| Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre | |
|---|---|
 Dick Powell with Loren Grey | |
| Genre | Western |
| Starring | Dick Powell |
| Theme music composer | Joseph Mullendore |
| Composer | Earle Dearth |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 5 |
| No. of episodes | 146(list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Producer | Hal Hudson |
| Production locations | Apacheland Studios, Gold Canyon, Arizona |
| Camera setup | Multi-camera |
| Running time | 25 minutes |
| Production companies |
|
| Original release | |
| Network | CBS |
| Release | October 5, 1956 (1956-10-05) – May 18, 1961 (1961-05-18) |
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre is an AmericanWestern anthology television series broadcast onCBS from October 5, 1956 until May 18, 1961.[1]
Many episodes were based on novels byZane Grey,[2] to all of which Four Star Films held exclusive rights.[3]Dick Powell was the host and the star of some episodes.[1] Many of the guest stars made their TV debuts on the program.[3]
Powell said that working with Grey's stories proved to be both a benefit and a challenge. While he spoke of "the vast output of wonderful action stories from Zane Grey's pen", he acknowledged the challenge of "trying to compress a novel into half an hour of storytelling on television."[4] Some stories could be adapted relatively easily, while others had to be skipped or only parts of them could be used for scripts.[4] Over time, script writers used up the supply of adaptable material from Grey and began to adapt other authors' stories.[5]
| Season | Episodes | Originally released | Rank | Rating | Average viewership (in millions) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First released | Last released | ||||||
| 1 | 29 | October 5, 1956 (1956-10-5) | June 21, 1957 (1957-6-21) | — | — | — | |
| 2 | 29 | October 4, 1957 (1957-10-4) | June 6, 1958 (1958-6-6) | 21 | 27.9 | 11.7[6] | |
| 3 | 29 | October 4, 1958 (1958-10-4) | June 4, 1959 (1959-6-4) | 13 | 28.3[a] | 12.4[7] | |
| 4 | 29 | October 1, 1959 (1959-10-1) | May 5, 1960 (1960-5-5) | 21 | 24.4[b] | 11.2[8] | |
| 5 | 30 | October 6, 1960 (1960-10-6) | May 18, 1961 (1961-5-18) | — | — | — | |
The Zane Grey Radio Show had run for one season beginning in 1947 and had little in common with the stories of Zane Grey. The television series, however, began as an attempt to dramatize adaptions of Zane Grey's short stories and novels. Four Star Films acquired the rights to at least 40 Zane Grey works before filming began. However, it soon became evident that Grey's stories were too complex to fit into a 30 minute episode, and so with few exceptions, the scripts were all original.[9]
Four Star Films was the producing company,[10] with Powell as executive producer.[3] Producers includedHelen Ainsworth, Hal Hudson,[1] andAaron Spelling.[11] Directors includedFelix Feist,[2] William D. Faralla,James Sheldon, andBudd Boetticher.[11] Writers includedMarion Hargrove.[12]
Sponsors includedJohnson Wax.[3]
A preview of the show in the trade publicationBillboard indicated that it would appeal to women viewers as well as to men. It noted that among the stories adapted from Grey's work "There will usually be strong love interests."[13]
| Season | Time |
|---|---|
| 1 (1956–57) | Fridays at 8:30–9:00 PM |
| 2 (1957–58) | |
| 3 (1958–59) | Thursdays at 9:00–9:30 PM |
| 4 (1959–60) | |
| 5 (1960–61) | Thursdays at 8:30–9:00 PM |
Note:All times Eastern
Zane Grey Theatre first aired on Fridays when it replacedOur Miss Brooks in the fall of 1956, then it moved to Thursdays during its third season.[5]
In the summer of 1959, episodes of the program were repeated on a "rerun subsidiary" titledFrontier Justice, with Melvyn Douglas as host, on Mondays from 9 to 9:30 P.M. ET.[14]
In August 1961,Zane Grey Theatre was one of four programs whose episodes were sold toProcter & Gamble to be broadcast in Canada.[15]
Zane Grey Theatre ended when Powell moved to NBC's,The Dick Powell Show, CBS replaced it withThe New Bob Cummings Show that fall.[16]
They reran the show again in the summer of 1962.[5]
| DVD Name | Ep# | Release Date |
|---|---|---|
| The Complete First Season | 29 | June 9, 2009 |
| The Complete Second Season | 29 | September 30, 2014 |
| The Complete Third Season | 29 | December 2, 2014 |
| The Complete Fourth Season | N/A | |
| The Complete Fifth Season | N/A |
In early February 1957,Billboard evaluatedZane Grey Theatre as "one of the strong contenders for the title of most important new show, according to many of its ratings."[17]
TV Guide called the show "an educated 20th century view of the Old West".[9]
After five seasons, CBS ran a sixth season composed of reruns of the best episodes.[9]
Five television Westerns began as episodes ofZane Grey Theatre:Trackdown, starringRobert Culp ("Badge of Honor"),The Rifleman, starringChuck Connors ("Sharpshooter"),Johnny Ringo, starringDon Durrant ("The Loner"),The Westerner, starringBrian Keith ("Trouble at Tres Cruces"), andBlack Saddle, starring Chris Alcaide ("A Threat of Violence"). Alcaide was replaced by Peter Breck in the principal role whenBlack Saddle was sold as a series. The "lineage" ofZane Grey Theatre also includes the NBC series,Law of the Plainsman, which originated from a February 17, 1959 episode ofThe Rifleman starring Michael Ansara as Marshal Sam Buckhart (The Indian).