Imagine being the most famous person on the planet at age seven, then basically being "retired" by the time you're twenty-two. That was Shirley Temple. But in 1958, she did something most Hollywood legends were terrified to do: she went to television. Shirley Temple’s Storybook wasn't just a kids' show; it was a high-stakes gamble to see if the world’s favorite dimpled child could command an audience as a grown woman.
It worked. Sorta.
The show is this weird, beautiful artifact of early television. Most people today remember Shirley as the curly-haired kid singing about animal crackers. They totally forget she spent three years hosting an anthology series that brought everything from Winnie-the-Pooh to The House of the Seven Gables into living rooms across America. Honestly, it's one of the most ambitious things she ever did.
The Night the Magic Started (and the Budget Exploded)
The premiere was January 12, 1958. NBC knew they had a hit on their hands because, well, it was Shirley Temple. The first episode was Beauty and the Beast, starring Charlton Heston and Claire Bloom. Think about that for a second. You had Ben-Hur playing the Beast on a Sunday night television broadcast.
The production values were insane.
Shirley didn't just put her name on it; she was the narrator and often the star. She took this job seriously. There’s a famous story about a stagehand who let a swear word slip during a rehearsal for the Mother Goose episode. Shirley had him fired on the spot. She told the cast that even if children weren't in the room right then, this was a children's show, and they were going to keep it pure.
She was the boss.
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The first season was mostly black and white, airing on NBC. Then ABC picked up the reruns. By the time the second season rolled around in 1960, they changed the name to The Shirley Temple Show and moved entirely into color. This was a big deal. Color TV was still the "new shiny object" back then.
Why It Wasn't Just "Cinderella" Every Week
While the show definitely leaned into fairy tales, it took some surprisingly dark turns. They did an adaptation of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The House of the Seven Gables. If you’ve read that in high school, you know it’s not exactly Sesame Street. It was moody, gothic, and featured a young Martin Landau looking about thirty years older than he actually was.
Shirley wanted to prove she could do "mature" material.
She also finally got her Oz moment. Back in 1939, MGM wanted Shirley to play Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, but her studio (Fox) wouldn't let her go. In 1960, she finally made it to the Emerald City in an episode called The Land of Oz. She played Tip/Princess Ozma, and she got to work with Agnes Moorehead and Jonathan Winters. It was a full-circle moment for her career.
The Stars Who Stopped By
The guest list for Shirley Temple’s Storybook looks like a Hollywood Hall of Fame roster. You’ve got:
- Boris Karloff appearing in The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.
- Agnes Moorehead playing witches in multiple episodes (she was basically the MVP of the show).
- Eli Wallach and Sebastian Cabot in The Emperor’s New Clothes.
- Jonathan Winters bringing his manic energy to several episodes.
- Robert Culp and Martin Landau before they became massive stars.
It was the place to be. If you were a serious actor, doing a Shirley Temple special was a "prestige" gig, even if the primary audience was ten-year-olds.
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The High Cost of Fairy Tales
Everything about the show was expensive. The costumes were designed by Ray Aghayan, who was a legend in the industry. The special effects—like the mermaids in The Little Mermaid swimming on "invisible" wires—pushed the limits of what 1960s technology could do.
The wires weren't always invisible.
In some episodes, you can totally see the strings. But for a kid sitting in front of a flickering tube TV in 1961, it was pure magic. Unfortunately, the "magic" cost a fortune. The show was sponsored by companies like Sealtest Ice Cream and Breck Shampoo, but even with big-name backers, the production costs were becoming unsustainable.
Ratings were okay, but they weren't "Shirley Temple in the 1930s" ratings.
By July 1961, the show went off the air. Shirley was thirty-three years old. She’d spent most of her life under a spotlight, and she was starting to look toward a different kind of public service. She eventually moved into politics and became a U.S. Ambassador, but this TV show was the bridge between her childhood stardom and her adult life.
What Most People Get Wrong
There's a myth that Shirley Temple failed at everything she did as an adult. That’s just wrong. Shirley Temple’s Storybook was nominated for an Emmy in 1961 for Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Children's Programming. It didn't "fail"; it just existed in an era where the cost of high-quality color production was eating the profits alive.
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How to Watch It Today
Tracking down the whole series is kinda a nightmare. Not every episode has survived in great quality. Because the first season was black and white and the second was color, the distribution rights over the years have been messy.
If you want to dive into the nostalgia, here’s how to do it:
- Check for DVD Collections: There are "selected episode" DVDs out there. They usually feature the heavy hitters like The Land of Oz or Babes in Toyland.
- YouTube is Your Best Friend: A lot of the 16mm prints have been uploaded by collectors. The quality is grainy, but the charm is still there.
- The "Mother Goose" Episode: This one is special because it features Shirley’s three real-life children making their acting debuts. It’s the ultimate "home movie" turned into a national broadcast.
Don’t expect 4K resolution. Expect 1950s stage sets, theatrical acting, and a whole lot of heart. It’s a glimpse into a time when television was trying to figure out if it could be "art."
If you're a fan of classic Hollywood, start with the Beauty and the Beast episode. Watching Charlton Heston play the Beast opposite Shirley’s narration is a trip. It’s the kind of TV they just don’t make anymore—sincere, slightly clunky, and completely dedicated to the idea that stories still matter.
For anyone researching the history of anthology television, keep an eye on the credits of these episodes. You’ll see directors like William Asher (who later did Bewitched) and writers who went on to define the Golden Age of TV. The show was a training ground for some of the biggest names in the business.
Start with the episodes featuring Agnes Moorehead. Her performances as the various witches and villains are worth the price of admission alone. She brought a level of Shakespearean intensity to these fairy tales that makes them surprisingly watchable for adults today.