Showcase Productions, Inc. was the original packager/producer of much of the prime time, live, dramatic, color, 60 minute and 90 minute programming which appeared primarily on NBC during the period between September 1954 and September 1957.

Showcase Productions, Inc.

Production Value

Initially, it should be noted that except for two stand-alone specials, Showcase's output was in an art form which has largely disappeared: The anthology series. In that format, each program was separate from the others in the series, connected only by the packager's personnel and artistic vision. There were different casts, writers, and directors. While most people think they have seen programs from the "Golden Age of Television," in fact, fewer than a dozen programs in this genre have been commercially rebroadcast, largely because of the complexity of clearance and copyright considerations, discussed elsewhere in this site.

The budgets for live color programming vastly surpassed budgets for black and white programming of similar duration and quality; the budgets for Showcase, across the board, were so enormous, that there was first-rate talent involved at every stage of every production; the gap between the one-hour shows and the 90-minute and 120-minute shows on the Producers' Showcase series, with one exception, was even greater. Many of the programs were restagings of successful Broadway dramas and musicals. Even though technical capabilities of the day were primitive compared to today, no expense was spared for the Producers' Showcase programs, and as a result, they are very acceptable even now. Directors like Arthur Penn, Sidney Lumet, Kirk Browning, and Clark Jones knew even then how to create visually interesting television; the world-class authors who were adapted by writers at the top of the talent ladder, and the successful writers who created programs specifically for this series, all knew how to create an interesting story, with excellent plotting and character development; the actors were literally the best that there ever were, and their performances are first-rate by any standard; the legendary performing artists outdid themselves to dazzle the world's largest audiences; the composers and lyricists who created music and songs were already successful. As just one illustration of the quality of these programs, James van Heusen and Sammy Cahn wrote the classic "Love and Marriage" specifically for the musical version of "OUR TOWN" from this series; Thornton Wilder's play remains the most performed American stage play. Overall, these programs still have the power to entertain and even stun an audience.


Past Ratings as a Guide to Present Audience Potential

The programs were broadcast "live" and have not been seen since their original broadcasts, although NBC and Showcase have, from time to time, licensed clips from individual programs. Even making allowances for the limited number of programming choices available to audiences at the time, Producers' Shocase drew phenomenal "Nielsen" ratings and audiences -- the 23 programs for which we have records, averaged a 36.5% audience share. The very highest ratings were garnered by the original March 7, 1955 broadcast of "PETER PAN (68.3 share, estimated at a total audience of between 65,000,000 and 75,000,000 people), the March 30, 1955 broadcast of "THE PETRIFIED FOREST" (50.6 share), and the January 9, 1956 repeat of "PETER PAN" (54.9 share). The "Trendex" ratings were even higher, with, respectively, shares of 69.2 for the first "PETER PAN" and of 51.2 for "THE PETRIFIED FOREST." It should be remembered that this success was generally achieved in head-to-head combat with the most consistently popular program in TV history, "I LOVE LUCY," running on CBS.

While this program is by definition "niche" programming, the niche is quite large, in that the potential audiences include virtually everybody who either saw one of the original broadcasts, or is familiar with the stars. In addition, many marketing experts have expressed their opinions that talent is talent, and that these programs stand on their own, independently of modern technical enhancements -- after all, if kinescopes of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre performances were available, the lack of special effects, or of multiple digital cameras, would not detract from the importance and fascination of the performances themselves. We believe that the Producers' Showcase programs will ultimately comprise the "locomotives" for the best of this genre of programming, and that overall, Showcase will be able to furnish the core programming for a cable channel devoted to a uniquely American art form -- "Pure Platinum From The Golden Age of Television."