Classic TV Shows
TV started (although crudely) in the 1800's but it wasn't until after the war that it became big business. In 1945 there were 56 million radios in the US, but only 16,000 TV sets.There was very little on TV in 1946 and 1947.
Some of the popular shows that premiered in 1948-1949: The Milton Berle Show (Note: The biggest star of early TV); Candid Camera (Allen Funt); Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts/His Friends; Original Amateur Hour (Ted Mack); The Ed Sullivan Show; Kukla, Fran and Ollie; The Lone Ranger (Clayton Moore); The Perry Como Show.
The Fifties were the years that TV sets were bought for entertainment in our homes - 42 million households have TV sets by the year 1957.
(1950s TV Sets - photos & info)
The TV Shows below are many of those favorites from the Fifties. The Television Shows are listed under the year they first appeared on Television or as they appeared in the *top ten.
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1950 TV Shows:
Your Show of Shows (Sid Caesar, Imogene Coca);
Your Hit Parade (Dorothy Collins);
The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show;
Beat the Clock (Bud Collyer);
The Gary Moore Show;
Arthur Murray's Dance Party;
You Bet Your Life (Groucho Marx);
What's My Line? (John Daly,Arlene Francis, Dorothy Kilgallen, Bennett Cerf);
The Colgate Comedy Hour (Eddie Cantor, Jerry Lewis, Dean Martin, Fred Allen);
The Kate Smith Hour;
The Steve Allen Show;
You Asked For It (Art Baker, Jack Smith);
The Gene Autry Show (Gene Autry, Pat Buttram).
Some Top TV Shows 1950:
Texaco Star Theater;
Hopalong Cassidy;
The Jack Benny Program;
Truth or Consequesnces (Ralph Edwards).
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1951 TV Shows:
The Roy Rogers Show;
*I Love Lucy (Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Vivian Vance, William Frawley);
Superman (George Reeves);
*The Red Skelton Show;
The Chevy Show ( Dinah Shore);
The Cisco Kid;
You Asked For It (Art Baker);
Amos 'N" Andy (Alvin Childress, Spencer Williams Jr);
See It Now (Edward R. Murrow);
Hallmark Hall of Fame.
Some Top TV Shows 1951:
You Bet Your Life;
Your Show of Shows;
Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts/His Friends;
Texaco Star Theater;
The Jack Benny Show;
The Colgate Comedy Hour.
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1952 TV Shows:
I Married Joan (Joan Davis, Jim Backus);
Our Miss Brooks (Eve Arden, Gale Gordon);
Mr Peepers ( Wally Cox);
*Dragnet (Jack Webb);
My Little Margie (Gail Storm, Charles Farrell);
Arthur Godfrey Time;
This Is Your Life (Ralph Edwards);
The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet (The Nelson Family);
I've Got a Secret (Garry Moore);
The Ernie Kovacs Show;
Death Valley Days (Stanley Andrew);
Mr. Peepers (Wally Cox);
The Jackie Gleason Show (Jackie Gleason, Art Carney, Audrey Meadows);
The Liberace Show;
The Red Buttons Show;
My Friend Irma (Marie Wilson).
Some Top TV Shows 1952:
I Love Lucy; You Bet Your Life;The Colgate Comedy Hour;
Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts/His Friends; Fireside Theater;
Texaco Star Theater.
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1953 TV Shows:
Soupy Sales;
Private Secretary (Ann Sothern);
Person to Person (Edward R. Murrow);
You Are There (Walter Cronkite);
Make Room for Daddy (Danny Thomas);
General Electric Theater (Ronald Reagan);
The Jack Paar Show;
The Tonight Show (Steve Allen);
Topper (Leo G. Carroll);
Romper Room (Gloria Flood);
Coke Time with Eddie Fisher;
The Loretta Young Show;
The Life of Riley (William Bendix)
Name That Tune (Red Benson 1953, Bill Cullen 1954, George De Witt 1955-1959).
Some Top TV Shows 1953:
I Love Lucy;
The Milton Berle Show;
The Colgate Comedy Hour;
Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts/His Friends;
You Bet Your Life;
The Jackie Gleason Show;
Fireside Theatre;
Ford Theatre;
Dragnet.
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1954:
*Disneyland (Walt Disney);
Father Knows Best (Robert Young, Jane Wyatt, Elinor Donahue, Billy Gray);
Lassie;
*The George Goble Show;
The Jimmy Durante Show;
Private Secretary (Ann Sothern);
The Loretta Young Show;
People Are Funny (Art Linkletter;
Stop the Music (Bert Parks);
The Johnny Carson Show;
The Bob Cummings Show.
Some Top TV Shows 1954:
I Love Lucy;
The Toast of the Town;
The Jack Benny Show;
The Martha Raye Show;
You Bet Your Life;
Ford Theatre; Dragnet;
The Jackie Gleason Show.
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1955:
The Mickey Mouse Club (Mouseketeers);
*The $64,000 Question (Hal March);
The Honeymooners (Jackie Gleason, Art Carney, Audrey Meadows);
*The Millionaire (Marvin Miller);
Alfred Hitchcock Presents;
The Alcoa Hour;
Captain Kangaroo (Bob Keeshan);
The Lawrence Welk Show;
Gunsmoke (James Arness):
The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp (Hugh O'Brien);
The Phil Silvers Show;
Cheyenne (Clint Walker).
Some Top TV Shows 1955:
Disneyland;
December Bride (Spring Byington);;
I've Got a Secret (Gary Moore 1952-64, Steve Allen 1964-67, Bill Cullen 1976);
The Jack Benny Show;
The Ed Sullivan Show;
I Love Lucy;
You Bet Your Life;
Dragnet.
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1956:
The Perry Como Show;
The Jack Benny Show;
The Price is Right (Bill Cullen);
The Steve Allen SHow;
NBC News (Huntley-Brinkley);
Playhouse 90;
The $64,000 Challenge (Sonny Fox);
The Ford Show (Tennesee Ernie Ford);
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theater;
The Dinah Shore Chevy Show.
Some Top TV Shows 1956:
December Bride;
The Ed Sullivan Show;
$64,000 Question;
General Electric Theater;
Alfred Hithcock Presents;
I've Got a Secret;
I Love Lucy;
Gunsmoke.
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1957:
American Bandstand (Dick Clark);
Maverick (James Garner, Jack Kelly);
Leave It to Beaver (Jerry Mathers, Tony Dow);
The Pat Boone Show;
Bachelor Father (John Forsythe);
*Have Gun Will Travel (Richard Boone);
Wagon Train (Robert Horton, Ward Bond);
Perry Mason (Raymond Burr);
To Tell the Truth (Bud Collyer);
Bat Masterson (Gene Barry);
*Tales of Wells Fargo (Dale Robertson);
Mike Wallace Interviews;
The Real McCoys (Richard Crenna, Kathy Nolan, Walter Brennan)
Sugarfoot (Will Hutchins).
Some Top TV Shows 1957:
December Bride;
Gunsmoke;
I've Got a Secret;
The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp;
The Danny Thomas Show;
General Electric Theater.
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1958:
The Donna Reed Show;
77 Sunset Strip (Efrem Zimvalist Jr, Edd "Kookie" Byrnes);
The Rifleman (Chuck Conners,Johnny Crawford);
Bronco (Ty Hardin);
The Lawman (John Russell);
Wanted Dead or Alive;
The Ann Sothern Show.
Some Top TV Shows 1958:
Maverick;
Gunsmoke;
The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp;
Wagon Train;
Have Gun Will Travel;
The Real McCoys;
I've Got a Secret;
Tales of Wells Fargo;
The Danny Thomas Show.
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1959:
Hawaiian Eye (Bob Conrad, Connie Stevens, Anthony Eisley, Grant Williams, Troy Donahue 1962-63);
The Many Love of Dobie Gillis (Dwayne Hickman);
Bonanza (Lorne Green, Michael Landon, Dan Blocker, Pernell Roberts);
Adventures In Paradise (Gardner McKay);
The Untouchables (Robert Stack);
Rawhide (Clint Eastwood);
The Twilight Zone (Rod Serling);
The Late Show;
The Bell Telephone Hour.
Some Top TV Shows 1959:
77 Sunset Strip;
Father Knows Best;
The Red Skelton Show;
Have Gun Will Travel;
Gunsmoke;
Wagon Train;
Dennis The Menice (Jay North);
The Danny Thomas Show;
Perry Mason;
The Price Is Right;
Wanted Dead or Alive.
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