Each episode of
Broadway Talks Back had two people from "the week's most important new play" confronting two drama critics from printed publications in an effort to respond to critics' comments. Barrett H. Clark, executive director of the
Dramatists Play Service, was the moderator. Critics who appeared on the program included George Freedley,
Joseph T. Shipley, John David Beaufort, John Chapman,
John Gassner,
Joseph Wood Krutch,
Louis Kronenberger,
Burns Mantle, Arthur Pollack, and Vernon Rice. The trade publication
Variety called the show an opportunity for "long-suffering Broadway legit producers, not to mention playwrights ... [to] slug it out weekly" with critics from newspapers and magazines.
Variety commented that previously rebuttals to critics had been available only via letters to the editor. In an article published before the program debuted,
Variety said that interest was particularly timely in light of a "critics vs. producers-playwrights flareup [that] hit a crescendo last season." == Episodes ==