Cameo Theatre
Cameo Theatre is an American anthology series that aired on NBC during the Golden Age of Television, from 1950 to 1955, three times as a summer replacement and once as a mid-season replacement for other series. Television in the round The live series, produced by Albert McCleery, introduced to television the concept of theater-in-the-round, which had been well established and popularized since 1947 by Margo Jones with her Theatre '47 in Dallas, Texas. McCleery's method of staging employed minimal sets and props well lit within a black background, enabling cameras to move about with much freedom in the darkness, picking up shots from any angle. McCleery's skill with this type of staging led directly to his producer role with NBC's Matinee Theatre. The technique put the focus directly on the characters and dialogue rather than scenery. The way that McCleery used cameras became known as the "cameo shot" and was imitated widely. Jim Buckley of the Pewter Plough Playhouse (Cambria, California) recalled: When Al McCleery got back to the States, he originated a most ambitious theatrical TV series for NBC called Matinee Theatre: to televise five different stage plays per week live, airing around noon in order to promote color