Philco Television Playhouse
The Five Lives of Richard Gordon
TV Flash files “The Five Lives of Richard Gordon” as hour 39 of 256 in the TV Flash guide — Philco Television Playhouse (1948–1955) on NBC, season 1, episode 39, aired 1949-07-17, 60 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S01E39: listed hour 39 of 256 in the Philco Television Playhouse guide, hour 39 of 45 in season 1. It aired 1949-07-17 (60 min). The listed hour before it is “For Love or Money” (S01E38). Next is “You Touched Me!” (S01E40).
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
Katie Gordon, Richard's long suffering wife has put up with his shenanigans to the point where she seeks a divorce. Her restless and bored spouse just keeps finding himself in hot water.
Viewer FAQ
Where does The Five Lives of Richard Gordon sit in the Philco Television Playhouse guide?
S01E39 is listed hour 39 of 256 — hour 39 of 45 in season 1, season 1 episode 39.
When did Philco Television Playhouse S01E39 air?
The Five Lives of Richard Gordon aired 1949-07-17 and is listed at 60 minutes.
Where should I start?
Start with Marty (May 24, 1953, Rod Steiger) — the teleplay that became the anthology-to-Oscar dream — then sample other surviving Coe/Mann hours.
In the series
Why this series still plays
Philco Television Playhouse is Chayefsky's kitchen-sink live plays: ordinary lives, extraordinary telecasts, Marty with Rod Steiger before the Oscar film. Watch it now as the rise of intimate realist TV drama — Fred Coe's shop, Delbert Mann, and the anthology-to-Hollywood dream in one sponsor's title.
The close-up is a butcher's loneliness, not a gown — kitchen-sink light, live cameras, ordinary lives getting extraordinary writing. NBC's *Philco Television Playhouse* (1948–1955), 256 episodes across seven seasons, Fred Coe's shop, directors like Delbert Mann, Paddy Chayefsky's *Marty* telecast May 24, 1953 with Rod Steiger. A kitchen sink as an Oscar machine. The Philco/Goodyear tandem nights made anthology drama a dual-sponsor prestige ritual. The timeline can call domestic realism mid. The silhouette was a…