King of Denmark, The

Synopsis: American television series rotating between three characters working at a magazine empire in Los Angeles: a crusading reporter with ‘People Magazine’ (Franciosa), a sophisticated publisher (Barry), and a crime journalist (Stack). In this episode an eccentric Shakespeare scholar commits a series of murders to prevent others from finding his first draft of Hamlet (titled ‘The King of Denmark’), found among the papers of his wife’s family, which supposedly hosted Shakespeare during his time in Virginia in 1590.
Series: Name of the Game, The
Language: English
Country: United States
Medium: Television
Technical information: Colour / Sound
Transmission details: 20 Feb 1970 (Channel: NBC)
Duration: 90 mins

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Notes: All 76 episodes are available for sale as a 15-DVD set from http://www.tvaddicts.tv/movie/action/The_Name_Of_The_Game.html (accessed 9/2007).
General: The Name of the Game occupies a unique place in the history of prime time-television. Notable for the ambitious scope and social relevance of its stories and for its innovative 90-minute anthology format, the series was perhaps most influential in its lavish production values, which aimed to recreate the audio-visual complexity of the movies. In 1969 TV Guide reported that the show’s budget of $400,000 per episode made The Name of the Game the most expensive television program in history. The series also functioned as a kind of apprentice field for writers and directors who later achieved great success, including Steven Bochco, Marvin Chomsky, Leo Penn and Steven Spielberg. [Museum of Broadcast Communications]
History: Season 2, episode 20.

British Universities Film & Video Council