Front Row Center

Front Row Center used to be the name for a television series of original dramatizations, often broadcast live. The first version was aired in 1949 on DuMont Television Network (only one episode from this era has survived), and a similar program started on CBS in 1955. During this era, television broadcasted adaptations of Broadway dramatizations of that time, and it was the highlight of weekend television. I have seen an episode dedicated to the last novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald "Tender is the Night" (the 10th episode of the 1st season aired on September 7, 1955) and surprisingly I had a more interesting viewer experience than what I got from the problematic feature film version Tender is the Night from 1962. The drama was shortened to an hour, the characters had to become more readable, and the atmosphere was intentionally made stifling, to the point that you could cut it. An interesting battle for form took place in American television in the 1950s. (05/02/2024)