Alcoa Premiere
Hosted by famous dancer and actor Fred Astaire, this series presented a new drama with each week's episode. Unlike some of the earlier drama series, which tended either toward classics or toward light subject matter, this series often had powerful stories about painful or controversial subjects. Many big names got involved with this series, including actors like Charlton Heston and Lee Marvin, directors like John Ford, and writers like Ray Bradbury.
- 1961-1963
- 2 seasons
- ABC
- Drama
Hosted by famous dancer and actor Fred Astaire, this series presented a new drama with each week's episode. Unlike some of the earlier drama series, which tended either toward classics or toward light subject matter, this series often had powerful stories about painful or controversial subjects. Many big names got involved with this series, including actors like Charlton Heston and Lee Marvin, directors like John Ford, and writers like Ray Bradbury.
Season 2 Episode Guide
30 Episodes 1962 - 1963
Episode 1
Flashing Spikes
Thu, Oct 4, 1962 53 mins
An old ballplayer, thrown out of baseball due to a bribery scandal, becomes friends with a young phenom. The younger player is at first tainted by his association with the oldtimer, but eventually the truth about the scandal is revealed.
Episode 2
Guest in the House
Thu, Oct 11, 1962 60 mins
A war hero turned grifter returns to an air force buddy's life and helps his family through a crisis.
Episode 3
The Long Walk Home
Thu, Oct 18, 1962 60 mins
If a high school football coach doesn't lose a championship game, a a blackmailer will circulate a photograph the coach doesn't want anyone to see.
Episode 4
The Voice of Charlie Pont
Thu, Oct 25, 1962 60 mins
Charlie Pont (Bradford Dillman) is back in town. Good old Charlie. Good-looking Charlie. George (Robert Redford) and Liza (Diana Hyland) are not at all sure that Charlie's visit, and the memories it will stir up, will be welcome.
Episode 5
Mr. Lucifer
Thu, Nov 1, 1962 60 mins
In the guise of Mr. Lucifer, a Madison Avenue executive, the devil summons all of his powers and know-how, including his attractive young assistant Hecate, to break the will and sinlessness of a young, kind, hardworking, and happily married architect named Tom Logan.
Episode 6
The Masked Marine
Thu, Nov 8, 1962 60 mins
A marine sergeant is irritated by a private and decides to teach him a lesson.
Episode 7
Ordeal in Darkness
Thu, Nov 15, 1962 60 mins
Always independent John Miller (Richard Conte) forges ahead despite temporary blindness. His wife, however, believes he should depend more on their teenaged son (Keir Dullea).
Episode 8
Whatever Happened to Miss Illinois?
Thu, Nov 22, 1962 60 mins
A reporter asks that question about Miss Illinois and other losers of national contests.
Episode 9
The Hands of Danofrio
Thu, Nov 29, 1962 60 mins
An art critic catalogs the complete works of a dead sculptor and suddenly a new work turns up.
Episode 10
The Contenders
Thu, Dec 6, 1962
Three unprincipled actresses vie for the best-performance award at a film festival.
Episode 11
The Way from Darkness
Thu, Dec 13, 1962 60 mins
Invalid Meg Fletcher (Shelley Winters) just loves having her sister stay with her: she makes such a wonderful servant.
Episode 12
The Potentate
Thu, Dec 20, 1962 60 mins
"Disquieting is the word for Stefan Tamarov's first visit to New York City. As Minister of Economics and Foreign Trade for a Communist satellite country, Tamarov has no trouble with his official duties; it's the 'little' things that bother him. His daughter Svezda is seeing an American reporter much too often, and his best friend Andreas Vrim, his country's UN delegate, has confided a few thoughts to Stefan that could be interpreted as treason."--TV guide, June 20, 1963.
Episode 13
Blues for a Hanging
Thu, Dec 27, 1962 60 mins
Fred Astaire stars as Ted Miller, a down-on-his-luck musician, who was in a drunken fight last night and begins to think he could have murdered a man. His loving girlfriend Connie (Janis Paige) refuses to believe this, and together they piece together what really transpired.
Episode 14
Impact of an Execution
Thu, Jan 3, 1963 60 mins
A doctor tries to convince a mother to approve a life saving operation for her boy while his daughter's murderer is due to be executed. A judge tries to convince the doctor to petition the Governor to halt the execution.
Episode 15
Lollipop Louie
Thu, Jan 10, 1963 60 mins
Happy-go-lucky Lollipop Louie (Aldo Ray) leaves his California fishing boat to head for the big city.
Episode 16
The Glass Palace
Thu, Jan 17, 1963 60 mins
There's trouble afoot when ice skater Vince Gallard (Ricardo Montalban) begins to slip: a coming ice show depends on him.
Episode 17
Five, Six, Pick Up Sticks
Thu, Jan 24, 1963 60 mins
After several years in Europe, a temperamental jazz drummer returns to the U.S.
Episode 18
George Gobel Presents
Thu, Jan 31, 1963 60 mins
Episode 19
The Hat of Sergeant Martin
Thu, Feb 7, 1963 60 mins
Marines Michael Lujack and Clinton Martin fight over women, but fight well together when it comes to Latin American revolutionaries. Stationed in a turbulent country during the Thirties, they hunt down insurgents in the mountains.
Episode 20
Blow High, Blow Clear
Thu, Feb 14, 1963 60 mins
Doyle, a young seaman just arrived from New Orleans, is in a quandary: His friend Harlan is deeply disturbed over parental problems, and Doyle has stumbled onto something in the French Quarter which could throw Harlan - and his family - into a real spin.
Episode 21
Chain Reaction
Thu, Feb 21, 1963 60 mins
Scientists Mark Ames and Walter Mitchell work for the same lab, but Ames is brash and brilliant while Mitchell is cautious and reliable - a volatile relationship that becomes explosive with the addition of a female.
Episode 22
Hornblower
Thu, Feb 28, 1963 60 mins
Set during the Napoleonic Wars, British Royal Navy Captain Horatio Hornblower leads an expedition in the English Channel to find the empire's missing ship HMS Flame. Hornblower locates the ship, but finds a mutinous crew has seized control from their barbaric captain.
Episode 23
The Best Years
Thu, Mar 7, 1963 60 mins
Episode 24
Jeeney Ray
Thu, Mar 14, 1963 60 mins
When her grandmother dies, timid Jeeney Ray (Brenda Scott) must move in with her hostile brother and sister-in-law.
Episode 25
The Dark Labyrinth
Thu, Mar 21, 1963 60 mins
Despite an earthquake hazard, five tourists insist on visiting a famous labyrinth in Crete.
Episode 26
Of Struggle and Flight
Thu, Mar 28, 1963 60 mins
Karen Evans (Janice Rule) seems normal enough to her husband, but now, for the second time, the Missing Persons Bureau has been sent searching for her, and this time her clothes have washed up on the beach.
Episode 27
The Broken Year
Thu, Apr 4, 1963 60 mins
Eric and Hilary's romance becomes filled with hatred and bitterness when she blames herself for his crippling accident.
Episode 28
This Will Kill You
Thu, Apr 11, 1963 60 mins
Meek Willy Longo (Howard Morris) is traveling to Las Vegas to see what his brother Larry (Louis Nye) is really like.
Episode 29
Million Dollar Hospital
Thu, Apr 18, 1963 60 mins
Young Dr. Grant (William Shatner) answers a medical-journal ad offering a "rewarding practice" for $1,000,000, but the run-down emergency hospital he finds hardly seems a lucrative enterprise.
Episode 30
The Town That Died
Thu, Apr 25, 1963 60 mins
Successful businessman Adam returns to an island where he used to live and finds it barren and poverty-stricken. The major industry, a cannery that he and his brother Will owned, had been forced out of business due to a strike in which Will was killed. Now the remaining inhabitants want to kill Adam, but he convinces them that if they work together they can rebuild the island.
