@bernardjkd.bsky.social#SchlitzPlayhouseOfStars Schlitz brewery closed forever recently in May 2026!!
A beer so famous I'd never heard of it. Mind you I've barely heard of Milwaukee either.
Maybe I should've imported a keg for my watching of a show they sponsored 75 years ago.
@bernardjkd.bsky.social#SchlitzPlayhouseOfStars TV ep #2.31 "The Governess" (03-Apr-53).
Looks like there'll be no more live eps in the survivors as we're well into pre-recorded in LA eps.
Lillian Bronson is Pringy. She's 50 so playing older. Know her from #Dragnet 1967 as the Bird Lady.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGCq...
@bernardjkd.bsky.social#SchlitzPlayhouseOfStars The next surviving TV ep seems to be #2.28 "Nineteen Rue Marie" (13-Mar-53).
Pre-recorded in Hollywood.
A man wakes up in Paris with no memory of who he is.
Very watchable.
Has old OTR fave Lawrence Dobkin plus Leon Askin ("Hogan's Heroes").
www.youtube.com/watch?v=vv1U...
@bernardjkd.bsky.social#SchlitzPlayhouseOfStars TV 2.02 cont'd.
The ep's a comedy but not clever in depicting Native Americans with red face. Saying that the father is quite clever.
The main problem is that 1950s Hollywood trope of normalising a middle-aged white marrying a teen.
F*cken creepy part of USA culture!
@bernardjkd.bsky.social#SchlitzPlayhouseOfStars TV 2.02 cont'd.
So Rita Moreno is joins my 100 Club now I've relaxed the criteria to include up to 1954/55 TV with no lower age limit.
The 100 Club members are now:
Marilyn Erskine 100
Donna Martell 98
Nita Talbot 96
Joanne Woodward 96
Rita Moreno 94
Cheryl Callaway 79
@bernardjkd.bsky.social#SchlitzPlayhouseOfStars TV ep #2.02 "The Marriage of Lit-Lit" (12-Sep-52).
Finally a full ep. Introduced eventually by Donald Cook. So maybe they rotate the host presenter? Who knows?
Rita Moreno stars. Last seen in #RichardDiamond TV ep #4.04 (02-Aug-60).
@bernardjkd.bsky.social#SchlitzPlayhouseOfStars TV ep #2.01 "Homecoming" (05-Sep-52).
Again just a partial ep again. First 6 minutes. But we see Irene Dunne presenting and seemingly a famous presenter doing an intro was the current format. That wasn't seen in the surviving partial eps.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSIp...
@bernardjkd.bsky.social#SchlitzPlayhouseOfStars And that seems to be it for Season 1 just 3 partials eps found of the 48 made.
Onto Season 2 for the 1952/53. Again Fridays at 9.00pm on CBS. A full 52 weekly eps!
Against
DuMont TV: Life Begins at Eighty (discussion)
ABC TV: All-Star News
NBC TV: The Big Story (crime)
@bernardjkd.bsky.social#SchlitzPlayhouseOfStars TV 1.37 cont'd,
The female journo lead character was great. She was played by Teresa Wright.... and I've seen her one other place.
Her final TV appearance 44 years later in #PicketFences TV ep #4.13 "My Romance" (26-Jan-96) where she was Judge Bone's old lover.
@bernardjkd.bsky.social#SchlitzPlayhouseOfStars TV ep #1.37 "Dress in the Window" (13-Jun-52).
8-10 minutes are missing but at least there's 18 minutes in this clip. I think the full ep exists this is just a crap rip from a satellite TV channel.
Again this isn't New York TV so back in LA?
www.youtube.com/watch?v=7FN0...
@bernardjkd.bsky.social#SchlitzPlayhouseOfStars TV ep #1.36 "Souvenir from Singapore" (06-Jun-52).
Ep doesn't exist but this ended up as a pilot episode for the show "China Smith" which ran for 26 episodes starting almost immediately. The same actor Dan Duryea played the lead. It also has a spin-off movie (of sorts).
@bernardjkd.bsky.social#SchlitzPlayhouseOfStars TV 1.33 cont'd.
The other goodie here is that man-eater Jean Carson is in it!
Now seen her 6 times:
#StudioOne TV #1.13 (11-May-49)
#StudioOne TV #1.19 (22-Jun-49)
#MartinKane TV #4.49 (28-May-53)
#InnerSanctum TV #1.00 (unaired 1954)
#RichardDiamond TV #3.02 (22-Feb-59)
@bernardjkd.bsky.social#SchlitzPlayhouseOfStars TV ep #1.33 "Autumn in New York" (16-May-52).
Ok we are back with live TV. It's definitely CBS New York. LA can't fake this TV!
Only the first 8 minutes exist and it's a musical. Not sure how it ends just so glad it's still going out live.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4SF...
@bernardjkd.bsky.social#SchlitzPlayhouseOfStars TV 1.32 contd.
I now have a 5th member in my 100 Club!!
Cheryl Callaway: 79yo.
She was the child actor here. Unsure what she looks like today but is alive as she was at a signing in March!!
She joins:
Marilyn Erskine 100
Donna Martell 98
Nita Talbot 96
Joanne Woodward 96
@bernardjkd.bsky.social#SchlitzPlayhouseOfStars TV 1.32 cont'd.
Despite the very low res I enjoyed this but definitely this was not New York live TV. Hey AI was wrong!!
I'll need to see more eps but this seemed pre-recorded and West coast.
So perhaps just eps #1.01-#1,26 (ie: the early 1 hour eps) were live?
@bernardjkd.bsky.social#SchlitzPlayhouseOfStars TV ep #1.32 "Appointment With the Past" (09-May-52).
In 30' format but missing the start.
However the surviving file is well below the 525-lines of 1952 and is even sub 144p!! So treat it as radio, check IMDB first so you can see who is who.
@bernardjkd.bsky.social#SchlitzPlayhouseOfStars S1 is 48 weeks on CBS TV at 9.00pm on Fridays.
For 1 hour for the first 26 eps but 30 mins thereafter.
Against
DuMont TV: Down You Go (quiz)/ #FrontPageDetective
ABC TV: Crime With Father (crime)/ #TalesOfTomorrow
NBC TV: The Big Story (crime)/ The Aldrich Family (sitcom)
@bernardjkd.bsky.social#SchlitzPlayhouseOfStars I'll work it out season by season but I'm thinking:
1951/52 - Live from CBS in New York?? Precise studios unclear?
1952/53 to 1958/59 - Pre-recorded in Revue Studios in LA? With some live shows from maybe CBS in New York still?
So who are Schlitz? Beer peddlers.
