Westinghouse Preview Theatre

Westinghouse Preview Theatre is an American anthology television series that aired on NBC in the summer of 1961 The 30-minute episodes consisted of unsold television pilots for situation comedies and one musical program.

Background

The practice of television executives of ordering dozens of pilots for proposed television series each year – far more than their networks could possibly broadcast as series – created a sizable body of unsold pilots that had never aired. Packaging these unsold pilots in anthology series and airing them during the summer provided television networks with a way of both providing fresh programming during the summer rerun season and recouping at least some of the expense of producing them. Westinghouse Preview Theatre was one of these series, aired by NBC in the summer of 1961. It consisted of 10 unsold pilots for situation comedies and one musical program.

Broadcast history

Westinghouse Preview Theatre ran for 11 episodes over the course of 11 consecutive weeks in the summer of 1961, airing on NBC from 9:30 to 10:00 p.m. Eastern Time on Friday evenings. It premiered on July 14, and its last episode aired on September 22.

Episodes

SOURCES

References

Citations

Bibliography

• Brooks, Tim; Marsh, Earle (1995). The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows (Sixth Edition). New York City: Ballantine Books. ISBN 0-345-39736-3.
• Terrace, Vincent (2014). Encyclopedia of Television Shows 1925–2010 Volume I, Second Edition. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc. ISBN 978-1-4766-3810-2.
• Terrace, Vincent (2019). Encyclopedia of Television Pilots: 2,470 Films Broadcast 1937–2019, Second Edition. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc. ISBN 978-1-4766-3810-2.

External links

• Westinghouse Preview Theatre at IMDb

1. Anthology series
2. Television pilot
3. Joe E. Brown
4. 1960–61 United States network television schedule
5. List of programs previously broadcast by NBC
6. 1961–62 United States network television schedule
7. Summer Playhouse (1964 TV series)
8. 1961 in American television
9. Curtleigh Productions
10. Ted Post
11. Michael Shannon
12. Tony Randall
13. Hayes Theater
14. Joseph Cotten on stage, screen, radio and television
15. Claudio Guzmán
16. Janis Paige
17. Jacklyn O'Donnell
18. Joseph Cotten
19. Hugh O'Brian filmography
20. The Twilight Zone