Fireside Theatre

Fireside Theatre (later known as Jane Wyman Presents the Fireside Theatre, Jane Wyman Theatre, The Jane Wyman Show and Jane Wyman Presents) is an American anthology drama series that ran on NBC from 1949 to 1958, and was the first successful filmed series on American television. 1949 to 1955 productions were low-budget and often based on public domain stories. While it was panned by critics, it remained in the top ten most popular shows for most of this period. For the 8th season (1955–1956) Jane Wyman became the host and producer making it only the second filmed primetime network drama anthology to be hosted by a woman. Later episodes (1955–1958) were written by freelance writers such as Rod Serling, Aaron Spelling and Gene Roddenberry. It predated the other major pioneer of filmed TV in America, I Love Lucy, by two years.

Not to be confused with The Firesign Theatre.
Fireside Theatre
Also known as
  • Jane Wyman Presents the Fireside Theatre
  • Jane Wyman Theatre
  • The Jane Wyman Show
  • Jane Wyman Presents
GenreAnthology drama
Written by
Directed by
Presented by
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons10
No. of episodes268/92 (list of episodes)
Production
Producers
Camera setupSingle-camera
Running time30 mins
Production companies
  • General Television Enterprises
  • Hal Roach Studios
  • Lewman Productions/Revue Studios (1955–58)
Release
Original networkNBC
Original releaseApril 5, 1949 (1949-04-05) –
May 22, 1958 (1958-05-22)

Overview
Director Sidney Lanfield and Jane Wyman on the set of Fireside Theatre (1955)

Fireside Theatre was created by Frank Wisbar, who also wrote and directed many episodes.[1] He was the producer and director for the program's first six years, resigning on December 6, 1954, and leaving when his contract expired on February 15, 1955.[2] From 1952 to 1958, the program was presented by a host. This role was first filled by Wisbar (1952–1953), then by Gene Raymond (1953–1955), and finally by the person most associated with the series in the public mind, Jane Wyman (1955–1958). During the period first-run episodes were hosted by Wyman, the series was ultimately known as The Jane Wyman Show. When episodes were rerun on ABC from 1962-1963 including as a summer primetime replacement series in 1963 it was under the title Jane Wyman Presents.

One of Fireside Theatre's most notable offerings was a 1951 condensed version of Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol, featuring Ralph Richardson as Ebenezer Scrooge for the only time on American television. He later recreated the role on a spoken word Caedmon Records LP album, with Paul Scofield as narrator. It has since been released on CD.[3]

The Doubleday Book Club also ran a playscripts club called The Fireside Theatre.

Episodes
Main article: List of Fireside Theatre episodes
SeasonEpisodesOriginally aired
First airedLast aired
112April 5, 1949 (1949-04-05)June 28, 1949 (1949-06-28)
241September 6, 1949 (1949-09-06)June 27, 1950 (1950-06-27)
346August 29, 1950 (1950-08-29)August 21, 1951 (1951-08-21)
444August 28, 1951 (1951-08-28)June 24, 1952 (1952-06-24)
539September 30, 1952 (1952-09-30)June 30, 1953 (1953-06-30)
644September 1, 1953 (1953-09-01)June 29, 1954 (1954-06-29)
743September 7, 1954 (1954-09-07)June 28, 1955 (1955-06-28)
835August 30, 1955 (1955-08-30)April 24, 1956 (1956-04-24)
935August 28, 1956 (1956-08-28)May 14, 1957 (1957-05-14)
1026September 26, 1957 (1957-09-26)May 22, 1958 (1958-05-22)

Cast

As an anthology series, Fireside Theatre had no regular cast, just a series of guest stars:

Reception

Critical response

Billboard magazine praised an episode titled "The Lottery", saying that the cast "all turned in taut, exciting performances to make Lottery a real winner".[4] Unlike most episodes of the series, this episode aired live.

In 1954, Billboard voted it fourth-best filmed network drama series, ahead of the more fondly remembered General Electric Theater; however, Billboard's list excluded "mystery" shows (which was a separate list topped by Dragnet).[5]

Ratings

Fireside Theatre became a hit for NBC, always in the Top 30 shows at the end of each TV season, until the 1956–1957 season, when its ratings slumped. After this, it never again regained its top spot.

Seasonal rankings (based on average total viewers per episode) of Fireside Theatre on NBC. (Note: In the United States, each network television season starts in September and ends in late May, which coincides with the completion of May sweeps.)

Season TV season Ranking Viewers (in millions)
3rd 1950–1951 #2 5.365
4th 1951–1952 #7 6.594
5th 1952–1953 #10 8.282
6th 1953–1954 #9 9.464
7th 1954–1955 #20 9.547
8th 1955–1956 #24 10.121

References
  1. Dick, Bernard F. (2014). The President's Ladies: Jane Wyman and Nancy Davis. University Press of Mississippi. pp. 222–226. ISBN 978-1-61703-980-5. Retrieved February 12, 2020.
  2. "P&G Iffy About 'Fireside Theatre'". Variety. February 16, 1953. p. 23. Retrieved April 5, 2023.
  3. Amazon: Fireside Theater.
  4. The Billboard, 1 Sep 1951. Page 3.
  5. The Billboard, 31 Jul 1954. Page 14.

Further reading
  • Lafferty, William. "'No Attempt at Artiness, Profundity, or Significance': 'Fireside Theater' and the Rise of Filmed Television Programming." Cinema Journal (1987): 23–46 online.
  • Seger, Linda. "When Women Call the Shots" Henry Holt and Company (1996): 26, 31–32, 45, 58–59
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