Friday, January 1, 2021

What Might've Been: The Dick Powell Show/Dick Powell Theatre (1961)

 Four Star Television co-founder Dick Powell seemed to have a love for anthologies.

Powell and his partners--David Niven, Charles Boyer, & Ida Lupino----rotated as the star of Four Star Playhouse. Powell then fronted the Western anthology, Zane Grey Theatre, before moving to NBC for his final series, The Dick Powell Show, in 1961.

In the course of the series' 2 year run, it spun off a pair of later series, and had attempted a couple more backdoor pilots that went nowhere. The first of those spin-offs came in the opener, "Who Killed Julie Greer", which begat Burke's Law, which landed at ABC in 1963. The other led to Saints & Sinners, a one year wonder the next season.

Powell passed away halfway through the second season, leading to a title change to Dick Powell Theatre, with a number of Powell's closest friends and colleagues, including widow June Allyson, John Wayne, Ronald Reagan, and Milton Berle, the latter of whom copped an Emmy nomination for a first season episode.

Peter Falk earned an Emmy for his headline role in "The Price of Tomatoes" in season 1.


No rating. Just a public service.

2 comments:

Hal said...

I remember watching this early mornings on the old Nostalgia Channel in 1989-1990. BURKE'S LAW usually aired right after it. "The Price of Tomatoes" is deservedly the best known episode, it is excellent. Falk and Inger Stevens are both great.

hobbyfan said...

I'm going to be looking for more episodes, including anything with Milton Berle in it, during 2021. These episodes haven't been seen in years.