The Best TV Shows Of The 1950s

It's hard to overstate how ambitious "Playhouse 90" was. The UCLA Film & Television Archive reports that the anthology drama series debuted in 1956 with an explicit goal of pushing television's boundaries. The idea of putting on live dramatic performances, written by some of the best writers, and attracting big star acting talent, was a fresh one at the time. Television was born with a reputation for being dumb entertainment for the masses, and "Playhouse 90" was one of a series of programs marketed as more highbrow, serious, and high-quality.

As noted by AV Club, the show's second episode, "Requiem for a Heavyweight," put it on the map and almost single-handedly ensured its legacy. Written by Rod Serling, the drama starred Jack Palance as an aging boxer contemplating his life after his last fight. It won several Emmy Awards and was the first television script to win a Peabody Award.

"Playhouse 90" produced 134 episodes. While the quality varied over the years, the fact that it presented long-form drama performed live remains a remarkable achievement. The live nature of the performances led to some embarrassments, like the time an actor dropped a prop baby, which proceeded to bounce down some stairs while the actors stood frozen in shock, but the primary legacy of the show is the fact that it legitimatized the idea that TV could be great.

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