as a staff producer for CBS Television. Although his wife had acted on television, Manulis had no personal experience in television and did not even own a television at the time. He was trained in television production by Worthington Miner at CBS Television. Manulis was then assigned to take over as the producer of Casey, Crime Photographer, a half hour primetime drama. Manulis worked on Casey for approximately six months and hired Darren McGavin to take over the lead role. After the Casey program, Manulis was assigned to take over from Robert Stevens as the producer of Suspense, a weekly primetime half-hour anthology. Manulis worked on Suspense for about a year from 1952 to 1953 and worked with casts that included Christopher Plummer. In 1953, Manulis was assigned to produce Studio One Summer Theatre, the summer version of CBS' 60-minute dramatic anthology series. The Best of Broadway In the fall of 1954, Manulis created and produced a new, once-a-month, 60-minute anthology series for CBS called The Best of Broadway. The show featured adaptations of former Broadway hits and was broadcast live in color from New York City. Manulis later recalled the challenge of producing one of the first television shows in color, including the unwieldy color cameras and lighting problems. From September 1954 through February 1955, Manulis produced the first six episodes of the series, as follows: The Royal Family of Broadway starring Helen Hayes, Fredric March, and Claudette Colbert (September 1954); The Man Who Came to Dinner starring Monty Woolley, Merle Oberon, and Joan Bennett (October 1954); Panama Hattie starring Ethel Merman, Jack E. Leonard, and Art Carney (November 1954); The Philadelphia Story starring Dorothy McGuire, John Payne, and Mary Astor (December 1954); Arsenic and Old Lace starring Edward Everett Horton, Peter Lorre, and Orson Bean (January 1955); and The Show-Off starring Jackie Gleason and Thelma Ritter (February 1955). While working on The Best of Broadway, Manulis hired a young Sidney Lumet to direct The Philadelphia Story and The Show-Off. Climax! In February 1955, after production problems with its new anthology series Climax! culminating with an extra playing the part of a murder victim standing up and dusting himself off in full view of the audience, CBS fired the producer and director and sent Manulis to Los Angeles to take over as the show's producer. Manulis brought John Frankenheimer with him to Los Angeles to work as the director