Playhouse 90
The Second Happiest Day
TV Flash files “The Second Happiest Day” as the last listed hour of season 3 — Playhouse 90 (1956–1960) on CBS, season 3, episode 38, aired 1959-06-25, 90 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S03E38: listed hour 117 of 133 in the Playhouse 90 guide, last listed hour of season 3. It aired 1959-06-25 (90 min). The listed hour before it is “Dark as the Night” (S03E37). Next is “Target for Three” (S04E01).
Viewer FAQ
Where does The Second Happiest Day sit in the Playhouse 90 guide?
S03E38 is listed hour 117 of 133 — last listed hour of season 3, season 3 episode 38.
When did Playhouse 90 S03E38 air?
The Second Happiest Day aired 1959-06-25 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…