Golden Age of Television - Evolutions of Drama On Television

Evolutions of Drama On Television

The early days of television was a time when many hour-long anthology drama series received critical acclaim.

As filmed series, such as Alfred Hitchcock Presents and The Twilight Zone, began to dominate during the mid-1950s and early 1960s, the period of live TV dramas was viewed as the Golden Age. Although producer David Susskind, in a 1960s roundtable discussion with leading 1950s TV dramatists, defined TV's Golden Age as 1938 to 1954, the final shows of Playhouse 90 in 1961 and the departure of leading director John Frankenheimer brought the era to an end.

As a new medium, television introduced many innovative programming concepts, and prime time television drama showcased both original and classic productions, including the first telecasts of Walt Disney's programs, as well as the first telecasts of Mary Martin in Peter Pan, MGM's classic The Wizard of Oz and Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella. Critics and viewers looked forward to new teleplays by Paddy Chayefsky, Horton Foote, Tad Mosel, Reginald Rose, Rod Serling, WIlliam Templeton, Gore Vidal and others.

Most of these programs were produced as installments of live dramatic anthologies, such as The Philco Television Playhouse, Kraft Television Theatre and Playhouse 90. Live, abridged versions of plays like Cyrano de Bergerac, with members of the cast of the 1946 Broadway revival recreating their roles, were regularly shown during this period.

In more recent years, the rise of a large amount of critically acclaimed TV dramas has led many to speculate that a new golden age has already begun. Said to have begun roughly around the launch of the The Sopranos, The Shield and The Wire, and continuing with current shows like Breaking Bad, Mad Men, Dexter, Boardwalk Empire, The Good Wife, Homeland, Downton Abbey, Game of Thrones, True Blood, The Walking Dead and more have helped to further develop the respect and popularity of acclaimed TV dramas.