View source for Life Is Worth Living

'''''Life Is Worth Living''''' is a religious inspirational TV series which aired on the DuMont Television Network from 1952 to 1955, then on [[ABC]] until 1957.

The show was hosted by Bishop [[Fulton J. Sheen]], who gave lectures about the moral issues of the day, which he would explain in detail with the help of drawings and lists he made on a blackboard.  Bishop Sheen, who was an ardent opponent and critic of [[Communism]], devoted several episodes of his program to the dangers which Communism presents to society; in one 1953 episode, he did a reading of the play ''Julius Caesar'' in which he replaced four pivotal characters from the play - Julius Caesar, Cassius, Marc Antony and Brutus - with [[Joseph Stalin]], Lavrentiy Beria, Georgy Malenkov and Andrey Vyshinsky respectively.  Shortly after Bishop Sheen made the statement "Stalin must one day meet his judgement" in that episode, Stalin died of a stroke on March 5, 1953.

''Life Is Worth Living'' had healthy viewership numbers despite airing opposite both [[Frank Sinatra]] and Milton Berle's [[NBC]] variety series ''Texaco Star Theater'' during its run on both DuMont and ABC, often drawing between 10 million and 30 million viewers per week and winning an [[Emmy]] in its second season.  When DuMont ceased regular non-sports programming in 1955, ''Life Is Worth Living'' moved to ABC and remained there until 1957.  Following the program's end, Bishop Sheen launched another program, ''The Best of Bishop Sheen'', on the NTA Film Network from 1958 to 1961, then created another program, ''The Fulton Sheen Program'', which ran in [[broadcast syndication|first-run syndication]] from 1961 to 1968.

Reruns of ''Life Is Worth Living'' and ''The Fulton Sheen Program'' aired in syndication on local stations into the early 1990s.  ''Life Is Worth Living'' reruns now air on the [[Eternal Word Television Network]], with new openings and closings narrated by actor Joseph Campanella.

==External links==
*[https://www.ewtn.com/tv/shows/life-is-worth-living ''Life Is Worth Living''] at EWTN
*[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0211820/ ''Life Is Worth Living''] at IMDb

[[Category:Religious Television Shows]]
[[Category:Christian Media]]
[[Category:Greatest Conservative TV Shows]]