General Motors Theatre (also known as CBC Theatre, Encounter, Ford Television Theatre, and General Motors Presents) was a Canadian television anthology drama series of television plays, which ran on CBC Television under various titles from September 18, 1952, until January 1, 1961, and in the US on ABC from October 5 to November 2, 1958.[1] The series mainly consisted of one-hour episodes of romance, adventure, or mystery stories, with some social realist drama plays.
General Motors Theatre
Also known as
CBC Theatre Encounter Ford Television Theatre General Motors Presents
The series was a breeding ground for writing and directing talent such as William Kotcheff, Donald Jack, and Arthur Hailey. Hailey's Flight into Danger was later remade as the feature filmZero Hour!, in turn providing the inspiration for the comedy film Airplane!, and was also screened by the BBC in the United Kingdom. It was a significant factor in General Motors Theatre producer — and CBC Supervisor of Drama — Sydney Newman moving to work in the UK, where he later worked on anthology series similar to General Motors Theatre, such as Armchair Theatre and The Wednesday Play.
Canadian runedit
First transmitted under the sponsored title on October 5, 1954, a new 60-minute drama was aired each week. As suggested by the title, the program was sponsored by the General Motors automobile company. It was effectively the same series as the unsponsored CBC Theatre, which had run its first season from December 1, 1953, to April 20, 1954, with General Motors becoming the title sponsor for the second season.[3][4]
Following some concerns, the series moved to a Sunday evening slot in 1956, where it had competed with the American network CBS's enormously popular game show spin-off The $64,000 Challenge in the key Toronto market (where American broadcast signals could be received from across the border), General Motors pulled out and the show disappeared for two years. It returned in 1958 after The $64,000 Question had been cancelled, under the new title General Motors Presents.
For its final run in the summer of 1961, the series had not the originally-produced dramas but broadcasts of a bought-in British anthology series called Interplay.
American runedit
The show was one of the first Canadian programs to be sold to an American network. ABC had planned to air 39 episodes of the series but aired only five. Renamed Encounter, it was scheduled to follow the western series Colt .45. The program faced competition on CBS from Alfred Hitchcock Presents and The $64,000 Question. Also, NBC at the time aired part of The Dinah Shore Chevy Show. In the Fall (Autumn), of 1958, on ABC, it replaced Scotland Yard, for five weeks.[5]
Referencesedit
^Alex McNeil, Total Television, (New York: Penguin Publishers, 1996), p. 258
^Tim Brooks and Earle Marsh, The Complete Directory to Prime Time TV Shows, 1946-Present, p. 270.
General Motors Theatre - Canadian Communication Foundation
January 01, 1970
general, motors, theatre, ford, television, theatre, redirects, here, other, uses, ford, theatre, disambiguation, also, known, theatre, encounter, ford, television, theatre, general, motors, presents, canadian, television, anthology, drama, series, television,. Ford Television Theatre redirects here For other uses see Ford Theatre disambiguation General Motors Theatre also known as CBC Theatre Encounter Ford Television Theatre and General Motors Presents was a Canadian television anthology drama series of television plays which ran on CBC Television under various titles from September 18 1952 until January 1 1961 and in the US on ABC from October 5 to November 2 1958 1 The series mainly consisted of one hour episodes of romance adventure or mystery stories with some social realist drama plays General Motors TheatreAlso known asCBC TheatreEncounterFord Television TheatreGeneral Motors PresentsGenreAnthology DramaCountry of originCanada and United StatesOriginal languageEnglishNo of seasons6 5 original 1 year of UK programme called Interplay ProductionProduction locationToronto Ontario CanadaRunning time60 minutesOriginal releaseNetworkCBC TelevisionRelease18 September 1952 1952 09 18 1 January 1961 1961 01 01 Contents 1 Cast and crew 2 Canadian run 3 American run 4 References 5 External linksCast and crew editAustin Willis Patrick Macnee Barry Morse and William Shatner were among those who appeared in plays produced in the strand 2 The series also supported the earlier careers of many Canadian actors such as James Doohan who starred in one of the most successful plays in the strand Flight into Danger in 1956 The series was a breeding ground for writing and directing talent such as William Kotcheff Donald Jack and Arthur Hailey Hailey s Flight into Danger was later remade as the feature film Zero Hour in turn providing the inspiration for the comedy film Airplane and was also screened by the BBC in the United Kingdom It was a significant factor in General Motors Theatre producer and CBC Supervisor of Drama Sydney Newman moving to work in the UK where he later worked on anthology series similar to General Motors Theatre such as Armchair Theatre and The Wednesday Play Canadian run editFirst transmitted under the sponsored title on October 5 1954 a new 60 minute drama was aired each week As suggested by the title the program was sponsored by the General Motors automobile company It was effectively the same series as the unsponsored CBC Theatre which had run its first season from December 1 1953 to April 20 1954 with General Motors becoming the title sponsor for the second season 3 4 Following some concerns the series moved to a Sunday evening slot in 1956 where it had competed with the American network CBS s enormously popular game show spin off The 64 000 Challenge in the key Toronto market where American broadcast signals could be received from across the border General Motors pulled out and the show disappeared for two years It returned in 1958 after The 64 000 Question had been cancelled under the new title General Motors Presents For its final run in the summer of 1961 the series had not the originally produced dramas but broadcasts of a bought in British anthology series called Interplay American run editThe show was one of the first Canadian programs to be sold to an American network ABC had planned to air 39 episodes of the series but aired only five Renamed Encounter it was scheduled to follow the western series Colt 45 The program faced competition on CBS from Alfred Hitchcock Presents and The 64 000 Question Also NBC at the time aired part of The Dinah Shore Chevy Show In the Fall Autumn of 1958 on ABC it replaced Scotland Yard for five weeks 5 References edit Alex McNeil Total Television New York Penguin Publishers 1996 p 258 Tim Brooks and Earle Marsh The Complete Directory to Prime Time TV Shows 1946 Present p 270 TV Guide Guide to TV Barnes and Noble 2004 p 196 ISBN 978 0 7607 5634 8 The Montreal Gazette Google News Archive Search news google com Retrieved 2021 03 05 Total Television appendixExternal links editEncounter at IMDb nbsp General Motors Theatre Canadian Communication Foundation Information at CBC Television Series 1952 to 1982 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title General Motors Theatre amp oldid 1211405430, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
