Fireside Theatre
New Faces
TV Flash files “New Faces” as a desk essential hour — Fireside Theatre (1949–1958) on NBC, season 1, episode 3, aired 1949-04-19, 30 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S01E03: listed hour 3 of 8 in the Fireside Theatre guide, last listed hour of season 1. It aired 1949-04-19 (30 min). The listed hour before it is “Ghost Story” (S01E02). Next is “The Suitors” (S06E01).
Essential hour: “New Faces”. New Faces: early named hour, filmed drama anthologies conquering the 1950s while live prestige got the later essays.
Viewer FAQ
Where does New Faces sit in the Fireside Theatre guide?
S01E03 is listed hour 3 of 8 — last listed hour of season 1, season 1 episode 3.
When did Fireside Theatre S01E03 air?
New Faces aired 1949-04-19 and is listed at 30 minutes.
Where should I start?
Start with whatever surviving filmed half-hours you can find, Wyman-hosted if that is the door. The Nielsen-ghost story is the context.
In the series
Why this series still plays
Fireside Theatre is the ratings ghost of early television: a filmed half-hour anthology giant, later hosted by Jane Wyman, that once dominated Nielsen lists and now sits half-forgotten. Watch it now to see how filmed drama anthologies conquered the 1950s — and how a most-watched show can still vanish from the conversation.
The half-hour looks like a living room and behaved like a factory. Fireside Theatre (NBC, 1949–1958), Frank Wisbar's filmed anthology giant, later hosted by Jane Wyman, earlier by Gene Raymond, is the ratings ghost of early television: among the top-rated programs of the early 1950s seasons, now half-forgotten. Proved filmed drama anthologies could dominate Nielsen lists. One of early TV's most-watched shows. The work is industrial filmed drama, not a lost-masterpiece cult — which is exactly why the forgetting is…
Filed against
- Gene Raymond as Host
Gene Raymond hosted Fireside Theatre when filmed half-hour anthologies still ate Nielsen lists — a 1950s ratings giant that now sits half-forgotten beside later Jane Wyman evenings. TV Flash files him as the welcome-mat of early filmed…
- Jane Wyman as Host
Jane Wyman’s host weather on Fireside Theatre made a 1950s catalog anthology giant feel like a living-room brand, then Falcon Crest turned the late-career stare into Angela Channing’s vineyard coups. TV Flash files her as the host who…