CBS Playhouse

Episode Guide compiled by The Classic TV Archive
http://ctva.biz/index.htm

with contributions by: Rina Fox
references:
Library of Congress (telnet://locis.loc.gov)
Internet Movie Database (http://us.imdb.com)
UCLA Film and Television Archive

CBS PLAYHOUSE 

CBS Specials airing 1966-70

In the same milieu as Hallmark Hall of Fame this was CBS's

approach to specials which garnered a fair amount

of acclaim and awards.

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CBS Playhouse: THE GLASS MENAGERIE

1966

Directed by  Michael Elliott

Play by Tennessee Williams

Produced by Jacqueline Babbin

Executive Producer David Susskind

Cast:

Shirley Booth .......... Amanda Wingfield

Pat Hingle ............. Jim O'Connor

Hal Holbrook ........... Tom Wingfield

Barbara Loden .......... Laura Wingfield

*Note: Received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Dramatic Program.

And Shirley Booth received a nomination for Outstanding Actress.

 

CBS Playhouse: THE FINAL WAR OF OLLY WINTER

29-Jan-1967

Written BY Ronald Ribman

Directed by Paul Bogart

Produced by Fred Coe

Editor John Wells

Music director David Shire

Theme music Aaron Copland

Cast:

Ivan Dixon ............ Olly Winter

Tina Chen ............. Vietnamese Girl

Patrick Adiarte ....... Viet Cong Guerrilla

Kam Tong .............. Chief Elder

Soon Taik Oh

James Hong

Pauline Myers

Jane Betts

Sara Berner

Connie Sawyer

Richard Williams

Maidie Norman

Davis Roberts

Dort Clark

Rupert Crosse

Douglas Leonard

Synopsis:

Olly Winter, a black soldier in Vietnam, is the lone survivor after an attack.

He is lost and begins to walk and is met by a young Vietnamese woman and a

Viet Cong soldier. "Ronald Ribman says this drama is ’a fable, almost a monolog.

You must see it to realize that it is more than just plot.’ It focuses on the

past and present of a war-weary GI who, after 20 years of professional soldiering,

begins a quest for life. Master Sergeant Olly Winter, winding up a long career,

is serving as an advisor in Vietnam. When his platoon is ambushed by the Viet Cong,

Olly, the only survivor, sets out on the long trek back to safety. Along the way

he picks up company, a young Vietnamese girl, her dog, and an orphaned baby.

The girl doesn’t understand English, but Olly talks to her--and himself about

the wars he’s seen, his family, and the life he plans to lead ’If I get out of here alive.

*Note: This episode received numerous Emmy nominations.

They included: Outstanding Dramatic Program, Director Paul Bogart, Writer Ronald Ribman,

 Ivan Dixon for Outstanding Actor,

Tina Chen for Outstanding supporting actress.

 

CBS Playhouse: DO NOT GO GENTLE INTO THAT GOOD NIGHT

a Compass production in association with CBS Television Network

17-Oct-1967

Written by Loring Mandel

Produced & Directed by George Schaefer

Editor Jack Shultis

Music by Bernard Green

Theme music by Aaron Copland

Statues by Alberto Giacometti

Cast:

Melvyn Douglas ......... Peter Schermann

Shirley Booth .......... Heloise Michaud

Warren Stevens ......... George

Lawrence Dobkin ........ Gettlinger

Claudia McNeil ......... Josepha

Lois Smith ............. Evelyn

Gene Blakeley .......... Phil

Martine Bartlett ....... Margaret

Art Smith .............. Arthur Selig

Mildred Trares

Amanda Randolph

Karl Swenson

Mary Jackson

Nydia Westman

Val Avery

Jacques Aubuchon

Don Beddoe

Madge Kennedy

Almira Stevens

Sara Taft

Synopsis:

When carpenter Peter Schermann needed a home, he built it with his own hands.

And the house, like Peter, was strong; solid as a tree. But now he’s old, too old.

His children have no room for him. Peter winds up in a rest home--where he angrily

rebels. He resents being treated as if he were senile or crippled. And he is

offended by the empty atmosphere of waiting for death. Loring Mandel’s

compassionate drama follows Peter’s lonely, courageous struggle to find a life

in a world that has shut him out.

 

CBS Playhouse: DEAR FRIENDS

A Titus Productions in association with CBS

06-Dec-1967

Written by Reginald Rose

Directed by Paul Bogart

Produced by Herbert Brodkin

Music by Sol Kaplan

Theme music by Aaron Copland

Cast:

Anne Jackson ........... Vivian Spears

David Wayne ............ George Spears

Patricia Barry ......... Sally Lambert

Eli Wallach ............ Doug Lambert

Rosemary Harris ........ Charlotte Marshall

Pernell Roberts ........ Lenny Marshall

Hope Lange ............. Lois Graves

James Daly ............. Michael Graves

Mady Heflin

Synopsis:

After 15 years of marriage, Michael and Lois Graves have decided to pack it in.

No bitterness or tears; just a divorce. Their friends think it’s childish. They

invite the couple to dinner, where blind to their personal motives, they hope to

talk Mike and Lois out of splitting up. What they ultimately do to themselves is

quite another story.

 

CBS Playhouse: MY FATHER AND MY MOTHER

a Compass production in association with the CBS Television Network

13-Feb-1968

Written by Robert Crean

Produced & Directed by George Schaefer

Executive Producer Barbara Schultz

Music by Bernard Green

Theme music by Aaron Copland

Cast:

Ralph Bellamy .......... Father

Jane Wyatt ............. Mother

Gene Hackman ........... Ned

Inga Swenson ........... Kate

Bonnie Bedelia ......... Laura

Diane Quinn ............ Ellie

Michael-James Wixted

Mildred Trares

Synopsis:

Much of the action takes place in the mind and memory of Ned, a father who is

struggling to cope with a spiritual crisis. He has placed his only son, who is

retarded, in an institution and it is a hard decision to live with. Tortured

by doubt, Ned searches desperately in his past, reliving and twisting memories,

hoping to sift out solace and some answers from the heritage handed down by

his father and his mother.

 

CBS Playhouse: SATURDAY ADOPTION

a CBS Television Network production in association with Biography Productions, Ltd.

04-Dec-1968

Written by Ron Cowan

Produced & Directed by Delbert Mann

Executive Producer Barbara Schultz

Editor Jack Emil Reeves

Music by Ethel Huber

Theme music by Aaron Copland

Cast:

Rick Gates ............. Rich

Eric Laneuville ........ Macy

Chuck Daniels .......... Paul

William Schallert ...... Meridan

Louise Latham .......... Mrs. Meridan

Royce Wallace .......... Mrs. Stander

Synopsis:

This contemporary drama about idealism and indifferent reality puts the accent on youth;

the leading players are young unknowns, and the playwright, 23-year-old Ron Cowen, is

the youngest writer to be commissioned by CBS. Rich Meridan is white, well-to-do and

wondering. He’s about to enter law school so he can make a lot of money. Rich isn’t sure

if that’s what he wants from life--but that’s what his parents want. As he puts it, ’I

never got a chance to choose. I had everything before I could hope to have it.’ Macy

Stander is black, a cut above poverty and in the seventh grade. He’s young enough to dream,

but his outlook is too bleak for him to risk the disappointment: ’The things you think

about aren’t gonna come true.’ Both youths are stifled--Rich by having too much, Macy by

having too little. They meet when Rich, clumsily but earnestly seeking to make a worthwhile

contribution, offers to work as an unpaid tutor to ghetto youths. His pupil is Macy, caught

between the distant glitter of the white world and the grim surroundings he lives in every day.

 

CBS Playhouse: SHADOW GAME

A Tiber Productions

07-May-1969

Written by Loring Mandel

Executive Producer Barbara Schultz

Produced & Directed by Paul Bogart

Editor Jack Emil Reeves

Music by David Shire

Theme music by Aaron Copland

Cast:

Daniel Massey .......... Saul Novick

William Shatner ........ Peter Hoyt

William Windom ......... Art Richardson

Carol Rossen ........... Jess

Alexandra Hay .......... Gayle

Richard Dysert ......... Jerry Arnst

Doris Roberts .......... Shimmy

Norma Crane ............ Patti

Maria Tucci ............ Carmen

Jane Elliott ........... Rita

Jason Wingreen

Greg Mullavey

Synopsis:

The power failure that blacked out the Northeast in 1965 provides a

key dramatic element in this play, set in the 50th-floor offices of

Cohalen and Associates. The business day is ending when the power

failure occurs, stopping elevators and office machines, and trapping

some of the workers in semidarkness. Candles are found, liquor and

ice are gathered from the executive suites, and a quiet party begins.

As the evening progresses and inhibitions are swept away, the stranded

workers begin to reveal themselves in unexpected ways. The drama focuses

on--Saul Novick, embittered because his clients are being stolen by

Peter Hoyt, an aggressive colleague who claims that the firm’s owner

approves of interoffice piracy. Art Richardson, a cautious junior partner

enjoying a brief liaison with one of the secretaries. Jerry Arnot,

slipping in stature and making pathetic efforts to regain lost ground.

And Novick’s girl friend Jess, unsure of herself and their relationship.

 

CBS Playhouse: APPALACHIAN AUTUMN

a CBS Television Network production

07-Oct-1969

Written by Earl Hamner

Directed by William A. Graham

Produced by Martin Manulis

Cast:

Arthur Kennedy ......... Rome

Teresa Wright .......... Virgie

Estelle Winwood

Philip Alford .......... Hugh

Belinda Montgomery ..... Eula

Jeff Pomerantz ......... Jared

Teddy Eccles

Lucas White

Synopsis:

The play is set in the Appalachian town of Harper’s Gap, West Virginia.

The mines are closed; the community is on welfare. But not Rome Harper and his family.

Rome steals coal from the closed, dangerous mines rather than take charity.

Into this dying town comes Joe Borden, a VISTA worker who sees hope in Rome’s

son Hugh, a potter. From Hugh’s talent, Joe envisions a way to bring industry

back to Harper’s Gap.

 

CBS Playhouse: SADBIRD

a CBS Television Network production

01-Dec-1969

Written by George Bellak

Produced & Directed by William A. Graham

Executive Producer Barbara Schultz

Editor, Jack Emil Reeves

Music by David Shire

Cast:

Robert Foxworth ........ Alex

Jack Albertson ......... Joe Singer

Jack Weston ............ Marty

Gabriel Dell ........... Mickey

Linda Lavin ............ Carol

Kathleen Dabney ........ Tanis

Sorrell Booke .......... Timmons

Edward Asner ........... Nat Congdon

Jeff Siggins ........... Robbie

Glynn Turman ........... Jackson

Cory Fischer ........... Davey

Tyne Daly .............. Sarah

Pamela Kingsly ......... Tanis II

Andre Phillippe

Jason Wingreen

Synopsis:

An engrossing drama by TV veteran George Bellak pictures the coming of age of Alex Miller,

a man perilously close to 30, and the kind of square respectability he’s always shunned.

Because an underground-art scheme fizzled, Alex is in debt to a loan shark to the tune

of 4000 dollars. To pay it off, he is forced to enter the 9 to 5 world, taking a job

at the Ajax Toy Company. Alex means to quit when the debt is paid, but finds he can’t;

his particular genius is well suited to the toy game, a fact that the firm’s owner is

quick to acknowledge with handsome rewards. Then, too, there’s Carol Brandt, a unique

creature totally unlike the girls Alex usually gets involved with.

 

CBS Playhouse: DAY BEFORE SUNDAY

a Tiber Productions

10-Feb-1970

writer, Robert Crean

producer-director, Paul Bogart

Executive producer, Barbara Schultz

Music by David Shire

Theme Music by Aaron Copland

Cast:

Uta Hagen .............. Annamae

Farley Granger ......... Richard

Martin Balsam .......... Jesse

Jacqueline Scott ....... Cassie

Michael Anderson, Jr. .. Chris

Dianne Hull ............ Kitten

Pauline Myers

John Rubinstein

Jason Wingreen

Roger Newman

Tracy Bogart

Mary Brown

Sarah Fankboner

Synopsis:

Annamae Whiteley, a brash and fortyish department-store executive from Tulsa, Oklahoma.

The unmarried lady is flying East to her niece’s prep school graduation and a reunion

with her family. On the plane, she meets Jesse Rothenberg, a divorced gentleman she finds

vastly attractive. Jesse is also going to the graduation, but any developments in their

relationship must be deferred: Annamae faces family problems that only she can cope with.

 

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