Theatre 5 from ABC

FORMAT: (1) MP3 DVD / (5) MP3 CDS

Theater Five was ABC's attempt to revive radio drama during the early 1960s. The series name was derived from its time slot, 5:00 PM.

Running Monday through Friday, it was an anthology of short stories, each about 20 minutes long. News programs and commercials filled out the full 30 minutes.

There was a good bit of science fiction and some of the plots seem to have been taken from the daily newspaper.

Fred Foy, of The Lone Ranger fame, was an ABC staff announcer in the early 60s, who, among other duties, did Theater Five.

The variety of dramatic presentations was one of Theatre 5's most compelling features. With a broad mix of genres and some of Radio, Stage, Television and Film's finest guest stars, ABC's humble 21-minute scripts packed a lot of entertainment into a relatively small format. We loosely tallied the following genres from the entire run:

Episode List:

08/03/64 # 1 Hit And Run

08/04/64 # 2 A House Of Cards

08/05/64 # 3 Terror From Beyond

08/06/64 # 4 Homecoming

08/07/64 # 5 The $245,000 Smile

08/10/64 # 6 Rebellion Next Week

08/11/64 # 7 The Big Dog

08/12/64 # 8 Jump, Jump

08/13/64 # 9 Melodrama

08/14/64 # 10 The Stranger

08/17/64 # 11 The Fun Party

08/18/64 # 12 The New Order

08/19/64 # 13 Ring Of Evil

08/20/64 # 14 Your Time Is Up

08/21/64 # 15 Molecule Masquerade

08/24/64 # 16 A Caller At Midnight

08/25/64 # 17 Dream Of Death

08/26/64 # 18 The Late Mathew Dillard

08/27/64 # 19 My Other Self

08/28/64 # 20 Incident At Apogee

08/31/64 # 21 The Scream

09/01/64 # 22 Outside Time

09/02/64 # 23 The Fix

09/03/64 # 24 The Trouble With Alfie

09/04/64 # 25 Cry In The Night

09/07/64 # 26 Sorry To Let You Go

09/08/64 # 27 Incident At Shadow Valley

09/09/64 # 28 The Decoration

09/10/64 # 29 First Encounter

09/11/64 # 30 To Whom It May Concern

09/14/64 # 31 The Noon Stars

09/15/64 # 32 My Brother's Keeper

09/16/64 # 33 The Big Freeze

09/17/64 # 34 The Understudy

09/18/64 # 35 The Group

09/21/64 # 36 The Kiss Off

09/22/64 # 37 The Odyssey Of Number Fourteen

09/23/64 # 38 We Are All Alone

09/24/64 # 39 The Evil That Men Do

09/25/64 # 40 A Genuine Crenotte

09/28/64 # 41 Look Who's Talking

09/29/64 # 42 The Wrong Arm Of Justice

09/30/64 # 43 A Very Private Phone Call

10/01/64 # 44 John Hansen, Hermit

10/02/64 # 45 Subject Number 428A

10/05/64 # 46 The Arithmetic Of Honor

10/06/64 # 47 The Last Land Rush

10/07/64 # 48 Echo Of Madness

10/08/64 # 49 Justice Is An Uncertain Thing

10/09/64 # 50 I'm Sorry, Mom

10/12/64 # 51 All The Bright Young Ones

10/13/64 # 52 The Autocrat

10/14/64 # 53 The Dog Killer

10/15/64 # 54 The Good Samaritans

10/16/64 # 55 The Captive Spirit

10/19/64 # 56 An Honorable Way To Die

10/20/64 # 57 The Man Who Loved Jellyroll

10/21/64 # 58 Captain Camble's Uniform

10/22/64 # 59 Including Murder

10/23/64 # 60 The Sacrifice

10/26/64 # 61 Sirens In The Night

10/27/64 # 62 The Prodigal Son

10/28/64 # 63 Odds On The Tower

10/29/64 # 64 Nightmare

10/30/64 # 65 The Second Chance

11/02/64 # 66 June 17th, Where Are You?

11/03/64 # 67 Why Can't Life Be More Like The Movies

11/04/64 # 68 Body Without The Crime

11/05/64 # 69 Twenty Minutes In The Life Of Melinda Madison

11/06/64 # 70 Living Credit

11/09/64 # 71 The Nameless Day

11/10/64 # 72 World Enough And Time

11/11/64 # 73 The Gift

11/12/64 # 74 A Brand New Life

11/13/64 # 75 Deedle Deedle Dumply My Son X-1

11/16/64 # 76 The City Manager

11/17/64 # 77 The Contract Maker

11/18/64 # 78 A Little Piece Of Candle

11/19/64 # 79 To Be Or Not To Be Maybe!

11/20/64 # 80 A Nothing Place

11/23/64 # 81 Dark Appointment

11/24/64 # 82 The Talkers

11/25/64 # 83 A Little Knowledge

11/26/64 # 84 The Neighbor

11/27/64 # 85 The Lesson

11/30/64 # 86 To Helen With Love

12/01/64 # 87 Finders Can Be Losers

12/02/64 # 88 Found Money

12/03/64 # 89 Fog

12/04/64 # 90 Sound Track Of A Happy Family

12/07/64 # 91 Bug Off

12/08/64 # 92 Congratulations, Mr. Mayor

12/09/64 # 93 The Weapons At Hand

12/10/64 # 94 I Love You

12/11/64 # 95 Bang Bang You're Dead

12/14/64 # 96 Now Listen To The Tiger

12/15/64 # 97 The Victim

12/16/64 # 98 An Average American Murder

12/17/64 # 99 Just Call Me Lucky

12/18/64 #100 Nuptial Flight

12/21/64 #101 Six Foot Flower Box

12/22/64 #102 Finders Keepers

12/23/64 #103 The Flea Circus

12/24/64 #104 The Wish Fulfillment Machine

12/25/64 #105 Look At My Record

12/28/64 #106 Five Strangers

12/29/64 #107 Charlie, The Beautiful Machine

12/30/64 #108 The Blue Eyed People

12/31/64 #109 Presence Of Mind

01/01/65 #110 Discotheque

01/04/65 #111 The Blank Check

01/05/65 #112 Devil Dust

01/06/65 #113 The Corporation

01/07/65 #114 Don't Call Me, I'll Call You

01/08/65 #115 The Delinquents

01/11/65 #116 The Button Stealers

01/12/65 #117 Bravo, Bravo

01/13/65 #118 Man On The Canyon Wall

01/14/65 #119 The Wandering Spaceman

01/15/65 #120 The Trophy

01/18/65 #121 The Wheel

01/19/65 #122 Across The River From Grandma's House

01/20/65 #123 A Dream Of A Scheme

01/21/65 #124 The Imposters

01/22/65 #125 The First Weekend

01/25/65 #126 Where Art Thou, Romeo?

01/26/65 #127 Mr. Horn's Holiday

01/27/65 #128 Tomorrow 6-1212

01/28/65 #129 The Hostage

01/29/65 #130 I've Got Your Number

02/01/65 #131 The Boy

02/02/65 #132 The Time, The Place, And The Death

02/03/65 #133 The Hunters

02/04/65 #134 Greater Love Hath No Man

02/05/65 #135 The Underdeveloped Nation

02/08/65 #136 Cold Storage

02/09/65 #137 The Eye Of The Storm

02/10/65 #138 Lovely Boy

02/11/65 #139 The Sybil Of Sycamore Lane

02/12/65 #140 The Chain

02/15/65 #141 The Forgotten

02/16/65 #142 A Little Game On Saturday Mornings

02/17/65 #143 Post Time

02/18/65 #144 It's A Work Of Art

02/19/65 #145 Listen, Mother

02/22/65 #146 A Tale For The Nursery

02/23/65 #147 The Elevator

02/24/65 #148 The Man Who Heard Everything

02/25/65 #149 Toby's Wonderful Egg

02/26/65 #150 Little Girl, Little Girl

03/01/65 #151 You Bet Your Life

03/02/65 #152 French Quarter

03/03/65 #153 Annie Is Watching

03/04/65 #154 The Land Of Milk And Honey

03/05/65 #155 April Snowfall

03/08/65 #156 Last Ride On The Merry Go Round

03/09/65 #157 Just For Kicks

03/10/65 #158 Broken Image

03/11/65 #159 Publish Or Perish

03/12/65 #160 The Janitor

03/15/65 #161 Divorce American Style

03/16/65 #162 Any Port In A Storm

03/17/65 #163 Across The River From Grandfather's House

03/18/65 #164 If The Spirit Moves You

03/19/65 #165 They Call Me Howie

03/22/65 #166 Bad News For Mrs. Bristol

03/23/65 #167 The Hazelton Story

03/24/65 #168 Point Of Impact

03/25/65 #169 There's One Born Every Minute

03/26/65 #170 The Widow

03/29/65 #171 The Avenger

03/30/65 #172 Bright House, New House

03/31/65 #173 Eye Of Kali

04/01/65 #174 Three On A Death

04/02/65 #175 Get Away With Murder

04/05/65 #176 The Welcome Lady

04/06/65 #177 Until Death Do Us

04/07/65 #178 Mirror, Mirror On The Wall

04/08/65 #179 A Million Miles To Nowhere

04/09/65 #180 It's My Funeral

04/12/65 #181 A Matter Of Pride

04/13/65 #182 The Lion Who Wasn't There

04/14/65 #183 Come Home Daughter All Is Forbidden

04/15/65 #184 Panic

04/16/65 #185 He Was A Good Boy

04/19/65 #186 Incident In Ceylon

04/20/65 #187 You Gotta Cry Sometime

04/21/65 #188 The Wonderful Stamps From El Dorado

04/22/65 #189 Said The Spider

04/23/65 #190 Poor Little Greek Girl

04/26/65 #191 Greener Pastures

04/27/65 #192 Lorna Is A Strange Child

04/28/65 #193 The Beneficiary

04/29/65 #194 Junior

04/30/65 #195 Make My Name Clean

05/03/65 #196 Driver's Seat

05/04/65 #197 Incident On U.S. 1

05/05/65 #198 The Name Game

05/06/65 #199 Reunion

05/07/65 #200 The Ten Year Old Car

05/10/65 #201 Lift To Beyond

05/11/65 #202 Nigtmare At 26,000

05/12/65 #203 Around The Corner From Nowhere

05/13/65 #204 Wrong Turning

05/14/65 #205 The Birthday Present

05/17/65 #206 The Gandy Walker

05/18/65 #207 Will Integrity Ruin Clint Marble

05/19/65 #208 Blind Man's Bluff

05/20/65 #209 Death Of An Old Flame

05/21/65 #210 Two Birds, One Stone

05/24/65 #211 Rocky Loves Julie

05/25/65 #212 The Dance Hall

05/26/65 #213 Incident At Phong Trang

05/27/65 #214 Barefoot In Athens

05/28/65 #215 The Protective Circle

05/31/65 #216 Lake Toplitz

06/01/65 #217 Mama's Girl

06/02/65 #218 Noose Of Pearls

06/03/65 #219 And Dream No More

06/04/65 #220 Untrue Confession

06/07/65 #221 Two Came Back

06/08/65 #222 Skeletons

06/09/65 #223 The Big Lonely

06/10/65 #224 The Wishing Stone

06/11/65 #225 The Bottom Of The Bottle

06/14/65 #226 The Manor House

06/15/65 #227 A Bad Day's Work

06/16/65 #228 Incident At Simbarundi

06/17/65 #229 Country Boy

06/18/65 #230 The Banana Ball

06/21/65 #231 The Roper

06/22/65 #232 The Pigeon

06/23/65 #233 Goodbye Matt

06/24/65 #234 A Cup Of Snow For Lt. Vogel

06/25/65 #235 Ride With Death

06/28/65 #236 Custody Of The Mother

06/29/65 #237 You Can't Fight City Hall

06/30/65 #238 Method In The Madness

07/01/65 #239 Teacher, Teacher

07/02/65 #240 Children Of Death

07/05/65 #241 Devotion

07/06/65 #242 Jailbreak

07/07/65 #243 Don't Hesitate To Call

07/08/65 #244 A Matter Of Appearances

07/09/65 #245 Ed's War

07/12/65 #246 Casualty Of A Small War

07/13/65 #247 The Marked Man

07/14/65 #248 The Walls Of Poison Ivy

07/15/65 #249 The Big Waves

07/16/65 #250 Flies With Honey

07/19/65 #251 Summer's End

07/20/65 #252 Flights Of Angels

07/21/65 #253 In Time Of Trouble

07/22/65 #254 Jazz Festival

07/23/65 #255 Whatever Happened To The 5:25?

07/26/65 #256 In Absence Of All Intelligent Life