Series synopsis
Lights Out is an American sci-fi & fantasy crime drama reality television series that premiered on NBC on July 19, 1949. It ended on January 15, 1972. It was created by Justin Zackham. It stars Jack La Rue, Louisa Horton Hill, Leslie Nielsen and Francis L. Sullivan.
Lights Out was an extremely popular American old-time radio program, an early example of a network series devoted mostly to horror and the supernatural, predating Suspense and Inner Sanctum. Versions of Lights Out aired on different networks, at various times, from January 1934 to the summer of 1947 and the series eventually made the transition to television.
In 1946, NBC Television brought Lights Out to TV in a series of four specials, broadcast live and produced by Fred Coe, who also contribu ...
Premise
Lights Out was an extremely popular American old-time radio program, an early example of a network series devoted mostly to horror and the supernatural, predating Suspense and Inner Sanctum. Versions of Lights Out aired on different networks, at various times, from January 1934 to the summer of 1947 and the series eventually made the transition to television.
In 1946, NBC Television brought Lights Out to TV in a series of four specials, broadcast live and produced by Fred Coe, who also contributed three of the scripts. NBC asked Cooper to write the script for the premiere, "First Person Singular", which is told entirely from the point of view of an unseen murderer who kills his obnoxious wife and winds up being executed. Variety gave this first episode a rave review ("undoubtedly one of the best dramatic shows yet seen on a television screen"), but Lights Out did not become a regular NBC-TV series until 1949.
Cast and characters
Leading cast
- Jack La Rue as Narrator (voice)
- Louisa Horton Hill
- Leslie Nielsen
- Francis L. Sullivan
- Everett Sloane
- Steven Hill
- John McQuade
- Tom Drake
Supporting cast
- John Beal
- Nina Foch
- Jonathan Harris
- Robert Stack
- William Eythe
- Joseph Wiseman
- Josephine Hull
- Robert Sterling
- Felicia Montealegre
- Paul Winchell
- Helmut Dantine
- Richard Derr
Guest cast
Episodes
This series spans 5 seasons with 161 episodes.
| Season | Episodes | First aired | Last aired |
|---|---|---|---|
| Season 0 | 4 | June 30, 1946 | October 13, 1946 |
| Season 1 | 48 | July 19, 1949 | September 22, 1950 |
| Season 2 | 52 | August 28, 1950 | August 20, 1951 |
| Season 3 | 57 | August 27, 1951 | January 15, 1972 |
| Season 4 | 0 | August 27, 1951 | January 15, 1972 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
First Person Singular A man, driven crazy by his wife's constant nagging and the oppressive summer heat, decides to strangle the woman. The murderers dream of a nice, cool place ends with a date with the hangman. |
June 30, 1946 |
| 2 | Something in the Wind | August 11, 1946 |
| 3 |
DeMortius Has the doctor murdered his flighty wife? And if he hasn't, will he, sometime soon? |
September 1, 1946 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Edna Warren | July 19, 1949 |
| 2 | Promise | July 26, 1949 |
| 3 | Long Distance | August 2, 1949 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | IDES OF APRIL | August 28, 1950 |
| 2 | Benuili Chant | September 4, 1950 |
| 3 | The Dark Corner | September 11, 1950 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Mrs. Manifold In 1890s London, Mrs. Manifold runs a boarding house for sailors on the waterfront. New hire John hears from a customer that her wine-guzzling husband, Ambrose, long ago disappeared and that some say she killed him. The old lady gets jumpy when a strange man reeking of wine signs the register "Ambrose Manifold. |
August 27, 1951 |
| 2 | Blackwood Hall | September 3, 1951 |
| 3 | Prophet of Darkness | September 10, 1951 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | MRS. MANIFOLD | August 27, 1951 |
| 2 | BLACKWOOD HALL | September 3, 1951 |
| 3 | PROPHET OF DARKNESS | September 10, 1951 |
Production
Release
| Original network/platform | NBC |
|---|---|
| First aired | July 19, 1949 |
| Last aired | January 15, 1972 |
| Runtime | 30 minutes |
| Status | ended |
| Schedule | Tuesday at 21:00:00 |