Fireside Theatre

{{Infobox television

| image = Fireside Theatre logo.jpg

| image_alt =

| alt_name = {{Plainlist|

Jane Wyman Presents the Fireside Theatre
Jane Wyman Theatre
The Jane Wyman Show
Jane Wyman Presents

}}

| genre = Anthology drama

| creator =

| based_on =

| developer =

| writer = {{Plainlist|

}}

| director = {{Plainlist|

}}

| creative_director =

| presenter = {{Plainlist|

Frank Wisbar (1952–1953)
Gene Raymond (1953–1955)
Jane Wyman (1955–1958)

}}

| starring =

| judges =

| voices =

| narrated =

| theme_music_composer =

| opentheme =

| endtheme =

| composer =

| country = United States

| language = English

| num_seasons = 10

| num_episodes = 361(268/93)

| list_episodes = List of Fireside Theatre episodes

| executive_producer =

| producer = {{Plainlist|

William Asher
Jack Bernhard
John Houseman
Quinn Martin
John Reinhardt
William P. Rousseau
Frank Wisbar
Eva Wolas
Jane Wyman

}}

| editor =

| cinematography =

| camera = Single-camera

| runtime = 30 mins

| company = {{Plainlist|

General Television Enterprises
Hal Roach Studios
Lewman Inc./Revue Studios (1955–58)

}}

| channel = NBC

| network =

| first_aired = {{start date|1949|04|05}}

| last_aired = {{end date|1958|05|22}}{{citation needed|date=December 2020}}

| related =

}}

Fireside Theatre (later known as Jane Wyman Presents the Fireside Theatre, Jane Wyman Theatre, The Jane Wyman Show and Jane Wyman Presents) is an American anthology drama series that ran on NBC from 1949 to 1958, and was the first successful filmed series on American television. Early episodes (1949-1955) were low-budget and often based on public domain stories. While the series was dismissed by critics, it remained among the top ten most popular shows for most of this period.

For the 8th season (1955–1956) Jane Wyman became the host and producer making it only the second filmed prime time network drama anthology to be hosted by a woman. Later episodes (1955–1958) were written by important freelance television writers such as Rod Serling, Aaron Spelling and Gene Roddenberry. It predates the other major pioneer of filmed television production in America, I Love Lucy, by two years.

Overview

File:Sidney Landfield Jane Wyman Fireside Theater 1955.JPG and Jane Wyman on the set of The Jane Wyman Show (1955)]]

Fireside Theatre was created by Frank Wisbar, who also wrote and directed many episodes.{{cite book |last1=Dick |first1=Bernard F. |title=The President's Ladies: Jane Wyman and Nancy Davis |date=2014 |publisher=University Press of Mississippi |isbn=978-1-61703-980-5 |pages=222–226 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7T0kAwAAQBAJ&q=%22Fireside+Theatre%22&pg=PA222 |access-date=February 12, 2020 |language=en}} He was the producer and director for the program's first six years, resigning on December 6, 1954, and leaving when his contract expired on February 15, 1955.{{cite magazine |date=February 16, 1953 |page=23 |title=P&G Iffy About 'Fireside Theatre' |magazine=Variety |url=https://archive.org/details/variety197-1955-02/page/n180/mode/1up?view=theater |accessdate=April 5, 2023}} From 1952 to 1958, the program was presented by a host. This role was first filled by Wisbar (1952–1953), then by Gene Raymond (1953–1955), and finally by the person most associated with the series in the public mind, Jane Wyman (1955–1958).

On April 2, 1955 series’ sponsor P&G and NBC announced a deal with MCA Inc. for Wyman to assume the role of host. During the period first-run episodes were produced by Wyman’s production company Lewman Ltd. the series ultimately became known as The Jane Wyman Show. Wyman acted in 51 of the 93 episodes she hosted. Episodes rerun weekdays on ABC as part of its 1961-62 and 1962-63 daytime schedule ran under the title Jane Wyman Presents.

Episodes

=Cast=

As an anthology series, Fireside Theatre had no regular cast, just a series of guest stars:

Reception

=Critical response=

1949-1954, Seasons 1-8

Billboard praised an episode titled "The Lottery", saying that the cast "all turned in taut, exciting performances to make Lottery a real winner".

[https://books.google.com/books?id=cEUEAAAAMBAJ&dq=%22fireside+theater%22+lottery&pg=PA3 The Billboard, 1 Sep 1951]. Page 3. Unlike most episodes of the series, this episode aired live.

In 1954, Billboard’s “3rd Annual TV Program and Talent Awards” listed it as the fourth-best filmed network drama series, ahead of the General Electric Theater; however, Billboard{{'}}s list excluded "mystery" shows (which was a separate list topped by Dragnet).[https://books.google.com/books?id=zxoEAAAAMBAJ&dq=%22four+star+playhouse%22+%22ford+tops+4+star%22&pg=PA14 The Billboard, 31 Jul 1954]. Page 14.

One of Fireside Theatre's most notable early offerings was a 1951 condensed version of Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol, featuring Ralph Richardson as Ebenezer Scrooge for the only time on American television. He later recreated the role on a spoken word Caedmon Records LP album, with Paul Scofield as narrator. It has since been released on CD.[https://www.amazon.com/dp/0061376507 Amazon: Fireside Theater].

The Doubleday Book Club also ran a playscripts club called The Fireside Theatre.

1955-1958, Seasons 8-10

=Ratings=

Fireside Theatre became a hit for NBC, always in the Top 30 shows at the end of each TV season, until the 1956–1957 season, when its viewership began to decline. After this, it never returned to the Top 30.

Seasonal rankings (based on average total viewers per episode) of Fireside Theatre on NBC. (Note: In the United States, each network television season starts in September and ends in late May, which coincides with the completion of May sweeps.)

class="wikitable"

! Season

! TV season

! Ranking

! Viewers (in millions)