John Forsythe plays a successful television writer, Don Newell, who works on the "Crime of the Week" anthology series. Newell is being blackmailed by one of the program's actresses (Kathleen Hughes), who threatens to tell his wife of their clandestine affair. Arriving at the actress' apartment for a showdown, Newell discovers that the woman has been murdered. Though the writer is the principal suspect, the real killer is Henry Hayes (Edward G. Robinson), "Crime of the Week"'s research expert, who was also a blackmail victim. The inability of the police to solve the murder becomes the subject of the next "Crime of the Week" program. Hayes tries to deflect attention from himself by building up evidence against Newell, which the writer is compelled to use in his script. But Newelltumbles to Hayes' guilt, and includes this fatal clue in his "Crime of the Week" playlet. Hayes tries to kill Newell during the live broadcast, but the police arrive on the scene and shoot down Hayes. Although The Glass Web was originally released in 3-D, it is surprisingly light on "stereoptic" special effects.