Life Is Worth Living
Life of Abraham Lincoln
TV Flash files “Life of Abraham Lincoln” as a desk essential hour — Life Is Worth Living (1952–1957) on DuMont/ABC, season 1954, episode 1, aired 1954-01-01, 30 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S1954E01: listed hour 7 of 42 in the Life Is Worth Living guide, first listed hour of season 1954. It aired 1954-01-01 (30 min). The listed hour before it is “Women Who Do Not Fail” (S1953E06). Next is “Material Prosperity” (S1954E02).
Essential hour: “Life of Abraham Lincoln”. Life of Abraham Lincoln — civic-saint hour, the cape still the costume, the lecture still beating costume-trunk variety on the right night.
Viewer FAQ
Where does Life of Abraham Lincoln sit in the Life Is Worth Living guide?
S1954E01 is listed hour 7 of 42 — first listed hour of season 1954, season 1954 episode 1.
When did Life Is Worth Living S1954E01 air?
Life of Abraham Lincoln aired 1954-01-01 and is listed at 30 minutes.
Where should I start?
Start with Sheen, the cape, and the chalkboard. One half-hour of philosophy-and-faith talk teaches the whole unlikely hit.
In the series
Why this series still plays
Life Is Worth Living put Bishop Fulton Sheen and a chalkboard against Milton Berle some weeks — and won. Cape, ideas, faith talk as unexpected prime-time muscle. Watch it in 2026 as the ratings freak that proved a lecture could beat vaudeville: Uncle Fultie versus Uncle Miltie, still the decade's strangest head-to-head.
The chalkboard is the only prop and it is beating vaudeville some weeks. Life Is Worth Living (DuMont then ABC, 1952–1957) put Catholic Bishop Fulton J. Sheen on a half-hour of philosophy, faith, and modern life — cape, charisma, ideas as unexpected prime-time muscle. Forty-two catalog hours, five seasons. Surprisingly large audiences. An Emmy. The informal ratings rivalry with Milton Berle's comedy hour became Uncle Fultie versus Uncle Miltie, the decade's strangest head-to-head. **They are not amicable**, the…
Filed against
- Fulton J. Sheen as Host
Fulton J. Sheen chalked prime time on Life Is Worth Living — a bishop and a blackboard against Milton Berle some weeks, and winning. Cape, ideas, faith talk as unexpected muscle. Uncle Fultie versus Uncle Miltie. TV Flash files him as…