Live Television
Dr. Maureen Mauk, who has extensively studied the history of Emerson and The Faye Emerson Show, writes of its debut:
“The Faye Emerson Show began as a regionally broadcast interview show on October 24, 1949, running in local East Coast markets one night a week. By March 1950, it had become a national late-night show, airing three times a week in various time slots between 7:45 p.m. and 11 p.m. across all US markets for CBS as the network began stretching its broadcast times and experimenting with various time slots later in the evening.” (134)
In the below episode, Emerson welcomes director Otto Preminger and theater owner Harry Brandt to the show to discuss the future of motion pictures and the effect television has had on the film industry. Brandt argues that, while television may initially cut into attendance at movie theaters, the drop won’t be permanent since he feels motion pictures are a higher quality form of entertainment than television. Preminger feels television, given the right circumstances and budgets, will produce quality programming.