5.8 /10 1 Votes5.8
Original language(s) English No. of episodes 38 Final episode date 7 August 1955 Number of seasons 4 | 5.7/10 TV Country of origin United States No. of seasons 4 First episode date 16 May 1950 Number of episodes 38 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Written by Arthur MillerRod ConeybeareRaphael HayesShirley Jackson Similar NBC Matinee Theater, The Alcoa Hour, Armstrong Circle Theatre, The Philco Television Playhouse, Robert Montgomery Presents | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Cameo Theatre is an American anthology series that aired on NBC during the Golden Age of Television, from 1950 to 1955.
Contents
Television in the round
The live series, produced by Albert McCleery, introduced to television the concept of theater-in-the-round, which had been well established and popularized since 1947 by Margo Jones with her Theatre '47 in Dallas, Texas. McCleery's method of staging employed minimal sets and props well lit within a black background, enabling cameras to move about with much freedom in the darkness, picking up shots from any angle. McCleery's skill with this type of staging led directly to his producer role with NBC's Matinee Theatre. The technique put the focus directly on the characters and dialogue rather than scenery.
Jim Buckley of the Pewter Plough Playhouse (Cambria, California) recalled:
When Al McCleery got back to the States, he originated a most ambitious theatrical TV series for NBC called Matinee Theatre: to televise five different stage plays per week live, airing around noon in order to promote color TV (which had just been developed) to the American housewife as she labored over her ironing. Al was the producer. He hired five directors and five art directors. Richard Bennett, one of our first early presidents of the Pewter Plough Corporation, was one of the directors and I was one of the art directors and, as soon as we were through televising one play, we had lunch and then met to plan next week’s show. That was over 50 years ago, and I’m trying to think; I believe the TV art director is (or was) his own set decorator (selecting furnishings and hand props)—yes, of course! It had to be, since one of McCleery’s chief claims to favor with the producers was his elimination of the setting per se and simply decorating the scene with a minimum of props. It took a bit of ingenuity.Guest stars
Summer replacements
NBC carried the series as a replacement show four times: It was telecast from June to August 1950 as a summer replacement for the second half-hour of Four Star Revue. In 1951, it was broadcast as a June to August replacement for The Voice of Firestone. It replaced Leave It to the Girls from January to April 1952. The series concluded in 1955 as a summer replacement (July to August) for Letter to Loretta.
Each episode ended with McCleery's trademark closing tag, a hand holding chalk and writing "Albert McCleery" on a blackboard. The hand, however, was not McCleery's; although realistic in appearance, it was actually a mannequin hand holding the chalk.