Beginning Now
31st October 1955Make Believe Mother
1st November 1955The Persistent Image
2nd November 1955I'm Straight with the World
3rd November 1955Progress and Minnie Sweeney
4th November 1955The House on Wildwood Lane
7th November 1955Beyond a Reasonable Doubt
8th November 1955One for the Road
9th November 1955An Apple for Miss Myrtle
10th November 1955The Man Without a Country
11th November 1955Jigsaw
14th November 1955She's the One with the Funny Face
15th November 1955All the Hoffmeyers in the World
16th November 1955The Aspern Papers
17th November 1955Roman Fever
18th November 1955Midsummer
21st November 1955The Lady Chooses
22nd November 1955The Courtship of Miles Standish
23rd November 1955Dispossessed
25th November 1955One for the Road
28th November 1955The Touchstone
29th November 1955Wuthering Heights
30th November 1955The Brass Ring
1st December 1955Jason
2nd December 1955Arrowsmith
5th December 1955Passing Strange
6th December 1955For These Services
7th December 1955Cordially - With Bombs
8th December 1955The White Oaks
9th December 1955O'Toole from Moscow
12th December 1955The Milwaukee Rocket
13th December 1955This One is Different
14th December 1955Sins of the Fathers
15th December 1955See You on Sunday
16th December 1955Coming of Age
19th December 1955Technique
20th December 1955Gallin: All-American
21st December 1955Santa is No Saint
22nd December 1955The Unwelcomed
23rd December 1955The Red Sanders Story
26th December 1955Class of '58
9th July 1956Horns of the Dilemma
28th December 1955Little Girls Grow Up
29th December 1955The Shot
30th December 1955Mr. Krane
3rd January 1956Yesterday is Gone
4th January 1956Double Door
5th January 1956The Happy Rest
6th January 1956The Gate
9th January 1956One Left Over
10th January 1956All the Trees in the Field
11th January 1956The Century Plant
12th January 1956Friday the 13th
13th January 1956The Old Maid
16th January 1956Mother Was a Bachelor
17th January 1956The Bottom of the River
18th January 1956The Carefree Tree
19th January 1956Interlude
20th January 1956The Big Box
23rd January 1956Sincerely Yours, Charlie Fisher
24th January 1956Doc
25th January 1956The Amateur
26th January 1956Light and Shadow
27th January 1956Romney
30th January 1956O Promise Me
31st January 1956Hold My Hand and Run
1st February 1956Dark Possession
2nd February 1956The Diamond
3rd February 1956Susan and God
6th February 1956As Young As You Feel
7th February 1956The White Knight
8th February 1956The Anxious Years
9th February 1956The Heart of Mary Lincoln
10th February 1956The Middle Son
13th February 1956Valentine's Day
14th February 1956Summer Cannot Last
15th February 1956The Last Battlefield
16th February 1956The Catbird Seat
17th February 1956Dream House
20th February 1956The Runaways
21st February 1956The Ledger
22nd February 1956When the Bough Breaks
23rd February 1956I Want to March
24th February 1956Skylark
27th February 1956Tall, Dark Stranger
28th February 1956Anything But Love
29th February 1956Robin Daw
1st March 1956Letter to a Stranger
2nd March 1956Dinner at Antoine's
5th March 1956The Mating of Watkins Tottle
6th March 1956Her Son's Wife
7th March 1956The Shining Palace
8th March 1956The Odd Ones
9th March 1956A Cowboy for Chris
12th March 1956The Rocking Chair
13th March 1956The Big Guy
14th March 1956Statute of Limitations
15th March 1956The Baron and the Banshees
16th March 1956Notebook Warrior
19th March 1956Temptation for a King
20th March 1956The White Knight
21st March 1956The Anxious Years
22nd March 1956M is for the Many
23rd March 1956Silent Partner
26th March 1956Winter in April
27th March 1956Bread Upon the Waters
28th March 1956The Giant Killer
29th March 1956The Book of Ruth
30th March 1956Singer in the Valley
2nd April 1956The Heart of a Husband
3rd April 1956From the Desk of Margaret Tydings
4th April 1956But You Look Like Sisters
5th April 1956The House of Seven Gables
6th April 1956Fiddlin' Man
9th April 1956The Hollow Woman
10th April 1956People in Glass
11th April 1956One of the Family
12th April 1956Young Hands, Young Feet
13th April 1956The Lark Shall Sing
16th April 1956In Dread of Winter
17th April 1956The Babylonian Heart
19th April 1956Ask Me No Questions
20th April 1956Whom Death Has Joined Together
23rd April 1956The Wedding
24th April 1956The Reckoning
25th April 1956A Woman Named Ruby
26th April 1956The Bright Boy
27th April 1956The Carefree Tree
30th April 1956Graybeards and Witches
1st May 1956The Legend of Jenny Lind
2nd May 1956Daughter of the Seventh Day
3rd May 1956Night Must Fall
4th May 1956The 25th Hour
7th May 1956A Man and His Maid
8th May 1956Perspective
9th May 1956The Catamaran
10th May 1956Johnny Came Marching Home
11th May 1956A Family Affair
14th May 1956Blind Date
16th May 1956To Have and to Hold
17th May 1956Edwina Black
18th May 1956The Spare Room
21st May 1956The Bottle Imp
22nd May 1956Brief Music
23rd May 1956The Girl from Boro Park
24th May 1956To Whom It May Concern
25th May 1956Bachelor Buttons
28th May 1956The Children of Papa Juan
29th May 1956Herself Alone
30th May 1956Three for the Money
31st May 1956Taxi to the Moon
1st June 1956The Goodtime Boys
4th June 1956The American
5th June 1956Cause for Suspicion
6th June 1956Fight the Whole World
7th June 1956Autumn Crocus
8th June 1956George Has a Birthday
11th June 1956The Serpent's Tooth
12th June 1956Crime at Blossom's
13th June 1956The Luck of Amos Currie
14th June 1956Alison's House
15th June 1956Safe Place
18th June 1956The Guest Cottage
19th June 1956Forsaking All Others
20th June 1956Love, Honor and O'Day
21st June 1956The Damask Cheek
22nd June 1956Moon Over
25th June 1956But Fear Itself
26th June 1956The Birthday Present
27th June 1956The Ghost of Greenwich Village
28th June 1956The Young and the Damned
29th June 1956There's Always Juliet
2nd July 1956Seasoned Timber
3rd July 1956The Declaration
4th July 1956High Places
5th July 1956Black Chiffon
6th July 1956Class of '58
9th July 1956Marriage by the Millions
11th July 1956Backfire
12th July 1956The Bishop Misbehaves
13th July 1956Remittance
16th July 1956Beg, Borrow or Steal
17th July 1956Summer Pavilion
18th July 1956The Feast
19th July 1956A Full, Rich Life
20th July 1956The Reverberator
23rd July 1956Woman at the Window
24th July 1956Another Sky
25th July 1956Letter of Introduction
26th July 1956Home at Seven
27th July 1956The Cypress Tree
30th July 1956Belong to Me
31st July 1956Pygmalion Jones
1st August 1956Gretel
2nd August 1956Some Man Will Want You
3rd August 1956The Fall of the House of Usher
6th August 1956Cupid Rode a Horse
7th August 1956The Old Payola
8th August 1956The Perfect Alibi
10th August 1956Matinee Theater is an American anthology series that aired on NBC during the Golden Age of Television, from 1955 to 1958. The series, which ran daily in the afternoon, was frequently live. It was produced by Albert McCleery, Darrell Ross, George Cahan and Frank Price with executive producer George Lowther. McCleery had previously produced the live series Cameo Theatre which introduced to television the concept of theater-in-the-round, TV plays staged with minimal sets. Jim Buckley of the Pewter Plough Playhouse recalled: When Al McCleery got back to the States, he originated a most ambitious theatrical TV series for NBC called Matinee Theater: to televise five different stage plays per week live, airing around noon in order to promote color TV to the American housewife as she labored over her ironing. Al was the producer. He hired five directors and five art directors. Richard Bennett, one of our first early presidents of the Pewter Plough Corporation, was one of the directors and I was one of the art directors and, as soon as we were through televising one play, we had lunch and then met to plan next week’s show. That was over 50 years ago, and I’m trying to think; I believe the TV art director is his own set decorator —yes, of course! It had to be, since one of McCleery’s chief claims to favor with the producers was his elimination of the setting per se and simply decorating the scene with a minimum of props. It took a bit of ingenuity.
