The Philco Television Playhouse: Season 3
Season 3 Lore Primer
Key plot threads, lore context, and character stakes you need to remember before diving into this season.
- Directly follows the overarching narrative developments of The Philco Television Playhouse Season 2.
- Faction dynamics and core character alliances shift under escalating external stakes.
- Crucial mysteries introduced previously reach key turning points and narrative reckonings.
- Sets up serialized story arcs that build directly toward the climactic season finale.
Episode Guide
Season 3 Progress Shield
High Tor
Sep 10, 1950
Van Dorn is getting the hard sell from businessmen wanting to buy his mountain, High Tor, for commercial use. When the group becomes trapped by a landslide, Van Dorn goes for help
Dear Guest and Ghost
Sep 24, 1950
A mother receives help with her troublesome kids from a friendly ghost.
The Touch of a Stranger
Oct 1, 1950
A scientist's life has been destroyed by another man's greed and takes out his anger on three innocent strangers, implicating them in his own death.
The Vine That Grew on Fiftieth Street
Oct 8, 1950
Seeds planted in a New York City backyard grow into a magical plant that brings happiness to those living near it. Formerly unpleasant neighbors turn into caring, warm-hearted indi
A Husband for Mama
Oct 15, 1950
The three children of a widowed woman scheme to get their mother a new husband, setting their sites on a middle-aged doctor.
Portrait in Smoke
Oct 22, 1950
A debt collector searches for the woman who saved him from an armed holdup; he wants her to have a $1000 reward. As he talks with those who knew her, he learns that she was a siren
The Gambler
Oct 29, 1950
A scathing denunciation of gambling and feudal aristocrats of the 19th Century, this story relates how Philip, a young medical student, bargains away his career for the unsure succ
The Power Devil
Nov 5, 1950
A young attorney involves himself in many shady deals as he pursues political ambitions. His wife speaks up and demands he clean up his act. The threat of disbarment also contribut
I'm Still Alive
Nov 19, 1950
A mousy teacher at a small school had written a swashbuckling story filled with international spies and adventure. Unbeknownst to him, the story is sold to a newspaper as a true ac
Torch for a Dark Journey
Nov 26, 1950
A Czech scientist escapes from Prague with the aid of an American industrialist, who wants to hire him for his personal benefit. The scientist is followed by a former student, now
Bonanza
Dec 10, 1950
The residents of a Western ghost town won't admit that their gold rush "boom town" days ended long ago.
The Pupil
Dec 24, 1950
A tutor hired to instruct an uncontrollable 10-year-old soon recognizes the child's problem: it's his parents. The boy has had never received any affection from his negligent mothe
The Symbol: Jefferson Davis
Jan 7, 1951
Three decades in the life of the Confederate president are covered by three women: each of his two wives, and his daughter.
Confession
Jan 21, 1951
The final confession of the highest degree. A compelling story, told by the eyes of the beholder.
Let Them Be Sea Captains
Feb 18, 1951
Horace Greeley, volatile editor of The New York tribune, and Margaret Fuller, the mid-19th century feminist and first woman employed on the newspaper's staff.
The Man Who Bought a Town
Feb 25, 1951
A butcher purchases the town he calls home to preserve its quiet lifestyle.
No Medals on Pop
Mar 11, 1951
A young boy believes his father deserves a medal for being in the war and is heartbroken when he finds out the truth and how his father disgraced the family.
The Dark Corridor
Mar 18, 1951
The story of the Marr family which is made up of a dominant mother who bates everyone, the vacillating son, his wife, and the blind son. Then a new maid arrives, a maid who has ser
Bulletin 120
Mar 25, 1951
In Mississippi in 1915, Dr. Joseph Goldberger works with a test group of convicts and discovers that pellagra is caused by a dietary deficiency and not infection.
Parnassus on Wheels
Apr 1, 1951
In 1900's New England, Helen McGuill buys a horse-drawn, traveling bookstore, "Parnassus," from its owner, Roger McGuill. Roger travels with Helen in the beginning of her book-sell
Routine Assignment
Apr 8, 1951
A reporter gets a confession of robbery from a man only to have the man then deny his guilt in a complex twist of events.
The Birth of the Movies
Apr 22, 1951
Drama on the career of D.W. Griffith. Producer Fred Coe briefly talks with Lillian Gish before and following the drama.
Mr. Arcularis
Apr 29, 1951
After undergoing important surgery, Mr. Arcularis goes on a long ocean voyage - where increasingly strange things occur.
A Secret Island
May 6, 1951
A vicious woman is determined to see her niece wed for money and social position instead of for love.
The Visitors
May 13, 1951
A young boy's disappearance when his mother remarries leads to a mystery when he is found and has forgotten who he is.
Justice and Mr. Pleznik
May 20, 1951
The story of a naturalized immigrant's first experience with jury duty.
The Adventures of Hiram Holliday
Jun 3, 1951
A mild-mannered proof-reader goes on a world tour, and demonstrates several esoteric skills whilst undergoing exciting adventures.
The Fast Dollar
Jun 10, 1951
A humorous tale of life in a small town and its impact on a would-be confidence man.
Operation: Airlift
Jun 17, 1951
The story of the Berlin airlift, when the Western Allies organized the Berlin Airlift to carry supplies to the people in West Berlin. The success of the airlift humiliated the Sovi
Dr. Hudson's Secret Journal
Jun 24, 1951
Widower Dr. Hudson lives with his daughter and housekeeper and keeps his medical practice success by using the Good book as guidance.
The Plot
Jul 1, 1951
Widower Dr. Hudson lives with his daughter and housekeeper and keeps his medical practice success by using the Good book as guidance.
Case History
Jul 8, 1951
A sleuthing psychiatrist probes a murder in his fiancee's home and stirs up a hornet's nest with his future in-laws.
I Want to March
Jul 15, 1951
The year is 1915 and the suffragettes cause a stir in the home of a zoology professor as his wife takes up the banner of "women's rights".
Pretend I Am A Stranger
Jul 22, 1951
The story of a British soldier and his buddy's widow as the two grow closer in their grief.
Television Story
Jul 29, 1951
A covetous young actress' career means more to her than marriage to a middle-aged actor who turns to TV after a successful career in other facets of show business only to find that
The Return
Aug 5, 1951
An amnesia victim is told by his alleged stepfather that he is heir to a fortune. When his so-called family greet him with reserve, however he gets busy to iron out the unreal prob
Ephraim Tutt's Clean Hands
Aug 12, 1951
Lawyer Tutt refuses to cross the street for a $5 million account, but goes clear to Pottsville to draw up a will for Jim Lawton, staying there until he successfully contests a clai
Come Alive
Aug 19, 1951
An arrogant woman whose self-centered tactics cause endless grief for her secretary, husband, sister and anyone who comes into contact with her.
Night at the Vulcan
Aug 26, 1951
When an actor is murdered backstage, the cast of the production become the suspects, seems the actor had plenty of enemies.
This Time Next Year
Sep 2, 1951
The ghost of Ulysses S. Grant materializes every year at the same time, at his tomb, Grant's Tomb.
Women of Intrigue
Sep 9, 1951
In this tale of Communist intrigue set in England, a man who works for the foreign office disappears.
The Wayward Season
Sep 16, 1951
A composer's reaction to his daughter's marriage to a middle-aged man brings changes in his own life.
The Spur
Sep 23, 1951
After the assassination of President Lincoln, John Wilkes Booth leaped to the stage below, his spur became entangled in the American flag draping the balcony causing Booth to break
By-Line for Murder
Sep 30, 1951
A bitter assistant foreign editor of a London newspaper commits murder in the newspaper office after being passed over yet again for a promotion.
Requiem for a Model A
Oct 7, 1951
After buying a very used car, a writer uncovers some very unusual items under one of the seat cushions. The story of the vehicle's former owners is told via flashbacks.