About this season
Long-running anthology program sponsored by Hallmark Cards. Beginning in 1951 and continuing into 2019, the series received 80 Emmy Awards, 24 Christopher Awards, 11 Peabody Awards, 9 Golden Globes, and 4 Humanitas Prizes. Early seasons were a weekly live drama, eventually transitioning to videotaped and then filmed productions broadcast as occasional specials.
Episodes (35)
1. Amahl and the Night Visitors
Aired 24 December 1951 • 120 min
Broadcast live from New York, Gian Carlo Menotti's Christmas story was the first opera commissioned for television, and was repeated in several subsequent telecasts.
2. Doctor Serocold
Aired 6 January 1952 • 120 min
A Hollywood press agent is assigned to promote a starlet with whom he was once in love.
3. Love Story
Aired 13 January 1952 • 120 min
Adaptation of the novel by Helen Ashton.
4. The Big Build-Up
Aired 20 January 1952 • 120 min
Dramatization of the love affair between Elizabeth Barrett and Robert Browning.
5. The Story of Roger Williams
Aired 27 January 1952 • 120 min
In 1631 Roger Williams landed in Boston. He had come to America to find freedom of belief and worship; instead, he found the church here still connected to the church in England and just as oppressive. He refused to join the church in Boston because it still held communion with the Church of England, from which he had just fled. He thought it his duty to renounce all connection with any church that would stain its hands in the blood of the Lord's people.
6. Florence Nightingale
Aired 3 February 1952 • 120 min
Biography of Florence Nightingale: her determination to build hospitals and train nurses for the sick and disabled during the Crimean War, her correspondence with the Minister of War, and the letter of appreciation she received from Queen Victoria.
7. Woman with a Sword
Aired 10 February 1952 • 120 min
Story of Anna Ella Carroll, prominent member of a Maryland family who served as unofficial but close advisor and special representative to President Lincoln.
8. The Plot to Kidnap General Washington
Aired 17 February 1952 • 120 min
Irish-American tailor Hercules Mulligan's contribution to the American Revolution.
9. Mistress of the White House
Aired 24 February 1952 • 120 min
The story of Dolley Madison.
10. Prelude
Aired 2 March 1952 • 120 min
The meeting of George Sand and Frederic Chopin.
11. Juliette Low and the Girl Scouts
Aired 9 March 1952 • 120 min
The founding of the Girl Scouts, presented on the occasion of their 40th anniversary.
12. Constitution Island
Aired 16 March 1952 • 120 min
A salute to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point on its 150th anniversary, focusing on Anna Warner's historic gift of Contitution Island to the institution; set in 1907.
13. Harriet Quimby
Aired 23 March 1952 • 120 min
The story of America's first woman aviator.
14. The Vision of Father Flanagan
Aired 30 March 1952 • 120 min
The story of Reverend Edward Joseph Flanagan who, as a young priest from Ireland, founded Boys Town, Nebraska, where outcast boys could find the love and care denied them in their own homes.
15. Ordeal by White House
Aired 6 April 1952 • 120 min
Little-known incidents in the life of Grover Cleveland.
16. Anne Bradstreet, Puritan Poetess
Aired 20 April 1952 • 120 min
Story of America's first woman author.
17. Miracle in May
Aired 27 April 1952 • 120 min
Dr. Edward Jenner discovers the smallpox vaccination.
18. The Face of Spain
Aired 4 May 1952 • 120 min
The life of Francisco Goya; set in Spain, 1786.
19. A Woman for the Ages
Aired 11 May 1952 • 120 min
The story of Abigail Adams, wife of President John Adams.
20. Reign of Terror
Aired 18 May 1952 • 120 min
Eliza Monroe, in Paris as the wife of the U.S. Foreign Minister toFrance, obtains Madame Lafayette's release from prison and sentence of death by guillotine.
21. The Magnificent Failure
Aired 25 May 1952 • 120 min
A biography of Louisa May Alcott, ending with her writing of ""Little Women"" in 1860.
22. The King's Author
Aired 1 June 1952 • 120 min
Biography of Ben Jonson, covering the writing of Eastward ho; set in London, 1606.
23. Nefretiti, Queen of Egypt
Aired 8 June 1952 • 120 min
Biography of Nefretiti, illustrating her life with the Pharoah and her influence on Egyptian history and culture.
24. Mr. and Mrs. Freedom
Aired 15 June 1952 • 120 min
The story of Anna and John Peter Zenger and their fight for freedom of the press.
25. Forgotten Children
Aired 22 June 1952 • 120 min
A dramatization honouring American educator Martha Berry, founder of Mt. Berry, a Georgia home for mountain people.
26. Our Sister Emily
Aired 29 June 1952 • 120 min
The story of the Bronte sisters.
27. The Legend of Josiah Blow
Aired 6 July 1952 • 120 min
An infantryman in the American Revolution lights a firecracker and gets blown into another generation.
28. The Real Glory
Aired 13 July 1952 • 120 min
Story of a town in U.S. taken over by corrupt men due to the neglect of the citizenry.
29. Salvage
Aired 20 July 1952 • 120 min
An aging man thinks his usefulness to society is at an end.
30. 21-Plus
Aired 27 July 1952 • 120 min
Story of the importance of one vote in an election.
31. The Carlson Legend
Aired 3 August 1952 • 120 min
A young state senator runs into a moral problem while conducting a cleanup campaign.
32. The Last Command
Aired 10 August 1952 • 120 min
33. I Lift Up My Lamp
Aired 17 August 1952 • 120 min
A young Czech girl in the U.S. is faced with the choice of returning to her family behind the Iron Curtain or remaining free in the U.S.
34. Crabapple Saint
Aired 24 August 1952 • 120 min
Story of Johnny Appleseed, the wanderer who planted trees as he traveled.
35. Refresher Course
Aired 31 August 1952 • 120 min
Story of a wealthy middle-aged married couple who retrace their honeymoon, and in so doing, regain their love for each other.