp ("Badge of Honor"), The Rifleman, starring Chuck Connors ("Sharpshooter"), Johnny Ringo, starring Don Durrant ("The Loner"), and The Westerner, starring Brian Keith ("Trouble at Tres Cruces").