| Genre: | Anthology series |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | English |
| Num Seasons: | 1 |
| Num Episodes: | 5 |
| Runtime: | 30 minutes |
| Channel: | CBS |
Comedy Playhouse is an American anthology television series that aired on CBS in the summer of 1971. The 30-minute episodes consisted of unsold television pilots.
The practice of television executives of ordering dozens of pilots for proposed television series each year – far more than their networks could possibly broadcast as series – created a sizable body of unsold pilots that had never aired.[1] Packaging these unsold pilots in anthology series and airing them during the summer provided television networks with a way of both providing fresh programming during the summer rerun season and recouping at least some of the expense of producing them.[1] Comedy Playhouse was one of these series, aired by CBS in the summer of 1971,[2] and it consisted of unsold pilots for four situation comedies and one hidden camera reality television show.[2] Stars appearing in the series included Janet Leigh, McLean Stevenson, Phil Silvers, Elke Sommer, Michael Landon, Dick Martin, Rose Marie, and Peter Marshall.[2]
Comedy Playhouse ran for five episodes over the course of six weeks in the summer of 1971, airing on CBS from 8:00 to 8:30 p.m. Eastern Time on Sunday evenings.[2] It premiered on August 1,[1] and its last episode aired on September 5.[2] The episode scheduled for August 15 was preempted by an address by President Richard Nixon and was rescheduled for September 5.[2]