Hollywood Screen Test

Debuting on April 15, 1948, and hosted first by Bert Lytell and then Neil Hamilton, Hollywood Screen Test sought to give exposure to many up-and-coming actors who were looking for their big break. The relatively unknown actors would be picked to guest star on the show, then they would have half-hour scenes of dialogue with established stage and screen actors.

Actors who appeared on Hollywood Screen Test included Grace Kelly, Jack Klugman, Pernell Roberts, Jack Lemmon, Michael Strong, Tommy Rettig, Susan Cabot, and Ralph Clanton.

Martha Wayne and Robert Quarry were assistants on the program. Ted Campbell was the announcer.{{cite book|last1=Terrace|first1=Vincent|title=Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2010|date=2011|publisher=McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers|location=Jefferson, N.C.|isbn=978-0-7864-6477-7|page=469|edition=2nd}} Lester H. Lewis created the program.{{cite news |title=Injunction Plea Refused in TV 'Copy Cat' Suit |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/98094708/hollywood-screen-test/ |access-date=March 21, 2022 |work=Daily News |date=January 11, 1949 |location=New York, New York City |page=40|via = Newspapers.com}} He and his wife, Juliette Lewis were the producers.{{cite news |last1=Oliver |first1=Wayne |title=Video Follows Predictions By Revealing Movie Talent |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/75268372/hollywood-screen-test-find-kfbs/ |access-date=March 21, 2022 |work=The Cincinnati Enquirer |date=April 30, 1950 |page=58|via = Newspapers.com}} Directors were Frederic Carr and Alton Alexander.{{cite news |title=This Week -- Network Debuts, Highlights, Changes |url=https://archive.org/details/rossreportstele24ross/page/n36/mode/1up?view=theater |access-date=April 16, 2022 |work=Ross Reports on Television including The Television Index |date=August 24, 1952 |page=1}}

In 1951, participants on the program were selected via regional talent searches, such as a June 5, 1951, session in Detroit in which Jessica Landau, a Universal-International representative, chose a winner from 10 contestants.{{cite news |title=Screen Test Winner to Be Selected |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/98094025/hollywood-screen-test/ |access-date=March 21, 2022 |work=Detroit Free Press |date=June 4, 1951 |page=23|via = Newspapers.com}} That was one of 11 searches over six weeks in a cooperative effort between Universal and the program.{{cite magazine |title=By Way of Personal Mention . . . |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/50s/1951/Billboard%201951-05-12.pdf#page=7 |access-date=March 21, 2022 |magazine=Billboard |date=May 12, 1951 |page=7}}

This program was the first network series telecast on ABC, which began regular broadcasting in April 1948.{{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=2009 |publisher=Random House Publishing Group |isbn=978-0-307-48320-1 |page=624 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w8KztFy6QYwC&dq=%22Hollywood+Screen+Test%22+ABC&pg=PA624 |access-date=March 15, 2022 |language=en}}

Notes: All times Eastern. Source: The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946-Present

Jack Gould, in a review of the February 2, 1953, episode in The New York Times, praised the show as "a program that in its own quiet way often does more real experimentation in drama than many of its more publicized counterparts." He complimented the presentation of "With Malice Toward None" as "creative TV, with a point of view and imagination and made for an absorbing thirty minutes".{{cite news |last1=Gould |first1=Jack |title=Radio and Television |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1953/02/04/archives/radio-and-television-hollywood-screen-test-projects-an-intriguing.html |access-date=March 15, 2022 |work=The New York Times |date=February 4, 1953 |page=37|url-access=subscription}}

In January 1949, Screen Test, Incorporated, sued ABC and the show's producers for $500,000, charging that their idea had been stolen. The plaintiffs had a Screen Test radio program and said that existence of Hollywood Screen Test had cost them an opportunity to sell their show. A Supreme Court justice in New York City refused to issue a permanent injunction against Hollywood Screen Test when he put the case on the court's docket.

Six episodes are in the collection of the UCLA Film and Television Archive.{{Cite web |url=http://cinema.library.ucla.edu/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?Search_Arg=hollywood+screen+test&SL=None&Search_Code=FTIT&PID=FgMj1vELDciJtDhSGM_cwDOFU&SEQ=20100823152420&CNT=50&HIST=1 |title=UCLA Film and Television Archive entry |access-date=2012-02-21 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120709033507/http://cinema.library.ucla.edu/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?Search_Arg=hollywood+screen+test&SL=None&Search_Code=FTIT&PID=FgMj1vELDciJtDhSGM_cwDOFU&SEQ=20100823152420&CNT=50&HIST=1 |archive-date=2012-07-09 |url-status=dead }}

{{Incomplete list|date=April 2025}}

• 1948-49 United States network television schedule
• 1949-50 United States network television schedule
• 1950-51 United States network television schedule
• 1951-52 United States network television schedule
• 1952-53 United States network television schedule

{{Reflist}}

• {{IMDb title|0040039}}
• [http://www.emmytvlegends.org/interviews/shows/hollywood-screen-test Academy of American Television]

Category:1948 American television series debuts

Category:1953 American television series endings

Category:American Broadcasting Company original programming

Category:Black-and-white American television shows

Category:American English-language television shows

Category:Talent shows