GE True

Program overview

The idea for the series came about after a representative from the publisher of True magazine met Jack Webb at a New York party and proposed the publication as a source for story ideas. Webb and his team then combed through the magazine’s archives for material. Head writer Harold Jack Bloom handled the majority of the television adaptations. William Conrad directed more than half of the episodes; he was known for voicing Matt Dillon on the radio version of Gunsmoke and later starred in the CBS crime drama Cannon.

In a review of the 1962 television season, Time magazine noted Webb’s return, describing his narration of the first episode, which took place on a hospital ship near Okinawa. In that story, a doctor played by Conrad operated on a marine carrying a live shell that could blow a six-foot hole in a steel deck. Time criticized Webb’s dramatic delivery, quoting his line, “At 1830 hours exactly, the operation began on a human bomb dead center in the circle of death.”

The magazine also remarked on Webb’s echo-chambered voice and the show’s set, where he stood next to the word TRUE in block letters 22 feet high—roughly ten times his own height. The program aired Sundays at 9:30 p.m. on CBS, following the sitcom The McCoys, which had moved from ABC. It aired half an hour later than its predecessor, General Electric Theater, hosted by Ronald Reagan, which had run from 1953 to 1962 at 9 p.m. Both The McCoys and GE True competed against the popular NBC Western Bonanza.

The show’s opening sequence had at least two versions. Each began with a massive TRUE sign, shown at an angle and initially in deep shadow. In one variant, Webb said, “Good evening. Your host, General Electric,” with a large GE logo beside the sign. In the other, there was no GE logo, but a quote from Daniel Webster appeared on screen: “There is nothing so powerful as truth, and often nothing so strange.”

A strong symphonic theme played as Webb walked alongside the sign and declared either “And this, is true” (with the GE logo) or simply “This is true.” The sign then lit up brightly, and the camera shifted to a direct shot of Webb, who introduced the episode. The short film Red Nightmare, also hosted by Webb and released in 1962, shared similarities with the GE True episode “The Last Day,” though Red Nightmare was presented as a fantasy through a dream sequence.

In February 1963, Webb succeeded William T. Orr as executive in charge of Warner Bros. Television, with Orr moving to the motion picture part of Warner Bros. At the beginning of June 1963, it was reported that GE True would not continue. Webb's role with Warner ended in December 1963. Reruns of GE True were later syndicated under the title True.