Playhouse 90
Nightmare at Ground Zero
TV Flash files “Nightmare at Ground Zero” as hour 74 of 133 in the TV Flash guide — Playhouse 90 (1956–1960) on CBS, season 2, episode 35, aired 1958-05-15, 90 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S02E35: listed hour 74 of 133 in the Playhouse 90 guide, hour 35 of 40 in season 2. It aired 1958-05-15 (90 min). The listed hour before it is “Not the Glory” (S02E34). Next is “Bomber's Moon” (S02E36).
Viewer FAQ
Where does Nightmare at Ground Zero sit in the Playhouse 90 guide?
S02E35 is listed hour 74 of 133 — hour 35 of 40 in season 2, season 2 episode 35.
When did Playhouse 90 S02E35 air?
Nightmare at Ground Zero aired 1958-05-15 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…