Tune In for Action: 34 Short-Lived Detective, Western, Espionage and Medical Series of 1950s Syndicated Television

Television in the 1950s presented a stunning lineup of heroic personae: police officers, private eyes, guardians of the law in the Old West, spies, doctors, nurses, attorneys and even an intrepid IRS agent. Their adventures, which often featured stars of yesteryear, had limited budgets and were syndicated to stations nationwide, offered viewers a weekly half hour of action, mystery and drama but were all too soon relegated to reruns.

In production for a maximum of two years, the 34 shows sp...