| Genre: | Anthology |
| Presenter: | Daphne Maxwell Reid (1987) Tim Reid (1987) |
| Director: | Paul Bogart James Burrows Martha Coolidge Joseph Sargent Luis Valdez |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | English |
| Num Seasons: | 3 |
| Num Episodes: | 46 |
| Camera: | Single-camera |
| Runtime: | 45 - 48 minutes |
| Channel: | CBS |
CBS Summer Playhouse is an American anthology series that ran from June 12, 1987 to August 22, 1989 on CBS. It aired unsold television pilots[1] during the summer season.
Tim Reid and Daphne Maxwell Reid acted as hosts during the first season, introducing each pilot. Viewers were also encouraged to call a 1-800 number at the end of each episode, to voice their preference. However, the "winning" pilot chosen by the viewers was never picked up as a series.
The series was revamped during the second and third seasons, and featured no hosts or viewer voting.
David Bianculli of The Philadelphia Inquirer criticized the anthology series, writing that it "may be the most inaccurate title ever given to a TV program". Bianculli cited two aspects, that the show premiered just before summer began in 1987 and that none of the episodes originated from theatrical playhouses.[2]