Playhouse 90
The Comedian
TV Flash files “The Comedian” as hour 20 of 133 in the TV Flash guide — Playhouse 90 (1956–1960) on CBS, season 1, episode 20, aired 1957-02-14, 90 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S01E20: listed hour 20 of 133 in the Playhouse 90 guide, hour 20 of 39 in season 1. It aired 1957-02-14 (90 min). The listed hour before it is “The Miracle Worker” (S01E19). Next is “One Coat of White” (S01E21).
Viewer FAQ
Where does The Comedian sit in the Playhouse 90 guide?
S01E20 is listed hour 20 of 133 — hour 20 of 39 in season 1, season 1 episode 20.
When did Playhouse 90 S01E20 air?
The Comedian aired 1957-02-14 and is listed at 90 minutes.
Where should I start?
Start with the most cited nights named in the record: Serling's Requiem for a Heavyweight and the TV Judgment at Nuremberg, then branch into other surviving Manulis-era teleplays.
In the series
Why this series still plays
Playhouse 90 treated living rooms like Broadway with a stopwatch: ninety-minute teleplays, often live, from Serling's Requiem for a Heavyweight to a TV Judgment at Nuremberg. A 2026 viewer watches the gold standard of Golden Age drama — sponsor meddling, high-wire nights, and prestige Variety still ranked among television's greatest.
Flash: a living room pretending it has orchestra seats, a stopwatch instead of a curtain, and a sponsor already in the wings with a pencil. CBS's *Playhouse 90* ran October 4, 1956 through May 18, 1960 — 133 episodes of original teleplays and adaptations, often live, prestige as a dare. Martin Manulis steered the machine. Rod Serling's *Requiem for a Heavyweight* and a television *Judgment at Nuremberg* were not museum labels. They were high-wire nights with last-minute rewrites and the kind of technical panic…