Status Guide – “Betty Crocker Star Matinee”
This half-hour drama/interview series aired Saturdays on ABC. The first seventeen episodes (through February 23rd, 1952) aired from 12:00PM to 12:30PM ET; the series was then pushed back a half-hour, starting at 11:30PM ET with the March 1st episode. Adelaide Hawley hosted the series under the General Mills persona of Betty Crocker. The show was partially interview and partially drama, with guests also appearing in short dramas. Famous guests included Uta Hagen, Robert Cummings, June Lockhart, Veronica Lake, and Audrey Hepburn.
None of the four main television archives/museums (The Library of Congress, UCLA Film & Television Archive, Paley Center for Media and the Museum of Broadcasting) have episodes of Betty Crocker Star Matinee. But as always, that doesn’t mean the episodes don’t exist. Perhaps General Mills has them sitting in a vault somewhere.
| Season One: 1951-1952 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Ep. # | Episode Title | Airdate | Status |
| 1 | Unknown | 11/03/1951 | |
| Guests: Thomas Mitchell, Irene Hayes | |||
| 2 | Unknown | 11/10/1951 | |
| Guests: June Lockhart, Albert Dekker | |||
| 3 | Unknown | 11/17/1951 | |
| Guests: Basil Rathbone, Russell Wright | |||
| 4 | Unknown | 11/24/1951 | |
| Guests: Roland Young, Claire McCardell | |||
| 5 | Unknown | 12/01/1951 | |
| 6 | Unknown | 12/08/1951 | |
| Guests: Raymond Massey, Naomi Riordan | |||
| 7 | Unknown | 12/15/1951 | |
| Guests: Zachary Scott, Niva Patterson | |||
| 8 | Unknown | 12/22/1951 | |
| Guest: Dane Clark | |||
| 9 | Unknown | 12/29/1951 | |
| Guests: Miriam Hopkins, Marla Rubenstein | |||
| 10 | Unknown | 01/05/1952 | |
| Guests: David Niven, Uta Hagen | |||
| 11 | Unknown | 01/12/1952 | |
| Guest: Terasa Wright | |||
| 12 | “Topper” | 01/19/1952 | |
| with Roland Young | |||
| 13 | “Open Storage” | 01/26/1952 | |
| with Melvyn Douglas, Betty Field | |||
| 14 | “The Weak Spot” | 02/02/1952 | |
| with Jessica Tandy, Hume Cronyn | |||
| 15 | Unknown | 02/09/1952 | |
| Guest: Celeste Holm | |||
| 16 | Unknown | 02/16/1952 | |
| Guest: Brian Aherne | |||
| 17 | “Mr. Bell’s Creatures” | 02/23/1952 | |
| with Veronica Lake | |||
| 18 | Unknown | 03/01/1952 | |
| Guest: Pat O’Brien | |||
| 19 | “Bridging the Years” | 03/08/1952 | |
| with Thomas Mitchell | |||
| 20 | “Women in His Life” | 03/15/1952 | |
| with Martha Scott | |||
| 21 | “The Stove Won’t Light” | 03/22/1952 | |
| with Audrey Hepburn, Robert Sterling | |||
| 22 | Unknown | 03/29/1952 | |
| 23 | “Night School” | 04/05/1952 | |
| with Ernest Truex, Josephine Hull | |||
| 24 | “The Confession” | 04/12/1952 | |
| with Teresa Wright | |||
| 25 | “Sense of Humor” | 04/19/1952 | |
| with Robert Cummings | |||
| 26 | “Split Infinitive” | 04/26/1952 | |
| with Sir Cedric Hardwicke | |||
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