Family Theater — 1949
52 episodes broadcast in 1949.
A British war orphan brought to America eases into a new life with the help of a new young friend.
When aging minstrel legend Sugarfoot Calhoun suffers a heart attack before his TV debut, his reluctant son must carry on the tradition.
A young war bride receives the dreaded telegram, then, ten days later, news from the doctor that changes everything.
Why did the great Broadway producer David Belasco collect model elephants? A 'true' story sets out to explain.
When the classmate who won the school-play lead is hurt in a bicycle crash, whispers turn on the girl who was passed over.
Over their mother's dread, five brothers march off to war, and none come home, in a tale with a twist.
The second-anniversary program: a grape grower learns from a failed harvest that prayer and patience yield richer returns.
February 23, 1949
Many Happy Returns
A woman disfigured since childhood finds work, and understanding, with a blind attorney who values her for herself.
Blind ambition costs a Hollywood screenwriter his marriage and nearly a young colleague's life.
A little leprechaun too stubborn to listen finally masters his craft -- and the secret his kind must guard.
During the North African landings, a New Yorker and an Iowa GI forge an odd bond, and learn why the soldier won't eat meat.
A newcomer channels a gang of restless boys into a baseball team, while the coach hides a past of his own.
Three lives intertwine over one memorable night with a building's night elevator operator. Hosted by Claudette Colbert.
April 13, 1949
The Passion and Death of Christ
Ethel Barrymore narrates the greatest love story ever told, the account of the crucifixion, for Easter.
Their nine-year-old son gone, a father pushes to adopt while his shattered wife refuses to let go.
A visiting nurse refuses to give up on a sick, secretive man holed up with a gun in a rundown hotel.
Two former lovers meet by chance on a train and relive the romance they once shared. Hosted by Pat O'Brien.
A test pilot killed in a fiery crash is allowed back among his loved ones for a final farewell, guided by his guardian angel; James Farley hosts.
Having wed a professor for his fortune, a woman must reckon with his small boy and embittered sister, and finds life brightens once he is gone.
An old-fashioned farmer, Noah Stevens, clings to his plow and his ways against his family's modern notions.
Trapped in a cabin cellar with a broken leg, a ruthless businessman learns how much we all depend on one another. Starring Jeanne Cagney.
Homeless London poet Francis Thompson finds faith, and greatness, through an outcast's kindness. Hosted by Jack Benny.
A win-at-any-price coach makes a devil's bargain, then sees the ethic he lived by leading him astray.
A widow in a Gold Rush mining town keeps her late husband's memory alive in a most unusual way, after Bret Harte.
In 1870s Paris, a borrowed necklace goes missing and must be replaced whatever the cost, from Maupassant.
Death hands a fateful gift to three greedy rogues, from Chaucer's Canterbury Tales.
A tight condensation of Ahab's obsessive hunt for the white whale, from Melville. Introduced by Celeste Holm.
An impoverished suitor's fortunes turn on a geological curiosity, in Frank R. Stockton's whimsical romance.
To trap Robin Hood, the Sheriff of Nottingham puts Maid Marian's life on the line.
A bishop buys a hardened convict's soul with his own silver, in the famous scene from Les Miserables.
A woodcutter and his wife draw a jugful from the fabled fountain of youth, until it shatters, with results they never foresaw.
Killed in France in 1918 at just thirty-two, New Jersey poet Joyce Kilmer left behind verse still cherished.
A proud king is humbled to the rank of court jester by a power far greater than his own, from Longfellow. Featuring Raymond Burr.
The eventful first run of railroad No. 17 and a peace-loving major forced to face a crew of gamblers.
In the year 778, a soldier of France stands against the treacherous Saracen, in the ancient Song of Roland.
A brave Frenchwoman turns on a Prussian occupation officer, from a classic Maupassant character study.
A tribute to Los Angeles at 168, retracing how the City of the Angels was founded.
Torn from her betrothed, Longfellow's Acadian heroine spends her life wandering America in search of him.
Poe's tale, among the earliest detective stories, hinges on cracking a hidden cipher.
A tale of selfishness and sacrifice, narrated by Loretta Young, from Oscar Wilde's The Happy Prince.
Scott's Ivanhoe brings medieval England alive with jousts, knights, and chivalry, starring Macdonald Carey and Hans Conried.
A newcomer dreams he owns all of New York, and finds that all it took was a new pair of shoes.
In an old Irish legend, St. Kevin's gift for renewing worn-out things begins with a single cherished goose.
In a Paradise Park fantasy, a girl aching for a baby brother comes face to face with Booker T. Washington.
One of the Victorian age's great romances, the courtship of poets Elizabeth Barrett and Robert Browning.
A Pilgrim-days romance honoring the first Thanksgiving, from Longfellow, with Raymond Burr as Miles Standish.
Washington Irving's tale of the Catskills sleeper who dozed his way clean through twenty years.
The last knight in the world rides out to do good and finds a windmill barring his way, from Cervantes. Introduced by Roddy McDowall.
At Christmas, a fourth magus sets out carrying three gifts for the newborn King.
A four-year-old's humble gift becomes the one most favored by God, narrated by Loretta Young, from Charles Tazewell.
A lonely old cobbler who has given up on life is transformed by a visit and a lesson in love, from Tolstoy.
◆ ◆ ◆
Other seasons: 1947 · 1948 · 1950 · 1951 · 1952 · 1953 · 1954 · 1955 · 1956 · 1957