 When John Conte was notified that Matinee Theatre would be  cancelled, he asked the TV audience to try and help keep the program  on the air by sending in one dollar to keep Matinee Theatre on the  air. People sent in their dollar bills, but to no avail. The network  cancelled the live Matinee Theatre and Mr. Conte returned all the  money to the TV audience. John Conte was absent for one or more of  the live programs and Richard Conte substituted as the host. The  program was on for an hour every day at 3 pm EST.