Most Viewed Year 1952

Kanji Watanabe is a middle-aged man who has worked in the same monotonous bureaucratic position for decades. Learning he has cancer, he starts to look for the meaning of his life.

In 1927 Hollywood, a silent film star falls for a chorus girl just as he and his paranoid screen partner struggle to make the difficult transition to talking pictures.

Will Kane, the sheriff of a small town in New Mexico, learns a notorious outlaw he put in jail has been freed, and will be arriving on the noon train. Knowing the outlaw and his gang are coming to kill him, Kane is determined to stand his ground, so he attempts to gather a posse from among the local townspeople.

An American man returns to the village of his birth in Ireland, where he finds love and conflict.

In 18th-century France, a young man masquerades as an actor to avenge his friend's murder.

A fading music hall comedian tries to help a despondent ballet dancer learn to walk and to again feel confident about life.

A woman, distraught because of her recent miscarriage, accidentally injures a child in a hit-and-run accident, but she keeps the incident a secret. Overcome with guilt and remorse, she seeks out the child in the hospital and attempts to help him regain his speech, even though, if successful, it might mean he will implicate her for the crime.

During WWII, the valet to the British Ambassador to Ankara sells British secrets to the Germans while trying to romance a refugee Polish countess.

At the start of the First World War, in the middle of Africa’s nowhere, a gin soaked riverboat captain is persuaded by a strong-willed missionary to go down river and face-off a German warship.

Sir Walter Scott's classic story of the chivalrous Ivanhoe who joins with Robin of Locksley in the fight against Prince John and for the return of King Richard the Lionheart.

In 17th century Edo Period Japan, a noblewoman's banishment for her love affair with a lowly page signals the beginning of her inexorable fall.

Ivan Ivanović, a party functionary, arrives in a provincial town as a temporary replacement for a cultural official. The newcomer is fanatically eager to reform the town's cultural life in accordance with socialist ideals. He abolishes all five music societies and orders a monument of the town's most revered native, late composer Ciguli Miguli, removed from the main square. Ivanović's actions, however, meet stiff resistance from the townspeople, especially the youth.

The arranged marriage between a capricious woman from Tokyo high society and a quiet and rustic man is tested by a marital crisis.

The story of Kiyoko, a young woman who has successfully managed to make a break with her dysfunctional family who have been trying to arrange a marriage for her with a disagreeable man whom she has rejected.

An Eskimo Army Sergeant is sent to his Arctic tribal village to gather information about a mysterious unmarked black airplane which shadows military planes in northern Alaska and equally-mysterious flashings lighting up the sky from Siberia across the Bering Strait. He soon discovers Soviet espionage at work. Along the way he must also deal with an ice-floe evacuation, an air-ice rescue, a fight with a polar bear and marriage to his fiancee.

In turn-of-the-century Australia, two criminals ingratiate themselves with a rancher in order to swindle him. However, the two partners become rivals for the affection of the rancher's beautiful daughter.

In this loose adaptation of Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre, childhood sweethearts Kamla and Shankar are separated and grow up in different worlds. The girl is brought up to be a priestess, while the boy becomes a dejected thakur, turned vindictive by life's injustices. Fate inevitably brings them together again, but Kamla does not know about her beloved's secret.

An Oklahoma National Guard unit, comprised mainly of Native Americans, is called up for duty at the start of World War II.

The forthcoming wedding of Norma and Armando, a young lawyer, was supposed to be a great and wonderful event for the two, but everything went haywire.

Mataemon Araki, a renowned swordsman, helps a young man find vengeance.

German daily news program, the oldest still existing program on German television.

Today is a daily American morning television show that airs on NBC. The program debuted on January 14, 1952. It was the first of its genre on American television and in the world, and is the fifth-longest running American television series. Originally a two-hour program on weekdays, it expanded to Sundays in 1987 and Saturdays in 1992. The weekday broadcast expanded to three hours in 2000, and to four hours in 2007. Today's dominance was virtually unchallenged by the other networks until the late 1980s, when it was overtaken by ABC's Good Morning America. Today retook the Nielsen ratings lead the week of December 11, 1995, and held onto that position for 852 consecutive weeks until the week of April 9, 2012, when it was beaten by Good Morning America yet again. In 2002, Today was ranked #17 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest Television Shows of All Time.

Four Star Playhouse is an American television anthology series that ran from 1952 to 1956, sponsored in its first bi-weekly season by The Singer Company; Bristol-Myers became an alternate sponsor when it became a weekly series in the fall of 1953. The original premise was that Charles Boyer, Ida Lupino, David Niven, and Dick Powell would take turns starring in episodes. However, several other performers took the lead from time to time, including Ronald Colman and Joan Fontaine. Blake Edwards was among the writers and directors who contributed to the series. Edwards created the recurring character of illegal gambling house operator Willie Dante for Dick Powell to play on this series. The character was later revamped and spun off in his own series starring Howard Duff, then-husband of Lupino. The pilot for Meet McGraw, starring Frank Lovejoy, aired here, as did another episode in which Lovejoy recreated his role of Chicago newspaper reporter Randy Stone, from the radio drama Nightbeat.

Omnibus is an American, commercially sponsored, educational television series.

This Is Your Life is an American television documentary series broadcast on NBC, originally hosted by its producer, Ralph Edwards from 1952 to 1961. In the show, the host surprises a guest, and proceeds to take them through their life in front of an audience, including special guest appearances by colleagues, friends and family. Edwards revived the show in 1971-72, while Joseph Campanella hosted a version in 1983. Edwards returned for some specials in the late 1980s, before his death in 2005. The show originated as a radio show on NBC Radio airing from 1948 to 1952.

This show started in New York City, with Broadway actors and actresses. It then moved to Hollywood, California, where Hollywood actors and actresses headed the cast.

The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet is an American sitcom, airing on ABC from October 3, 1952 through March 26, 1966, starring the real life Nelson family. After a long run on radio, the show was brought to television where it continued its success, running on both radio and television for a few years. The series stars Ozzie Nelson and his wife, singer Harriet Nelson, and their young sons, David and Eric "Ricky" Nelson. Don DeFore had a recurring role as the Nelsons' friendly neighbor "Thorny".

It's a bird! It's a plane! It's a syndicated TV adaptation of the beloved DC Comics superhero! You know the drill: When he isn't fighting for truth, justice and the American way, the man in tights dons a suit and glasses for his secret identity as Daily Planet newspaper reporter Clark Kent, who works alongside friends Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen for gruff boss Perry White.

A panel tries to determine a contestant's secret: something that is unusual, amazing, embarrassing, or humorous about that person.

Guiding Light is an American television soap opera that is credited by the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest-running television drama in history, broadcast from 1952 until 2009, preceded by a 15-year broadcast on radio. Guiding Light stands as the third longest-running program in all of broadcast history; only the Norwegian children's radio program Lørdagsbarnetimen and the American country music radio program Grand Ole Opry have been on the air longer. On April 1, 2009, it was announced that CBS canceled Guiding Light after a 72-year run due to low ratings. The show taped its final scenes for CBS on August 11, 2009, and its final episode on the network aired on September 18, 2009.

Mr. Peepers is a shy science teacher at Jefferson Junior High. He is always faced with problems but is never outwitted.

Bud and Lou are unemployed actors living in Mr. Fields’ boarding house. Lou’s girlfriend Hillary lives across the hall. Many situations arise leading to slapstick and puns.

Hopalong Cassidy was television's first western program. The series aired on NBC and stared William Boyd as the cowboy Hopalong Cassidy.

Mr. & Mrs. North is an American comedy/mystery television series that aired on CBS from October 3, 1952 to May 25, 1954. The series centers on Jerry North, a mystery magazine publisher who thinks he is a good amateur detective, and his wife, Pamela, as they solve crimes in New York City.

Cavalcade of America is an anthology drama series that was sponsored by the DuPont Company, although it occasionally presented a musical, such as an adaptation of Show Boat, and condensed biographies of popular composers. It was initially broadcast on radio from 1935 to 1953, and later on television from 1952 to 1957. Originally on CBS, the series pioneered the use of anthology drama for company audio advertising. Cavalcade of America documented historical events using stories of individual courage, initiative and achievement, often with feel-good dramatizations of the human spirit's triumph against all odds. This was consistent with DuPont's overall conservative philosophy and legacy as an American company dating back to 1802. The company's motto, "Maker of better things for better living through chemistry," was read at the beginning of each program, and the dramas emphasized humanitarian progress, particularly improvements in the lives of women, often through technological innovation.

Chevron Theatre is a 30-minute American anthology television series that aired from 1952 to 1954, featuring various dramatic stories with different guest stars in each episode. Notable actors included Natalie Wood, Raymond Burr, and Buddy Ebsen.

China Smith was a 1950s television adventure series starring Dan Duryea. The television show takes place in Singapore. Much of the cast and crew also worked on the film World for Ransom, which is considered an extension of the television program. Director Robert Aldrich had also directed two episodes of the series. The title character was a soldier of fortune wearing a white suit living in Singapore who would face danger and excitement every week. The series was made with a two-year gap; the first 26 episodes being filmed in Mexico, the second 26 episodes were shot in 1954-1955. In 1959 Daffy Duck played China Jones a parody of Duryea's character.

A U.S. government agent travels the world on undercover missions in this 1950s series. Star Brian Donlevy originated the role on radio in the '40s.

My Little Margie is an American situation comedy starring Gale Storm and Charles Farrell that alternated between CBS and NBC from 1952 to 1955.