# Half-Hour TV dramas **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 1, 2016, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/half-hour-tv-dramas/744810 "2016-02-01T03:26:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2016, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/half-hour-tv-dramas/744810/1 "2016-02-01T03:26:28Z")
Watching “Have Gun, Will Travel” on H&I this afternoon it hit me that it is a 30 min drama (though there was a two parter). I’m thinking these are pretty rare. The other one I thought of is the animated Star Trek. Speaking of Star Trek, the actress playing the princess Paladin had to bring back to San Francisco also played T’Pring (Arlene Sax/Martel) Any others half hour dramas? Anything contemporary? Brian ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2016, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/half-hour-tv-dramas/744810/2 "2016-02-01T03:34:35Z")
Peter Gunn ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2016, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/half-hour-tv-dramas/744810/3 "2016-02-01T03:43:31Z")
**In Treatment** was fairly recent, and did fine in the “drama” category of the Emmys and the Golden Globes – and since the Globes classified “The Martian” as a comedy (indeed, as the _best_ of comedies), seems it’d have to be pretty dramatic. ---
**Author:** ![NetTrekker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nettrekker/32/2909_2.png) [@NetTrekker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NetTrekker)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2016, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/half-hour-tv-dramas/744810/4 "2016-02-01T03:47:09Z")
Nurse Jackie is emphasized in this article: > **[Half-hour dramas prove less is more - The Boston Globe](https://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/television/2015/11/07/the-wave-half-hour-dramas/39hq4oFFT6P2nKEvh7TOPO/story.html)** > > The current batch of half-hour dramas includes some of the best series that TV has to offer. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2016, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/half-hour-tv-dramas/744810/5 "2016-02-01T03:51:24Z")
I do remember at one time one of the networks experimented with the 45 minute drama. Two of them back-to-back filled an hour and a half (duh). ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2016, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/half-hour-tv-dramas/744810/6 "2016-02-01T03:57:45Z")
> [@N9IWP](#): > > Watching “Have Gun, Will Travel” on H&I this afternoon it hit me that it is a 30 min drama (though there was a two parter). I’m thinking these are pretty rare. The other one I thought of is the animated Star Trek. “Twilight Zone” was on at about the same time as “Have Gun, Will Travel”, and I think it likewise counts as a 30-minute drama (and, again, the Emmys agreed). ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2016, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/half-hour-tv-dramas/744810/7 "2016-02-01T06:15:55Z")
[United States](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_(TV_series)) was a half hour drama that ran on NBC; 7 of 13 shows aired before it was cancelled. I though it was a bold idea but it was far too maudlin and introspective for audiences at the time (or even today, really; it was interesting but also boring at times and a downer nearly all the time). ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2016, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/half-hour-tv-dramas/744810/8 "2016-02-01T07:16:14Z")
> [@madsircool](#): > > Peter Gunn _Mr. Lucky Lassie The Lone Ranger Night Gallery_ Wasn’t _Gunsmoke_ originally 30 minutes? Also _Alfred Hitchcock Presents_ had 30 minute episodes. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2016, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/half-hour-tv-dramas/744810/9 "2016-02-01T07:24:57Z")
_Wanted: Dead or Alive_ Right now, the short-form series _Galavant_ has half hour episodes, but they run two of them back to back. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2016, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/half-hour-tv-dramas/744810/10 "2016-02-01T07:31:21Z")
Casual on Hulu Red Oaks on Amazon Prime. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2016, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/half-hour-tv-dramas/744810/11 "2016-02-01T08:39:09Z")
_ **Rat Patrol** _, for reasons I could never comprehend. There were a lot of half-hour dramas on TV until around 1968, some syndicated, some not. Many, many Westerns. _ **The Rifleman** _ and\*\*\* Wanted: Dead or Alive\*\*\* come immediately to mind. _ **Steve Canyon** _, _ **Ripcord** _, _ **Sea Hunt** _, _ **Assignment: Underwater** _ (which probably no one other than me remembers) were all half-hour shows. Here are the US network listings for every year since 1946: > **[1946–47 United States network television schedule](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1946%E2%80%9347_United_States_network_television_schedule)** > > The 1946–47 United States network television schedule was nominally from September 1946 to March 1947, but scheduling ideas were still being worked out and did not follow modern standards. > This was the first "network television season" in the United States, and only NBC and DuMont operated networks. CBS only operated one television station, WCBS, and had yet to send out its programs to areas other than New York City. Additionally, several other companies—including Mutual, Paramount, and ABC—ha... ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2016, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/half-hour-tv-dramas/744810/12 "2016-02-01T11:53:43Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Right now, the short-form series _Galavant_ has half hour episodes, but they run two of them back to back. Surely the people who write _Galavant_ intend for it to be a comedy? ---
**Author:** ![Missy2U](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@Missy2U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Missy2U)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2016, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/half-hour-tv-dramas/744810/13 "2016-02-01T15:56:12Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > _Mr. Lucky > Lassie > The Lone Ranger > Night Gallery_ > > **Wasn’t _Gunsmoke_ originally 30 minutes?** > > Also _Alfred Hitchcock Presents_ had 30 minute episodes. (Bolding mine) [Yes, it was.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Gunsmoke_television_episodes) ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2016, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/half-hour-tv-dramas/744810/14 "2016-02-01T16:16:09Z")
Note that although _The Twilight Zone_ certainly qualifies as a half-hour drama it was also an anthology (no recurring characters) as was _Alfred Hitchcock_. Also note that _Twilight Zone_’s clones, _Outer Limits_ and _One Step Beyond_, were both hour-long (as was _TZ_ for one season) and also anthologies. > [@NetTrekker](#): > > Nurse Jackie is emphasized in this article: > > [https://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/television/2015/11/07/the-wave-half-hour-dramas/39hq4oFFT6P2nKEvh7TOPO/story.html](https://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/television/2015/11/07/the-wave-half-hour-dramas/39hq4oFFT6P2nKEvh7TOPO/story.html) _Nurse Jackie_ and the other shows in that article are more dark ‘dramadies’ rather than straight dramas, and they’re all on premium cable (no commercial breaks). Demonstrates how in the past half-hour dramas had to be ‘self-contained’, and how today they still don’t seem to work on network TV. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2016, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/half-hour-tv-dramas/744810/15 "2016-02-01T21:20:54Z")
Adam-12 and Dragnet were 30 minute dramas. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2016, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/half-hour-tv-dramas/744810/16 "2016-02-01T21:31:24Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > _Mr. Lucky > Lassie > The Lone Ranger > Night Gallery_ > > Wasn’t _Gunsmoke_ originally 30 minutes? > > Also _Alfred Hitchcock Presents_ had 30 minute episodes. **Night Gallery** ran for an hour per episode (50 minutes without commercials): > **[Night Gallery (TV Series 1969–1973) ⭐ 7.9 | Drama, Fantasy, Horror](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0065327/)** > > 50m | TV-PG **Twilight Zone** ran for a half hour for every season except the fourth, where the episodes ran an hour. (Consequently, they didn’t get seen very often in syndication, which alotted a half hour for the show). Soap operas like **General Hospital** originally ran for a half hour. I think that back in the 1950s some of them ran for a mere fifteen minutes. **The Guiding Light** was 15 minutes long until 1968! > **[Guiding Light](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guiding_Light)** > > Guiding Light (known as The Guiding Light before 1975) is an American radio and television soap opera. Guiding Light aired on CBS for 57 years between June 30, 1952, and September 18, 2009, overlapping a 19-year broadcast on radio between January 25, 1937, and June 29, 1956. With 72 years of radio and television runs, Guiding Light is the longest-running soap opera, ahead of General Hospital, and is the fifth-longest-running program in all of broadcast history; only the American country music ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2016, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/half-hour-tv-dramas/744810/17 "2016-02-01T22:29:46Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > **Night Gallery** ran for an hour per episode (50 minutes without commercials): > > [Night Gallery (TV Series 1969–1973) - IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0065327/) > **Twilight Zone** ran for a half hour for every season except the fourth, where the episodes ran an hour. (Consequently, they didn’t get seen very often in syndication, which alotted a half hour for the show). > Soap operas like **General Hospital** originally ran for a half hour. I think that back in the 1950s some of them ran for a mere fifteen minutes. **The Guiding Light** was 15 minutes long until 1968! > > [Guiding Light - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guiding_Light) _Night Gallery_ ran for 50 minutes its first two seasons, then cut to 25 minutes in its third season, so it partially qualifies, even if it originally started out as an hour long. > **[Night Gallery](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_Gallery)** > > Night Gallery is an American anthology television series that aired on NBC from December 16, 1970, to May 27, 1973, featuring stories of horror and the macabre. Rod Serling, who had gained fame from an earlier series, The Twilight Zone, served both as the on-air host of Night Gallery and as a major contributor of scripts, although he did not have the same control of content and tone as he had on The Twilight Zone. Serling viewed Night Gallery as a logical extension of The Twilight Zone, but Serli... ---
**Author:** ![bonzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/45deac/32.png) [@bonzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bonzer)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2016, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/half-hour-tv-dramas/744810/18 "2016-02-01T23:28:54Z")
Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton, of _League of Gentlemen_ and _Psychoville_ fame, have been doing [_Inside No. 9_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inside_No._9) for the BBC in recent years. Each episode is a standalone half-hour story, each with - themselves apart - a fresh cast. Invariably a macabre black comedy. Inevitably somewhat variable. But the essentially silent [_A Quiet Night In_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Quiet_Night_In) was an instant classic. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2016, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/half-hour-tv-dramas/744810/19 "2016-02-02T00:31:05Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > _Mr. Lucky > Lassie > The Lone Ranger > Night Gallery_ > > Wasn’t _Gunsmoke_ originally 30 minutes? > > Also _Alfred Hitchcock Presents_ had 30 minute episodes. > [@Andy\_L](#): > > Adam-12 and Dragnet were 30 minute dramas. Some of these were originally radio series. For whatever reason, radio was more friendly to half-hour dramas. ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2016, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/half-hour-tv-dramas/744810/20 "2016-02-02T21:43:44Z")
> [@Andy\_L](#): > > Adam-12 and Dragnet were 30 minute dramas. Ehhh, they were ‘Cop Shows’, slightly different than a straight ‘drama’. It was before my time, so I would have guessed that _Dragnet_ was an hour\*!\* [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/half-hour-tv-dramas/744810.md?page=2)