GE True

GE True
A screenshot from the opening sequence
Also known as	General Electric True
Genre	Anthology
Written by	Harold Jack Bloom Otis Carney John Kneubuhl Lou Morheim Dean Riesner Michael Zagor
Directed by	William Conrad Robert M. Leeds Jack Webb
Presented by	Jack Webb
Narrated by	Jack Webb
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	33 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer	Jack Webb
Producer	Michael Meshekoff
Cinematography	Daniel L. Fapp Bert Glennon Carl E. Guthrie Harold E. Stine
Camera setup	Single-camera
Running time	25 minutes
Production companies	Warner Bros. Television CBS Television Network
Original release
Network	CBS
Release	September 30, 1962 – May 26, 1963

GE True (also known as General Electric True) is a 33-episode, American anthology series sponsored by General Electric that aired from September 30, 1962, until May 26, 1963, with repeats through September 1963. Telecast on CBS, the series presented stories, both published and unpublished, from the files of True magazine. The series' executive producer was Jack Webb through his Mark VII Limited company; he also acted as host-narrator, directed several episodes, and acted in several episodes.

Program overview

A representative of the publisher of True magazine met Jack Webb at a party in New York and suggested the magazine as a source of material. Webb and others then researched the magazine's files for story ideas. Stories were adapted for television primarily by head writer Harold Jack Bloom. More than half of the episodes were directed by William Conrad, who portrayed Matt Dillon on radio's Gunsmoke and was later the star of the CBS crime drama Cannon.

In an overview of the 1962 television season, Time noted:

Jack ("dum-de-dum-dum") Webb is back. This time he is retelling stories from the files of True magazine. The first one was set on a hospital ship off Okinawa, where a doctor (played by William Conrad) operated on a marine who had a live and sensitive shell in his body capable of blowing a six-foot hole in a steel deck. It was a hell of a moment, but Webb sank it. "At 1830 hours exactly," he intoned, "the operation began on a human bomb dead center in the circle of death." He hosts the program in an echo-chambered voice, while he stands beside the word TRUE, spelled out in block letters 22 feet high, or roughly 10 times as tall as Jack Webb.

GE True aired at 9:30 p.m. Sundays, following The McCoys, a sitcom that had moved to CBS from ABC. GE True aired a half-hour later than a predecessor series, General Electric Theater, hosted by Ronald Reagan, which had aired at 9 p.m. from 1953 to 1962. Both The McCoys and GE True faced opposition from the highly rated Western series Bonanza on NBC.

The show had a unique opening, of which there were at least two variants. Each opening featured a large "TRUE" sign, apparently several stories tall and shown at an oblique angle, initially in deep shadow. One variant began with Webb voicing "Good evening. Your host, General Electric." with a large GE logo displayed next to the TRUE sign. Another variant lacked the GE logo, but included a superimposed quotation from Daniel Webster: "There is nothing so powerful as truth, and often nothing so strange." Strong symphonic music was featured as part of a majestic opening theme. Webb walked alongside the TRUE sign and stated either "And this, is true" (GE logo variant) or simply "This is true". The sign became brightly lit and the camera changed to a direct view of Webb, who then introduced the episode.

The Webb-hosted short film Red Nightmare (1962) had similarities to the GE True episode "The Last Day", although the former was presented as fantasy via a dream sequence.

In February 1963, Webb succeeded William T. Orr as executive in charge of Warner Bros. Television, with Orr moving to the motion picture part of Warner Bros. At the beginning of June 1963, it was reported that GE True would not continue. Webb's role with Warner ended in December 1963.

Reruns of GE True were later syndicated under the title True.

Episodes

Guest stars

In addition to performers mentioned above, other notable persons who guest starred on GE True include: