Hallmark Hall of Fame
1951
📺 61 Seasons
🎬 364 Episodes
📅 Returning Series
🌐 EN
⏱️ 120 min/episode
Drama
Hallmark Hall of Fame is an anthology program on American television, sponsored by Hallmark Cards, a Kansas City based greeting card company. The longest-running primetime series in the history of television, it has a historically long run, beginning during 1951 and continuing into 2013. From 1954 onward, all of its productions have been shown in color, although color television video productions were extremely rare in 1954. Many television movies have been shown on the program since its debut, though the program began with live telecasts of dramas and then changed to videotaped productions before finally changing to filmed ones.
The series has received eighty Emmy Awards, twenty-four Christopher Awards, eleven Peabody Awards, nine Golden Globes, and four Humanitas Prizes. Once a common practice in American television, it is the last remaining television program such that the title includes the name of the sponsor. Unlike other long-running TV series still on the air, it differs in that it broadcasts only occasionally and not on a weekly broadcast programming schedule.
Seasons
Season 1
Broadcast live from New York, Gian Carlo Menotti's Christmas story was the first opera commissioned for television, and was repeated in several subsequent telecasts.
Season 2
Traces New York City's crooked Broadway Street back to its origins in 1720, when the street plan was changed to avoid cutting down a cherry tree.
Season 3
A woman poses as an agent in the East.
Season 4
The Swedish-American inventor of dynamite, established before his death the Nobel Prize to be awarded annually for the best work in the field of physics, medicine and chemistry.
Season 5
Adaptation of the stage version devised by Le Gallienne and Friebus of the children's classic by Lewis Carroll.
Season 6
Adaptation of Kanin's Broadway comedy.
Season 7
African-American tales of spirituality and oral black storytelling through a collection of vignettes on various Biblical stories and figures.
Season 8
Season 9
Hallowe'en adaptation of the stage play by Maxwell Anderson; includes a tribute to Maxwell Anderson by Helen Hayes.
Season 10
A musical adaptation of James Hilton's novel ""Lost Horizon,"" in which a plane crash in the Himalayas leads a group of survivors to the hidden society of Shangri-La and its closely guarded secret of longevity.
Season 11
Adaptation of the Broadway play by Housman, chronicling Queen Victoria's 50 years on the English throne.
Season 12
Adaptation of the Putlizer Prize-winning comedy by John Patrick, based on the novel by Vern Sneider.
A US Army captain is sent to teach the fundamentals of democracy and industry to the resident of a small village in occupied Japan. The first reconstructed local industry turns out to be a teahouse staffed with traditional geishas.
Season 13
Adaptation of Kingsley's Broadway play.
During the post-Revolutionary War period of the 1790s, Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson clash over the precarious economic and military positions of the new republic.
Season 14
Television adaptation of the remarkably long-running off-Broadway musical.
Season 15
Napoleon's last days of exile on the barren island of St. Helena.
Season 16
Adaptation of Anderson's Broadway play about the philosopher Socrates' clash with authority.
Season 17
Based on the novel by John Hersey and the play by Paul Osborn.
""Gratefully dedicated to all veterans of all wars""
Season 18
Despite a severe on-the-field injury, an aging quarterback refuses to give up his dream of returning to professional football.
Season 19
Adaptation of the Cold War thriller by Catherine Gaskin.
Sally Devlin struggles to locate her father, an eminent author who has vanished near the Iron Curtain.
Season 20
In 1969, Richard Chamberlain became the first American to play Hamlet in England since John Barrymore. This production is lavishly costumed in the style of Europe in the early 1800s, as well as being filmed at England's 600-year-old Raby Castle.
Season 21
On the coast of North England, a shot, wounded snow goose creates a close relationship between a lonely man and a young woman when they take care of the helpless bird.
Season 22
The Hands of Cormac Joyce is a 1972 telemovie.
Season 23
Adaptation of the novel by John Neufeld.
Popular and intelligent teeenager Lisa Schilling succumbs to inexplicable and severe depression.
Season 24
A middle-aged man and a married woman meet by chance and have a brief affair.
Season 25
Documents a tribute to Mr. Joyce C. Hall, Chairman, Hallmark Cards, Inc., and to the Hallmark hall of fame on the occasion of its 25th anniversary. Includes clips from eight Emmy award-winning Hallmark hall of fame programs (Little Moon of Alban, The Magnificent Yankee, The Snow Goose, Eagle in a Cage, Teacher, Teacher, Macbeth, Elizabeth the Queen, and A Storm in Summer).
Season 26
The story of famed evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson, who in 1926 vanished from a California beach, setting off an extensive police search. Six weeks later she turned up in Mexico, claiming she had been kidnaped. But many, including her mother and the police, suspected Aimee staged her disappearance to conceal a tryst with a married man.
Season 27
The Last Hurrah is a 1977 TV film from the Hallmark Hall of Fame, based on the novel The Last Hurrah by Edwin O'Connor. It was directed by Vincent Sherman.
The novel was previously adapted for a 1958 film of the same name, starring Spencer Tracy.
Season 28
Two loners on campus, an ancient history professor and her student, help each other emerge from their shells.
Season 29
Season 30
A one-man show spanning the lifetime of Abraham Lincoln, from his turning against slavery as a young man through his reading of the Gettysburg Address.
Season 31
In 1975, after 14 frustrating years teaching in public schools, Marva Collins opened the Westside Preparatory School — in her own home — on Chicago's depressed West Side. Hoping to create an educational environment where the basics came first (and frivolity was banished altogether), Collins faced problems from the outset: low enrollment, high bills, bureaucratic snafus, and, most daunting, the skepticism of her charges' parents. This presentation recounts the story of the school's trying first year, and along the way, profiles a singular teacher who tempers old-fashioned strictness with praise, patience, and inspiration.
Season 32
A television version of the screenplay by Wilder and Kurnitz, adapted by Marcus, based on Agatha Christie's stage play.
A phlegmatic London barrister defends one Leonard Vole, a ""nice, harmless chap"" who's on trial for the murder of a widow who had taken a shine to him. The circumstantial evidence against Vole is strong, especially since he's unemployed and stands to inherit a considerable sum from the victim. And to further complicate the defense, the only person who can provide an alibi is Vole's wife Christine, who has agreed to be a witness for the prosecution.
Season 33
Adaptation of the novel by John Steinbeck.
Season 34
Adaptation of La dame aux camelias by Alexandre Dumas fils.
The story of the ill-fated love affair between the famous Parisian courtesan, Marguerite Gautier, and her young admirer, Armand Duval.
Season 35
Love Is Never Silent is a 1985 Hallmark Hall of Fame TV movie aired on CBS December 9, 1985 and stars Mare Winningham and Cloris Leachman. It is based on the novel by Joanne Greenberg.
Season 36
Promise is a 1986 made-for-television movie directed by Glenn Jordan. PLOT: Promise represented the first of several momentous TV-movie teamings of James Garner and James Woods. Garner plays an affable middle-aged salesman. When his mother dies, Garner is compelled to fulfill his long-ago promise to her: to look after his schizophrenic younger brother Woods. What begins as a fitfully painful experience for both men culminates with an unexpected, powerful climax, predicated by a memory-laden fishing trip. Piper Laurie co-stars as an old flame of Garner who finds herself a compassionate spectator to the troubled and bizarrely touching relationship between the two long-estranged brothers. Written by Richard Friedenberg, The Promise premiered December 14, 1986. Emmy awards were bestowed upon James Woods, Piper Laurie, Richard Friedenberg, director Glenn Jordan, and the film itself.
Season 37
The Secret Garden is the 1987 Hallmark Hall of Fame TV film adaptation of the novel The Secret Garden, aired on CBS November 30, 1987 and produced by Rosemont Productions Limited, who also produced Back to the Secret Garden. The movie starred Gennie James, Barret Oliver, Jadrien Steele, Billie Whitelaw, Derek Jacobi.
Season 38
Adaptation of the novel by Graham Greene.
Jean Louis Chavel, a well-to-do lawyer in Nazi-occupied France, is arbitrarily arrested and sent to prison. Once there, he is randomly selected for execution in retaliation for Resistance activities. Desperate to avoid the firing squad, Chavel offers all his possessions—including a chateau—to any prisoner who'll take his place. One man agrees, a sickly man named Michel, who wills Chavel's estate to his heirs. After the war, Chavel returns to his former home, now inhabited by Michel's mother and embittered sister Therese. Using an alias, Chavel hires on as a gardener and winds up falling for Therese. As their uneasy relationship develops, a mysterious man visits, claiming to be Jean Louis Chavel.
Season 39
The Shell Seekers is a 1989 Hallmark Hall of Fame TV movie based on the 1987 novel The Shell Seekers by Rosamunde Pilcher and starring Angela Lansbury. The movie aired on ABC on December 3, 1989; it was later reaired on CBS on January 31, 1993.
Season 40
Decoration Day is a 1990 film based on a novel by John William Corrington of the same title. The award-winning made-for-TV movie was directed by Robert Markowitz and filmed on location in Georgia.
Season 41
Mary Lindell, an enobled Englishwoman estranged from her French husband but still living in Paris, maintains a regal lifestyle even after the invading German army takes over the city in 1940. Initially blasé about the occupation, Lindell is propelled out of her malaise by the plight of a downed British flier whom she secretly shelters, nurses back to health, then helps to escape. As word of her deed spreads, Lindell becomes a beacon that draws other entrapped Allies, as well as the Gestapo.
Season 42
World War II veterans unite against a corrupt mayor and his cronies as they fight to take back their Texas hometown.
Season 43
A story about marital love, old age and death. Robert Samuel ('Mr. Sam') Peek, a sagacious and seasoned pecan tree grower from rural Georgia, has been married for the last 57 years or so to his college sweetheart, Cora. When she suddenly passes away, Sam becomes increasingly lonely--until he befriends a snow-white dog that strays onto the Peek property. People wonder if the animal is real or merely a figment of Mr. Sam's imagination. Then Mr. Sam and the dog take a fateful journey to a college reunion.
Season 44
Adaptation of the classic novel by Thomas Hardy.
Eustacia Vye is a willful, passionate enchantress whose desire to escape her lonely rustic life thrusts her into two doomed relationships.
Season 45
Journey is a 1995 Hallmark Hall of Fame TV movie that aired on CBS on December 10, 1995. The film starred Jason Robards, Brenda Fricker, and Meg Tilly.
Season 46
Based on the novel ""Calm at Sunset, Calm at Dawn"" by Paul Watkins:
James Pfeiffer disappoints his parents when he drops out of college to pursue his dream of becoming a fisherman, following in the footsteps of his dad and grandfather. James gets his chance when he saves the life of a seaman and the pair decide to become partners. But it's hardly smooth sailing; James must weather a tragedy, deal with a shocking secret about his father, and make a decision that might compromise his values.
Season 47
What the Deaf Man Heard is a 1997 Hallmark Hall of Fame television movie that aired on CBS television on November 23, 1997. It concerns Sammy, a boy who pretends to be deaf and mute, when in reality he can hear and speak perfectly well. The movie starred Matthew Modine and James Earl Jones.
Season 48
An adaptation of the novel by Anne Tyler:
A family saga centering on the Bedloe family, newlyweds Danny and Lucy, and Danny's teenage brother Ian. Ian, plagued with doubts about Lucy's character, confronts Danny, which triggers a series of tragedies and an effort by Ian to seek redemption.
Season 49
Sarah and Jacob Witting are a hardy couple raising a family on a Kansas farm in 1918. Unexpectedly, they're visited by Jacob's father John, who deserted his son more than thirty years earlier and has returned to make amends—a task complicated by a fateful accident and the onslaught of a blizzard.
Season 50
Based on the book ""Looking for Lost Bird"" by Yvette Melanson with Claire Safran:
After the death of her adoptive parents, a woman raised in a Jewish family discovers that she is a Navajo Indian and journeys west to discover her blood relatives. She is warmly received, but dismayed when the tribe rejects her husband and children as outsiders.
Season 51
In Love and War is a Hallmark Hall of Fame TV movie, directed by John Kent Harrison. It is based on the book Love and War in the Apennines by Eric Newby. It was filmed in Italy and stars Callum Blue and Barbora Bobulova. The presentation aired on CBS on November 18, 2001.
Season 52
Adaptation of the novel by Richard Paul Evans:
Michael Keddington has had more than his share of tough breaks. Just when he's about to turn his life around, he could lose the love of his life, Faye, who is about to head across the country to medical school. It's then that Michael meets the prickly but deeply caring Esther where he works. The two slowly earn each other's friendship and trust. By sharing with Michael her own story of thwarted love, Esther teaches her young friend an invaluable lesson about not giving up easily in the quest for both real love and a fulfilling life.
Season 53
Twenty-five years later, Terry returns to his hometown in Maine. His father has died, and he must face the truth about the anger he has felt toward his father and aspects of his father's character that he hadn't noticed when he was a young man. He also learns more about the Wentworth family, whose father, Charles, was driving and lost his own family after the car wreck. The turning point occurs when Terry learns that Katherine Wentworth, the daughter of the family on that long-ago Christmas Eve, is coming back to the family seaside "cottage" for the first time.
Season 54
Adaptation of the novel by Anne Tyler.
Since her husband's death after only six years of marriage, Rebecca has single-handedly raised his ever-challenging and now adult daughters, Nono, Biddy, and Patch, as well as one of her own, Min Foo. Rebecca also inherited her husband's uncle, 99-year-old Poppy, a crotchety old man whose total focus is his upcoming 100th birthday. A party planner by trade, Rebecca is always cheerful and upbeat, but even after many, many years, she's still not really sure about her standing in this bizarre family. As she questions how her life might have been different if she hadn't jilted her former boyfriend Will for her husband, Rebecca decides to contact him. Seeing Will, now a divorced college professor living a structured life, only adds to Rebecca's dilemma. As her family life continues to swirl around her, Rebecca begins to understand how much they rely on her and, in their own unique way, truly appreciate her.
Season 55
Silver Bells is a 2005 television film, starring Anne Heche and Tate Donovan. It was produced by Hallmark Hall of Fame Productions for their made-for-television film series and was based on the novel of the same name by Luanne Rice.
At Christmastime, a single dad finds love with a lonely widow when he travels to New York City to sell Christmas trees and find his runaway son.
Season 56
Candles on Bay Street is a Hallmark Hall of Fame television movie starring Alicia Silverstone as a single mother who returns to her hometown after a lengthy absence.
Season 57
Story of a twelve year old foster child who has been to so many homes she longs for a family of her own. She winds up at the home of a retired schoolteacher who opens her heart and home to Hollis and the two share a Christmas adventure and learns that miracles do happen.
Season 58
The story of a young man who overcomes the odds and being diagnosed with Tourette's Syndrome to become a teacher.
Season 59
On a Kansas farm a developmentally challenged young man has a close attachment with animals. When the local shelter is looking for a foster family to look after a dog, he eagerly signs up.
Season 60
A father concerned about his daughter's suffering health and subsequent treatments tries to change the seasons so that his daughter can experience one day of complete happiness. When the neighbor figures out what his plans are everyone pitches in to help make that dream come true.
Season 61
Cleric Henry Covington and Rabbi Albert Lewis profoundly affect the life of writer Mitch Albom. Based on a book by Mitch Albom.
Related
Network
ABC, NBC, PBS, CBS
Keywords
anthology