This is a listing of 1950s shows. These tv shows aired between January 1, 1950 and December 31, 1959. This era is considered the Golden Age of Television, an exciting time when the tv was a new technology just beginning to be adopted into the average US household. Much of tv programming was aired live, including scripted shows like dramas and comedies. Many radio shows were adapted for television, like Dragnet and The Lone Ranger.
1950s TV Shows List
| 77 Sunset Strip Two former government secret agents set up shop as private detectives in a stylish office on the Sunset strip. | |
| The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet This sitcom features the entire Nelson family, Ozzie, Harriet, Ricky, and David as themselves. Every week, their adventures consisted of misunderstandings or problems that were quickly resolved. Ricky Nelson quickly rose to fame as a teen idol and rock star on the show. | |
| The Bob Cummings Show (1955) Bob Cummings stars as a ladie's man, photographer, and Air Force reserve officer in this show (also known as Love That Bob). | |
| Bonanza Set in the 1860's, Bonanza follows the lives and adventures of Ben Cartwright and his three sons, Adam, Hoss, and Little Joe on their ranch, the Ponderosa. | |
| Cheyenne This western follows the adventures of Cheyenne Bodie after the Civil War as he looked for bad guys to beat up and women to pursue. | |
| Climax! This anthology series featured a different case and different dramatic story each week. One such episode was Casino Royale, the James Bond story that later became a movie of the same title. | |
| The Danny Thomas Show Successful nightclub singer Danny Williams encounters difficult and amusing situations while trying to balance his career and family life. | |
| Death Valley Days This anthology series, which started as a radio program, features tales, based on true accounts, of the old west, particularly the Death Valley area. | |
| Dennis the Menace This television series is based on the Hank Ketchum comic strip of the same name. It follows the adventures of Dennis Mitchell, a young boy prone to getting into mischief and trouble. | |
| The Donna Reed Show The show follows the daily lives of middle-class housewife Donna Stone and her family. | |
| Dragnet (1951) Based on the radio show of the same name, Dragnet follows the career of LAPD Sgt. Joe Friday and dramatizes stories based on true crimes. | |
| Father Knows Best | |
| Gunsmoke | |
| Have Gun - Will Travel | |
| Highway Patrol | |
| The Honeymooners | |
| I Love Lucy Lucy wants to be a star and constantly attempts to get into her bandleader husband Ricky’s act. Her landlord, Ethel, is also sometimes her partner in crime with her various schemes. | |
| I Married Joan | |
| Johnny Ringo | |
| Johnny Staccato | |
| Kraft Television Theatre | |
| Lassie | |
| Leave It To Beaver | |
| The Lone Ranger | |
| The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis | |
| Maverick | |
| Mike Hammer (1958) | |
| Mister Ed | |
| Naked City | |
| Perry Mason | |
| Peter Gunn | |
| The Phil Silvers Show | |
| Rawhide Rawhide follows the lives of a trail boss, his men, and the people and adventures they encounter during their cattle drive. | |
| The Real McCoys | |
| The Rebel After the Civil War, Confederate soldier Johnny Yuma roams the Wild West fighting bad guys and helping out settlers. | |
| The Rifleman | |
| Sea Hunt | |
| This Is Your Life | |
| The Twilight Zone You're traveling through another dimension, a dimension not only of sight and sound but of mind; a journey into a wondrous land whose boundaries are that of imagination. That's the signpost up ahead - your next stop, the Twilight Zone! | |
| What's My Line? | |
| Zane Grey Theater | |
| Zorro Don Diego de la Vega fights the corrupt authorities in Spanish California as his alter ego, the swordsman Zorro. |
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