In the last couple couple months, I've seen at least a couple dozen teleplays that where shown back from the late 1940s through the 1950s. While most of these were originally aired live, Kinescope copies were made in order to show the programs again on the West Coast due to different time zones. For the most part, they are great entertainment and I really wish more were available on DVDs.
Of all these shows I've recently seen, "Confessions of a Nervous Man" clearly is the most daring and unusual. Instead of a typical play written for television or a recreation of a classic novel, this one consists of showing the process through which writer George Axelrod went through in awaiting to find out if his latest play was a success! The show begins with the real life Axelrod addressing the audience and introducing this teleplay. Then, in the role of Axelrod we find Art Carney--who then talks about what happened the night his play "The Seven Year Itch" debuted. While we now know it was a big success and went on to star Marilyn Monroe in the movie version, Axelrod was naturally a mass of confusion and self-doubt until he learned if the critics loved or hated this work. During this interim period, we see Carney's imagined fantasies of either abject failure or insanely grandiose success. These were all quite humorous and surreal and make the show well worth your time.
Despite being very creative and fun, this is not a show without problems. The biggest is that this format doesn't work as well as a movie version as fantasy elements work best with nice sets, special effects and full-color. The cheapness of some of these fantasy pieces takes you out of the moment. The other problem is that I think the piece actually went on a bit too long, as it probably would have worked better had they ended it a few minutes later. Still, these do not detract from the show that much--it is still well worth your time--particularly if you are a writer.