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Behind Closed Doors

TV·1958–1959·1 season, 26 episodes·NBC·War & Politics, Drama·30m

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Behind Closed Doors is an American drama series set during the Cold War hosted by and occasionally starring Bruce Gordon in the role of Commander Matson. The series, which aired on NBC from October 2, 1958, to April 9, 1959, focuses, among other themes, on how the former Soviet Union stole American missile secrets and proposes steps to prevent further espionage. Behind Closed Doors is based on the files and experiences of Rear Admiral Ellis M. Zacharias, who offers comments at the end of each segment. Behind Closed Doors, a Screen Gems production, replaced Jackie Cooper's sitcom The People's Choice, followed the NBC quiz show, Twenty-One, and preceded the The Tennessee Ernie Ford Show. Its competition was The Pat Boone Chevy Show on ABC and Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theater western anthology series on CBS.

Cast

Episodes by season

Season0126Episodes1958–59AiredSeason avg
  1. S01E01The Cape Canaveral StoryOctober 2, 1958Wayne Hollister, a Florida fisherman, is approached by a Mr. Meyers who rents his boat for one day and demands to be taken to the waters off
  2. S01E02Flight to FreedomOctober 9, 1958Brauer, a German scientist is held prisoner by the communists. The German scientist, forced to serve Russia’s guided missile program, attemp
  3. S01E03Double JeopardyOctober 16, 1958British and U.S. intelligence agents learn that the Soviet ambassador to the U.N. is scheduled to arrive in London and divulge the Russian's
  4. S01E04Mig 9October 23, 1958Lt. Tarkhanov, a Russian test pilot, sent to Germany on secret mission is hampered by Russian agents. The Russian Air Force lieutenant who w
  5. S01E05Trouble in Test Cell 19October 30, 1958A new jet engine that is being tested for its suitability for mass production blows up on the final test. Exam of the wreckage shows evidenc
  6. S01E06Man in the MoonNovember 6, 1958Clara Koller, a widow, has the important job of handling the budget of a manufacturing company engaged in a secret government project. When
  7. S01E07The Nike StoryNovember 13, 1958Captain John Benson is sent to investigate when a fellow officer is murdered trying to trap an enemy agent on a missile base. Benson arrange
  8. S01E08It Was Learned on High AuthorityNovember 27, 1958Fred Lang, an enemy agent, works as an engineer on a missile base in Los Angeles. He learns that a group of scientists is scheduled to fly t
  9. S01E09The Enemy on the FlankDecember 4, 1958U.S. Intelligence men learn that a U.S.S.R. sub operating from a base in Albania plan to interfere with movements of the U.S. Sixth Fleet in
  10. S01E10A Cover of ArtDecember 11, 1958Commander Matson enters Czechoslovakia disguised as an art dealer, part of a plan to get atomic scientist Andrew Fleming out of the country.
  11. S01E11The Middle East StoryDecember 18, 1958Jessica Tabor overhears a plot to assassinate King Hussein of Jordan and turns to secret agents James Foster and Harry Shaw to help forward
  12. S01E12The Brioni StoryDecember 25, 1958This episode tells of an American secret operative (Sheldon Lawrence) who uncovers a plot to assassinate Marshal Tito and is warned to bewar
  13. S01E13The ObeliskJanuary 1, 1959A British atomic scientist steals important papers and heads for the moors, where he is to meet a U.S.S.R. helicopter.
  14. S01E14The Germany StoryJanuary 8, 1959A Dr. Haas has set himself up as head of German fencing society, whose youthful members he uses to further his own subversive plans. Peter G
  15. S01E15The Alkaloid AngleJanuary 22, 1959During an investigation of a shipment of narcotics to a Mid East port, a U.S. agent is killed. Agent Robert Hatfield, called out of retireme
  16. S01E16Crypto 40January 29, 1959Scientist David Sparrow, developer of a code machine, is captured and held behind the Iron Curtain. Realizing that Sparrow will be forced to
  17. S01E17The Alaskan StoryFebruary 5, 1959Attempting to break up a Communist spy ring in Alaska, Captain John Rand enters the penitentiary as a prisoner to become friendly with a Red
  18. S01E18The Quemoy StoryFebruary 12, 1959In Macao, Anna Sung, a U.S. agent, is kidnapped by the Reds. Searching for her, Commander Bennett and Mike Perrera, a local police detective
  19. S01E19The Espionage StudentsFebruary 19, 1959
  20. S01E20The Geneva StoryFebruary 26, 1959A former Soviet official is released from prison to represent the U.S.S.R. at the Geneva arms conference. U.S. agent Nick Blake is assigned
  21. S01E21The MeetingMarch 5, 1959U.S. spies learn that a new chief of the U.S.S.R. secret police has been appointed. Agent Ralph Drake goes to Austria to meet with Western a
  22. S01E22Mightier Than the SwordMarch 12, 1959U.S. agent Douglas Kincaid joins the Communist Party and learns that Feodor Mashay, once a top Kremlin official, wants to defect. Kincaid is
  23. S01E23The GambleMarch 19, 1959
  24. S01E24Double AgentMarch 26, 1959A British counterintelligence agent tries to track down a spy working for both East and West who is responsible for the shipment of arms to
  25. S01E25The AntidoteApril 2, 1959Dr. Paul Matley, inventor of a radiation antidote and his wife Laura, are at a night club when Laura is poisoned by Communist agents. Matley
  26. S01E26Assignment PragueApril 9, 1959In Warsaw, an anti-Communist uprising has somehow gone unreported in the West. A U.S. agent posing as a former American film director recrui

Season 1 ranked & reviewed

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