As vice-president in charge of television programming for CBS for over 13 years, Hubbell Robinson earned a reputation for his ability to present both commercially-successful and artistically-significant drama. During this period he developed such renowned series as Gunsmoke, I Love Lucy, You'll Never Get Rich (The Phil Silvers Show), and Playhouse 90.
Born in Schenectady, N.Y., on October 16, 1905, Robinson was the son of Justice Hubbell Robinson of the New York Supreme Court. After attending Phillips Exeter Academy, he graduated from Brown University in 1927. For a time following graduation, he worked as a newspaper reporter and drama critic; he then turned to radio production for the Young and Rubicam and the Foote, Cone & Belding advertising agencies. Among his credits with Young and Rubicam was the popular series The Aldrich Family (NBC). In 1947 CBS hired Robinson as head of its programming department. After 12 successful years with the network, Robinson retired to form his own production company, Hubbell Robinson Productions. In 1962, however, he returned to CBS as senior vice-president; as the result of policy disagreements with network president James T. Aubrey, Jr., he retired again shortly thereafter.
During this second period of independent production, Robinson was responsible for several television series, including the short-lived Hawk (ABC). In 1966 ABC hired him as executive producer for ABC Stage '67, a format which the network futilely hoped would revive serious drama on television. Robinson left ABC in 1969 to serve as board chairman of the journal of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and to write his memoirs. He died of lung cancer on September 5, 1974 at age 68.
