Dumont Television / Television / 2026 / 2026

Television the Way It Used to Be: The Dumont TV Network's Inventive Shows highlights the live, original series broadcast on that network from the mid-1940s to the mid-1950s. Details on innovative anthologies like Hands of Murder and Dark of Night are included along with several other forgotten shows such as Program Playhouse - one of the first series of TV pilots for viewers to select which could be made into a series; Shadow of the Cloak, the first spy series on television; and The Gallery of Madame Lio-Tsung, the first series to feature a female lead character of Asian-American descent. Other notable series in the book are obscure situation comedies like The Laytons, Family Genius, and The O'Neills; soap operas including Highway to the Stars and One Woman's Experience; talent shows -The Original Amateur Hour and a talent series for pets titled Pets on Trial; musical comedies such as Flight to Rhythm and Once Upon a Tune; and series that were the precursors to today's Antiques Roadshow and Shark Tank.This book is also the only one about the DuMont Television Network that details Dumont pilots that never became a series - a game show to be hosted by Dennis James called The Lady or the Tiger, a variety show titled Carnival, and two anthologies - Climax and Frederic March Theatre as well as other unsold pilots.Television the Way It Used to Be recounts the many ways DuMont made low-cost, innovative television shows throughout its years as a broadcast network.Richard Irvin has written several books about television history including Forgotten Laughs, Spinning Laughter, and Comedy Archaeology - all from BearManor Media.