Syndiwhat? At the emergence of TV's golden age in the 1950's, the average person on the street probably thought that a "syndicated show" was a mob rubout on the street. Then, most shows originated at the networks to be telecast on the networks. It was Jack Webb who probably pioneered syndication when he took Dragnet, the definitive cop show he starred in, produced, directed and owned (via his Mark IV Productions, clang clang), and syndicated reruns as Badge 714. Local, independent stations, dangling alone, clammored for programming and reruns went flying to them like the paper saucers in an Ed Wood sci-fi movie. Singers such as Eddie Fisher, Frankie Lane and Nat King Cole had their fifteen minutes of network time, Perry Como would burgeon to an hour, but many great singing stars were left out in the cold. Some entrepreneurs (a few ex Hal Roach execs) raillied around the Singing Rage, Miss Patti Page, Oldsmobile foot the bill, and Patti (after a brief stint on CBS) went into national syndication. Ziv Productions, best known for the Truman Bradley hosted anthology series Science Fiction Theatre and spy soaper Top Secret rounded out the syndie scene as we know it today.
According to TV World
The top 20 syndicated shows of the 1950's were:
1. The Eddie Fisher Show
2. The Perry Como Show
3. Frankie Laine Time
4. Vincent Lopez & His Orchestra
5. The Nat King Cole Show
6. Country Music Jamboree
7. Lassie
8. Science Fiction Theatre With Truman Bradley
9. The Patti Page Show
10. Arthur Murray Dance Party (summer replacement)
11. Journey To Adventure
12. Commander Cody & His Rangers
13. Jane Froman Sings
14. Winky Dink & You (Saturday kiddee show)
15. I Led Three Lives (Richard Carlson
16. Superman (George Reeves, syndicated after network bounce)
17. The Paul Winchell & Jerry Mahoney Show
18. Sheena, Queen Of The Jungle
19. Truth Or Consequences (would you believe, Bob Barker!)
20. The Ed Wynn Show