However, the early horror anthology shows generally achieved moderate ratings success. These offered a diverse array of prestigious teleplays, aimed at a middle-class audience, and typically adapted from classic literature, highbrow theatre plays and light comedies 5. Due to lowbrow connotations, the live horror anthologies were “not critically acclaimed 4” in contrast to the dramatic anthology strand that concurrently predominated the network schedule. A subgenre within the broader category of the TV anthology format, the early horror anthology shows were genre specific, specialising in standalone teleplays contained under an umbrella title in which “horror, mystery, the supernatural, murder and insanity were the basis of mostly live and original scary stories 3”. Alongside Lights Out, the first cycle included counterparts such as Suspense (CBS, 1949-1954), Starring Boris Karloff (ABC, 1949), The Clock (NBC, 1949–1951 ABC, 1951–1952), Mr Black (ABC, 1949), Tales of Tomorrow (ABC, 1951-1953), Trapped: Tales of the Supernatural (WOR-TV, 1950-1952), Hands of Murder (DuMont, 1949–1951), Tales of the Black Cat (NBC, 1950-1951), Escape (CBS, 1950), and Out of the Fog (ABC, 1952). Commissioned during the US TV schedule of 1949-1950, Lights Out emerged at the forefront of a trend of horror anthology shows aired live from New York, the majority of which were transferred from successful radio antecedents. The first cycle of horror anthologies constituted a significant part of the US network schedule for half-a-decade, commencing in the late-1940s and culminating in the mid-1950s 2. As further evid (.)ĢThe anthology form represented the primary mode of horror TV throughout the first two decades of US TV 1. 6 Anonymous, “Mysteries: They Love ‘Em on TV!”, Sponsor, Vol.5 The highbrow dramatic anthology strand was represented by examples such as Studio One (CBS, 1948-19 (.).4 Madelyn Ritrosky-Winslow, “Anthology Drama”, Encyclopedia of Television, ed.3 William Hawes, Live Television Drama, 1946-1951, North Carolina and London, McFarland, 2001, p. 2 Following this, the hosted horror anthology show advanced as a programme form on US TV, as the subg (.).1 This was prior to the advent of other programme and series forms, such as the serial and made-for-T (.).In so doing, Gallop instigated the custom of the anthology TV horror host being inherently connected to its respective programme’s brand image. Indeed, Gallop’s newfound ghoulish image in the early-1950s, both directly and indirectly, established a crucial component in the overall identity of Lights Out. As an extension of his presentational performance, Gallop’s Lights Out persona was also utilised in the series’ promotion and publicity. His wraparound segments entailed direct-to-camera address in which his forbidding commentary related to each standalone story was heightened by his depiction as a spectral form discretely situated in a shadowy locale specifically, a floating, bodiless head with detached skeletal hands fronting a pitch-black backdrop. Exclusive to the weekly production and broadcast of each live and self-contained Lights Out episode, the distinctive features of Gallop’s semi-fictional guise intentionally augmented the mood of the horror content. In stark contrast, the ghoulish characterisation that he adopted as the on-screen narrator of Lights Out (NBC, 1949-1952), one of the earliest horror anthology shows in the US TV network schedule, was a deviation that considerably shifted his image. In-part, Gallop was recognised for his amiable and elegant traits when functioning as a regular radio and TV announcer for variety programming. Spanning the late-1930s to late-1960s, Gallop’s three-decade media career also included voice-over narration work, as well as garnering cult status in later years as a singer. 1Frank Gallop (1900-1988) was an American media personality primarily associated with presentational roles across US network radio and TV.
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