Hallmark Hall of Fame

Hallmark Hall of Fame, originally called Hallmark Television Playhouse, is an anthology program on American television, sponsored by Hallmark Cards, a Kansas City–based greeting card company. The longest-running prime-time series in the history of television, it first aired in 1951 and continues into the present day. From 1954 onward, all of its productions have been broadcast in color. It was one of the first video productions to telecast in color,[1] a rarity in the 1950s. Many television films have been shown on the program since its debut, though the program began with live telecasts of dramas and then changed to videotaped productions before finally changing to filmed ones.

Hallmark Hall of Fame
Genre	Anthology
Written by	Robert Hartung Jean Holloway Helene Hanff Gian Carlo Menotti
Directed by	George Schaefer William Corrigan Albert McCleery Kirk Browning Fielder Cook Jeannot Szwarc John Erman
Composers	Gian Carlo Menotti Bernard Green Richard Addinsell Jerry Goldsmith Bruce Broughton Morton Stevens John Kander Ed Shearmur Marvin Hamlisch
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	69
No. of episodes	260 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers	George Schaefer Brent Shields
Producers	Maurice Evans Samuel Chotzinoff Phil C. Samuel Robert Hartung
Cinematography	Freddie Young
Editors	Henry Batista Robert L. Swanson Sam Gold (editor) Richard K. Brockway
Running time	30–150 minutes
Production companies	Hallmark Hall of Fame Productions (1951–2016) Crown Media Productions (2016–present)
Release
Original network	NBC (1951–78) CBS (1979–81, 1982–89, 1995–2011) PBS (1981) ABC (1989–95, 2011–14) Hallmark Channel (2014–present)
Audio format	Monaural Stereo (1980–present)
Original release	December 24, 1951 (1951-12-24) – present

The series has received eighty-one Emmy Awards,[2] dozens ^[specify] of Christopher and Peabody Awards,[3] nine Golden Globes,[2] and Humanitas Prizes.[3] Once a common practice in American television, it is one of the last remaining television programs where the title includes the name of its sponsor. Unlike other long-running TV series still on the air, it differs in that it broadcasts only occasionally and not on a weekly broadcast programming schedule.

The Hall of Fame films have an above average budget and production values nearing that of a feature film.[4]