Hallmark Hall of Fame, originally called Hallmark Television Playhouse, is an anthology program on American television, sponsored by Hallmark Cards, a Kansas Citybased greeting card company. The longest-running prime-time series in the history of television, it first aired in 1951 and continues into the present day. From 1954 onward, all of its productions have been broadcast in color. It was one of the first video productions to telecast in color, a rarity in the 1950s. Many television films 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-one Emmy Awards, dozens of Christopher and Peabody Awards, nine Golden Globes, and Humanitas Prizes. Once a common practice in American television, it is one of the last remaining television programs where the title includes the name of its 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. The Hall of Fame films have an above average budget and production values nearing that of a feature film. History Early years The series is the direct descendant of two old-time radio dramatic anthologies sponsored previously by Hallmark: Radio Reader's Digest, adapting stories from the popular magazine (though the magazine never sponsored the show); and, its successor, Hallmark Playhouse, which premiered on CBS in 1948. The Hallmark Playhouse changed to more serious literature from all genres. Hallmark Television Playhouse debuted on December 24, 1951, on NBC television network, with the first opera written specifically for television, Amahl and the Night Visitors featuring the ballet dancer Nicholas Magallanes. Playhouse was hosted by Sarah Churchill and was a weekly half-hour. In 1953, the series was renamed Hallmark Hall of Fame. It was the first time a major corporation developed a television project specifically as a means of promoting its products to the viewing public. The program was such a success that it was restaged by Hallmark several times during a period of fifteen years. Amahl was also staged by other NBC television anthologies. Under the supervision of creative executives at its advertising agency, Foote, Cone, and Belding in Chicago, Hallmark also transformed its radio Hallmark Playhouse into a Hallmark Hall of Fame format—this time, featuring stories of pioneers of all types in America—from 1953 through