General Electric Theater is an American anthology series hosted by Ronald Reagan aired on CBS radio and television. The series is sponsored by the General Electric Public Relations Department.
Video General Electric Theater
Radio
After the audition on January 18, 1953, titled Token , with Dana Andrews, the radio series, the summer substitute for Bing Crosby Program, debuted on CBS on July 9, 1953, with Ronald Colman at Random Harvest. With guest stars like Cary Grant, Irene Dunne, Van Johnson, Jane Wyman, William Holden, Alan Young, Dorothy McGuire, John Hodiak, Ann Blyth, James Mason, Joan Fontaine and Judy Garland, the series continued until October 1, 1953 Jaime del Valle produces and directs the show. Ken Carpenter is host and broadcaster. Wilbur Hatch provides music.
Also known as G.E. Stereo Theater , program "is the first network radio series broadcast on FM in stereo."
Maps General Electric Theater
Television
The television version of the program, produced by MCA-TV/Revue, is broadcast every Sunday night at 21:00 EST, beginning February 1, 1953, and ending May 27, 1962. Each of the 209 television episodes is thought to be an adaptation of the novel, short, game, movie, or fiction magazine. The exception is the 1954 episode of "Music for Christmas", featuring Fred Waring's choir director and his group The Pennsylvanians featuring Christmas music.
On September 26, 1954, Ronald Reagan debuted as the sole host of the program. GE added hosts to provide continuity in the anthology format. The Nielsen ratings event increased from # 27 in the 1953-1954 season to # 17 in 1954-1955, followed by # 11 in 1955-1956, # 3 in 1956-1957, # 7 in 1957-1958, # 26 in 1958 -1959, # 23 in 1959-1960, and # 20 in 1960-1961.
General Electric's Theater made Reagan famous, appearing in many films as a "second cast" throughout his career, rich, because of his share of the show. After eight years as host, Reagan estimated he had visited 135 GE research and manufacturing facilities, and met more than a quarter of a million people. During that time, he will also speak in other forums such as Rotary and Moose clubs, presenting views on economic progress in form and content often similar to what he said in introductions, segues, and closing comments on the show as a spokesman for GE. Reagan, later to become known as "The Great Communicator" because of his oratoric prowess, often linked this involvement as helping him develop his public speaking skills.
Television guest star
Among the guest stars in the anthology are:
Reagan fired by General Electric
Reagan was dismissed by General Electric in 1962 in response to his reference to the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) as one of the "big government" issues. Reagan will then reaffirm his point in his famous 1964 speech to Republican presidential candidate Barry M. Goldwater from Arizona entitled, "Time to Choose":
One such criticism considered to be a sacred mother, is TVA. The program started as a flood control project; The Tennessee Valley is periodically undermined by devastating floods. The Army Engineers set out to solve this problem. They say that maybe once in 500 years there will be a flood of total capacity that will overwhelm about 600,000 acres (2,400 km 2 ). Well, the engineers fix it. They make a permanent lake that flooded a million hectares (4,000 km²). This solves the problem of flooding, but the annual interest on TVA debt is five times greater than the annual flood damage they seek to repair. Of course, you will show that TVA gets electricity from seized water, and this is true, but today 85 percent of TVA electricity is generated from coal-fired steam power plants. You may now bill that I am facing a navigable waterway made available, providing cheap barging traffic, but most of the items that hit the water are coal delivered to the TVA steam generator, and the maintenance costs of that channel each year will pay for shipping all the coal by train, and there will be money left over.
Reagan's publicity gained part of this speech paved the way for his election as governor of California in 1966, when he dismissed two long-term Democrat Edmund G. "Pat" Brown, Sr. Brown is the father of Reagan's Successor, Governor Jerry Chocolate.
Michael Reagan, adopted son Ronald Reagan and Jane Wyman, argued that US Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy pressed GE to cancel The General Electric Theater or at least to fire Reagan as host if the program resumed. The series was not dropped due to low ratings but political intervention, young Reagan still retained. Michael claims that Robert Kennedy told GE officials that the company would not accept a federal contract during Reagan's hosting of the series. Michael notes the irony that his father's dismissal prompted Reagan into the political arena, and eighteen years later, Reagan would take the oath of office as the oldest person to become US President until then (Donald Trump would surpass this record with his election in 2016). The Kennedy Directive is another example of "the law of undesirable consequences." If Kennedy was not involved in the GE contract issue, there would be no Governor or President Reagan.
In fact, Reagan's main reason was dismissed by General Electric because his comment on TVA was that TVA was one of General Electric's biggest customers. General Electric is and remains the largest equipment supplier for TVA and most other electrical manufacturers in the United States.
Don Herbert, a television character who is known as Mr. Watch's host. Wizard , appears as "General Electric Progress Reporter," adding a scientific touch to the pitch of institutional advertising. The show was produced by Revue Studios, whose replacement-in-interest, NBC Universal Television, is co-owned by GE.
Upon the cancellation of General Power Generation ' in 1962, this series was replaced in the same time slot by a short sponsored GE GE True , hosted by Jack Webb.
On March 17, 2010, General Electric presented Reagan's widow, Nancy Davis Reagan with a copy of the 208 episode video of the General Electric Theater, to donate to the Ronald Reagan Presidency Library.
On April 20, 2010, the episode of "missing" from the General Electric Theater - "The Dark, Dark Hours", originally aired on December 12, 1954) - was discovered by NBC writer Wayne Federman who is working on a television retrospective for the Hundred Years Reagan Celebration. The episode is worth noting because it is working with Ronald Reagan with James Dean. Highlights are broadcast on CBM Evening News, NBC Nightly News, and Good Morning America.
See also
References
Further reading
- William L. Bird, Jr. "Better Life": Advertising, Media, and New Vocabulary Business Leadership, 1935-1955. Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press, 1999.
External links
- General Electric Theater at IMDb
- General Electric Theater on TV.com
- Articles on GE Theater from the Broadcast Communications Museum
- Jerry Haendiges Vintage Radio Log: General Electric Theater
- General Electric Theater , Museum of Broadcast Communications
- Company Voice Ad , Museum of Broadcast Communications
- General Electric Theater at CVTA
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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