General Motors Theatre

General Motors Theatre was a Canadian television anthology series, which ran on CBC Television under its various titles from 1953 until 1961. First transmitted under the sponsored title on October 5, 1954, a new 60-minute drama would be presented each week. As suggested by the title, the programme was sponsored by the General Motors automobile company. It was effectively the same series as the unsponsored CBC Theatre, which had run its first season from December 1, 1953 to April 20, 1954, with General Motors becoming title sponsor for the second season. The series was a breeding ground for writing and directing talent such as William Kotcheff, Donald Jack and Arthur Hailey. One of Hailey's plays for the strand, Flight into Danger, was later remade as the feature film Zero Hour!, and was also screened by the BBC in the United Kingdom. It was a major factor in General Motors Theatre producer — and CBC Supervisor of Drama — Sydney Newman moving to work in the UK, where he later worked on and created anthology series similar to General Motors Theatre such as Armchair Theatre and The Wednesday Play. The series also supported the earlier careers of many Canadian actors such as James Doohan who played a role in the GM Presents production of "The Night they Killed Joe Howe".