Playhouse 90
The Shape of the River
TV Flash files “The Shape of the River” as hour 132 of 133 in the TV Flash guide — Playhouse 90 (1956–1960) on CBS, season 4, episode 15, aired 1960-05-02, 90 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S04E15: listed hour 132 of 133 in the Playhouse 90 guide, hour 15 of 16 in season 4. It aired 1960-05-02 (90 min). The listed hour before it is “Journey to the Day” (S04E14). Next is “In the Presence of Mine Enemies” (S04E16).
Viewer FAQ
Where does The Shape of the River sit in the Playhouse 90 guide?
S04E15 is listed hour 132 of 133 — hour 15 of 16 in season 4, season 4 episode 15.
When did Playhouse 90 S04E15 air?
The Shape of the River aired 1960-05-02 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…