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 (42)
1. Dynamite
Aired 5 September 1954 • 120 min
The Swedish-American inventor of dynamite, established before his death the Nobel Prize to be awarded annually for the best work in the field of physics, medicine and chemistry.
2. Do Not Cry For Me
Aired 12 September 1954 • 120 min
Tells the story of the early life of the American composer Stephen Foster. Relates the difficulties Foster encountered when he tried to have his first song performed.
3. A Man of Many Ideas
Aired 19 September 1954 • 120 min
The story of John Nelson Wanamaker the 35th United States Postmaster General who was known for buying an abandoned railroad depot and converting it into a department story called "The Grand Depot" which was considered the first department store in Philadelphia.
4. The Reluctant Redeemer
Aired 26 September 1954 • 120 min
The story tells of Moses' upbringing by an Egyptian pharaoh, his killing of a cruel overseer and the flight to Media where he marries. When the voice of God comes from the burning bush he returns to Egypt to free his people. Natalie Wood will be featured as the beloved ot Moses when he was a young man.
5. The Story of Johann Sebastian Bach
Aired 3 October 1954 • 120 min
From court appointed organist to his triumphant position as Kantor at the Thomasschule his story unfolds as his music was given to the world almost a century after he died after being rediscovered by Felix Mendelssohn.
6. The Immortal Oath
Aired 10 October 1954 • 120 min
The tale of Hippocrates, the father of medicine is dramatized.
7. The Yankee Roadblocks
Aired 17 October 1954 • 120 min
An all-male cast set in the Revolutionary War days, the story tells how a hero exposed the plot of Benedict Arnold and save General Washington from being captured by the British.
8. The Lady in the Wings
Aired 24 October 1954 • 120 min
The widow of the great composer, Edward MacDowell, remembering her happy past, wishes to create a place where artists from all quarters can work in solitude.
9. The Path to Peace
Aired 31 October 1954 • 120 min
Horace Greeley's fight for peace is dramatized.
10. A Matter of Principal
Aired 14 November 1954 • 120 min
An incident in the life of John Adams, second President of the United States and his defense of an English Officer who was charged with the deaths of five American patriots in Boston.
11. President for a Day
Aired 21 November 1954 • 120 min
The story of the man who was President of the United States for one day is told. David Rice Atchison as President of the Senate automatically became President for 24 hours when Zachary Taylor refused to be inaugurated on a Sunday.
12. Macbeth
3.0Aired 28 November 1954 • 120 min
A dramatization of Shakespeare's Macbeth.
13. Deadlock
Aired 5 December 1954 • 120 min
The story of the Burr–Hamilton duel arose from a long-standing political and personal rivalry that had developed between both men over a course of several years.
14. The Province of Man
Aired 12 December 1954 • 120 min
The story of how William Harvey used King John of England as a guinea pig to test his theory of the circulatory system.
15. Amahl and the Night Visitors
Aired 19 December 1954 • 120 min
The tale of a poor boy and his mother who journey to visit Christ's birth in Bethlehem.
16. The Joyful Tydings
Aired 26 December 1954 • 120 min
The story of the stormy controversy during the reign of Henry the Eighth is dramatized.
17. William Tell
Aired 2 January 1955 • 120 min
The story of the legendary Swiss marksman William Tell is dramatized.
18. The First Mintmaster
Aired 9 January 1955 • 120 min
Story of John Hull, first mintmaster of Massachusetts Bay Colony, who was appointed to the post in 1650 as the culmination of his efforts to abolish barter and foreign coinage in favor of a stabilized currency.
19. Crusade for Freedom
Aired 16 January 1955 • 120 min
In the name of his brother, the editor of a Boston newspaper, Benjamin Franklin launches a crusade against Cotton Mather.
20. Dr. Harvey W. Wiley
Aired 23 January 1955 • 120 min
Struggle of chemist Wiley to expose frauds in food and drug trade and in patent medicine. His efforts to prove the harmful effects of adulterated and falsely labeled food ultimately led to passage of the Food and Drug Act.
21. A Story About Henry Ford
Aired 30 January 1955 • 120 min
Ford, unhappy with farm life, moves to Detroit where he begins to experiment with the gas engine, certain that it could be made to propel a vehicle.
22. Patrick Henry
Aired 6 February 1955 • 120 min
Silver-tongued Patrick Henry studied law for only six weeks, but so impressed the board that they passed him. He was a successful Southern backwoods lawyer and reluctant to enter the Virginia House of Burgesses until the British introduced the Stamp Act.
23. The Shining Beacon
Aired 13 February 1955 • 120 min
Tale of Alcuin, the great educator who taught Charlemagne to read and write.
24. Martha Custis Washington
Aired 20 February 1955 • 120 min
The courtship of George Washington and Martha Custis, a widowed mother of two.
25. The Talking Wire
Aired 27 February 1955 • 120 min
The story of Alexander Graham Bell and experiments that led to the electric hearing aid, and then the telephone.
26. The Adventures of Lt. Contee
Aired 6 March 1955 • 120 min
Tribute to one of Commodore Perry's officers, whose personal efforts helped open Japan to foreign trade.
27. The Pirate and the Lawyer
Aired 13 March 1955 • 120 min
Adventures of pirate Jean Laffite and lawyer Edward Livingston.
28. Soldier's Bride
Aired 20 March 1955 • 120 min
Story of the love between Knox Taylor (daughter of Colonel Zachary Taylor) and Jefferson Davis.
29. The Finest Gift
Aired 27 March 1955 • 120 min
The story of Lord Byron's efforts to liberate Greece.
30. The Green Mountain Boys
Aired 3 April 1955 • 120 min
The story of Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain boys.
31. Lydia
Aired 10 April 1955 • 120 min
Story of the pagan Greek Lydia, who lived in ancient Rome and saved the life of the Apostle Paul.
32. The Man Who Tore Down the Wall
Aired 17 April 1955 • 120 min
Story from 1910 of Dr. James Ewing, who fought to break down the barriers erected against the investigation and treatment of cancer, and who almost single-handedly founded the Memorial Cancer Center in New York City.
33. Aimee de Rivery
Aired 25 April 1954 • 120 min
Story of Aimée de Rivery, who brought reforms to Turkey.
34. The Touch of Steel
Aired 1 May 1955 • 120 min
The story of young army officer and law student Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., 60th justice of the United States Supreme Court.
35. Cradle Song
Aired 8 May 1955 • 120 min
Story of Ernestine Schumann-Heink.
36. The Promise
Aired 15 May 1955 • 120 min
A dramatization of the legend of Damon and Pythias.
37. The Man With a Camera
Aired 22 May 1955 • 120 min
Story of George Eastman, and his development of the first camera to use film.
38. The Story of Paul Harris and the Founding of Rotary International
Aired 29 May 1955 • 120 min
Tribute to Rotary International in commemoration of its golden anniversary. Includes speech by then Rotary president Herbert J. Taylor.
39. The Tempering of the Sword
Aired 5 June 1955 • 120 min
The story of Baron Friedrich Wilhelm Von Steuben, founder of the American military system, who trained troops in the American Revolution.
40. Cadet Poe
Aired 12 June 1955 • 120 min
Recounts a "little-known incident" in the life of Edgar Allan Poe.
41. The Father Who Had No Sons
Aired 19 June 1955 • 120 min
The inspiring story of Milton S. Hershey, who worked so hard to bring happiness to thousands of orphans.
42. The Farmer From Monticello
Aired 26 June 1955 • 120 min
The story of Thomas Jefferson's return to politics in 1773.