The "letter" in the series' title was a letter read on-camera by hostess Loretta Young. There would be a question asked, then answered in each week's episode. The letter gimmick was dropped after roughly 13 episodes, and the show's title was changed simply to "The Loretta Young Show." Midway through season 2, the show had a new opening: the hostess would make a dramatic, sweeping spin through a door into a living room wearing the most fabulous designer dresses and gowns of that era. It became the trademark of its star.
This was an anthology show, a format very popular in television's first decade and the equivalent of today's TV movies. Most were hosted by men, and Loretta Young was the first woman to host one. Two others were Jane Wyman Presents the Fireside Theatre (1955) and The DuPont Show with June Allyson (1959).
In 1972, Loretta Young sued NBC for violating her contract in allowing reruns of 'Letter to Loretta (1953)' (better known as Loretta Young) to be shown, wherein audiences might have ridiculed her gowns and hairstyles, which were by then 10 or even 20 years out of date. The court awarded her more than a half-million dollars.