Dangerous Assignment - "Raiders On A Rubber Plantation" (02-03-51)

"Raiders On A Rubber Plantation" (Aired February 3, 1951)

The Man Called X had already aired--to great popular and critical acclaim--for almost five years prior to 1949. Indeed, within a year of airing Dangerous Assignment's Summer 1949 season, The Man Called X returned to the air for another two years. For one of those years, Dangerous Assignment and The Man Called X ran back to back in the NBC line-up. Of the two foreign intrigue anthologies, NBC seemed to continue to favor the Herbert Marshall drama, The Man Called X. Whether in deference to Marshall's seniority, its former high ratings between 1944 and 1948, or simply out of perceived popularity, Dangerous Assignment, while airing ahead of The Man Called X, never seemed to get the buildup that The Man Called X invariably received. It may well have been as simple as a lack of sponsorship. For much of 1950 and 1951, both Dangerous Assignment and The Man Called X remained either network sustained or shared the sponsorship of Ford, Anacin, Chesterfield, and RCA Victor. Wheaties sponsored virtually the entire weekday, nighttime NBC line-up for three months, but Dangerous Assignment ran for the most part, network sustained for over half of its entire run. NBC transcribed Dangerous Assignment for syndication via its NBC Orthacoustic Transcription Series.