NBC was so sold on this series that it ordered 13 weeks of shows before scheduling it or getting a sponsor. But when the series arrived on 28 September 1959, its opposition (American Bandstand on ABC, The Brighter Day and The Secret Storm on CBS) did so much better in the ratings that taping another 13 weeks was out of the question.
As with most NBC daytime anthologies of the 1950s, The House on High Street acted out tales over the course of several days. The difference was that several characters reappeared, including probation officer John Collier (Philip Abbott), who, in the course of each drama, interviewed both victims and perpetrators while examining the relevant social issues.
Collier also discussed the situation with two real-life professionals who played themselves, Judge James Gehrig and psychiatrist Dr Harris B Peck.
The initial week featured a four-day story concerning a male juvenile delinquent. Later instalments included one about a 15-year-old girl picked up at a gangster’s apartment, who has an alcoholic father and neurotic mother, and a story about a young girl who attacks her mother with a knife.
John Collier
Philip Abbott Judge James Gehrig
Himself Dr Harris B Peck
Himself
