Appointment with Adventure

Appointment with Adventure is an American dramatic anthology television program that was broadcast from April 3, 1955, until April 1, 1956, on CBS.[1]

Format and actors

Appointment with Adventure presented stories whose settings varied among locations in the United States and in places in the world beyond U.S. borders. Some stories were contemporary, while others were period pieces set in World War II, the U.S. Civil War, and other eras.[2]

The program had no regular cast. Guest stars who appeared in episodes included Jack Lord, Patricia Breslin, Jack Klugman, Barbara Britton, Edie Adams, James Daly, Neville Brand, Viveca Lindfors, Theodore Bikel, Kim Hunter,[3] Polly Bergen, Betsy Palmer, Gena Rowlands, Phyllis Kirk, Dane Clark, Tony Randall, Gene Barry, and Paul Newman.[2]

Production

Appointment with Adventure was produced by Talent Associates.[4] David Susskind was the executive producer, with Robert Stevens as producer and director. Writers included Rod Serling,[5] Anne Howard Bailey, Jean-Charles Tacchella,[6] and Newton Meltzer.[7] Revlon and P. Lorillard Company were the sponsors.[8] It was broadcast live[7] from 10 to 10:30 p.m. Eastern Time.[8]

Extension of the program's original contract was announced on November 25, 1955, two weeks before the contract would have ended.[4] Subsequently it was scheduled to end with the March 18, 1955, broadcast, to be replaced by The $64,000 Challenge. The new show was not ready, however, so two more episodes were shown.[9]

Critical reception

A review in The New York Times after Appointment with Adventure's first two episodes described the first as "a sorry ordeal" and the second as "interesting entertainment".[10] In contrast, a review in the trade publication Billboard said, "The first installment . . . had an attractive cast, a highly realistic setting, and a tense, tho [sic] sometimes ambiguous, script."[7] Gene Plotnik added, "Jourdan and Dauphin turned in their usual suave and charming performances", and he described Powers's performance as "remarkably exciting".

The trade publication Variety called the first episode a "clinker" and noted the difficulty of doing an outdoor-set adventure show live.[11] It called rear-screen backgrounds used in the episode "artificial and unnatural looking".[11] The story received mixed comments, with the adventure elements praised, while treatment of a romantic triangle was called "a trite and familiar formula."[11] Dauphin, Powers, and Jourdan "were all unconvincing in the leads", the review said.[11] The review concluded added that executives would have to decide "whether they want to do a real adventure series or a soap opera with an outdoor setting."[11]

Selected episodes

References
  1. McNeil, Alex (1996). Total Television: the Comprehensive Guide to Programming from 1948 to the Present (4th ed.). New York, New York: Penguin Books USA, Inc. p. 55. ISBN 0-14-02-4916-8.
  2. Brooks, Tim; Marsh, Earle F. (June 24, 2009). The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946-Present. Random House Publishing Group. p. 73. ISBN 978-0-307-48320-1. Retrieved November 14, 2022.
  3. Terrace, Vincent (January 10, 2014). Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2010, 2d ed. McFarland. p. 53. ISBN 978-0-7864-8641-0. Retrieved November 16, 2022.
  4. "Adventure show renewed on C.B.S.". The New York Times. November 26, 1955. p. 37. Retrieved November 16, 2022.
  5. Parisi, Nicholas (October 24, 2018). Rod Serling: His Life, Work, and Imagination. University Press of Mississippi. ISBN 978-1-4968-1943-7. Retrieved November 16, 2022.
  6. Nollen, Scott Allen; Nollen, Yuyun Yuningsih (January 3, 2020). Chester Morris: His Life and Career. McFarland. p. 229. ISBN 978-1-4766-3839-3. Retrieved November 16, 2022.
  7. Plotnik, Gene (April 16, 1955). "Kent's 'Appointment' Is Good, Should Be Kept". Billboard. p. 4.
  8. Adams, Val (January 13, 1956). "WOR-TV to Show Hoffmann Film". The New York Times. p. 47. Retrieved November 16, 2022.
  9. Shepard, Richard F. (March 3, 1956). "TV 'Appointment' Gains a Reprieve: C.B.S. Show, Scheduled to Lease Air for Quiz, Will Do 2 Added Programs Cates Gets Spectacular Job". The New York Times. p. 37. Retrieved November 15, 2022.
  10. Shanley, J. F. (April 15, 1955). "Television: Coming Up: ' Appointment With Adventure,' in Second Offering, Appears to Be Out of the Caves". The New York Times. p. 30. Retrieved November 15, 2022.
  11. "Appointment with Adventure". Variety. April 6, 1955. p. 29. Retrieved August 22, 2023.
  12. Shanley, J. F. (April 6, 1955). "Television: Pair of French Cave Men". The New York Times. p. 41. Retrieved November 16, 2022.
  13. Lynch, Sylvia D. (March 8, 2018). Jack Lord: An Acting Life. McFarland. p. 47. ISBN 978-1-4766-6627-3. Retrieved November 16, 2022.
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