Comments on: DVD Tuesday: The Barbara Stanwyck Show, The Fugitive http://www.tvobscurities.com/2009/10/dvd-tuesday-the-barbara-stanwyck-show-the-fugitive/ Keeping Obscure TV From Fading Away Forever Sat, 20 Mar 2010 16:08:48 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 hourly 1 By: Barry I. Grauman http://www.tvobscurities.com/2009/10/dvd-tuesday-the-barbara-stanwyck-show-the-fugitive/comment-page-1/#comment-16942 Barry I. Grauman Thu, 29 Oct 2009 05:45:37 +0000 http://www.tvobscurities.com/?p=4738#comment-16942 "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! “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!

]]> By: Barry I. Grauman http://www.tvobscurities.com/2009/10/dvd-tuesday-the-barbara-stanwyck-show-the-fugitive/comment-page-1/#comment-16915 Barry I. Grauman Wed, 28 Oct 2009 02:01:18 +0000 http://www.tvobscurities.com/?p=4738#comment-16915 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! 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!

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