Medium Interest
In the 1950s, Americans were treated to some great programming. But even hit shows of the time could fade into obscurity, especially if they missed the syndication bandwagon. Let’s look at some of the forgotten hits and misses of the 1950s.
The Adventures Of Dr Fu Manchu (1956)
The syndicated series ended after just 13 episodes, and not because of stereotyping the Chinese character as “Satan himself, evil incarnate” (as the narrator noted). Instead, producers got into a legal dispute with Fu Manchu novelist Sax Rohmer, who passed from the Asian flu in 1959.
The Adventures Of Dr Fu Manchu THIS VILLAIN RULED THE SCREEN S01E07, Vintage Cinema Treasures
Blondie (1957)
This adaptation of a famous comic strip lacked the anarchic madness of the bridge-playing original, despite Arthur Lake having already played Dagwood in 28 films. It should have been a winning hand, but this iteration of the Bumstead family instead shuffled off after just one season.
Blondie - 1957 Television Series ClassicFlix Promo, ClassicFlix
The Buccaneers (1956–1957)
Robert Shaw made his TV debut in this English series about an ex-pirate and his merry crew, broadcast in the US by CBS. It’s not well remembered today, though Shaw became reasonably famous, returning to a nautical theme to play an ornery fisherman, Quint, in Jaws (1975).
Captain David Grief (1957–1960)
Based on Jack London’s short stories about a South Seas adventurer, this TV show was the first to be shot in Hawaii, though shooting later switched to California, Cuba, and Mexico. Despite the spectacular locations, critics were underwhelmed by dull scripts and corny dialogue.
Captain David Grief Season 1 Episode 1
Captain Video And His Video Rangers (1949–1955)
Running on the DuMont Television Network, this pioneering science-fiction series was broadcast live most nights at 7 pm Eastern. Its tale of justice fighters on a future Earth was a hit with kids and adults alike, despite a budget so low that scenes from Westerns padded many episodes.
DuMont Television/photographer: William Kahn, Wikimedia Commons
Casablanca (1955–1956)
This TV adaptation of Casablanca (1942) was troubled from the start, with a bitter director who wanted Anthony Quinn, but ended up with an actor who “couldn’t act his way out of a hat”. The attempt at Cold War storylines didn’t help, and ABC deserted the show after just 10 episodes.
Trailer screenshot, Wikimedia Commons
Circus Boy (1956–1957)
In the 1890s, Corky’s parents perish in a trapeze accident—but not to worry, Joey the Clown takes him under his wing and Corky starts a new life as water boy to Bimbo, a baby elephant. The apparently untraumatized young boy was played by future Monkees drummer Micky Dolenz.
Crime With Father (1951–1952)
The crime-fighting duo of Captain Jim Riland and his daughter Chris tasked themselves with cases stumping the homicide squad in this troubled early police drama. It took a while to get a sponsor, and after the maker of Minipoo shampoo withdrew, ABC washed its hands of the show.
episode screenshot (ABC), Wikimedia Commons
The Halls Of Ivy (1954–1955)
A couple of years after the radio show’s sponsor abandoned it, The Halls Of Ivy graduated to television. Despite its high budget, this drama about the president of an Ivy League college failed to catch on, hampered by poor scheduling and affiliate rules on competing sponsors.
CBS Halls of Ivy 1955, Doug QuickHeaven For Betsy (1952)
This live sitcom starred Jack Lemmon and Cynthia Stone, who played newlyweds Pete and Betsy Bell for two weekly 15-minute episodes in late 1952. The real-life husband-and-wife team had already performed these characters on The Frances Langford/Don Ameche Show.
Heaven for Betsy s1e1, Colorized, Jack Lemmon, Cynthia Stone, Sitcom, 1952, ColorizationThe Invisible Man (1958–1959)
Vaguely inspired by HG Wells’ novel, this British show featured a scientist who was invisible, save for bandages or clothes, and played by various uncredited actors. CBS broadcast 26 episodes, then turned the show invisible months before entering The Twilight Zone into its schedule.
The Invisible Man Season 1 Episode 1 (1958) Secret Experiment, Lisa's oldies overloadJamie (1953–1954)
11-year-old child actor Brandon de Wilde made his TV debut starring as an orphan shuffled among relatives until finding a caring home with Aunt Laurie and Grandpa. Broadcast live, the show was abruptly canceled two episodes into its second season after a dispute with a sponsor.
Janet Dean, Registered Nurse (1954)
This syndicated series dared tackle topics such as child abuse, elder neglect, and mistreatment of the mentally disabled, and often leaned toward personal counseling as a way to resolve problems. This was the first TV show with a nurse as the lead, and had a healthy life in reruns.
JANET DEAN REGISTERED NURSE. 1954 TV Episode w/ Sal Mineo. Starring Ella Raines, Default NameJohnny Ringo (1959–1960)
An outlaw, played by future Lost In Space actor Mark Goddard, sees the light and becomes a sheriff in Arizona Territory. His two-barreled shotgun was often decisive, but the Johnson Wax Company proved to be an adversary too strong, withdrawing sponsorship after one season.
CBS Television, Wikimedia Commons
Life With Luigi (1952–1953)
A CBS radio show about the misadventures of a Chicago antique dealer, Luigi Basco, captured 30% of viewers in its time slot, but the TV version faced a backlash over stereotyping. Dumping the radio stars and tweaking the storylines couldn’t save the sitcom, which went finito soon after.
Man With A Camera (1958–1960)
If the idea of Charles Bronson as a photographer doubling as a private investigator is your idea of fun, then you’ve come to the right place. Besides his ordinary gear, Mike Kovacs used an array of hidden cameras in a radio, lighter, and necktie to help him expose the criminal element.
ABC Television, Wikimedia Commons
Martin Kane, Private Eye (1949–1954)
This New York private investigator was on a mission—to solve cases and engage in product placement. Sponsored by the US Tobacco Company, the show had the pipe-smoking Kane regularly walk into his local tobacconist’s shop to discuss the finer points of nicotine consumption.
Martin Kane, Private Eye - Murder In The Court, Public Gems
Men Into Space (1959–1960)
Astronauts have settled on the Moon and are racing to beat the Soviets to Mars, but everyone else is still driving 1950s-looking cars. William Lundigan played the ubiquitous Colonel Edward McCauley in this high-flying series that included an episode foreshadowing Apollo 13’s disastrous launch.
CBS Television, Wikimedia Commons
Mr Lucky (1959–1960)
A quiz show scandal made sponsor Lever Brothers push for squeaky clean TV, so John Vivyan’s suave gambler Mr Lucky switched his floating casino to a floating restaurant. Then, Lever bailed entirely, sinking this not-so-lucky Blake Edwards production after just one season.
Henry Mancini - Mr. Lucky (1960) *REVISED, MIKE MUNROW'S RETROThe New Adventures Of Charlie Chan (1957–1958)
Following a long string of Charlie Chan films, 39 syndicated episodes were first aired on US television in 1957 and 1958. The very non-Chinese actor J Carrol Naish, who’d starred in Life With Luigi, played the fictional detective, a depiction that unsurprisingly hasn’t aged very well.
🔍The New Adventures of Charlie Chan: 'Your Money or Your Wife' (1957)🕵️♂️, RetroFlixVaultPeck’s Bad Girl (1959)
12-year-old Torey Peck (played by Patty McCormack) has a habit of getting into trouble, but then so did the show’s ratings. The sitcom was cancelled after only 14 episodes, with little-watched reruns the next year confirming the show had indeed been CBS’s bad decision.
CBS Television, Wikimedia Commons
Rocky King Detective (1950–1954)
This live DuMont series was so low budget that star Roscoe Karns changed in the men’s restroom until getting a dressing room in 1953. Rocky’s wife only talked off camera, staying true to an episode when Grace Carney played two characters and changing on time wasn’t possible.
DuMont Television-William Kahn, photographer., Wikimedia Commons
Saber Of London (1955–1960)
This British-produced detective drama had various names and eventually focused on the adventures of one-armed private investigator Mark Saber. In its later years, the show competed against Leave It To Beaver and then Lassie, so maybe it’s no mystery few remember it today.
Saber of London: Volume 1 from The Danziger Brothers | Trailer, Network DistributingSheena, Queen Of The Jungle (1955–1956)
After a plane crash kills her parents, the only survivor grows up and fights evil in the jungle. Adult critics were unrelenting, with one saying Sheena’s “chimpanzee talk” with constant companion Chim was the show’s best dialogue. Children seemed more appreciative somehow.
Sheena Queen of the Jungle TV Series - S1 E14 (ep TV2), Comic Mag Musings
Stanley (1956–1957)
Buddy Hackett played a newsstand operator in a fancy New York hotel, Carol Burnett was his girlfriend, and Paul Lynde’s off-camera voice was the bossy hotel manager’s. Episodes began with: “You think you’ve got troubles. Stanley, he’s got troubles”. The show lasted 19 episodes.
NBC Television, Wikimedia Commons
Tales Of Tomorrow (1951–1953)
Science-fiction writer Theodore Sturgeon helped create an anthology show aimed at a grown-up audience, helping to promote the careers of various writers including Arthur C Clarke. The live show ran on ABC for two seasons, with the final episode entitled “What Dreams May Come”.
Old Time Tv Show: Tales of Tomorrow (1951) Paul Newman & Lon Chaney Jr., Easton Community Access TelevisionTom Corbett, Space Cadet (1950–1955)
The TV producers licensed the term “space cadet” from Robert A Heinlein’s 1948 novel of the same name, and got heavily into the merchandising with toys, costumes, and lunch boxes. Space Cadet Corbett bounced around the orbits of all four networks during its five-year run.
Macfadden Publications, Wikimedia Commons
Treasury Men In Action (1950–1955)
This TV show dramatized cases of the US Treasury Department as its agents tackled tax evaders, counterfeiters, smugglers, and other ne’er-do-wells. Actor Walter Greaza would introduce himself as the “chief” of whatever division was doing the investigating that week.
Treasury Men In Action 1950. The Case of the Castings. ABC Network. Jewelry Store is a illegal front, Moviecraft Inc.William Tell (1958–1959)
This British import’s 39 syndicated episodes told the story of a Swiss folk hero who encouraged his compatriots to overthrow their German overlords. Star Conrad Phillips fell off a ledge after being repeatedly told to step further back, an accident that eventually ended his acting career.
William Tell Credits (from 1950's), luvthe1950sYancy Derringer (1958–1959)
A boisterous gambler and Confederate soldier returns to New Orleans after the Civil War and agrees to work as a secret agent for New Orleans’ administrator, John Colton, a former Union soldier. Derringer is so enthusiastic in ferreting out threats that Colton often has to arrest him.
CBS Television, Wikimedia Commons
Classics And Less
Whatever the reason, not everything that graced the flickering small screens of 1950s America is fondly remembered today, if remembered at all. But they provide glimpses of a past long gone—unless they managed to make it to syndication heaven or a video platform of your choice.
Evert F. Baumgardner, Wikimedia Commons
You May Also Like:
Forgotten Old Hollywood Actresses
Forgotten Shows From The Golden Age Of Television
Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46
