Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre was an American Western anthology television series that was broadcast on CBS from October 5, 1956, until September 20, 1962. Format. Many episodes were based on novels by Zane Grey, to all of which Four Star Films held exclusive rights. Dick Powell was the host and the star of some episodes. Many of the guest stars made their TV debuts on the program. Powell said that working with Grey's stories proved to be both a benefit and a challenge. While he spoke of "the vast output of  wonderful action stories from Zane Grey's pen", he acknowledged the challenge of "trying to compress a novel into half an hour of storytelling on television." Some stories could be adapted relatively easily, while others had to be skipped or only parts of them could be used for scripts. Over time, script writers used up the supply of adaptable material from Grey and began to adapt other authors' stories. Preview and reception. A preview of the show in the trade publication "Billboard" indicated that it would appeal to women viewers as well as to men. It noted that among the  stories adapted from Grey's work "There will usually be strong love interests." In early February 1957, "Billboard" evaluated "Zane Grey Theatre" as "one of the strong contenders for the title of most important new show, according to many of its ratings." Schedule. Note:All times Eastern Source: "The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows 1946-Present" In the summer of 1959, episodes of the program were repeated on a "rerun subsidiary" titled "Frontier Justice", with Melvyn Douglas as host, on Mondays from 9 to 9:30 P.M. ET. All of the summer 1962 episodes were reruns . In August 1961, "Zane Grey Theatre" was one of four programs whose episodes were sold to Procter & Gamble to be broadcast in Canada. "Zane Grey Theatre" ended because Powell moved to another program, "The Dick Powell Show". Production. Four Star Films was the producing company, with Powell as executive producer. Producers included Helen Ainsworth, Hal Hudson, and Aaron Spelling. Directors included Felix Feist, William D. Faralla, James Sheldon, and Budd Boetticher. Writers included Marion Hargrove. Sponsors included Johnson Wax. Home media. As of the fall of 2017, the first three seasons of the program had been released on DVD. Dick