I’ve written a brief overview of NBC’s long-running Kraft Television Theatre — which ran from 1947 to 1958 — and the status of its hundreds of episodes, which you can read here. Because the show ran year-round, I initially considered each season to run from May to May (in other words, the first season would have run from May of 1947 to May of 1948). However, I eventually decided to align my status guides with various episode guides available online: TV.com, the Internet Movie Database and the Classic TV Database.
Completed Status Guides
Season Air Dates Published Season One May 7th, 1947 – September 15th, 1948 May 16th, 2009 Season Two September 22nd, 1948 – September 14th, 1949 September 26th, 2009 Season Three September 21st, 1949 – September 20th, 1950 January 9th, 2010 Season Four September 27th, 1950 – September 5th, 1951 February 7th, 2010 Season Five September 12th, 1951 – September 24th, 1952 March 30th, 2010
The fifth season of Kraft Television Theatre premiered on September 12th, 1951 with the 227th episode of the series and ended on September 24th, 1952 with the 279th episode. Coverage of the Republican National Convention pre-empted the series on July 9th, 1952 while coverage of the Democratic National Convention pre-empted the series two weeks later on July 23rd. The Classic TV Database has an episode titled “The Intruder” airing on Tuesday, July 22nd, 1952 but listings in The New York Times and other newspapers indicate that additional convention coverage was shown that day. An episode titled “The Intruder” did air in July of 1953, however.
At least one source gives the name of the October 24th, 1951 episode as “Interference” while most sources call it “Intolerance.” Also, according to one source, the August 27th, 1952 episode was originally supposed to be “Mr. Barry’s Etchings,” with Geoffrey Lumb and Leola Thatcher. Instead, “The Small Hours” with Lauren Gilbert and Grace Kelly was broadcast on that date. “Mr. Barry’s Etchings” was shown the following week on September 3rd. The Library of Congress holds twelve episodes in its collection. UCLA’s Film & Television Archive, Museum of Broadcasting and The Paley Center for Media do not have any episodes from this season in their collections.
| Season Five: 1951-1952 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Ep. # | Episode Title | Airdate | Status | 227. | “The Tale of the Wolf” | 09/12/1951 |
| 228. | “The Wren” | 09/19/1951 | |
| 229. | “The Climax” | 09/26/1951 | |
| 230. | “Irish Eyes” | 10/03/1951 | |
| 231. | “Seen But Not Heard” | 10/10/1951 | |
| 232. | “Moon Over Mulberry Street” | 10/17/1951 | |
| 233. | “Intolerance” (aka “Interference”) | 10/24/1951 | |
| 234. | “Hour of Crisis” | 10/31/1951 | |
| 235. | “Justice” | 11/07/1951 | |
| 236. | “Never Be the Same” | 11/14/1951 | |
| 237. | “Dear Brutas” | 11/21/1951 | LoC |
| 238. | “The Fair Haired Boy” | 11/28/1951 | |
| 239. | “Loyalties” | 12/05/1951 | |
| 240. | “The Golden State” | 12/12/1951 | LoC |
| 241. | “Incident on Fifth Ave | 12/19/1951 | |
| 242. | “Nantucket Legend” | 12/26/1951 | LoC |
| 243. | “The New Gossoon” | 01/02/1952 | LoC |
| 244. | “Phillip Goes Forth | 01/09/1952 | LoC |
| 245. | “The Round Table” | 01/16/1952 | LoC |
| 246. | “The Peaceful Warrior” | 01/23/1952 | |
| 247. | “Mrs. O’Brien Entertains” | 01/30/1952 | |
| 248. | “Follow the Dream” | 02/06/1952 | |
| 249. | “The Skin Game” | 02/13/1952 | |
| 250. | “The Mollusk” | 02/20/1952 | |
| 251. | “September Tide” | 02/27/1952 | |
| 252. | “What Anne Brought Home” | 03/05/1952 | LoC |
| 253. | “The Thief” | 03/12/1952 | |
| 254. | “The Bride the Sun Shines On” | 03/19/1952 | |
| 255. | “The Rugged Path” (aka “On The Rugged Path”) | 03/26/1952 | LoC |
| 256. | “The Ryan Girl” | 04/02/1952 | |
| 257. | “The Last Mile” | 04/09/1952 | LoC |
| 258. | “Green Cars Go East” | 04/16/1952 | |
| 259. | “The Summit” | 04/23/1952 | |
| 260. | “The Man in Half Moon Street” | 04/30/1952 | |
| 261. | “She Stoops to Conquer” | 05/07/1952 | LoC |
| 262. | “The Inn” | 05/14/1952 | |
| 263. | “Prologue to Glory” | 05/21/1952 | |
| 264. | “Third Visitor” | 05/28/1952 | |
| 265. | “At Mrs. Beam’s” | 06/04/1952 | |
| 266. | “The Cricket on the Hearth” | 06/11/1952 | |
| 267. | “Death of a Kid Gleason” | 06/18/1952 | |
| 268. | “Thorn in the Flesh” | 06/25/1952 | |
| 269. | “A Time for Turning” | 07/02/1952 | |
| PRE-EMPTED: Republican National Convention | 07/09/1952 | ||
| 270. | “Great Big Doorstep” | 07/16/1952 | LoC |
| PRE-EMPTED: Democratic National Convention | 07/23/1952 | ||
| 271. | “The Music Master” | 07/30/1952 | |
| 272. | “Six by Six” | 08/06/1952 | |
| 273. | “Lace on Her Petticoat” | 08/13/1952 | |
| 274. | “Indian Summer” | 08/20/1952 | |
| 275. | “The Small Hours” | 08/27/1952 | LoC |
| 276. | “Mr. Barry’s Etchings” | 09/03/1952 | |
| 277. | “Letters to Lucerne” | 09/10/1952 | |
| 278. | “Truman Capote’s The Grass Harp” | 09/17/1952 | |
| 279. | “Background” | 09/24/1952 | |
I am SO grateful the Library of Congress has those “KRAFT TELEVISION THEATER” kinescopes- because at one time, NBC accumulated virtually all of them in their Fort Lee, New Jersey warehouse….THEN, they began “throwing them out”- or destroying them!- in the ’60s and ’70s, along with other “one-of-a-kind” live shows and videotapes to “make room” on their shelves for other things….GAAAAHHH!!!!