Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars is an anthology series that was telecast from 1951 until 1959 on CBS. Offering both comedies and drama, the series was sponsored by the Joseph Schlitz Brewing Company. The title was shortened to Schlitz Playhouse, beginning with the fall 1957 season.
Initially, the show was broadcast live, but starting in the summer of 1953, some episodes were filmed in advance. Beginning with the 1956-1957 season, all of the shows were filmed.
Between October 1951 and March 1952, the hour-long show was aired at 9 pm. In April 1952, the running time was reduced from an hour to 30 minutes. The series moved to 9:30 pm in the 1955 fall season.
Two episodes served as pilots for later NBC Western series: The Restless Gun with John Payne (March 29, 1957 pilot) and Tales of Wells Fargo with Dale Robertson. The Restless Gun pilot was based on the radio series The Six Shooter, and Payne's character had the same name, Britt Ponset, as the radio character; that name was changed to Vint Bonner when the actual series began, possibly to prevent confusion with Bret Maverick in Maverick, which debuted in 1957.
For the 1958-1959 season, the series alternated weeks with the Lux Playhouse.
Guest stars included the child actress Beverly Washburn, later on The New Loretta Young Show, who appeared in "The Closed Door" (1953) and "One Left Over" (1957).
Child actor Michael Winkelman, later of The Real McCoys, also appeared twice, as Joey Harlow in the 1955 episode "Fast Break" and as Jimmy Quinlin in the 1956 segment "Weapon of Courage."
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