An anthology series is a television series that features different stories, with a different cast of characters in every episode. Typically these have been found in the science fiction and horrorgenres. Examples include Twilight Zone, Night Gallery and Alfred Hitchcock Presents. The only constants in these series was the on-camera host, who would appear at the beginning and end of the program for introduction and conclusion. During summers in the 1970s and 1980s, American television networks would often run comedy anthology series which consisted of unbought television pilots. Another example of anthology series would be live television dramas, such as Playhouse 90, where the cast and story would be different from week to week but there was no host. A television program is the content of television broadcasting. ... Science fiction is a form of speculative fiction principally dealing with the impact of imagined science and technology, or both, upon society and persons as individuals. ... Horror can mean several things: Horror (emotion) Horror fiction Horror film This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... A genre is a division of a particular form of art according to criteria particular to that form. ... Note, this page is about the television series and its two revivals. ... Night Gallery was Rod Serlings follow-up to The Twilight Zone, airing on NBC from 1970 to 1973. ... Alfred Hitchcock Presents was a half-hour anthology series hosted by Alfred Hitchcock. ... A television network is a distribution network for television content whereby a central operation provides programming for many television stations. ... A television pilot is the first episode of an intended television series. ... Playhouse 90 is the name of a ninety-minute long dramatic television series that ran on CBS from 1956 to 1961. ...
Anthology drama was an early American television series format or genre in which each episode was a discrete story/play rather than a weekly return to the same setting, characters, and stars.
In the history of American television the anthology dramas that were broadcast live from New York are often considered the epitome of the genre and of television's "golden age" of the 1950s.
There were, however, several variations on the anthology drama series, and not all were critically acclaimed.
Anthology dramas were a staple of 1950s programming, presenting different stories with different characters and casts each week.
Like Lucille Ball, she was one of the few women who had control of her own successful series, the first woman to have her own dramatic anthologyseries on network television, the first person to win both an Academy Award and an Emmy Award.
She wanted--and the anthology format afforded--acting variety, a format for conveying moral messages, and a showcase for her glamorous, fashionable movie star image.