The Barbara Stanwyck Show

This was an excellent show. One can see easily how Stanwyck got an Emmy for it. Unfortunately, at the time she finally agreed to do an anthology show, they stopped making them and this one was canceled after a year. I have seen about half of them and they are excellent. The best ones are comedy ones and she reminds us how funny she was. In particular, Confession i think it was called, with Leon Ames and a young Peter Falk, is hilarious. Truly a black comedy episode, very funny. The other episodes are very good too, a little bit of everything, comedies, westerns, romances, court room stuff, adventure (with three with same character of adventurer Josephine Little). And lots of great Stanwyck performances playing strong, neat ladies. It is too bad it was not made a few years earlier and then we could have watched a lot more episodes. She made a lot of this show, by the way, in one season, I think over 35 episodes. That is more than some cable shows air in 3-4 seasons nowadays.

This series is no exception. I especially love the glamorous gowns she wears at the beginning while introducing each episode. Such a lovely talented lady.

53-year-old Barbara Stanwyck, her days as a romantic movie lead at an end, jumped into television with gusto in this outstanding anthology series which rather shockingly only ran one season, 1960-61. Ms. Stanwyck played a different character each week (with the exception of a few episodes playing Hong Kong export dealer "Little Jo") in programs that range from murder melodramas to westerns to semi-comedies. Stanwyck gives each episode her all and brings these little dramas up to the level of mini movies, some of them with excellent stories that could have easily played out in a feature film. I can only imagine why this program lasted just one season, changing tastes by the public most likely (anthology series were on the way out) particularly in regards to older actresses (besides Stanwyck, Loretta Young, June Allyson, and Ann Sothern's shows were also canceled that fall.) Fortunately, the Television Academy of Arts and Sciences recognized her superb work and awarded her the first of three Emmys she would receive (one for her later, successful series THE BIG VALLEY in 1965, another for her work in the mini-series THE THORN BIRDS in 1984.) Fifteen episodes from the 36 produced released in a DVD set in 2009 (it appears the survival status of quite a few episodes is uncertain) that show, as if there was any doubt, that Barbara Stanwyck is just as captivating an actress on the small screen as she was on the big one.

The 50's and 60's saw a lot of great shows that, for one reason or another, only lasted one year. Someone needs to release a DVD anthology of some of those shows, for many have substantial entertainment value. This show is one of those great shows. Each week was a new story with a new character for Barbara to play. They were generally gripping and very entertaining. I think, specifically of "The Choice" with Robert Horton where a deranged man terrorizes Barbara in a remote pub. It was clearly the inspiration (indeed the rough draft) for "The Shining" but I don't think it is ever recognized as such. If you can get your hands on episodes, you won't be disappointed.

I would say that this TV show is worth seeing ONLY for miss Stanwyck's forever glamorous performances. THAT'S ALL. For the rest, every of these topics, at least nearly of them, is so cheesy, run of the mill, and soo predictable. This is no real drama but smooth sleepers for family audiences watching whilst eating supper and potatoes.