American TV anthology series (1959)
The David Niven Show is an American half-hour television anthology series that was broadcast from April 7, 1959, through September 15, 1959.
Premise.
This series is an anthology series hosted by David Niven. He acted in one episode.
Production.
"The David Niven Show" was produced by Four Star Productions. Vincent Fennelly produced the show, which was broadcast on NBC on Tuesdays from 10 to 10:30 p.m. Eastern Time, replacing "The Californians". Don Quinn wrote Niven's introductions to episodes, and Niven helped Fennelly select scripts.
Episodes broadcast July 14, 1959, through September 15, 1959, were reruns.
Niven said that he and the show's sponsor undertook the program with the understanding that it would continue in the fall of 1959. "It was never my intention -- nor that of my sponsor -- to do a summer replacement type of series," he said. After the show began, NBC told them that when the new season arrived the time slot would be used for weekly specials. Niven added, "If we knew this was going to happen before we started, we would not have bothered to begin."
Critical response.
A review by Harriet Van Horne in the "El Paso Herald-Post" used Niven's role on "The David Niven Show" as an example of established actors on TV who "use the medium a bit contemptuously". She cited his "minute, maybe less" time on screen to introduce a drama and his post-drama return "for as long as it took to point the moral", adding, "I expect most of us would have been even more grateful for a "David Niven Show" starring David Niven." As for the drama itself, Van Horne wrote that "Fortune's Folly" made her feel "that I've seen it eight or nine times before", and she called it "a cynical little story, despite Mr. Mitchell's excellent performance."
In a review in the "Oakland Tribune", Bill Fiset had a different view of that episode, calling the 30-minute drama "the finest in a long time". Fiset wrote that the show "was tightly written and well done, with no tricks or gimmicks."
Home video.
In April 2014, 12 of the 13 episodes produced were released in a 2-DVD set by Simply Media in the UK. "Episode 9, "Maggie Malone", is missing.
References.
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