Masterpiece Playhouse

{{Short description|American dramatic anthology television series}} {{italic title}} {{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}} '''''Masterpiece Playhouse''''' is an American dramatic anthology series that aired in summer 1950 on NBC<ref name="B&M">{{cite book |first1=Tim |last1=Brooks |author-link1=Tim Brooks (historian) |first2=Earle |last2=Marsh |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w8KztFy6QYwC&dq=%22Masterpiece+Playhouse+Dramatic+Anthology%22&pg=PA866 |title=The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows 1946–Present |section=Masterpiece Playhouse |page=866 |edition=9 |year=2007 |publisher=Ballantine Books |location=New York |isbn=978-0-345-49773-4 |access-date=2026-02-14 }}</ref> from 9 to 10 p.m. Eastern time on Sundays.<ref name="ross">{{cite news |title=Sunday, September 3 |url=https://archive.org/details/rossreportstele10ross/page/n102/mode/1up?view=theater |access-date=September 19, 2022 |work=Ross Reports on Television including The Television Index |date=September 3, 1950 |page=4}}</ref>

It consisted of seven live 60 minute adaptations of the plays ''Hedda Gabler'' (July 23, 1950),<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= 527|edition=4th}}</ref> ''The Rivals'' (August 6, 1950),<ref name="ltd">{{cite book |last1=Hawes |first1=William |title=Live Television Drama, 1946-1951 |date=November 16, 2015 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-1-4766-0849-5 |page=284 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=l8z-CgAAQBAJ&dq=%22Masterpiece+Playhouse%22&pg=PA284 |access-date=February 17, 2023 |language=en}}</ref> ''Richard III'' (July 30, 1950),<ref>{{cite news |title=Television Highlights of the Week |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/79198947/the-boston-globe/ |access-date=June 8, 2021 |work=The Boston Globe |date=July 30, 1950 |page=12-A|via = Newspapers.com}}</ref> ''Six Characters in Search of an Author'' (August 13, 1950),<ref name="tt" /> ''The Importance of Being Earnest'' (August 20, 1950),<ref>{{cite news |title=Sunday, August 20 |url=https://archive.org/det{ails/rossreportstele10ross/page/n22/mode/1up?view=theater |access-date=January 17, 2024 |work=Ross Reports on Television including The Television Index |date=August 20, 1950|page=3}}</ref> ''Uncle Vanya'' (September 3, 1950),<ref name="tt" /> and ''Othello'' (August 27, 1950).<ref>{{cite web | url=http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1950/08/27/page/172/article/othello-on-masterpiece-playhouse-series-today | title='Othello' on Masterpiece Playhouse Series Today | work=Chicago Tribune | date=August 27, 1950 | access-date=October 8, 2014}}</ref> Its stars included Jessica Tandy, William Windom, Boris Karloff,<ref name="B&M" /> Eva Gabor, Walter Abel, and Margaret Lindsay.

The producer was Curtis Canfield. Among its directors were William Corrigan<ref name="ltd" /> and Delbert Mann, later Oscar winner for directing the film ''Marty''.{{Citation needed |date=September 2023}}

==References== {{Reflist}}

==Bibliography== *Tim Brooks and Earle Marsh, ''The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows 1946–Present'', Ninth edition (New York: Ballantine Books, 2007) {{ISBN|978-0-345-49773-4 }}

==External links== *{{IMDb title|id=0195473|title=Masterpiece Playhouse}}

Category:1950 American television series debuts Category:1950 American television series endings Category:1950s American anthology television series Category:NBC original programming Category:American live television series Category:Works based on Richard III (play) Category:Television shows based on works by William Shakespeare