The practice of television executives of ordering dozens of pilots for proposed television series each year – far more than their networks could possibly broadcast as series – created a sizable body of unsold pilots that had never aired.[1] Packaging these unsold pilots in anthology series and airing them during the summer provided television networks with a way of both providing fresh programming during the summer rerun season and recouping at least some of the expense of producing them.[1]Summer Playhouse was one of these series.[1]
Replacing The New Phil Silvers Show, Summer Playhouse ran for 12 episodes over 12 consecutive weeks in the summer of 1964, airing on CBS from 9:30 to 10:00 p.m. Eastern Time on Saturday evenings.[1] It premiered on July 4,[1] and its last episode that year aired on September 19.[1] It returned in 1965 as a summer replacement for The Andy Griffith Show,[2] premiering on June 28 and running on Monday evenings from 8:30 to 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time for 11 consecutive weeks.[1] Its final episode was broadcast on September 6, 1965.[1]
Well-known entertainer Jimmy Banister and his sister Rosie have raised their orphaned grandson Eddie. Jimmy and Eddie sometimes sing together, and Jimmy is anxious for Eddie to follow in his footsteps as an entertainer, even arranging to film a television spectacular starring the two of them. But after Eddie completes elementary school he looks forward to going to prep school with his friends, and conflict arises as Eddie confronts a choice between more school or a show business career. Starring Jimmy Durante, Ralph Bell, Audrey Christie, Barry Gordon, Eddie Hodges, Dorothy Konrad, John McIntire, Kevin O'Neal, and Darryl Richard. An unsold pilot for a proposed situation comedy to be called The Jimmy Durante Show.
After she wins the Miss Guided Missile beauty contest, Maisie Ravier, an unemployed showgirl born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, must visit a backwater United States Army post in the small town of Clary to support its recruiting program, and her capers breathe new life into the town. When Clary decides to hold a celebration of the 200th anniversary of its founding, she decides to help the townspeople promote it — and when the celebration seems to be falling flat, she decides to stir things up by performing some aerial acrobatics. Starring Janis Paige, Lin McCarthy, Joe Sawyer, Olive Carey, James Mahoney, Rudy Lee, and Henry Kulky. Based on the Maisie Ravier character from Wilson Collison's 1935 novel Dark Dame. A repeat of an episode of New Comedy Showcase originally aired on September 12, 1960, with the title "Maisie."
Debbie and Steve are a young American married couple living happily in a shabby little apartment in Rome and trying to make ends meet on Steve's income as an artist. When they learn that Debbie's staid aunt and uncle from Stamford, Connecticut, are coming to visit them, they are certain that the visitors will disapprove of their Bohemian lifestyle. They panic and go to great lengths to put on appearances to impress the visitors — and keep the visitors from seeing their apartment. Starring Susan Oliver, Allen Case, Howard St. John, Lurene Tuttle, and Marie Windsor.
Wally Weaver is the much-harassed manager of an apartment building filled with eccentric tenants, and he tends to get in trouble by trying to be helpful to them. On a night when his wife Marge is hosting a reunion dinner for her high school friends, Wally upsets her by agreeing to take care of a tenant's pet monkey, then goes upstairs to assist a pretty blonde woman who insists that he help her put out a fire in her kitchen. To placate Marge, he borrows a fur stole from a tenant for Marge to wear during her dinner so she can impress her friends. Starring George Gobel, Sue Anne Langdon, Stanley Adams, Jane Withers, Christine Nelson, Woodrow Parfrey, Beverly Powers, and Naomi Stevens, with cameo appearances by Steve Allen, William Frawley, Reginald Gardiner, and Fred MacMurray. Originally titled "Reunion" as an episode for a proposed series, The Apartment House.
A handsome, greedy opportunist and a lonely unmarried woman develop a mutual attraction because he is single and she is wealthy — but then an unidentified man, perhaps Satan himself, interferes in their lives. Starring Ray Walston, Jo Van Fleet, Lee Phillips, Sue Randall, Simon Twigg, and Tom Greenway. Walston plays several minor roles and narrates the episode.
A teenage boy in a small town becomes the oldest male in his household after his father's sudden death and is determined to take over as the man of the house and the family breadwinner, so he decides to make money by starting a delivery service with his younger brother. Starring Phyllis Avery, Tim Rooney, Jimmy Honer, and Arthur O'Connell. Based on the 1943 novel The Human Comedy by William Saroyan.
Willie McGhee, an unemployed and impoverished young New York City painter (or writer, according to one source), inherits the small Southern California town of Cleveland from his late uncle, who had won the town in a dice game. Upon arriving in California, he meets his distant cousin and friend Hilda and the town's city manager, Ann Dorsey — and discovers not only that the town is bankrupt, but also that the townspeople are counting on him to put it back on its financial feet. Starring Jeremy Slate, Karen Steele, George Chandler, and Connie Sawyer.
Handsome young Sam Cody bluffs his way into the New York City apartment of a pretty young woman, Sally Martin. He tells her that he a doctor from Baltimore and a cousin of her roommate, come to stay at Sally's apartment at the invitation of her roommate while her roommate is spending the weekend in the Berkshires. She warms to him, they spend a weekend together sightseeing and dining in the city, and she lets him spend the night on her couch. As she is beginning to fall for him, she discovers that he did it all on a US$25.00 bet that he could get into her apartment that he had made with another man she had gone on a date with previously. When she finds out about the bet, she slaps Sam and storms off — much to Sam's chagrin, because he is falling for her as well. Starring Cynthia Pepper, Gary Lockwood, Bernie Kopell, Nancy Jeris, John Qualen, Jay Strong, Phyllis Douglas, and David Burns. Produced by Vincent Sherman. Originally titled "They Meet" as the unsold pilot for the proposed situation comedy Sally and Sam (sometimes referred to as "Sam and Sally").
When the famous French ballet dancerMonsieur Quibideaux and a Japanese jockey who has outgrown his saddle visit an exclusive health resort called the Garden of Eden to lose weight, a gleeful, flighty staff member who tries to help becomes a nuisance instead, annoying the guests. She particularly annoys Quibideaux by — among other things — dancing into his room and performing a flying tour jeté to get his attention. Starring Mimi Hines, Phil Ford, Thomas Gomez, Dan Tobin, Roger Etienne, Lee Patrick, Lili Garner, Lloyd Kino, and Yoneo Iguchi. Produced by Philip Rapp. A repeat of an episode previously aired on Summer Playhouse on August 29, 1964.
Jeanne and John Lauren — a former model and a magazine publisher, respectively — are a married couple with two children. They decide that their recently hired housekeeper, Miss Biekel, is not measuring up, particularly in caring for their two sons. However, they disagree on how to tell her that her services are no longer needed and on who should break the news to her. Trying to work up the courage to give Miss Biekel the bad news, they begin separate efforts to fire her. An unsold pilot starring Jeanne Crain, John Vivyan, Jimmie Lee Gaines, Alice Frost, Jack Mullaney, Jerry Barclay, Frances Robinson, Annelle Hayes, and Larri Thomas. Produced by Tony Owen. Filmed in 1960. A repeat of an episode of The Comedy Spot that originally aired on September 4, 1962.