Appointment with Adventure
{{Short description|American TV dramatic anthology series (1955–1956)}}
{{Infobox television
| genre = Dramatic anthology series
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| director = Robert Stevens
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| executive_producer = David Susskind
| producer = Robert Stevens
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| company = Talent Associates
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| network = CBS
| first_aired = {{Start date|1955|04|03}}
| last_aired = {{End date|1956|04|01}}
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Appointment with Adventure is an American dramatic anthology television program that was broadcast from April 3, 1955, until April 1, 1956, on CBS.{{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= 55|edition=4th}}
Format and actors
Appointment with Adventure presented stories whose settings varied among locations in the United States and in places in the world beyond U.S. borders. Some stories were contemporary, while others were period pieces set in World War II, the U.S. Civil War, and other eras.{{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=73 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w8KztFy6QYwC&dq=%22Appointment+with+Adventure%22&pg=PA73 |access-date=November 14, 2022 |language=en}}
The program had no regular cast. Guest stars who appeared in episodes included Jack Lord, Patricia Breslin, Jack Klugman, Barbara Britton, Edie Adams, James Daly, Neville Brand, Viveca Lindfors, Theodore Bikel, Kim Hunter,{{cite book |last1=Terrace |first1=Vincent |title=Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2010, 2d ed. |date=January 10, 2014 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-0-7864-8641-0 |page=53 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YX_daEhlnbsC&dq=%22Appointment+with+Adventure%22&pg=PA53 |access-date=November 16, 2022 |language=en}} Polly Bergen, Betsy Palmer, Gena Rowlands, Phyllis Kirk, Dane Clark, Tony Randall, Gene Barry, and Paul Newman.
Production
Appointment with Adventure was produced by Talent Associates.{{cite news |date=November 26, 1955 |title=Adventure show renewed on C.B.S. |page=37 |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1955/11/26/archives/adventure-show-renewed-on-cbs-sunday-night-telecast-gets-reprieve.html |url-access=subscription |access-date=November 16, 2022}} David Susskind was the executive producer, with Robert Stevens as producer and director. Writers included Rod Serling,{{cite book |last1=Parisi |first1=Nicholas |title=Rod Serling: His Life, Work, and Imagination |date=October 24, 2018 |publisher=University Press of Mississippi |isbn=978-1-4968-1943-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZOZ3DwAAQBAJ&dq=%22Appointment+with+Adventure%22&pg=PT223 |access-date=November 16, 2022 |language=en}} Anne Howard Bailey, Jean-Charles Tacchella,{{cite book |last1=Nollen |first1=Scott Allen |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZdjHDwAAQBAJ&dq=%22Appointment+with+Adventure%22&pg=PA229 |title=Chester Morris: His Life and Career |last2=Nollen |first2=Yuyun Yuningsih |date=January 3, 2020 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-1-4766-3839-3 |page=229 |language=en |access-date=November 16, 2022}} and Newton Meltzer. Revlon and P. Lorillard Company were the sponsors.{{cite news |last1=Adams |first1=Val |title=WOR-TV to Show Hoffmann Film |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1956/01/13/archives/wortv-to-show-hoffmann-film-movie-version-of-offenbach-opera-to-be.html |access-date=November 16, 2022 |work=The New York Times |date=January 13, 1956 |page=47|url-access=subscription}} It was broadcast live{{cite magazine |last=Plotnik |first=Gene |date=April 16, 1955 |page=4 |title=Kent's 'Appointment' Is Good, Should Be Kept |magazine=Billboard |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BxwEAAAAMBAJ&dq=%22Appointment+with+Adventure%22&pg=PA4 }} from 10 to 10:30 p.m. Eastern Time.
Extension of the program's original contract was announced on November 25, 1955, two weeks before the contract would have ended. Subsequently it was scheduled to end with the March 18, 1955, broadcast, to be replaced by The $64,000 Challenge. The new show was not ready, however, so two more episodes were shown.{{cite news |last1=Shepard |first1=Richard F. |date=March 3, 1956 |title=TV 'Appointment' Gains a Reprieve: C.B.S. Show, Scheduled to Lease Air for Quiz, Will Do 2 Added Programs Cates Gets Spectacular Job |page=37 |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1956/03/03/archives/tv-appointment-gains-a-reprieve-cbs-show-scheduled-to-lease-air-for.html |url-access=subscription |access-date=November 15, 2022}}
Critical reception
A review in The New York Times after Appointment with Adventure's first two episodes described the first as "a sorry ordeal" and the second as "interesting entertainment".{{cite news |last1=Shanley |first1=J. F. |title=Television: Coming Up: ' Appointment With Adventure,' in Second Offering, Appears to Be Out of the Caves |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1955/04/15/archives/television-coming-up-appointment-with-adventure-in-second-offering.html |access-date=November 15, 2022 |work=The New York Times |date=April 15, 1955 |page=30|url-access=subscription}} In contrast, a review in the trade publication Billboard said, "The first installment . . . had an attractive cast, a highly realistic setting, and a tense, tho {{sic}} sometimes ambiguous, script." Gene Plotnik added, "Jourdan and Dauphin turned in their usual suave and charming performances", and he described Powers's performance as "remarkably exciting".
The trade publication Variety called the first episode a "clinker" and noted the difficulty of doing an outdoor-set adventure show live. It called rear-screen backgrounds used in the episode "artificial and unnatural looking".{{cite magazine |date=April 6, 1955 |page=29 |title=Appointment with Adventure |magazine=Variety |url=https://archive.org/details/variety198-1955-04/page/n28/mode/1up?view=theater |accessdate=August 22, 2023}} The story received mixed comments, with the adventure elements praised, while treatment of a romantic triangle was called "a trite and familiar formula." Dauphin, Powers, and Jourdan "were all unconvincing in the leads", the review said. The review concluded added that executives would have to decide "whether they want to do a real adventure series or a soap opera with an outdoor setting."
Selected episodes
- April 3, 1955 -- "Minus Three Thousand" with Claude Dauphin, Louis Jourdan, and Mala Powers.{{cite news |last1=Shanley |first1=J. F. |date=April 6, 1955 |title=Television: Pair of French Cave Men |page=41 |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1955/04/06/archives/television-pair-of-french-cave-men-dauphin-jourdan-act-on-c-b-s.html |url-access=subscription |access-date=November 16, 2022}}
- April 10, 1955 -- "Five in Judgment" with Jack Lord, Paul Newman; and Patricia Breslin.{{cite book |last1=Lynch |first1=Sylvia D. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jNZSDwAAQBAJ&dq=%22Appointment+with+Adventure%22&pg=PA47 |title=Jack Lord: An Acting Life |date=March 8, 2018 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-1-4766-6627-3 |page=47 |language=en |access-date=November 16, 2022}}
- November 27, 1955 -- "Time Bomb" -- Chester Morris, Jean Bal, Anthony Eisley.
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb title|qid=Q4781633}}
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Category:1955 American television series debuts
Category:1956 American television series endings