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{{Short description|American TV public-affairs series (1948–1951)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{infobox television
| image =
| caption =
| runtime = 30 minutes (1948-1949)<br>60 minutes (1949-1951)
| creator =
| starring =
| country = United States
| network = [[DuMont Television Network|DuMont]]
| first_aired = {{start date|1948|02|09}}
| last_aired = {{end date|1951|06|26}}
| num_episodes =
}}

'''''Court of Current Issues''''' (initially known as '''''Court of Public Opinion''''')<ref name="etls">{{cite book |last1=Erickson |first1=Hal |title=Encyclopedia of Television Law Shows: Factual and Fictional Series About Judges, Lawyers and the Courtroom, 1948-2008 |date=21 October 2009 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-0-7864-5452-5 |page=64 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RXQNIs12SzQC&q=%22Court+of+Current+Issues%22&pg=PA64 |access-date=November 29, 2020 |language=en}}</ref> is a [[Court show#List of originally nontraditional court shows|nontraditional court show]] featuring public-affairs debates. The program aired on the [[DuMont Television Network]] from February 9, 1948, through June 26, 1951.<ref name=tt>{{cite book|last1=McNeil|first1=Alex|title=Total Television: the Comprehensive Guide to Programming from 1948 to the Present |date=1996|publisher=Penguin Books USA, Inc.|location=New York, New York|isbn=0-14-02-4916-8|page= 183|edition=4th}}</ref> Originally a half-hour in length, it expanded to 60 minutes in 1949.

== Overview ==
The program featured oral arguments on topical issues using the format of a courtroom. A judge presided, with people from both sides of the episode's topic taking the roles of attorneys and witnesses.<ref name="brooks">{{cite book|last1=Brooks|first1=Tim|last2=Marsh|first2=Earle|title=The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows 1946-Present|date=1999|publisher=The Ballentine Publishing Group|location=New York|isbn=0-345-42923-0|pages=212–213|edition=7th}}</ref> People from "representative national groups" formed the jury,<ref name="nyt" /> and viewers could call to vote for one of the sides.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Campbell |first1=Mary Schmidt |title=An American Odyssey: The Life and Work of Romare Bearden |date=August 6, 2018 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-972364-5 |page=163 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RRtnDwAAQBAJ&dq=%22Court+of+Current+Issues%22+Dumont&pg=PA163 |access-date=January 1, 2024 |language=en}}</ref>

Topics discussed on episodes included "Should Radio and Television Editorialize?",<ref name="nyt3">{{cite news |title=Radio and Television: Navy to Launch Training Programs by Video for Air Reservists at 3 Bases in East |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1949/07/18/archives/radio-and-television-navy-to-launch-training-programs-by-video-for.html |access-date=January 1, 2024 |work=The New York Times |date=July 18, 1949 |page=32|url-access=subscription}}</ref> "Shall Federal Rent Controls Be Continued?",<ref name="nyt2">{{cite news |title=Plan Rent Curb Debate: Realtors to Take Part Tuesday on Television Program |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1950/05/14/archives/plan-rent-curb-debate-realtors-to-take-part-tuesday-on-television.html |access-date=January 1, 2024 |work=The New York Times |date=May 14, 1950 |page=250|url-access=subscription }}</ref> and "Does the Supreme Court Free Speech Decision Srengthen Our Democracy?".<ref name="nyt1">{{cite news |title=Radio and Television: WABD Adding 'Program Playhouse' and Fight Shows to Video List Next Week |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1949/06/18/archives/radio-and-television-wabd-adding-program-playhouse-and-fight-shows.html |access-date=January 1, 2024 |work=The New York Times |date=June 18, 1949 |page=28|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

People who appeared on the program included [[Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr.]], [[Shad Polier]],<ref>{{cite news |last1=Sokolsky |first1=George |title=These Days |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=elBhAAAAIBAJ&dq=%22Court+of+Current+Issues%22+topic&pg=PA6 |access-date=January 1, 2024 |work=The Telegraph-Herald |date=November 22, 1949 |location=Iowa, Dubuque |page=6}}</ref> [[Al Capp]], [[Lev Gleason Publications|Lev Gleason]],<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hirsch |first1=Paul S. |title=Pulp Empire: The Secret History of Comic Book Imperialism |date=July 12, 2021 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=978-0-226-35069-1 |page=306 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5RUpEAAAQBAJ&dq=%22Court+of+Current+Issues%22+Dumont&pg=PA306 |access-date=January 1, 2024 |language=en}}</ref> [[Gerald Dickler]], [[George H. Combs Jr.|George Hamilton Combs]], James Lawrence Fly,<ref name="nyt3" /> [[Arthur Garfield Hays]] and [[O. John Rogge]],<ref name="nyt1" />

Irvin Paul Sulds was the producer,<ref name="nyt">{{cite news |title=Service personnel to be on TV program |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/111786854 |access-date=November 29, 2020 |work=The New York Times |date=July 9, 1951 |page=36|id={{ProQuest|111786854}} |via = [[ProQuest]]}}</ref> and David Lowe was the director.<ref>{{cite magazine |date=February 26, 1950 |page=25 |title=Dumont |url=https://archive.org/details/rossreportstele06ross/page/n90/mode/1up?view=theater |magazine=Ross Reports |access-date=January 1, 2024 }}</ref> The program was [[Sustaining program|sustaining]].<ref>{{cite magazine |date=May 28, 1949 |page=12 |title=No Half-Way Break Keeps Hour-Show Viewers Tuned |magazine=Billboard |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NfYDAAAAMBAJ&dq=%22Court+of+Current+Issues%22+Dumont&pg=PT11 |accessdate=January 1, 2024 }}</ref>

In its last two seasons,<ref name=brooks/> the series was scheduled opposite [[Milton Berle]]'s popular ''[[Texaco Star Theater]]'' on [[NBC]], hence it did not receive a wide audience.<ref name="etls" />

Following its network demise, the program ran on local TV in New York "for some time".<ref name="etls" />

==Schedule==
{| class="wikitable"
|+ Time Slots for ''Court of Current Issues''
|-
! Months !! Day of Week !! Time Slot
|-
| February 1948 - June 1948 || Tuesdays || 8 - 8:30 p.m.<ref name=brooks/>
|-
| July 1948 - November 1948 || Mondays || 9:30 - 10 p.m.<ref name=brooks/>
|-
| November 1948 - January 1949 || Mondays || 8 - 9 p.m.<ref name=brooks/>
|-
| January 1949 - February 1949 || Mondays || 10 - 11 p.m.<ref name=brooks/>
|-
| March 1949 - April 1949 || Mondays || 9 - 10 p.m.<ref name=brooks/>
|-
| May 1949 - June 1949 || Wednesdays || 9 - 10 p.m.<ref name=brooks/>
|-
| January 1949 - June 1951 || Tuesdays || 8 - 9 p.m.<ref name=brooks/>
|}
'''Note''': All times Eastern; all broadcasts on Dumont

==Episode status==
A 14-minute fragment from the March 3, 1949 episode survives at the [[Paley Center for Media]].{{Citation needed |date=December 2023}}

==Critical response==
In 1948 the Radio-Television Critics Circle of New York cited ''Court of Current Issues'' as one of several programs, networks, and individuals deserving of kudos for excellence in broadcasting.<ref>{{cite magazine |date=May 22, 1948 |page=10 |title=Radio-TV Critics Offer Kudos for Industry Activities |magazine=Billboard |url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/40s/1948/Billboard%201948-05-22.pdf#page=10 |accessdate=January 1, 2024 }}</ref>

United States Congressman [[Frederic Coudert Jr.]] recognized Sulds and ''Court of Current Issues'' in the ''[[Congressional Record]]'' in February 1950. His comments there praised the program's originator and stated his wishes that other programs like it might be developed. If so, he said, "We can look forward to a period in our immediate future when we will have the best informed public of any nation in the world."<ref>{{cite magazine |date=February 20, 1950 |page=59 |title='Court' Praised |magazine=Broadcasting |url=https://archive.org/details/broadcasting38unse/page/n676/mode/1up?view=theater |accessdate=January 1, 2024 }}</ref>

==See also==
* [[List of programs broadcast by the DuMont Television Network]]
* [[List of surviving DuMont Television Network broadcasts]]

==Bibliography==
* David Weinstein, ''The Forgotten Network: DuMont and the Birth of American Television'' (Philadelphia: [[Temple University Press]], 2004) {{ISBN|1-59213-245-6}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{IMDb title|0319981}}
* [https://dumonthistory.com/a1.html DuMont historical website]

[[Category:DuMont Television Network original programming]]
[[Category:Court shows]]
[[Category:1948 American television series debuts]]
[[Category:1951 American television series endings]]
[[Category:American live television series]]
[[Category:Black-and-white American television shows]]
[[Category:American English-language television shows]]
[[Category:1940s American television series]]
[[Category:1950s American television series]]

{{US-nonfiction-tv-prog-stub}}

Court of Current Issues - Revision history

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