Dick Powell Show, The – Nostalgia Central

1 9 6 1 – 1 9 6 3 (USA)
60 x 60 minute episodes

Dick Powell, the boyish star of some of the most glittering movie musicals of the 1930s, was a seasoned veteran when he appeared in this dramatic anthology, which was to be his last TV series.

Many of the episodes aired were pilots, and two of them actually became regular series in their own right.

Powell himself starred in the first telecast, ‘Who Killed Julie Greer?’, playing the role of wealthy policeman Amos Burke. The following year, Gene Barry took on the same role in the series Burke’s Law.

‘Savage Sunday’ starred Nick Adams as a crusading New York newspaper reporter, a role he kept when Saints and Sinners premiered the next year.

Among the pilots that didn’t succeed was ‘Safari’, based on the 1951 movie The African Queen and starring Glynis Johns and James Coburn.

A noteworthy episode was ‘The Price of Tomatoes’, for which a young Peter Falk won an Emmy.

In addition to serving as host, Powell periodically appeared in individual episodes. During the first season, he co-starred with his wife, June Allyson, in a play called ‘A Time to Die’.

It is not known whether Powell knew at the time that he had cancer, but by the beginning of the second season, he was in declining health. His last acting role was in ‘The Court-Martial of Captain Wycliff’, which was aired on 12 December 1962, and his last appearance as host (on film) was on New Year’s Day 1963. He died the following day.

In deference to his family, the filmed introductions that he had already prepared for future telecasts were deleted, and a succession of guest stars – including John Wayne, Charles Boyer, James Stewart, Steve McQueen, Frank Sinatra, Gregory Peck, Glenn Ford, Jack Lemmon and David Niven – appeared as hosts for the remainder of the season.

The title of the show was also changed to The Dick Powell Theatre.