Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre - Complete Season One (1956)

Wonderful tales of the Old West laden with history and adventure are presented

in Dick Powell’s Zane Grey Theatre, a half-hour western anthology TV series that

debuted on CBS, October 5, 1956 and ran for 5 whole seasons. Dick Powell served

as the host for the entire series and also starred as various characters in 15 episodes.

The series was originally based on the short stories and novels of western author

Zane Grey, but as the series continued, new material was included. Aaron Spelling,

who later became a legend in Hollywood, wrote twenty Zane Grey episodes. This

show was unique because it was the only Western anthology on TV at the time.

Anthologies were popular on early TV and were the equivalent of today’s TV movies.

Because of this format, it attracted many stars who wanted to appear on it.