The conclusion of our story:
A Big Name in Television
As per the original production agreement between Warners and ABC, "Kings Row" was replaced by a segment from a completely different genre, suspense. Titled "Conflict", the new series was an anthology without a regular cast. It opened with “Siege”, a tense tale starring Elizabeth Montgomery as a schoolteacher and Paul Richards as an escaped murderer who barricades himself in the schoolhouse along with the teacher and her pupils—the same story that was originally intended to be a "Kings Row" episode.
After “Siege” premiered on February 14, 1956, TV reviewer Bob Foster noted, “Unlike the owners of some filmed properties, Warners have had the courage to admit their original concept was wrong. If the famous film makers at Burbank continue along this line, it may be that they’ll become just as big a name in television as they long have been in the world of feature production.”
"Casablanca" was dropped from Warner Bros. Presents in April 1956, leaving "Cheyenne" as the clear winner among the three original segments. Taking a cue from Gunsmoke, the fledgling western had become a more “adult” program with stronger scripts and a new producer (Roy Huggins, who had been overseeing ”Kings Row”).
The Warner Bros. Presents hub featuring revolving dramatic segments and WB promos was also eventually jettisoned. For the new TV season of 1956, Conflict became a standalone program alternating in the same timeslot as Cheyenne, which was now also a separate series. Although Conflict didn’t last long, Cheyenne ran until 1963.
Warner Bros. learned from its Warner Bros. Presents venture that television offered far more than just a promotional opportunity. Television had the potential to revitalize the studio. Warners began to take the new medium seriously.
And, true to Bob Foster’s prediction, by the end of the 1950's Warner Bros. had indeed become a big name in television production. In addition to Cheyenne, Warners gave us such classic TV shows as 77 Sunset Strip, Colt .45, Bourbon Street Beat, Lawman, Surfside 6, Hawaiian Eye—and a quirky little western called Maverick which co-starred one Jack Kelly, formerly on-call as “Dr. Parris Mitchell”. 😉
Posts
