Out today is The Barbara Stanwyck Show, Vol. 1 from E1 Entertainment and The Archive of American Television. The anthology series was only on the air for one season from 1960 to 1961 and produced 36 episodes. Fifteen are included in this volume; whether they’re the first fifteen or not remains to be seen. Bonus features include original, unaired pilot episode (titled “The Sponsor’s Theatre”) and Stanwyck’s acceptance speech for her 1961 Emmy award.
Also out today, from Paramount Home Video, is The Fugitive: Season Three, Vol. 1, with the first 15 episodes of the 1965-1966 season. Volume 2 comes out 8th. Also from Paramount Home Video is Mannix: The Third Season, with all 25 episodes from the 1969-1970 season. No bonus features for either release that I’m aware of. As I understand it, fans of The Fugitive are anxious to see how much of the original soundtrack is intact for this release.
Warner Brothers is releasing two new collections today. Saturday Morning Cartoons: 1960s Vol. 2 contains 13 episodes from shows like Quick Draw McGraw, The Road Runner Show and The Jetsons. And Saturday Morning Cartoons: 1970s Vol. 2 includes 12 episodes from shows like Valley of the Dinosaurs, Sea Lab 2020 and New Adventures of Gilligan. Finally, Alpha Video has two new four-episode releases: Judge Roy Bean, Volume 4 and Meet Corliss Archer, Volume 4.
Yes, “THE {SPONSOR’S} THEATER”; in 1960, it was still common for an advertiser to “buy” an entire weekly half-hour or hour network series, enabling them to post their name prominently in the title [“ALCOA PRESENTS: ONE STEP BEYOND”, “THE DuPONT SHOW WITH JUNE ALLYSON”, “ARMSTRONG CIRCLE THEATER”, “THE UNITED STATES STEEL HOUR”, “PERRY COMO’S KRAFT MUSIC HALL”, and so on]. Kraft Foods was the last one to do this when their weekly NBC “MUSIC HALL” variety hour ended in 1971.
Apparently, Dick Powell and Four Star were unable to find a sole sponsor for Barbara’s anthology {I believe there were two “alternate sponsors”}, and it became “THE BARBARA STANWYCK SHOW” when it aired on NBC’s Monday night schedule [10-10:30pm(et); Powell sold it to the network as part of a “package deal” which involved another Four Star series, “DANTE” (starring Howard Duff in the role Powell occasionally portrayed on “FOUR STAR PLAYHOUSE”, several years before), appearing just before Stanwyck at 9:30. Ultimately, both shows were cancelled at the end of the season.
“QUICK DRAW McGRAW” qualifies as a “Saturday morning series” only because repeats were seen on CBS’ Saturday morning schedule between 1963 and ’66; “first-run” episodes (even though the last original cartoon of the show was telecast in 1962) were still seen in weekly syndication [sponsored by Kellogg’s, who was also the primary sponsor on the CBS edition], mostly in early-evening time periods {WPIX-TV in New York, for example, aired it at 7pm on various weeknights over the years} until 1966. And by the way, it wasn’t seen in color until
the series entered daily syndication in the fall of 1966!
“THE BARBARA STANWYCK SHOW” did have at least one primary sponsor: the American Gas Association {“Your Gas Company”}, who liked sponsoring anthology series (they’d just finished their co-sponsorship of “PLAYHOUSE 90” when it was cancelled in the spring of 1960). If I could see just one episode wih the commercials intact, I’d tell you EXACTLY who the sponsor(s) was!