Wire Service

Wire Service
Also known as	Deadline for Action
Genre	Drama
Written by	Al C. Ward Frederick Brady
Directed by	Lance Comfort Tom Gries
Starring	Dane Clark George Brent Mercedes McCambridge
Country of origin	United States
Language(s)	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	37 (List of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Warren Lewis Don Sharpe
Producer(s)	Buck Houghton
Running time	45–48 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel	ABC
Picture format	Black-and-white
Audio format	Monaural
Original run	October 4, 1956 (1956-10-04) – June 17, 1957 (1957-06-17)

Wire Service is an American drama series that aired on ABC as part of its 1956-57 season lineup.

Synopsis

Wire Service focuses on three reporters for the fictional Trans-Globe wire service, which was similar to (and obviously inspired by) real-life news wire services such as the Associated Press and United Press International. It was the first hour-long, weekly scheduled dramatic series with continuing characters to last a full season on network television. However, the three reporters functioned independently of each other, meaning that the series was essentially three different ones sharing a time slot and title.

This program was aired at 9 p.m. (Eastern time) Thursdays from September 1956 to February 1957, when it was moved to Mondays at 8:30. It was not renewed for a second season, and the last prime time broadcast under this title was in September 1957. However, when a gap developed in the ABC schedule in February 1959, the episodes starring Dane Clark (only) were then rebroadcast under the title Deadline for Action. The last of these repeat episodes was broadcast on September 13, 1959.

Cast

• Dane Clark as Dan Miller
• George Brent as Dean Evans
• Mercedes McCambridge as Katherine Wells

Episodes

Episode #	Episode Title	Original Airdate
1	"Blood Rock Mine"	October 4, 1956
2	"Campaign Train"	October 11, 1956
3	"Hideout"	October 18, 1956
4	"The Johnny Rath Story"	October 25, 1956
5	"Night of August 7th"	November 1, 1956
6	"Conspiracy"	November 8, 1956
7	"The Tower"	November 15, 1956
8	"Deported"	November 22, 1956
9	"Until I Die"	November 29, 1956
10	"The Avengers"	December 6, 1956
11	"The Deep End"	December 12, 1956
12	"High Adventure"	December 20, 1956
13	"The Block Rock Mine"	December 27, 1956
14	"Chicago Exclusive"	January 3, 1957
15	"World of the Lonely"	January 10, 1957
16	"The Third Inevitable"	January 17, 1957
17	"Flowers for the General"	January 24, 1957
18	"The Comeback"	January 31, 1957
19	"Atom at Spithead"	February 11, 1957
20	"El Hombre"	February 18, 1957
21	"Profile of Ellen Gale"	February 25, 1957
22	"Dateline Las Vegas"	March 4, 1957
23	"Forbidden Ground"	March 11, 1957
24	"No Peace in Lo Dao"	March 18, 1957
25	"A Matter of Conscience"	March 25, 1957
26	"Misfire"	April 1, 1957
27	"The Indictment"	April 8, 1957
28	"Ninety and Nine"	April 15, 1957
29	"The Oil Man"	April 22, 1957
30	"Run, Sheep, Run"	April 29, 1957
31	"The Death Merchant"	May 6, 1957
32	"Violence Preferred"	May 13, 1957
33	"The Last Laugh"	May 20, 1957
34	"Confirm or Deny"	May 27, 1957
35	"Four Minutes to Shot"	June 3, 1957
36	"The Washington Story"	June 10, 1957
37	"A Death at Twin Pines"	June 17, 1957

References

• Brooks, Tim and Marsh, Earle, The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows

External links

• Wire Service at the Internet Movie Database
• Wire Service at TV.com