Stars Over Hollywood

Stars Over Hollywood was an anthology series of "original comedies and light dramas"[1] produced by Revue Productions. Revue's first television series, it was a filmed in Hollywood and aired on the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) from September 6, 1950 to August 29, 1951.[2] There were a total of 50 episodes.

For the radio program, see Stars over Hollywood.

Among the guest stars were Mary Stuart in the premiere presentation "Beauty Is a Joy", Raymond Burr, Cameron Mitchell (actor), Ann Rutherford, and Bruce Cabot. Otherwise, the program was described in one TV reference book as "generally featuring lesser-known actors and actresses.[2] In 1950, media critic John Crosby wrote: "Stars Over Hollywood is the latest of the programs filmed especially for television in Hollywood and has all the conspicuous weaknesses of the others. ... All the TV productions emanating from Hollywood are slipshod. The actors seem insufficiently rehearsed; the quality of the writing is painfully bad; the casting seems to have been done out of card catalogues, and the direction, to put it mildly, is superficial."[3] At the time, most of the network programming originated from New York City, with Hollywood-produced programs generally regarded as inferior to New York productions. This began to change around the time that series like well-received Hollywood series like Four Star Playhouse (1952-1956) came along.

Stars Over Hollywood's producer was Axel Gruenberg.[4]

Rod Serling's first script, "Grady Everett for the People," was presented on the program in 1950.[5]

Episodes of Stars Over Hollywood were part of a syndicated syndication package, Famous Playhouse, that was distributed by MCA Inc. in 1953. Other programs in the package were Chevron Theater and Gruen Theater.[6]

References
  1. "Wednesday". Radio Television Mirror. 36 (2): 76. July 1951. Retrieved 13 December 2014.
  2. Brooks, Tim & Marsh, Earle (1979). The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network TV Shows: 1946-Present. Ballantine Books. ISBN 0-345-25525-9. P. 587.
  3. Crosby, John (September 17, 1950). "Radio and Television in Review". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved 13 December 2014.
  4. Alicoate, Jack, Ed. (1953). The 1953 Radio Annual. Radio Daily Corp. P. 1123.
  5. McNeil, Alex (1996). Total Television. Penguin Books USA, Inc. ISBN 0-14-02-4916-8. P. 788.
  6. Plotnik, Gene (April 11, 1953). "TV Film Competition Forces Syndicators to Ready Plans". Billboard. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
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