Studio One
Westinghouse Studio One title card
Genre	Anthology drama
Written by	Worthington Miner Reginald Rose Rod Serling Joseph Liss Mel Goldberg Patrick Alexander
Directed by	Paul Nickell Franklin Schaffner
Presented by	Art Hannes (announcer) John Cannon (announcer)
Narrated by	John Cannon
Theme music composer	Vic Oliver
Opening theme	"Prelude to the Stars"
Ending theme	same
Country of origin	United States
Language(s)	English
No. of seasons	10
No. of episodes	467
Production
Producer(s)	Worthington Miner Herbert Brodkin
Running time	60 minutes
Production company(s)	CBS Television
Distributor	CBS Television
Broadcast
Original channel	CBS
Picture format	Black-and-white
Original run	7 November 1948 – 29 September 1958

Studio One is a long-running American dramatic radio-television anthology series, created in 1947 by the 26-year-old Canadian director Fletcher Markle, who came to CBS from the CBC.

[edit] Radio

On April 29, 1947, Markle launched the 60-minute CBS radio series with an adaptation of Malcolm Lowry's Under the Volcano. Broadcast on Tuesdays, opposite Fibber McGee and Molly and The Bob Hope Show at 9:30pm(et), the radio series continued until July 27, 1948, showcasing such adaptations as Dodsworth, Pride and Prejudice, The Red Badge of Courage and Ah, Wilderness. Top performers were heard on this series, including John Garfield, Walter Huston, Mercedes McCambridge, Burgess Meredith and Robert Mitchum.

[edit] Move to television

In 1948, Markle made a quantum leap from radio to television. Sponsored by Westinghouse Electric Corporation, the television series was seen on CBS, which Westinghouse acquired in 1995, from 1948 through 1958, under several variant titles: Studio One Summer Theatre, Studio One in Hollywood, Summer Theatre, Westinghouse Studio One and Westinghouse Summer Theatre.

Offering a wide range of dramas, Studio One received Emmy nominations every year from 1950 to 1958. The series staged some notable and memorable teleplays among its 466 episodes. Some created such an impact they were adapted into theatrical films. Reginald Rose's drama Twelve Angry Men, about the conflicts of jurors deciding a murder case, originated on Studio One on 20 September 1954, and the 1957 motion picture remake with Henry Fonda was nominated for three Academy Awards. Sal Mineo had the title role in the 2 January 1956 episode of Reginald Rose's Dino , and he reprised the role for the movie Dino (1957).

In 1954, "Crime at Blossoms", scripted by Jerome Ross, was given an Edgar Award for Best Episode in a TV Series. Nathaniel Hawthorne's granddaughter received a plaque in recognition of her grandfather's writing achievements, during the 3 April 1950 telecast of The Scarlet Letter.

The Night America Trembled was Studio One's 9 September 1957 top-rated television recreation of Orson Welles' radio broadcast of The War of the Worlds on 30 October 1938. Alexander Scourby is seen in the foreground. Warren Beatty, in one of his earliest roles, appeared in the bit part of a card-playing college student.

The Night America Trembled was Studio One's 9 September 1957 top-rated television recreation of Orson Welles' radio broadcast of The War of the Worlds on 30 October 1938. The cast included Alexander Scourby, Ed Asner and Warren Oates. James Coburn made his television debut, and John Astin appeared uncredited as a reporter. In one of his earliest acting roles, Warren Beatty appeared in the bit part of a card-playing college student.

The show's run ended when Westinghouse switched its sponsorship to the Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse, which premiered in 1958.^[1]

Worthington Miner, Martin Manulis and others produced. As spokeswoman for Westinghouse, Betty Furness became strongly identified with Westinghouse products, and she also was seen in eight Studio One dramas. The show's musical directors were Milton C. Anderson, who also created music for Playhouse 90, and Eugene Cines.

[edit] Lost episode

For years, the second half of the original TV production of Twelve Angry Men was considered lost. However, in 2003, Joseph Consentino, a researcher-producer for The History Channel, discovered a complete kinescope of the Studio One production in the home of the late New York defense attorney (and later judge) Samuel Leibowitz. Consentino was researching a History Channel documentary about Leibowitz, and the discovery was announced by the Museum of Television & Radio (now The Paley Center for Media).^[2]

A third season episode of the ABC legal drama Boston Legal, "Son of the Defender," used clips from the two-part Studio One episode "The Defender" [25 February-4 March 1957], featuring William Shatner as an attorney joining his lawyer father, played by Ralph Bellamy, in the defense of a 19-year-old, played by Steve McQueen, who is accused of murder. Utilizing clips of the older show for flashbacks, the Boston Legal episode portrayed Shatner's Studio One character as a young Denny Crane trying his first case alongside his father.^[3]

In 2007, the 14 November 1954 broadcast of "I'm a Fool" starring James Dean and Natalie Wood was shown at the annual Mid-Atlantic Nostalgia Convention. Many Studio One episodes are available for viewing at The Paley Center for Media in New York City and Los Angeles.

[edit] Awards and nominations

[edit] DVD release

In 2008, Koch Vision released the Studio One Anthology. Episodes include "1984," "The Arena," "Confessions of a Nervous Man," "Dark Possession," "The Death and Life of Larry Benson," "Dino," "Julius Caesar," "June Moon," "The Medium," "Pontius Pilate," "The Remarkable Incident at Carson Corners," "The Storm," "The Strike," "Summer Pavilion," "Twelve Angry Men" and "Wuthering Heights." The episodes will contain the original commercials. Bonus features include the "Studio One Seminar" from the Paley Center for Media; an interview with director Paul Nickell, footage from the Archive of American Television and a featurette on the series.

[edit] References

[edit] Listen to

• Wisconsin Public Radio; Studio One: Babbitt
• Studio One in The Internet Archive's Old-Time Radio Collection

[edit] Watch

• Studio One (September 29, 1952): Westinghouse spokeswoman Betty Furness explains UHF and demonstrates the UHF adapter
• Studio One (May 18, 1953): Opening scenes of "The Laughmaker" with Jackie Gleason and Art Carney

[edit] External links

• Thousand Oaks Library: Fletcher Markle Collection
• Jerry Haendiges Vintage Radio Logs: Studio One
• 'Writing for Television" by Rod Serling
• Studio One at the Internet Movie Database
• Studio One at TV.com