{{Short description|American TV dramatic anthology series (1951)}} {{about|the television series|the theatre in New York City of the same name|Majestic Theatre (Columbus Circle)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}} {{Infobox television | genre = Anthology | director = David Pressman<br/>Louis G. Cowan<br/>David Crandall<br/>Albert McCleery | country = United States | language = English | num_seasons = 1 | num_episodes = 13 | producer = Louis G. Cowan<br/>Sherman Marks<br/>Albert McCleery | camera = Single-camera | runtime = 60 minutes | company = DuMont Television Network<br/>Louis G. Cowan Productions | channel = DuMont | first_aired = {{Start date|1951|10|02}} | last_aired = {{End date|1951|12|25}} }}
'''''Cosmopolitan Theatre''''' is an American anthology series which aired on the DuMont Television Network from October 2, 1951, to December 25, 1951.<ref name=tt>{{cite book|last1=McNeil|first1=Alex|title=Total Television: the Comprehensive Guide to Programming from 1948 to the Present |date=1996|publisher=Penguin Books USA, Inc.|location=New York, New York|isbn=0-14-02-4916-8|page= 182|edition=4th}}</ref> The combined drug companies that sponsored the series not only canceled it but relinquished the time slot, citing budgetary problems. The trade publication ''Variety'' reported that the show had "some hefty ratings" and was "one of the more qualitative" programs on DuMont.<ref>{{cite magazine |date=December 12, 1951 |page=23 |title='Cosmo Theatre' In DuMont Exit |magazine=Variety |url= |accessdate=December 3, 2025 }}</ref>
==Synopsis== The series consisted of live presentations of stories written for ''Cosmopolitan'' magazine, and was one of many TV series airing "tele-plays" at the time.<ref name="brooks">{{cite book |last1=Brooks |first1=Tim |last2=Marsh |first2=Earle F. |title=The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946-Present |date=June 24, 2009 |publisher=Random House Publishing Group |isbn=978-0-307-48320-1 |page=288 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w8KztFy6QYwC&dq=%22Cosmopolitan+Theatre%22+Dumont&pg=PA288 |access-date=June 20, 2023 |language=en}}</ref>
==Episode status== The program was broadcast live. If any episodes exist, they would be in the form of kinescope recordings.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Spigel |first1=Lynn |last2=Mann |first2=Denise |title=Private Screenings: Television and the Female Consumer |date=1992 |publisher=U of Minnesota Press |isbn=978-0-8166-2053-1 |page=273 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WmCL8ZmQUkwC&dq=%22Cosmopolitan+Theatre%22+Dumont&pg=PA273 |access-date=June 20, 2023 |language=en}}</ref>
==Episodes== {| class="wikitable" ! Episode # !! Episode title !! Original airdate !! Guest star(s) |- | 1-1 || "The Secret Front" || October 2, 1951 || Marsha Hunt, Kurt Katch, and Lee Tracy<ref name=":0">{{cite news |title=Tuesday, October 2 |url=https://archive.org/details/rossreportstele17ross/page/n38/m |access-date=June 20, 2023 |work=Ross Reports on Television including The Television Index |date=September 29, 1951 |page=9}}</ref> |- | 1-2 || "Be Just and Fear Not" || October 9, 1951 || Joseph Schildkraut and June Walker<ref name="ross3">{{cite news |title=Tuesday, October 9 |url=https://archive.org/details/rossreportstele17ross/page/n68/mode/1up |access-date=June 20, 2023 |work=Ross Reports on Television including The Television Index |date=October 5, 1951 |page=8}}</ref> |- | 1-3 || "Incident in the Blizzard" || October 16, 1951 || Betty Field and E. G. Marshall |- | 1-4 || "Reward, One Million" || October 23, 1951 || Dennis Hoey and Beatrice Straight |- | 1-5 || "Mr. Pratt and the Triple Horror Bill " || October 30, 1951 || Constance Dowling and Tom Ewell |- | 1-6 || "Last Concerto" || November 6, 1951 || Lon Chaney Jr., Susan Douglas, and Ruth McDevitt |- | 1-7 || "I'll Be Right Home, Ma" || November 13, 1951 || Charles Nolte |- | 1-8 || "The Tourist" || November 20, 1951 || Peggy Allenby, John Boruff, and John Hoyt |- | 1-9 || "Time to Kill" || November 27, 1951 || John Forsythe, Phyllis Love, and Torin Thatcher |- | 1-10 || "The Beautiful Time" || December 4, 1951 || Joseph Buloff and Lili Darvas |- | 1-11 || "Mr. Whittle and the Morning Star" || December 11, 1951 || Peggy Conklin and Bramwell Fletcher |- | 1-12 || "The Sighing Sounds" || December 18, 1951 || Bethel Leslie and Gordon Mills |- | 1-13 || "One Red Rose for Christmas" || December 25, 1951 || Jo Van Fleet |- |}
== Production == Louis G. Cowan packaged ''Cosmopolitan Theatre''; Sherman Marks was the producer and director.<ref name=ross2/> Writers of episodes included Richard Macauley<ref name=":0" /> and David Shaw.<ref name="ross3" />
The show replaced ''Cavalcade of Bands''<ref name="ross2" /> from 9 to 10 p.m. Eastern Time on Tuesdays.<ref name="brooks" /> It originated from WABD and was carried live to 14 stations with 10 more showing it via kinescope.<ref name="ross2">{{cite news |title=This Week -- Network Debuts, Highlights, Changes |url=https://archive.org/details/rossreportstele17ross/page/n24/mode/1up |access-date=June 20, 2023 |work=Ross Reports on Television including The Television Index |date=September 30, 1951 |page=2}}</ref>
==Critical response== In December 1951, critic John Crosby called ''Cosmopolitan Theatre'' "the Dumont network's most elaborate entry into the dramatic field".<ref name="tbt">{{cite news |last1=Crosby |first1=John |title=Newspapers, Not Slicks, Best TV Material Source |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/tampa-bay-times-cosmopolitan-theatre/126788840/ |access-date=June 20, 2023 |work=Tampa Bay Times |date=December 18, 1951 |page=22|via = Newspapers.com}}</ref> He noted that restricting the show's content to stories from the magazine "places a rather severe limit not only on the range of material but also on the type of material open to this program."<ref name="tbt" /> He noted that the two forms of media differed greatly in the ways they affected audiences and ended the review with the comment, "TV has conditioned us to accept a much harder degree of reality than most slick fiction has ever attempted."<ref name="tbt" />
==See also== *List of programs broadcast by the DuMont Television Network *List of surviving DuMont Television Network broadcasts *1951-52 United States network television schedule
==References== {{Reflist}}
==Bibliography== *David Weinstein, ''The Forgotten Network: DuMont and the Birth of American Television'' (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2004) {{ISBN|1-59213-245-6}}
==External links== * {{IMDb title|id=0043184}} * [http://ctva.biz/US/Anthology/CosmopolitanTheatre.htm ''Cosmopolitan Theatre'' at CVTA with episode list] * [https://dumonthistory.com/a1.html DuMont historical website]
Category:1951 American television series debuts Category:1951 American television series endings Category:1950s American anthology television series Category:American live television series Category:Black-and-white American television shows Category:DuMont Television Network original programming Category:English-language American television shows Category:Cosmopolitan (magazine)