N.E.T. PLAYHOUSE (1966-1972) – This anthology series from National Educational Television presented dramas, comedies, fantasies and musicals. Many were produced by N.E.T. themselves, others were produced overseas and a very few were movies theatrically released before being shown on N.E.T. Playhouse.
Below is a representative example of the program’s offerings, which could run from one hour to three and a half hours. An incredible range of productions were broadcast during the six-year run of this excellent program. I will examine N.E.T. Playhouse one year at a time.
1966
TEN BLOCKS ON THE CAMINO REAL (October 7th) – Martin Sheen starred as the downtrodden ex-boxer Kilroy in this 90-minute episode adapted from the play by Tennessee Williams. Janet Margolin, Albert Dekker and Lotte Lenya also starred.
THE JOURNEY OF THE FIFTH HORSE (October 14th) – This 2 1/2 hour production was based on the play by Ronald Ribman which was itself based on Ivan Turgenev’s novel The Diary of a Superfluous Man. Dustin Hoffman starred as Zoditch, with a supporting cast which included Michael Tolan, Charlotte Rae, Susan Anspach and Susan Lipton.
THE STAR WAGON (October 21st) – Another 2 1/2 hour production, this one based on Maxwell Anderson’s play about an inventor who devises a time machine then goes to the past to try to change the course of his life. Once again Dustin Hoffman starred, playing Hanus Wicks. In support were Eileen Brennan, Orson Bean, Richard Castellano and others.
L’AVVENTURA (October 28th) – This was a broadcast of the 1961 film from Michelangelo Antonioni and starring Monica Vitti. It occupied a 3 1/2 hour time slot. Continue reading
ARIZONA’S RED GHOST – From 1883 to 1893 Arizona was the home to multiple sightings of a monstrous four-legged creature with red fur ridden by a skeletal man or ghost. Unlike most legends that center around ghosts or cryptids, this one ends with physical remains and a rational explanation grounded in history. 
When the two husbands returned, they saw the woman’s remains and followed the tracks until they petered out, finding red fur in bushes and tree branches along the path of whatever had killed the unfortunate wife. The Mohave County Miner newspaper stated that the coroner’s report found that the death had happened by “some manner unknown”. 
SPACE COMMAND (1953-1954) – Long, long before the recent television series of this name came Canada’s Space Command. James “Scotty” Doohan was Phil Mitchell, Robert Barclay played Frank Anderson, the 20-something young man who was the ostensible star of the show, Harry Geldard portrayed Captain Steve Cassell and Austin Willis was Dr. Fleming. 
ONE HUNDRED FORTY-FIVE – Both teams made the Century Club in this game between the BLUEFIELD STATE BIG BLUES and their guests the JOHNSON & WALES UNIVERSITY (NC) WILDCATS. Defense was not an option, apparently, as the Big Blues led by the unbelievable score of 82-46 at Halftime before going on to win the game 145-106. Malik Lacewell led Bluefield State with 25 points, Malik Tidwell logged 20 points and Khamaury McMillan registered a Double-Double of 12 points and 10 rebounds. 
INSTANT CLASSIC – The MIDATLANTIC CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY MUSTANGS took the court against the VIRGINIA PENINSULA COLLEGE GATORS. At the Half the Mustangs were clinging to a tight 32-30 edge. After the break MACU kept the Gators at arm’s length the rest of the way enroute to a 70-68 victory. Noah Richardson-Keys led the victors with 22 points. 
BRADAMANTE VS ATLANTES – We left off in the previous installment with Bradamante, the female Paladin in white armor, waiting at an inn in Bordeaux for her foretold encounter with the clever dwarf Brunello. Presently the day had come when Brunello arrived, but before she could approach him, both of them were swept up in a crowd of bystanders in a panic, pointing to the sky as the enchanter astride the winged horse once again flew overhead. 
Brunello pretended not to know what happened to the abductees, but the female Paladin had been told by the priestess Melissa that they were used as companions for her missing beloved, Ruggiero. Atlantes had trained and raised Ruggiero since the latter’s childhood and feared the prophecies that the warrior would one day be led away from Islam by his love for Bradamante. 
LES GRANDS DETECTIVES (1975) – A few years back in Balladeer’s Blog’s Forgotten Television category, I reviewed every episode of the British television and radio series 
THE SIX DEAD MEN (April 21st, 1975) 
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