Mitchell Hadley's Blog: It's About TV!, page 103
January 11, 2021
What's on TV? Monday, January 12, 1959
Mondays, I've found, are usually the toughest days of the week to get through; to be able to come home from work (or school) and unwind in front of the TV is one of life's simple pleasures. If that's what you're looking for this week, then tonight's your night. Aside from the premiere of The Bell Telephone Hour (which I mentioned on Saturday), there's pleasant music on The Voice of Firestone (unfortunately, on at the same time as Telephone); Tony Bennett guests on The Danny Thomas Show (also on at the same time), and Danny Thomas is in turn a guest on Ernie Ford's show. If you're looking for action and live in the right market, you can watch Highway Patrol, Sheriff of Cochise, San Francisco Beat and Badge 714. You can probably find more of your favorites as you browse these listings, from the Minnesota State Edition.
2 KTCA (Educ.) AFTERNOON 1:30 SING-A-SONG—2nd Grade 2:00 LANGUAGE IN ACTION DEBUT 2:30 GRAPHIC ARTS—Education 3:00 TEA AT THREE—Jeanni K. 3:30 JAZZ MEETS THE CLASSICS Hosts: George Shearing and Fr. Norman J. O'Connor 4:00 CREATIVE ART—Education 4:30 SCULPTURE—Education 5:00 MAGIC DOORWAYS—Education 5:15 SING HI-SING LO—Music 5:30 GREAT PLAINS TRILOGY EVENING 6:00 ATOMIC POWER—Education 6:30 JUNIOR HIGHS ON PARADE 7:00 OPEN DOOR—Adventure 7:30 UN REVIEW—Education 7:45 INDUSTRY ON PARADE 8:00 SPANISH LESSON—Education 8:30 PRIVATE COLLEGE HOUR 9:00 AT HOME WITH MUSIC 9:30 ADVERTISING TODAY—Education 10:00 GREAT BOOKS—Education 10:30 CHILDREN GROWING—Education
3 KDAL (DULUTH) (CBS) MORNING 8:00 CAPTAIN KANGAROO—Kids 8:45 NEWS—Stuart Novins 9:00 FOR LOVE OR MONEY 9:30 ARTHUR GODFREY 10:00 I LOVE LUCY 10:30 TOP DOLLAR 11:00 LOVE OF LIFE 11:30 SEARCH FOR TOMORROW—Serial 11:45 GUIDING LIGHT—Serial AFTERNOON 12:00 NEWS—Walter Cronkite 12:30 AS THE WORLD TURNS 1:00 JIMMY DEAN Guest: June Valli 1:30 HOUSE PARTY 2:00 BIG PAYOFF—Quiz 2:30 VERDICT IS YOURS 3:00 BRIGHTER DAY 3:15 SECRET STORM 3:30 EDGE OF NIGHT 4:00 TV HOUR OF STARS—Drama 5:00 BANDSTAND—Jim Rassbach 5:30 MICKEY MOUSE CLUB EVENING 6:00 NEWS 6:15 NEWS—Doug Edwards 6:30 NAME THAT TUNE 7:00 TEXAN—Western 7:30 FATHER KNOWS BEST—Comedy 8:00 DANNY THOMAS 8:30 ANN SOTHERN 9:00 DESILU PLAYHOUSE—Drama “Happy Hill” 10:00 NEWS 10:30 YOUR HIT PARADE—Music 11:00 MOVIE—Musical “Doll Face” (1945)
3 KGLO (MASON CITY) (CBS) MORNING 8:00 CAPTAIN KANGAROO—Kids 8:45 NEWS—Stuart Novins 9:00 FOR LOVE OR MONEY 9:30 ARTHUR GODFREY 10:00 I LOVE LUCY 10:30 TOP DOLLAR 11:00 LOVE OF LIFE 11:30 SEARCH FOR TOMORROW—Serial 11:45 GUIDING LIGHT—Serial AFTERNOON 12:00 NEWS 12:05 TOWN AND COUNTRY—Becker 12:30 AS THE WORLD TURNS 1:00 JIMMY DEAN Guest: June Valli 1:30 HOUSE PARTY 2:00 BIG PAYOFF—Quiz 2:30 VERDICT IS YOURS 3:00 BRIGHTER DAY 3:15 SECRET STORM 3:30 EDGE OF NIGHT 4:00 BOB CAVANAUGH—Variety 5:00 BART’S CLUBHOUSE—Kids 5:45 NEWS—Doug Edwards EVENING 6:00 FARM REPORTER—Al Heinz 6:05 SPORTS, NEWS, WEATHER 6:30 NAME THAT TUNE 7:00 WHIRLYBIRDS—Adventure 7:30 FATHER KNOWS BEST—Comedy 8:00 DANNY THOMAS 8:30 ANN SOTHERN 9:00 HIGHWAY PATROL—Police 9:30 SHERIFF OF COCHISE—Western 10:00 NEWS 10:30 DR. CHRISTIAN—Drama
4 WCCO (CBS) MORNING 7:00 CARTOONS—Siegfried 8:00 CAPTAIN KANGAROO—Kids 8:45 REUBEN K. YOUNGDAHL 8:55 NEWS—Dean Montgomery 9:00 FOR LOVE OR MONEY 9:30 ARTHUR GODFREY 10:00 I LOVE LUCY 10:30 TOP DOLLAR 11:00 LOVE OF LIFE 11:30 SEARCH FOR TOMORROW—Serial 11:45 GUIDING LIGHT—Serial AFTERNOON 12:00 NEWS 12:15 TAKE FIVE—Cedric Adams 12:20 WEATHER—Kraehling 12:30 AS THE WORLD TURNS 1:00 JIMMY DEAN Guest: June Valli 1:30 HOUSE PARTY 2:00 BIG PAYOFF—Quiz 2:30 VERDICT IS YOURS 3:00 BRIGHTER DAY 3:15 SECRET STORM 3:30 EDGE OF NIGHT 4:00 AROUND THE TOWN-Haeberle 4:30 COMMODORE CAPPY—Kids 5:00 AXEL AND DOG—Clellan Card 5:30 POPEYE CLUBHOUSE—Kids 5:55 WEATHER, NEWS, SPORTS EVENING 6:15 NEWS—Doug Edwards 6:30 NAME THAT TUNE 7:00 TEXAN—Western 7:30 FATHER KNOWS BEST—Comedy 8:00 DANNY THOMAS 8:30 ANN SOTHERN 9:00 DESILU PLAYHOUSE—Drama “Happy Hill” 10:00 NEWS 10:30 VANGUARD—Drama 11:00 MOVIE—Drama “Rags to Riches” (1941)
5 KSTP (NBC) MORNING 6:05 DAVID STONE—Variety 6:30 CONTINENTAL CLASSROOM—Education 7:00 TODAY—Garroway 9:00 DOUGH-RE-MI 9:30 TREASURE HUNT 10:00 PRICE IS RIGHT 10:30 CONCENTRATION 11:00 TIC TAC DOUGH 11:30 IT COULD BE YOU AFTERNOON 12:00 NEWS 12:20 TREASURE CHEST 1:00 TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES—Quiz COLOR 1:30 HAGGIS BAGGIS—Quiz COLOR 2:00 YOUNG DR. MALONE 2:30 FROM THESE ROOTS—Serial 3:00 QUEEN FOR A DAY 3:30 COUNTY FAIR 4:00 MY LITTLE MARGIE—Comedy 4:30 HAWKEYE—Adventure 5:00 SHERWOOD FOREST—Adventure 5:45 NEWS—Huntley, Brinkley EVENING 6:00 NEWS 6:20 YOU SHOULD KNOW—Quiz 6:30 BUCKSKIN—Western 7:00 RESTLESS GUN—Western 7:30 BELL TELEPHONE HOUR—Music SPECIAL COLOR Guests: Harry Belafonte, Maurice Evans, Renata Tebaldi, Gold & Fizdale, NYC Ballet 8:30 ALCOA THEATRE—Drama “High Class Type of Mongrel” 9:00 ARTHUR MURRAY COLOR Guests: Phyllis Newman, Bernie Knee 9:30 HIGHWAY PATROL—Police 10:00 NEWS 10:30 BADGE 714—Jack Webb 11:00 JACK PAAR—Variety Guest: Ilka Chase 12:00 NEWS
6 WDSM (DULUTH) (NBC) MORNING 6:30 CONTINENTAL CLASSROOM—Education 7:00 TODAY—Garroway 9:00 DOUGH-RE-MI 9:30 TREASURE HUNT 10:00 PRICE IS RIGHT 10:30 CONCENTRATION 11:00 TIC TAC DOUGH 11:30 IT COULD BE YOU AFTERNOON 12:00 NEWS 12:05 MOVIE—Western “The Big Stampede” (1932) 1:00 TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES—Quiz COLOR 1:30 HAGGIS BAGGIS—Quiz COLOR 2:00 YOUNG DR. MALONE 2:30 FROM THESE ROOTS—Serial 3:00 QUEEN FOR A DAY 3:30 COUNTY FAIR 4:00 POPEYE—Cartoons EVENING 6:00 NEWS 6:15 NEWS—Huntley, Brinkley 6:30 BUCKSKIN—Western 7:00 RESTLESS GUN—Western 7:30 BELL TELEPHONE HOUR—Music SPECIAL COLOR Guests: Harry Belafonte, Maurice Evans, Renata Tebaldi, Gold & Fizdale, NYC Ballet 8:30 ALCOA THEATRE—Drama “High Class Type of Mongrel” 9:00 ARTHUR MURRAY COLOR Guests: Phyllis Newman, Bernie Knee 9:30 PATTI PAGE—Variety Guests: Teresa Brewer, the Vagabonds 10:00 NEWS 10:15 SCIENCE FICTION THEATER 10:45 JACK PAAR—Variety Guest: Ilka Chase
6 KMMT (AUSTIN) (ABC) MORNING 10:30 HERALD OF TRUTH—Religion 11:00 MUSIC BINGO—Quiz 11:30 PETER LIND HAYES AFTERNOON 12:30 PLAY YOUR HUNCH 1:00 LIBERACE—Variety 1:30 NEWS, WEATHER 1:40 MATINEE WITH MARGE 2:00 DAY IN COURT—Drama 2:30 HOW TO MARRY A MILLIONAIRE—Comedy 3:00 BEAT THE CLOCK—Collyer 3:30 WHO DO YOU TRUST?—Quiz 4:00 AMERICAN BANDSTAND 5:30 MICKEY MOUSE CLUB EVENING 6:00 NEWS 6:15 NEWS—Don Goddard 6:30 SHIRLEY TEMPLE’S STORY BOOK—Fairy Tale “The Sleeping Beauty” 7:30 THIS IS ALICE—Comedy 8:00 VOICE OF FIRESTONE Guests: Genevieve Jean Sablon, Jane Morgan, George Feyer 8:30 DR. I. Q.—Quiz 9:00 PATTI PAGE—Variety Guests: Johnnie Ray, Margaret Whiting 9:30 TARGET—Adolphe Menjou 10:00 NEWS 10:15 NEWS—John Daly 10:30 MOVIE—Adventure “The Spanish Main” (1945)
8 WKBT (LA CROSSE) (CBS) MORNING 10:00 I LOVE LUCY 10:30 TOP DOLLAR 11:00 LOVE OF LIFE 11:30 SEARCH FOR TOMORROW—Serial 11:45 COUNTRY STYLE, U.S.A.—Music AFTERNOON 12:00 NEWS 12:05 HONEYMOON—Gleason 12:30 TOP PLAYS—Drama 1:00 JIMMY DEAN Guest: June Valli 1:30 HOUSE PARTY 2:00 BIG PAYOFF—Quiz 2:30 VERDICT IS YOURS 3:00 BRIGHTER DAY 3:15 SECRET STORM 3:30 EDGE OF NIGHT 4:00 COUNTERPOINT—Drama 4:30 FILM FEATURE 5:00 HAWKEYE—Adventure 5:30 ADVENTURE TIME—Kids EVENING 6:00 FARM DIGEST—Martin 6:05 SPORTS, NEWS, WEATHER 6:30 NAME THAT TUNE 7:00 TEXAN—Western 7:30 FATHER KNOWS BEST—Comedy 8:00 DANNY THOMAS 8:30 ANN SOTHERN 9:00 ERNIE FORD—Variety Guest: Danny Thomas 9:30 GROUCHO MARX—Quiz 10:00 NEWS 10:20 LAWMAN—Western 10:50 SAN FRANCISCO BEAT 11:20 BENGAL LANCERS—Adventure
9 KMSP (Ind.) AFTERNOON 1:55 CHAPEL OF THE AIR 2:00 MOVIE—Drama “Grand Exit” (1935) 3:30 BINGO—Joe Cooper 4:30 TV READER’S DIGERS—Drama 5:00 SUSIE—Comedy 5:30 OUR MISS BROOKS—Comedy EVENING 6:00 LOONEY TUNERS CLUB 6:30 MEN OF ANNAPOLIS—Drama 7:00 CAPTURED—Police 7:30 CONFIDENTIAL FILE—Drama 8:00 SHERIFF OF COCHISE—Western 8:30 SAN FRANCISCO BEAT—Police 9:00 MOVIE—Comedy “Her Highness and the Bellboy” (1945) 10:30 NEWS—David Lee 10:45 SPORTS—Tony Parker 11:50 OPEN HOUSE—Mel Jass 11:55 NEWS
10 KROC (ROCHESTER) (NBC) MORNING 6:30 CONTINENTAL CLASSROOM—Education 7:00 TODAY—Garroway 9:00 DOUGH-RE-MI 9:30 TREASURE HUNT 10:00 PRICE IS RIGHT 10:30 CONCENTRATION 11:00 TIC TAC DOUGH 11:30 IT COULD BE YOU AFTERNOON 12:00 NEWS 12:15 CHANNEL 10 CALLING 12:30 CHRISTOPHERS—Religion 1:00 TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES—Quiz COLOR 1:30 HAGGIS BAGGIS—Quiz COLOR 2:00 YOUNG DR. MALONE 2:30 FROM THESE ROOTS—Serial 3:00 QUEEN FOR A DAY 3:30 COUNTY FAIR 4:00 WHAT’S NEW?—Don Perry 4:30 TEN FOR SURVIVAL—Education 5:00 JUNGLE JIM—Adventure 5:30 MUSIC TIME—Variety 5:45 LOONEY TUNES—Cartoons EVENING 6:00 NEWS 6:15 NEWS—Huntley, Brinkley 6:30 SHERLOCK HOLMES—Mystery 7:00 RESTLESS GUN—Western 7:30 BELL TELEPHONE HOUR—Music SPECIAL COLOR Guests: Harry Belafonte, Maurice Evans, Renata Tebaldi, Gold & Fizdale, NYC Ballet 8:30 ALCOA THEATRE—Drama “High Class Type of Mongrel” 9:00 ARTHUR MURRAY COLOR Guests: Phyllis Newman, Bernie Knee 9:30 AFRICAN PATROL—Drama 10:00 NEWS 10:30 JACK PAAR—Variety Guest: Ilka Chase
11 WTCN (ABC) MORNING 9:00 FILM SHORT 9:20 FARM NEWS—Stuart A. Lindman 9:30 ROMPER ROOM—Miss Kay 10:20 STAR AND THE STORY 10:55 MARK STEVENS 11:00 MUSIC BINGO—Quiz 11:30 PETER LIND HAYES AFTERNOON 12:30 PLAY YOUR HUNCH 1:00 LIBERACE—Variety 1:30 MARK STEVENS 1:35 BURNS AND ALLEN—Comedy 2:00 DAY IN COURT—Drama 2:30 AMOS ‘N’ ANDY—Comedy 2:55 MARK STEVENS 3:00 BEAT THE CLOCK—Collyer 3:30 WHO DO YOU TRUST?—Quiz 4:00 AMERICAN BANDSTAND 5:30 MICKEY MOUSE CLUB EVENING 6:00 NEWS 6:30 SHIRLEY TEMPLE’S STORY BOOK—Fairy Tale “The Sleeping Beauty” 7:30 BOLD JOURNEY 8:00 VOICE OF FIRESTONE Guests: Genevieve Jean Sablon, Jane Morgan, George Feyer 8:30 DR. I. Q.—Quiz 9:00 PATTI PAGE—Variety Guests: Johnnie Ray, Margaret Whiting 9:30 NEWS—Chick McCuen 9:45 MOVIE—Police “The Big Shot” (1942) 11:30 I LED THREE LIVES-Carlson
13 WEAU (EAU CLAIRE) (NBC) MORNING 6:30 CONTINENTAL CLASSROOM—Education 7:00 TODAY—Garroway 9:00 DOUGH-RE-MI 9:30 TREASURE hunt 10:00 PRICE IS RIGHT 10:30 CONCENTRATION 11:00 TIC TAC DOUGH 11:30 IT COULD BE you AFTERNOON 12:00 EXTENSION DIVISION 12:15 CARTOONS—Kids 12:45 MARKETS, NEWS 1:00 TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES—Quiz COLOR 1:30 HAGGIS BAGGIS—Quiz COLOR 2:00 YOUNG DR. MALONE 2:30 FROM THESE ROOTS—Serial 3:00 QUEEN FOR A DAY 3:30 COUNTY FAIR 4:00 CARTOONS—Kids 4:30 MOVIE—Western “The Gay Ranchero” (1948) 5:30 CARTOONS—Kids EVENING 6:00 FILM SHORT 6:10 NEWS, WEATHER 6:30 WALT DISNEY—Adventure 7:30 BELL TELEPHONE HOUR—Music SPECIAL COLOR Guests: Harry Belafonte, Maurice Evans, Renata Tebaldi, Gold & Fizdale, NYC Ballet 8:30 SHERIFF OF COCHISE—Western 9:00 ARTHUR MURRAY COLOR Guests: Phyllis Newman, Bernie Knee 9:30 SCIENCE FICTION THEATER 10:00 NEWS 10:30 MOVIE—Drama “They Met in a Taxi” (1936)
TV
January 9, 2021
This week in TV Guide: January 10, 1959
It's the first month of the final year of the 1950s, and one of those weeks that puts the "classic" in classic TV. We'll start on Sunday night, with one of the most famous episodes of Maverick: "Gun-Shy" (6:30 p.m., ABC), a wicked parody of Gunsmoke, with Bret finding himslf in Ellwood, Kansas, a small town presided over by "Marshal Mort Dooley," a lawman who spends the entire episode looking "for somebody to run out of town." The tone is set in the opening scene, a virtual copy of Gunsmoke's premiere episode which found Marshal Matt Dillon in Dodge City's graveyard, reflecting on the grim nature of his job while contemplating the graves before him. "Arguing doesn't fill any graves," he had said then. This episode also opens in a graveyard, but Marshal Dooley has a slightly different outlook on things. "It's a nice place to visit," he says. "I like to come up here sometimes to think and maybe get ahead a grave or two." Marshal Dooley is surrounded by his trusty confidants: gimping deputy Clyde Diefendorfer, crusty old Doc, and Amy, the mistress of the Weeping Willow Saloon, of which Mort is a 37-and-a-half percent owner.
If all this wasn't enough to let you know what the writers were up to, take a look at this showdown between Dooley and Maverick. Anyone who's ever seen Gunsmoke would instantly recognize the setup on the left, the opening scene in which Matt faces down the bad guy; Maverick hilariously exaggerates it to an absurdity, with Bret standing so far in the distance he shouts out to Dooley asking if he should move a little closer. MeTV helpfully points out where Maverick is standing, little more than a speck on the screen.
I'd love to see this kind of parody of an existing series more often; God knows there are enough shows on TV today that deserve it. The audience obviously approved as well; this episode of Maverick pulls in a 49 share for the night, something most series today can on dream of. The lesson isn't lost on the producers, either; three seasons later, the show will do a wild spoof of Bonanza, with Jack Kelly's Bart dealing with Joe Wheelwright and his three sons, Moose, Henry, and Small Paul. But that's an episode for another day.
Here's Roy Huggins, Maverick creator, discussing "Gun-Shy."
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That's not the only special episode this week. On Friday, The Phil Silvers Show (8:00 p.m., CBS) presents the third airing of "the funniest of all the episodes" of the series: "The Court Martial," in which Bilko somehow finds himself defending a chimp that's been accidentally inducted into the Army. You know about the warning against acting with either kids or animals; well, someone should have let Zippy the chimp know that upstaging Phil Silvers wasn't going to be so easy. The most memorable scene of this memorable episode takes place during the court martial itself, when the chimp, going completely off-script, romps around the courtroom and picks up a telephone, eliciting laughter from everyone but the unflappable Silvers. "What are you doing," he ad-libs, "calling another lawyer?" It's a great moment, not only the funniest Bilko episode, but one of the greatest in sitcom history. No wonder TV Guide notes that "The popularity of this episode has led to this third showing." That's how things worked in this pre-DVR era.t t t
"Gun-Shy" is also not the only parody on TV this week, but you'll have to choose which one you want to watch, because they're both on at the same time. Maverick's competition is The Jack Benny Program (6:30 p.m., CBS), and tonight Barbara Stanwyck guest stars with Jack in "Autolight," a parody of the Charles Boyer/Ingrid Bergman thriller Gaslight. Before "gaslighting" became a term of political deception, it referred to the technique employed by Boyer in this movie, in which he attempts to drive Bergman insane by making her think she's imagining things; one way in which he does this is by manipulating the gas lighting to make it dim and brighten.
There must have been times in which Benny began to doubt his own sanity in his long battle to make "Autolight." Benny had originally satirized the movie on his radio show in 1952, with no problems. Pleased with the results, in 1953 Benny filmed a 15-minute spoof for his television show, and at that point MGM stepped in, claiming the movie couldn't be parodied without its permission. What really concerned the studio was the exclusivity of their entertainment product; remember, back in 1953 television was the hated enemy of the movie studio; MGM felt it had no choice but to take legal action in order to protect the value of its product in the eyes of movie theaters. As Erskine Johnson wrote at the time , "Left unchallenged, it could set a precedent. Left unchallenged by MGM, the studio’s customers, the theater men, would have a nice 'you done us wrong' argument about aiding the TV 'enemy.' The Hollywood winds were blowing in a different direction in 1953 and Jack and his film were caught in the legal gust."
The case wound up in the United States Supreme Court (CBS v. Loew’s), where in 1958 eight justices* deadlocked 4-4 on the question. By this time the issue of studio exclusivity had become a moot point, since MGM was now leasing their movies for use on television, and profiting greatly in the process. Benny finally wound up buying the rights to put the show on the air (how that woudl have killed his TV persona!), and this Sunday, five years after it was filmed, the controversial parody will finally appear on television, with Benny in the Boyer role, and Stanwyck taking over from Bergman. If you're curious about how it turns out, you can see it here .
*Justice William O. Douglas recused himself to pursue a business opportunity with CBS that never materialized.
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Back a few months ago —or about five years ago, in TV Guide time—the talk was about the "new" Milton Berle: how he was now less outrageous, more restrained, more sophisticated, adapting to the changing demands of the television audience. To which, five years later, Milton Berle says, "What new Milton Berle?"
Berle is back on weekly TV again after an absence of two years, as host of The Kraft Music Hall, and according to Dwight Whitney, "Berle has never been sharper, funnier or more engaging." Critics have described him as, variously, "topically minded," "less explosive," "better attuned," "more mature." Berle himself says, "I haven't changed a bit," although he does allow as to how viewers have become more sophisticated. But after all, Mr. Television reminds Whitney, "I've been in television a long time." Since 1929, in fact, and if you're a bit skeptical about that claim, he explains that back in 1929, while he was working in Chicago, he ran into a fellow named Sanabris from an outfit called American Television Corporation that was doing an experimental closed-circuit broadcast. "He asked me to do the 'experiment," Berle says, and "naturally I said yes." His job was to introduce a performance, which he did, while cracking what he calls "the first TV joke." That was the beginning.After eight years on the air, five of which were spent as the number one show, Berle took a break. "I needed rest," he says. "I was overexposed and the ratings showed it." He made a "triumphant" return to the nightclub circuit, did a boffo bit on last year's Emmy Awards (his "brassy, brash monolog was the hit of the show."), and here he is back at the grind of weekly television. "Coming back is tough," he acknowledges. "That goes for anybody. If they're thoroughbreds, they'll go to the starting gate with feathers in the stomach." He has no illusions about his gig with Kraft, figuring it will be good for one or two seasons "before the old bug overexposure begins to take hold. Then I'll do spots. Or just relax for awhile and come back later."
The new Berle of 1953 was loved by the critics, but his ratings steadily dropped until the show ended in 1956. The new Berle of 1959 will fare similarily; this run lasts one season, after which Perry Como becomes the face of Kraft Music Hall, hosting through 1967. Coincidentally, it's in January of 1967 that Milton Berle's final variety show, an attempt to attract the children of his original viewers, ends after a four-month run, slaughtered in the ratings by The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
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Starting in 1954, Steve Allen helmed his own NBC variety show which, at the beginning, aired opposite that of Ed Sullivan. It didn't run as long as Ed's, of course, but then Allen said his goal was never to conquer Ed, just to coexist with him, which he did for several seasons. Let's see who gets the best of the contest this week.
Sullivan: Ed's guests tonight are Jason Robards, Jr. and George Grizzard, doing a scene from the current Broadway play "The Disenchanted," songstress Teresa Brewer, comedienne Dody Goodman, comedians Alan King and Prof. Backwards, Ireland's Little Gaelic Singers, Victor Julian and his troupe of trained poodles, and the Gutis, European comedy act.
Allen: Steve's guests are British actress Diana Dors, Perez Prado and his orchestra and the Three Stooges—Moe Howard, Larry Fine and Joe DiRita. In comedy sketches, Steve, Don Knotts, Louis Nye and Tom Posten spoof three different types of TV "conversation" shows.
As I was this, I wondered which way I'd be going; Ed's got a pretty good lineup, with that Broadway bit, a good singer, and a couple of funny comedians. On the other hand, Diana Dors, sure, she's OK, but—and then we came to the Stooges. No more entries, we have a winner: it's Steverino, you knuckleheads.
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Let's see; there's even more to choose from this week.
Monday at 2:00 p.m., the show Language in Action debuts on NET. That's notable because the host is Dr. S.I. Hayakawa, "internationally-known semanticist." In the '60s, Hayakawa, then president of San Francisco State College, became a conservative folk hero for pulling the wires out of a loudspeaker system being used by radical protestors led by the Third World Liberation Front. He would parlay that support into election to the U.S. Senate in 1976, upsetting incumbent John Tunney.
Tuesday has a little something for everyone, On George Gobel's colorcast (7:00 p.m., NBC), George welcomes Myrna Loy, Cesar Romero and the Platters. After that, switch to CBS at 8:00 p.m. for the rest of the evening, starting with Arthur Godfrey and his guests, the legendary songwriting team of ◄ Richard Rodgers (music) and Oscar Hammerstein II (lyrics). Edward Everett Horton (narrator of Bullwinkle's "Fractured Fairy Tales") is Red Skelton's guest at 8:30, and then at 9:00 Garry Moore's guests include Andy Griffith and Ella Fitzgerald. Not a bad night, hmm?The big attraction on Wednesday is an ad from Kraft with the headline "Win $20,000 acting in Bat Masterson TV Show" and the instructions "See easy contest rules on Kraft Caramels or Kraft Fudgies." Curiosity, of course, demands more information. which I found not on a package of Kraft products, but in a full-page ad running in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
Everyone eligible: boys, girls, men, women! As winner, you get an acting part in a Bat Masterson NBC-TV Show! (See Rule 4.) 2 weeks at $10,000.00 a week! All Screen Actors' Guild union dues paid. No acting experience necessary. Plus 2-week vacation in Hollywood for your entire family (residing with you) while you are performing. First-class round-trip transportation by Trans World Airlines. Stay at famous Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, where the stars stay! All meals plus $500.00 spending money for the family. Or take $20,000, if you want the Grand Prize as cash. Enter now! Enter often! Who knows? You may discover an acting ability in yourselt that can start you on a great career and lead to fame and fortune!
Among the other prizes awarded: 1000 Fourth Prizes Bat Masterson Derby Hats! Genuine felt. Copies of the famous derby that was the "trademark" of the Old West's deadliest gunfighter! I wonder who won, and whether or not they did, in fact, embark on a great career leading to fame and fortune?
On Thursday's Playhouse 90 (8:30 p.m., CBS), "The Blue Men" tells the story of police detective Roy Brenner, a man with a sterling record and a son who's just joined the force, but now he faces an investigation by Internal Affairs over his failure to arrest a robbery suspect. In June, the characters of Roy and his son Ernie will return in the very good weekly series Brenner, with Edward Binns and James Broderick taking over for Edmond O'Brien and Richard LaPore.
If you've already caught Bilko and the chimp, you'll be free to watch Bob Hope's special (Friday, 8:00 p.m., NBC), in which the star shows highlights from his annual Christmas tour of American overseas military bases. With no active conflict at present, Hope and his troupe (including longtime sidekick Jerry Colonna, columnist Hedda Hopper, singers Molly Bee and Randy Sparks, dancer Elaine Dunn, and Les Brown and His Band of Renown) stop over in Madrid (where they're joined by Gina Lollobrigida), Italy, West Germany, and Ireland.
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Finally, since a new session of Congress began last week, I thought this might prove interesting: Walter Cronkite hosts a one-hour CBS News special introducing our newest batch of U.S. senators. (Sunday, 2:00 p.m.) It's difficult to think the networks would bother with something like this today, but back in 1959 I suppose we were all naive enough to harbor the thought that amongst this group might be the dynamic leaders of tomorrow, like that young Jack Kennedy back in 1952. And while not all of them went on to become household names, there are a fair number you might have heard of before: a vice presidential nominee and secretary of state, an influential presidential candidate, and other assorted cabinet members and ambassadors.
One thing to note: as you probably know, only in the most extraordinary of circumstances does a state elect two senators in the same year; their terms are usually staggered so something like that doesn't happen. But I can't think of anything more extraordinary than statehood, which explains the two new senators from the 49th and newest state, Alaska. (Jennings Randolph of West Virginia won a 1958 special election.)
The new senators, and how long they remained in office.
Name State Term(s) Years E.L. “Bob” Bartlett Alaska 1959-1968 (died) 10 Ernest Gruening Alaska 1959-1969 10 Thomas J. Dodd Connecticut 1959-1971 12 Vance Hartke Indiana 1959-1977 18 Edmund S. Muskie Maine 1959-1980 21 Eugene J. McCarthy Minnesota 1959-1971 12 Howard W. Cannon Nevada 1959-1983 24 Kenneth B. Keating New York 1959-1965 6 Stephen M. Young Ohio 1959-1971 12 Hugh Scott Pennsylvania 1959-1977 18 Frank Moss Utah 1959-1977 18 Robert Byrd West Virginia 1959-2010 (died) 51 Jennings Randolph West Virginia 1958-1985 26 Gale McGee Wyoming 1959-1977 18 Winston Prouty Vermont 1959-1971 12
Those senators, they just homestead once they get there, don't they? The only reason Ken Keating served a single term is that Robert Kennedy wanted that Senate seat. My favorite is how Utah's Frank Moss was defeated by Orrin Hatch, who ran on the slogan, "What do you call a Senator who’s served in office for 18 years? You call him home." Hatch, of course, holds the seat for the next 42 years. But you know what the song says; How Ya Gonna Keep 'em Down on the Farm After They've Seen Dee Cee? TV
January 8, 2021
Around the dial
The glum-looking woman up there looks as if she's been watching TV the last couple of days. At the risk of sounding like one of those "I never watch television" elitist snobs I'm always refuting, I have to admit that aside from sports, I haven't watched anything on "live" television for the last two or three months (aside from a couple of the nostalgia channels); we've been sticking to DVDs and the Roku, and we've been perfectly content to do so. It's not that I'm unaware of what's going on; it's precisely because I'm aware that I avoid it. I don't travel downtown because I value my physical health, and I don't watch live TV (especially the news) because I value my mental health. I know what you're thinking, though—that was a lost cause long ago. And you're probably right.
We'll start with a question from a reader, and I always try hard to get answers in cases like this, because you're trusting me to know what I'm talking about, and I don't take that trust lightly. Henry asks if we have any contact information for Mr. Av Westin, former host of Public Broadcasting Laboratory and producer for ABC News. "Mr. Westin will be invaluable to my upcoming podcast project about Mr. Joseph Louw, a South African journalist famed for photographing the immediate aftermath of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination. Mr. Westin worked with Mr. Louw on some projects for the Public Broadcasting Laboratory in 1967." How about it—any ideas out there?
And now, let's look at what's new. Thursday, January 6 was Epiphany for those who follow the traditional calendar (the one that says the day after the 12 Days of Christmas is actually, you know, January 6), and this insightful article at The New Criterion points out that the story of the Three Kings "burst afresh into American culture" thanks to the new medium of television and the 1951 broadcast of Gian Carlo Menotti’s Amahl and the Night Visitors .
Due to last Friday's preemption, I've got a couple of Jack's Hitchcock-related stories to catch up with over at bare-bones e-zine: an interesting look at the similarities between the noir classic Kiss Me Deadly and the Alfred Hitchcock Presents first-season story "The Hidden Thing" (was Hitch influenced by the film?) and this look at William Fay's first contribution to Alfred Hitchcock Presents, the fourth-season story "The Crooked Road," which I found very satisfying when I originally saw it.
At The Horn Section, Hal's Maverick Monday feature is on the entertaining Jack Kelly story "A Tale of Three Cities," from 1959. Tomorrow's TV Guide feature leads off with one of the all-time great Maverick episodes, and I'm sure Hal's got something to say about it. (In fact, I know he does, because I've read it.)
I have to admit that I don't know much about the English city of Bolton other than the Wanderers (it's a soccer team if you didn't know), so I'm always glad to learn something new, especially if it's funny and involves the Daleks. Thanks to John at Cult TV Blog, we now know that there's something the Daleks fear even more than Doctor Who.
One of life's simpler pleasures is George Peppard's 1970s series Banacek, in which Peppard plays an impossibly smooth, suave freelance insurance investigator (Johnny Dollar, eat your heart out!) who specializes in locked-door type mysteries in return for an obscene fee. At Classic Film and TV Café, Rick lists the five best Banacek episodes, but there really isn't a bad one in the whole series.
It's true that 2020 was a pretty bad year, but since 2021 shapes up to be even worse (and don't think it will end there), there's no good reason to not review the year from a classic TV perspective , and that's just what David does at this week's Comfort TV.
And on that bombshell, we'll say goodbye until tomorrow. TV
January 6, 2021
January 4, 2021
What's on TV? Wednesday, January 5, 1955
For the first week of the new year, the new year being 1955, we've chosen Wednesday. Certainly, one of the biggest shows of the evening is Disneyland, ABC's prestige union with Walt Disney, and tonight's feature is part one of Treasure Island, the 1950 live-action movie starring Bobby Driscoll and Robert Newton. Critics of the time hailed "some of the most beautiful color photography ever shot," which makes it particularly unfortunate that it's broadcast (like all of the network's programming) in black and white. One show that will be in color tonight is the debut of the sitcom Norby, starring David Wayne. It doesn't really air at 10:30 p.m,. at least not nationally; it was actually on at 6:00 p.m., right when WNBQ (and, presumably, many other stations) were showing their local news programs. Maybe that's why it only lasted 13 weeks. Oh well, them's the breaks. This week's listings come to you from Chicago.
2 WBBM (CBS) MORNING 6:40 Today’s Thoughts 6:45 Farm Daily—Menard 7:00 Morning Show—Carson 9:00 Gary Moore—Variety 9:30 Arthur Godfrey Time 10:30 Strike It Rich—Quiz 11:00 Valiant Lady—Serial 11:15 Love of Life—Serial 11:30 Search for Tomorrow 11:45 Guiding Light—Serial AFTERNOON 12:00 Portia Faces Life—Serial 12:15 Road of Life—Serial 12:30 Welcome Travelers 1:00 Robert Q. Lewis—Variety 1:30 Linkletter’s House Party 2:00 Big Payoff—Quiz 2:30 Bob Crosby—Music 3:00 Brighter Day—Serial 3:15 Secret Storm—Serial 3:30 On Your Account—Quiz 4:00 Movietime—Drama 4:30 Shopping with Miss Lee 4:55 Weather—P.J. Hoff 5:00 Range Rider—Adventure 5:30 Gene Autry—Western EVENING 6:00 Sports—Bob Elson 6:15 News—Julian Bentley 6:30 News—Douglas Edwards 6:45 Perry Como—Music 7:00 GODFREY AND FRIENDS 8:00 STRIKE IT RICH—Quiz Warren Hull emcees 8:30 I’VE GOT A SECRET—Panel 9:00 BEST OF BROADWAY COLOR “Arsenic and Old Lace” 10:00 NEWS AND WEATHER 10:15 IN TOWN TONIGHT 10:30 NEWS—Harrington 10:45 KUP’S SHOW—Irv Kupcinet 11:00 To Be Announced 12:00 News 12:05 Playhouse—Drama
4 WTMJ (MILWAUKEE) (NBC) MORNING 6:45 Everett Mitchell—Talks 7:00 Today—Dave Garroway Guest: David Wayne 9:00 Ding Dong School—Kids 9:30 Way of the World 9:45 Sheilah Graham 10:00 Home—Women’s News 11:00 What’s New in the Kitchen 11:45 Let’s Look at the News AFTERNOON 12:00 Hot Shot Review—Music 12:30 Weather—Bill Carlsen 12:35 Bob Heiss—Interviews 1:30 Beulah Donohue—Women 2:00 Greatest Gift—Serial 2:15 Golden Windows 2:30 One Man’s Family 2:45 Miss Marlowe—Serial 3:00 Hawkins Falls—Serial 3:15 First Love—Serial 3:30 World of Mr. Sweeney 3:45 Modern Romances 4:00 Your Library Story 4:15 Let’s Experiment—Science 4:30 Howdy Doody—Puppets 5:00 Foreman Tom—Western EVENING 6:00 Sports—Larry Clark 6:15 Malones and Marvin—Music 6:30 Eddie Fisher—Music 6:45 News—John C. Swayze 7:00 I MARRIED JOAN 7:30 MY LITTLE MARGIE 8:00 KRAFT THEATRE—Drama “One Hill, One River” 9:00 THIS IS YOUR LIFE 9:30 PLAYHOUSE OF STARS 10:00 WEATHER—Bill Carlsen 10:05 TV NEWSREEL 10:20 LET’S LOOK AT THE NEWS 10:30 RACKET SQUAD—Drama 11:00 Tonight—Variety Guest: John Thielman 12:00 News at Midnight
5 WNBQ (NBC) MORNING 7:00 Today—Dave Garroway Guest: David Wayne 9:00 Ding Dong School—Kids 9:30 Way of the World 9:45 Sheilah Graham 10:00 Home—Women’s News 11:00 Betty White Show 11:30 Feather Your Nest—Quiz AFTERNOON 12:00 Noontime Comics—Kids 12:30 Bob & Kay—Interviews 1:00 Home Cooking—Recipes 1:30 To Be Announced 2:00 Greatest Gift—Serial 2:15 Golden Windows 2:30 One Man’s Family 2:45 Miss Marlowe—Serial 3:00 Hawkins Falls—Serial 3:15 First Love—Serial 3:30 World of Mr. Sweeney 3:45 Modern Romances 4:00 Pinky Lee—Kids 4:30 Howdy Doody—Puppets 5:00 Elmer the Elephant—Kids 5:30 Close-up—Music EVENING 6:00 Weather—Clint Youle 6:05 News—Jack Angell 6:10 Sports—Joe Wilson 6:15 Dorsey Connors—Travel 6:20 Alex Dreier—Features 6:25 Tony Weitzel—Comments 6:30 Eddie Fisher—Music 6:45 News—John C. Swayze 7:00 I MARRIED JOAN 7:30 MY LITTLE MARGIE 8:00 KRAFT THEATRE—Drama “One Hill, One River” 9:00 THIS IS YOUR LIFE 9:30 BIG TOWN—Drama 10:00 WEATHER—Clint Youle 10:10 DORSEY CONNORS—Ideas 10:15 NEWS—Jack Angell 10:25 SPORTS—Norm Barry 10:30 NORBY—Comedy DEBUT COLOR 11:00 Tonight—Variety Guest: John Thielman 12:00 MOVIE—Comedy “Girl from Monterey”
7 WBKB (ABC) MORNING 7:00 Chicago Parade—Variety 8:00 Breakfast Club—McNeill 9:00 Women and the World 9:30 Play House—Kids 10:00 Creative Cookery—Recipes 10:55 News—Ulmer Turner 11:00 Danny O’Neil Show 11:55 News—Ulmer Turner AFTERNOON 12:00 Happy Pirates—Kids’ Fun 12:55 News—Ulmer Turner 1:00 The Doctor Answers—Talks 1:15 TV Dental Clinic 1:30 Midweek Cooking School 2:30 It Makes Sense—Disc. 3:00 Playhouse—Film 3:30 News—Ulmer Turner 3:35 Time for Uncle Win—Kids 4:00 Pied Piper—Kids 4:30 Garfield Goose and Friend 5:00 Laffin’ Theater—Rufe Davis 5:30 Jungle Adventure—Film 5:45 News—Austin Kiplinger 5:50 Sports—Jack Drees 5:55 Weather—Chuck Bill EVENING 6:00 Kukla, Fran and Ollie 6:15 News—John Daly 6:30 Disneyland “Treasure Island” part 1 7:30 STU ERWIN—Comedy 8:00 MASQUERADE PARTY Panel: Buff Cobb, Bobby Sherwood, Ilka Chase, Ogden Nash. Host: Peter Donald 8:30 FRONT PAGE DETECTIVE 9:00 ROYAL PLAYHOUSE—Drama 9:30 TO BE ANNOUNCED 10:00 DOUBLE DATE—Film Dramas (1) “Ellery Queen” (2) “Bridal Suite” 11:00 News—Ulmer Turner 11:05 Weather—Chuck Brill 11:10 Tom Duggan—Comments 12:00 MOVIE—Double Feature (1) “Flight Thirteen” (2) “The Gnat”
9 WGN (Du Mont) MORNING 9:00 Paul Fogarty—Exercises 9:30 The Femme Show 10:00 Hi Ladies—Mike Douglas 10:55 News—Steve Fentress 11:00 The Romper Room—Kids 11:55 News—Steve Fentress AFTERNOON 12:00 Best of the West—Kids 12:55 News—Steve Fentress 1:00 All About Baby—Tips 1:15 Film Shorts 1:30 Learning Brings Adventure 2:00 Paul Dixon—Music 3:00 MOVIE—Comedy “Hold That Woman” 4:00 Bandstand Matinee—Music 4:55 News—Les Nichols 5:00 Bob Atcher Show—Western 5:30 News—Leslie Monypenny 5:45 Curbstone Cut-up EVENING 6:00 Captain Video—Adventure 6:15 Sports Final—Vince Lloyd 6:30 News—Spencer Allen 6:45 Chicagoland Newsreal 7:00 DR. FIXUM—Crafts 7:30 TV SHOWCASE—Drama 8:00 CHICAGO SYMPHONY Guest conductor: Bruno Walter 9:00 DOWN YOU GO—Quiz Panelists: Phil Rizzuto, Elizabeth Montgomery, Walt Kelly. Moderator: Dr. Bergen Evans 9:30 LIBERACE SHOW—Music 10:00 MOVIE—Musical “The Countess of Monte Cristo” (Chgo. TV Debut) 11:30 News—Les Nichols 11:45 Weather—Carl Greyson 11:50 Film Short
TV
January 2, 2021
This week in TV Guide: January 1, 1955
Growing up, I always felt that a holiday falling on a weekend was something of a letdown. After all, Saturday and Sunday were already like holidays; any day without school was like being let out of prison on a work-release program. (Little was I to know that it wouldn't get any better as an adult, except that the sentence was more like 40 years, and you got paid while doing time.) They were, in a way, less special; when it came to television, even less so. amonNew Year's Day 1955, which falls on a Saturday, is one of those days. You're enjoying a day off that you already have, and you're probably spending it watching college football, just like you've done every Saturday for the last three or four months. What's the big deal about that? It is, I would learn, just one of the harsh realities of life. Be that as it may, here we are at the first day of 1955, and if you aren't still getting over your hangover from last night, there's no end of reminders that this Saturday is not quite like those of the last twelve months.
Our first clue comes at 11:15 CT, with NBC's coverage of the 66th Tournament of Roses Parade, live from Pasadena, California, with the theme "Familiar Sayings in Flowers," . Bill Goodwin (announcer on the Burns and Allen radio program) and Betty White are NBC's hosts, and they'll be introducing, among others, the parade's Grand Marshal, Chief Justice of the United States Earl Warren. There's also a strong contingent of Western stars, befitting the genre's status as television's reigning programming, including Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, Hopalong Cassidy, Andy Devine, Leo Carrillo, Guy Madison and Rex Allen. We should also note that "unique feature" of NBC's coverage, "the placement of a television camera in a dirigible hovering between 700 and 1000 feet above the parade." That's right: it's not just any dirigible, but the very first appearace at the Rose Parade of the Goodyear Blimp, without which no major event today would be complete. There may be many imitators, but there's only one Goodyear. And I'm sure the roses look lovely in living black-and-white. t t t
You wouldn't have seen these teams in yesterday's bowl games—except for one lucky school, that is.It's ironic that Hopalong Cassidy is appearing in the Rose Parade, since his namesake is playing in the Rose Bowl. (I wonder how many times that's happened?) I'm talking about Howard "Hopalong" Cassidy, star back of undefeated, top-ranked Ohio State, third in the voting for the Heisman Trophy (he'll win it the following season), and future member of the college Hall of Fame. He came by his nickname honestly; after one game, a sportswriter said he "hopped all over the field like the performing cowboy." Ah, of such things are legends made.
Anyway, the game is played in a steady rain (the last time rain falls on a Rose Bowl game), and Ohio State rides a dominant performance to a 20-7 victory over USC. The game likely would have been more competitive had the Buckeyes played UCLA, the undefeated and second-ranked team, but the Uclans were prevented from playing in their second consecutive Rose Bowl due to the Pacific Coast Conference's "no-repeat" rule. (The networks would never allow that to happen today.) And speaking of networks, you can see one reason why the Rose Bowl has always enjoyed such big ratings compared to other bowl games: the Orange Bowl airs at 1:00 p.m. on CBS, the Sugar Bowl at 1:00 p.m. on ABC, and the Cotton Bowl at 1:00 p.m. on NBC, leaving the 4:00 p.m. timeslot wide open for Pasadena. It's a priviledge that, with a handful of exceptions over the years, the Rose Bowl enjoys to this day.
Oh, and in the other games: Duke 34, Nebraska 7; Georgia Tech 14, Arkansas 6; and Navy 21, Mississippi 0.
t t t
But what's that, you say? You don't like football? Well, there's not a lot of hope for you, at least during the day. You can watch Pygmalion, the original, non-musical George Bernard Shaw story from which My Fair Lady was adapted (4:00 p.m., WGN), with Leslie Howard and Wendy Hiller as Rex Harrison and Audrey Hepburn. (Psst - Leslie Howard was probably as good a singer as Rex Harrison.) Range Defenders, an hour-long Western, airs at the same time on WBBM. At 5:00 p.m., it's Superman to save the day, at least on WBKB.
In primetime, Victor Borge hosts a special on NBC immediately following the conclusion of the Rose Bowl (6:30 p.m. or thereabouts), while at 7:30 (following The Mickey Rooney Show), it's the debut of This Is Hollywood (actual title: So This Is Hollywood), a sitcom presenting the adventures of stunt girl Queenie (Mitzi Green) and her roommate, aspiring actress Kim (Virginia Gibson). It runs for 24 episodes, and, unlikely as it may seem, there's an episode of it here . At 9:00, The Jimmy Durante Show (NBC, again), with special guest George Raft.
t t t
We all know, though, that while a year lasts 365 days, New Year's Day only lasts for one, so here's a look at the highlights from the rest of the week
In the Sunday afternoon cultural ghetto, Omnibus (4:00 p.m., CBS) features an excerpt of the trial scene from George Bernard Shaw's St. Joan, accompanied by background information by host Alistair Cooke. That's followed at 5:00 p.m. by You Are There, with Walter Cronkite and other CBS correspondents looking at "The Torment of Beethoven." Moving into primetime, the monthly Max Liebman Spectacular (6:30 p.m., NBC, preempting the Colgate Comedy Hour) pits Liebman's "new trio" of Judy Holliday, Steve Allen and Dick Shawn (!) against the "zany" Ritz Brothers in dueling sketches, songs and dances. That goes up against Ed Sullivan's Toast of the Town (7:00 p.m., CBS) with a guest lineup that includes Pearl Bailey, June Valli, Sam Levenson, Ted Lewis, and Francis L. Sullivan and Patricia Jessel in a scene from the new Agatha Christie Broadway play, Witness for the Prosecution. Both Sullivan, as barrister Sir Wilfrid Robarts (later played in the movie by Charles Laughton), and Jessel, as Romaine Vole (Marlene Dietrich in the movie) will go on to win Tonys for their performances. And in an event that should be circled on the calendar of my friend
Hal Horn
, it's the premiere of The Bob Cummings Show, also known as Love That Bob (9:30 p.m., NBC), which runs for five successful seasons. The MeTV website
suggests
that it was the first series to debut as a midseason replacement, and who am I to disagree? Maybe Hal knows.Under the category "a new year calls for a new start," Monday sees a trio of daytime premieres on NBC, starting with Way of the World (9:30 a.m.), an anthology of short stories taken from women's magazines. That's followed at 9:45 a.m. by The Sheila Graham Show, a 15-minute update on the latest in Hollywood news hosted by the TV Guide columnist. And at 11:00 a.m., it's the debut of the Tennessee Ernie Ford show, with singer Molly Bee and a six-piece musical group.
Rod Serling, who always had something interesting to say about men in battle, takes another look at in on Tuesday in Armstrong Circle Theater's "Save Me From Treason" (8:30 p.m,. NBC), as a young soldier in Korea contemplates getting even with his heartless father by defecting to the communists. The cast isn't listed in the issue, and even on the IMDb we don't really know who played who, but we'd probably remember it more if the lead had been played by a young actor in the cast, one making his television debut, who appeared in only one uncredited scene. His name: Steve McQueen.
Wednesday night, CBS's Best of Broadway presents a comedy that was certainly among the bests on Broadway: Arsenic and Old Lace (9:00 p.m.), with Helen Hayes and Billie Burke as the murderous-yet-loveable spinsters, Orson Bean as their befuddled nephew, Boris Karloff as the serial killer who looks like Boris Karloff and Peter Lorre as the plastic surgeon responsible for his appearance, John Alexander as the man who thinks he's Teddy Roosevelt, and Bruce Gordon, in his pre-Untouchables days, as a policeman. Hard to say how it is compared to the movie (Cary Grant hated his performance in it, by the way), but it certainly has the look of a winner.
There's a rare morning special breaking up the regular schedule on Thursday, but it's not just any special. It's President Eisenhower's State of the Union address (11:30 a.m., all networks). The State of the Union didn't become a primetime television spectacle until President Johnson's address on January 4, 1965 (the opening day of the new Congressional session), but the idea of giving it in the evening actually dates back to Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1936*, and I'm guessing the reasons were the same: to reach the largest audience possible. (By the by, two weeks later Ike will conduct the
first televised presidential press conference
.) Later, on the mystery series Climax (7:30 p.m., CBS), Art Carney (above) plays a private detective enmeshed in shady dealings and a double-double cross in "The Bigger They Come," based on the short story by A.A. Fair, the pseudonym of Erle Stanley Gardner.*According to the House of Representatives history site, FDR's decision created quite a protocol stir, leading some to wonder if formalwear ought to be worn. (It was only the second time a president had ever addressed Congress at night.) Imagine wearing white tie or evening gown for a presidential speech.
On Friday, it's a future star of another kind, as Gillette Cavalcade of Sports presents future champion Floyd Patterson, 20 years and three days old, against Willie Troy, whom he defeats in five rounds in a light-heavyweight bout. It's already Patterson's 20th professional fight, and he'll fight again ten days later, defeating Don Grant. (Ah, the energy of youth.) Less than two years later, he'll knock out Archie Moore to win the heavyweight championship. And Edward R. Murrow's Person to Person (9:30 p.m, CBS) visits Dinah Shore and her husband, actor George Montgomery.
t t t
Finally, how about some gossip? I don't see anything online about Ike's State of the Union speech, but based on what columnist Earl Wilson says, I'd imagine it went pretty well. Actor Robert Montgomery has been serving as the president's unpaid consultant and coach, and, according to Wilson, "Montgomery's suggestions on President Eisenhower's TV style have finally begun to pay off. 'Ike' was so eloquent—and smooth—at a recent dinner that his speech topped all others. Montgomery sat on the front row—'watching him like a mother,' said one observer. Montgomery, homburg-hatted and all, looks almost like a diplomat these days."On the other side of the aisle, Wilson reports that Margaret Truman, daughter of the former prez, "has agreed to do three or four more shows for Jimmy Durante in late winter or spring." Durante has a letter from Harry, "thanking him for being so nice to Margaret."
In a sign of things to come, the Teletype notes that The Great One, Jackie Gleason, is "very interested" in an offer from Milton Berle's sponsor (Buick?) "to finance a half-hour telefilm version of The Honeymooners next season." In a throwaway line, reporter Bob Stahl notes that "the comedian would also share in rerun sales." No dummy he. Today, that single season of shows is known as the "Classic 39."
Also4 in the Teletype, Jack Paar is taking a couple of weeks off from his CBS morning show to vacation in (pre-Castro) Cuba, as a guest of the government. It's "in honor of Paar's employing Pupi Campo and Jose Melis, both native Cubans," on the Morning Show. Replacing Paar while he's off: Johnny Carson.
I kid you not. TV
January 1, 2021
Dawn Wells, R.I.P.
If there's one phrase that keeps appearing in the outpouring of affection and sadness over the death of Dawn Wells, it's a charmingly outdated one: "the girl next door." Is there such a thing anymore? Judging by the way women are portrayed on television--not just in scripted comedy and drama, but in reality shows as well--it seems as if "desirable" has come to mean being overly made up, overly endowed, overly loud and overly dramatic. And I suppose that would describe the girl next door, if you lived next door to the Osbornes or the Real Housewives of whatever city happens to be cursed at the moment. But for people here in flyover country, it means something else to be the girl next door, and if you want to know what that means then all you have to do is look at the career of Dawn Wells, especially during the three seasons she played Mary Ann Summers on Gilligan's Island. She was bright, pretty, well-scrubbed, and had a goodness about her that was obviously there and obviously real. And, judging by the comments of those who knew her or worked with her over the years, that was pretty much Dawn as much as it was Mary Ann. Not for nothing does Mary Ann win all those "Mary Ann vs. Ginger" polls.
It would be cynical of me to suggest that the idea of the girl next door no longer exists; it speaks ill not only of the women who fit that category, but the men who hope to meet them. And yet I'd be less than truthful if I didn't at least note that, in a year where so much that once seemed timeless and permanent has either been cast out or simply drifted away, this somehow seems to put a stamp on it. And if this, too, smacks of excess cynicism, then let's keep in mind that Dawn Wells hasn't really left us. She's there any time we watch one of her performances, when we can still make time stand still, for an hour or so at a time. TV
December 30, 2020
Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow
I don't think anyone's really going to miss the end of 2020, do you? In retrospect, the omens were there for anyone to see, with so many people talking about it being the start of a "New Roaring 20s,"* and we all know how that turned out: the aftermath of the Great War introduced a spiritual nihilism, prohibition, the first sexual revolution, massive labor unrest, the rise of Marxism, the Great Depression, and finally—a decade later—a second world war that included the Holocaust and culminated in the introduction of nuclear weapons and the start of the Cold War. *Not to be confused with the TV series of the same name. We could have used Dorothy Provine this year.
And now here we are, one year later, and the first year of the new Roaring 20s has given us the worst twelve months since, what? 2001? 1968? 1941? It doesn't matter, I guess, except in degrees. It's like asking whether you'd rather have your skull smashed or your heart torn out. No matter which one you choose, it's gonna hurt. I know there are people out there who think 2021 will be a better year, and you can't blame them for that hope. Hey, I hope it's better, too.
In a way, New Year's provides us with a choice, a fork in the road. One path continues the status quo, the other leads to something new, different, uncertain. Sure, this may be symbolic more than anything else; after all, you don't need to wait for a new year to start to make decisions about your future. Seeing that date 1/1 does make things so much easier, though.
The MonstersI suppose this last essay of 2020 serves as something of a "best of" for the blog; over the past year, I've written several times about the foreboding nature of 2020, of those prescient movies and television shows that seem to reflect in their black-and-white images the nightmarish visions of today; paranoia, people ratting on their neighbors, the dehumanizing isolation into which so many have been fooled or forced. From 1984 to "
The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street
" we see it all unfolding before us. The scientists in the Outer Limits episode "
The Architects of Fear
" assumed they had the answer, if only the right question is asked, but found out that they knew nothing at all. It is, indeed,
Apocalypse Theater
, and every time you see this rerun on TV you wonder how it can be happining, whether or not this Great Reset is in fact a Great Betrayal, and you want to cry out, in
David Shoemaker's words
, You told us this was fake. You lied! Tomorrow at midnight, another year joins the pantheon of history, and there are those out there who think that we're headed for some kind of epiphany in which this brave new world will take care of everything. To say that I'm apprehensive about the future is an understatement; 2020 looks to me like it was just the prelude to a complete meltdown: soft totalitarianism, social credit systems, elections that don't count, unending constraints on basic social interaction, globalists who want to control what we can and can't think and say and believe, wars and rumors of war—from biological to civil—and you can't even face them with a smile, because nobody'll see it behind your mask.
It only takes TwoBut then, there are those two paths I talked about, and invariably the stories from Apocalypse Theater offer us that moment of choice, when disaster can be averted, when our leaders pull their fingers away from the button at the last moment. Perhaps, a la Jack Benny in the TV version of
The Horn Blows at Midnight,
we'll have a little angelic intervention on our behalf. And, of course, we haven't even begun to discuss that other popular genre, the post-apocalyptic story. In the Twilight Zone episode "
Two
," it is suggested that humans (in the form of Charles Bronson and Elizabeth Montgomery) can, after all, come together to create a hopeful future: true, that's only after the war has been fought, but at least there's a future, and that's something to hang on to. I always like to think that, in a twist on the old saying, where there's hope, there's life.There would have been a time for such a word.
— Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,
To the last syllable of recorded time;
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death.
Tomorrow night we say "Good Riddance!" to 2020 and look forward to 2021, but we'd better be careful what we wish for. TV
December 28, 2020
What's on TV: Tuesday, December 28, 1971
Here we are, on the final Tuesday of 1971. On Saturday, Cleveland Amory delivered his verdicts on several of the season's more disappointing series, and throughout this issue we can see evidence that some of these shows have already run out of time. Tonight, for instance, is the final episode of The Funny Side, and Sarge will air its final episode on January 11. James Garner as Nichols (yes, that's its full name) has until March, despite the unusual decision to kill off Garner's character in the final episode and replace him with—James Garner. Well, the clock is always ticking on failure, but there's also plenty to be seen, such as an all-star week on The Mike Douglas Show, featuring Sammy Davis Jr. So don't despair; 1972 will be a better year. Right?
2 WCBS (CBS) MORNING 6:30 SUNRISE SEMESTER -C- Classical Mythology: Attica 7:00 CBS NEWS—John Hart -C- 8:00 CAPTAIN KANGAROO -C- 9:00 GALLOPING GOURMET -C- Lamb cutlets marinated in a red wine sauce 9:30 WOMAN! -C- 10:00 LUCILLE BALL -C- 10:30 MY THREE SONS -C- 11:00 FAMILY AFFAIR -C- 11:30 LOVE OF LIFE -C- AFTERNOON 12:00 WHERE THE HEART IS -C- 12:25 CBS NEWS—Edwards -C- 12:30 SEARCH FOR TOMORROW -C- 1:00 PAUL BERNARD—PSYCHIATRIST—Drama -C- 1:30 AS THE WORLD TURNS -C- 2:00 LOVE IS A MANY SPLENDORED THING -C- 2:30 GUIDING LIGHT -C- 3:00 SECRET STORM -C- 3:30 EDGE OF NIGHT -C- 4:00 GOMER PYLE, USMC -C- 4:30 MIKE DOUGLAS -C- Co-host: Sammy Davis Jr. Guests: Muhammad Ali, Jesse Jackson, Donna Theodore, Jimmy Jones 5:00 BIG VALLEY—Western -C- EVENING 6:00 NEWS—Jim Jensen -C- 7:00 CBS NEWS—Walter Cronkite -C- 7:30 GLEN CAMPBELL -C- Guests: the Pat Boone, Dom DeLuise and Campbell families 8:30 HAWAII FIVE-O -C- 9:30 CANNON—Crime Drama -C- 10:30 GOLDDIGGERS -C- Guests: Fess Parker, John Rowles, Marian Mercer 11:00 NEWS—Jim Jensen -C- 11:30 MERV GRIFFIN -C- Guest host TBA 1:00 NEWS -C- 1:10 MOVIE—Western -C- “Chief Crazy Horse” (1955) 2:55 MOVIE—Drama “The Gorgeous Hussy” (1936)
3 WTIC (HARTFORD) (CBS) MORNING 6:00 SUNRISE SEMESTER -C- 6:30 RFD #3—Farming -C- 7:00 CBS NEWS—John Hart -C- 8:00 CAPTAIN KANGAROO -C- 9:00 HAP RICHARDS—Children -C- 9:15 YOGI BEAR—Cartoon -C- 9:30 LUCILLE BALL -C- 10:00 MOVIE—Comedy “Ma and Pa Kettle in the Ozarks” (1956) 11:30 LOVE OF LIFE -C- AFTERNOON 12:00 NEWS—Dick Bertel -C- 12:25 CBS NEWS—Edwards -C- 12:30 SEARCH FOR TOMORROW -C- 1:00 VIRGINIA GRAHAM -C- Guests: Howard Duff, Lucille Wall, Hal Peary, Jay Jostyn 1:30 AS THE WORLD TURNS -C- 2:00 LOVE IS A MANY SPLENDORED THING -C- 2:30 GUIDING LIGHT -C- 3:00 MY THREE SONS -C- 3:30 RANGER STATION -C- 4:00 FAMILY AFFAIR -C- 4:30 ANDY GRIFFITH—Comedy -C- 5:00 BIG VALLEY—Western -C- 5:55 UPDATE -C- EVENING 6:00 NEWS, WEATHER, SPORTS -C- 6:30 CBS NEWS—Walter Cronkite -C- 7:00 UNTAMED WORLD -C- 7:30 GLEN CAMPBELL -C- Guests: the Pat Boone, Dom DeLuise and Campbell families 8:30 HAWAII FIVE-O -C- 9:30 CANNON—Crime Drama -C- 10:30 DAVID FROST REVUE -C- Guest: George Hamilton 11:00 NEWS—Bob Hanson -C- 11:25 PERRY MASON—Mystery 12:25 STARTIME—Drama -C- 1:25 NEWS AND WEATHER -C-
4 WNBC (NBC) MORNING 6:30 STATION EXCHANGE -C- 7:00 TODAY -C- Guests: Gov. Winfield Dunn (R-Tenn.), publisher James Brady 9:00 NOT FOR WOMEN ONLY -C- 9:30 PHIL DONAHUE -C- 10:00 DINAH SHORE -C- Guest: Carroll O’Connor 10:30 CONCENTRATION -C- 11:00 SALE OF THE CENTURY -C- 11:30 HOLLYWOOD SQUARES -C- Guests: Joey Bishop, Marty Brill, Virginia Graham, Janet Leigh, Paul Lynde, AFTERNOON 12:00 JEOPARDY -C- 12:30 WHO, WHAT OR WHERE—Game -C- 12:55 NBC NEWS—Kalber -C- 1:00 IT’S YOUR BET—Game -C- Guests: Stu Gilliam, Vicki Lawrence, Bobby Russell 1:30 THREE ON A MATCH—Game -C- 2:00 DAYS OF OUR LIVES -C- 2:30 DOCTORS -C- 3:00 ANOTHER WORLD -C- 3:30 BRIGHT PROMISE -C- 4:00 SOMERSET -C- 4:30 MOVIE—Comedy -C- “The Ghost ad Mr. Chicken” (1966) EVENING 6:00 NEWS—Jim Hartz -C- 7:00 NBC NEWS—John Chancellor -C- 7:30 SARGE -C- 8:30 FUNNY SIDE -C- [Last show of the series] 9:30 JAMES GARNER—Western -C- 10:30 SEVEN SUMMITS -C- Special [Pre-empts regular programming] 11:00 NEWS—Jim Hartz -C- 11:30 JOHNNY CARSON -C- 1:00 NEWS—John Masterman -C- 1:15 MOVIE—Drama “The Winslow Boy” (English; 1949)
5 WNEW (Ind.) MORNING 7:30 CARTOONS -C- 8:30 BUGS BUNNY—Cartoon -C- 9:00 YOGI BEAR—Cartoon -C- 9:30 HAZEL—Comedy -C- 10:00 MOVIE—Comedy “Blondie’s Last Day” (1946) 11:30 MIDDAY LIVE -C- AFTERNOON 1:00 MOVIE—Adventure “Wee Willie WInkie” (1937) 2:30 HAZEL—Comedy -C- 3:00 CASPER—Cartoon -C- 3:30 SUPER HEROES—Children -C- 4:00 BUGS BUNNY—Cartoon -C- 4:30 LOST IN SPACE—Adventure -C- 5:30 FLINTSTONES—Cartoon -C- EVENING 6:30 PETTICOAT JUNCTION -C- 7:00 I LOVE LUCY—Comedy 7:30 HOGAN’S HEROES—Comedy -C- 8:00 TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES -C- 8:30 CHINA: A REVOLUTION REVISITED Special 10:00 NEWS—Bill Jorgensen -C- 11:00 DAVID FROST -C- Guests: Truman Capote, Janet Flanners, Harold Robbins, Larry McNeely 12:00 MOVIE—Musical “Rose of Washington Square” (1939) 1:40 SEA HUNT—Adventure 2:10 NEWS
7 WABC (ABC) MORNING 7:00 LISTEN AND LEARN 7:30 A.M. NEW YORK -C- Guest: Bill Moyers. Host: John Bartholomew Tucker 9:00 MOVIE—Comedy -C- “The Incredible Mr. Limpet” (1964) 11:00 MANTRAP—Discusion -C- 11:30 THAT GIRL -C- AFTERNOON 12:00 BEWITCHED -C- 12:30 PASSWORD -C- Guests: Carolyn Jones, Greg Morris 1:00 ALL MY CHILDREN -C- 1:30 LET’S MAKE A DEAL -C- 2:00 NEWLYWED GAME -C- 2:30 DATING GAME -C- 3:00 GENERAL HOSPITAL -C- 3:30 ONE LIFE TO LIVE -C- 4:00 LOVE, AMERICAN STYLE -C- 4:30 MOVIE—Cartoon -C- “Gay Purr-ee” (1962) EVENING 6:00 NEWS—Grimby/Beutel -C- 7:00 ABC NEWS—Smith/Reasoner -C- 7:30 MOD SQUAD -C- 8:30 MOVIE—Drama -C- “Maybe I’ll Come Home in the Spring” (Made-for-TV; 1971) 10:00 MARCUS WELBY, M.D. -C- 11:00 NEWS—Grimsby/Beutel -C- 11:30 DICK CAVETT -C- 1:00 MOVIE—Comedy “Here Come the Nelsons” (1951)
8 WTNH (NEW HAVEN) (ABC) MORNING 6:10 DAVEY AND GOLIATH -C- 6:25 YEAR IN REVIEW -C- 6:55 NEWS -C- 7:00 MR. GOOBER—Children -C- 9:00 PHIL DONAHUE -C- “The Case Against Having Children” 10:00 CONN-TACT -C- 11:00 LUCILLE RIVERS—Sewing -C- 11:10 NEWS -C- 11:30 THAT GIRL -C- AFTERNOON 12:00 BEWITCHED -C- 12:30 PASSWORD -C- Guests: Carolyn Jones, Greg Morris 1:00 WHAT’S MY LINE?—Game -C- Panel: Arlene Francis, June Lockhart, Gene Rayburn, Soupy Sales 1:30 LET’S MAKE A DEAL -C- 2:00 NEWLYWED GAME -C- 2:30 DATING GAME -C- 3:00 GENERAL HOSPITAL -C- 3:30 ONE LIFE TO LIVE -C- 4:00 LOVE, AMERICAN STYLE -C- 4:30 I LOVE LUCY—Comedy 5:00 I DREAM OF JEANNIE 5:30 DRAGNET—Crime Drama -C- EVENING 6:00 NEWS—Ralph Wenge -C- 6:30 ABC NEWS—Smith/Reasoner -C- 7:00 TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES -C- 7:30 MOD SQUAD -C- 8:30 MOVIE—Drama -C- “Maybe I’ll Come Home in the Spring” (Made-for-TV; 1971) 10:00 MARCUS WELBY, M.D. -C- 11:00 NEWS—Ralph Wenge -C- 11:30 DICK CAVETT -C- 1:00 NEWS -C-
9 WOR (Ind.) MORNING 7:30 NEWS -C- 8:00 JOURNEY TO ADVENTURE -C- 8:30 WAGON TRAIN—Western -C- 10:00 ROMPER ROOM -C- 11:00 STRAIGHT TALK -C- Guests: Rep. Charles W. Sandman Jr. (R-NJ), Rep. Edward I. Koch (D-NY); Sen. Lowell Weiker Jr. (R-Conn.) 11:55 NEWS -C- AFTERNOON 12:00 NINO—Novela 1:00 JOE FRANKLIN -C- 2:00 VIRGINIA GRAHAM -C- Guests: Cliff Gorman, Charo, Rubin Carson 3:00 WHAT’S MY LINE?—Game -C- Panel: Arlene Francis, Phyllis Newman, Gene Rayburn, Gene Shalit 3:30 CARTOONS -C- 4:00 GIGANTOR—Children 4:30 MOVIE—Science Fiction “The Cape Canaveral Monsters” (1960) EVENING 6:00 GET SMART—Comedy -C- 6:30 DICK VAN DYKE—Comedy 7:00 WILD WILD WEST 8:00 NBA BASKETBALL -C- New York Knicks at Detroit Pistons 10:30 NEWS DIGEST—Tom Dunn -C- 11:00 HORSE RACE—Monticello -C- 11:30 MOVIE—Comedy -C- “The Horizontal Lieutenant” (1962) 1:30 JOE FRANKLIN -C- 2:30 NEWS AND WEATHER -C-
11 WPIX (Ind.) MORNING 7:15 NEWS -C- 7:30 POPEYE—Cartoon -C- 9:30 LUCILLE RIVERS—Sewing -C- 9:40 JACK LA LANNE—Exercise -C- 10:00 TELL ME DR. BROTHERS -C- 10:30 PUERTO RICAN NEW YORKER -C- 11:00 FOCUS: NEW JERSEY -C- 11:30 TENNESSEE TUXEDO -C- AFTERNOON 12:00 COURAGEOUS CAT -C- 12:20 GUMBY—Children -C- 12:30 MOVIE—Drama -C- “My Friend Flicka” (1943) 1:55 NEWS -C- 2:00 MOVIE GAME -C- Guests: Earl Holliman, Shirley Jones, Agnes Moorehead, Burt Reynolds, Alan Sues, Stuart Whitman. Host: Larry Blyden 2:30 CAN YOU TOP THIS?—Game -C- Pat O’Brien, Soupy Sales, Alan Sues 3:00 POPEYE—Cartoon -C- 3:30 MAGILLA GORILLA -C- 4:00 LITTLE RASCALS—Comedy 4:30 SUPERMAN—Adventure 5:00 MUNSTERS—Comedy 5:30 BATMAN—Adventure -C- Guest villain: Art Carney (The Archer) EVENING 6:00 PLEASE DON’T EAT THE DAISIES—Comedy -C- 6:30 BEAT THE CLOCK—Game -C- Guest: Robert Morse 7:00 I DREAM OF JEANNIE -C- 7:30 I DREAM OF JEANNIE -C- 8:00 BLUE-GRAY GAME -C- Special: From Montgomery, Alabama 11:00 NEWS—Ramsey/Gray -C- 12:00 MOVIE—Drama “Crashout” (1955)
13 WNET (PBS) MORNING 8:30 BLACK STUDIES 9:00 SESAME STREET -C- 10:00 KUKLA, FRAN AND OLLIE -C- 10:30 FILMS FROM JAPAN -C- 11:30 FILMS FROM GERMANY -C- AFTERNOON 12:30 FILMS FROM BELGIUM AND FRANCE -C- 1:30 ELECTRIC COMPANY—Children -C- 2:00 FILMS FROM AUSTRALIA -C- 3:10 FILMS FROM JAPAN -C- 3:30 BOOK BEAT -C- Guest: Ralph G. Martin 4:00 SESAME STREET -C- 5:00 MISTER ROGERS -C- 5:30 ELECTRIC COMPANY—Children -C- EVENING 6:00 HODGEPODGE LODGE -C- 6:30 OUR STREET -C- 7:00 ELECTRIC COMPANY—Children -C- 7:30 MASQUERADE -C- [Last show of the series] 8:00 TO BE ANNOUNCED 8:30 BEHIND THE LINES -C- 9:30 BLACK JOURNAL -C- 10:00 BEHIND THE LINES -C- 10:30 FREE TIME -C- 12:00 MARTIN AGRONSKY: EVENING EDITION -C-
21 WLIW (GARDEN CITY) (PBS) AFTERNOON 3:00 MASTERPIECE THEATRE 4:00 BOOK BEAT Guest: Cass Canfield 4:30 GERMAN—Instruction 5:00 ELECTRIC COMPANY—Children 5:30 SESAME STREET EVENING 6:30 MISTER ROGERS 7:00 BOOK BEAT Guest: Cass Canfield 7:30 WHAT’S IN A WORD 8:00 HOLLYWOOD TELEVISION THEATRE 9:00 AWARD SERIES—Documentary 9:30 NEWS—Jim Whalen 9:45 GERMAN—Instruction
31 WNYC (Ind.) AFTERNOON 12:00 POLICE COMMISSIONER -C- 12:30 AROUND THE CLOCK -C- 1:00 SESAME STREET -C- 1:30 2:00 MISTER ROGERS -C- 2:30 AROUND THE CLOCK -C- 3:00 FRONTLINE N.Y.C. -C- 4:00 HOLLYWOOD TELEVISION THEATRE -C- “The Picture” 5:00 LEE GRAHAM—Interview -C- 5:30 NEWS -C- 5:45 FILM -C- EVENING 6:00 ELECTRIC COMPANY—Children -C- 6:30 RETURN TO NURSING -C- 7:00 AROUND THE CLOCK -C- 7:30 FRONTLINE N.Y.C. -C- 8:00 SPEAKING FREELY -C- 9:00 POLICE COMMISSIONER -C- 9:30 PHOTOGRAPHY -C- 10:00 UN SESSION HIGHLIGHTS -C-
41 WXTV (PATERSON, NJ) (Ind.) AFTERNOON 5:30 DEL ALTAR A LA TUMBA EVENING 6:00 NOTICIAS—Zayas/Valis -C- 6:30 LA GATO—Novela 7:30 LOCO VALDEZ -C- 8:00 LA REGOJIDA 9:00 DO RE MI—Musica -C- 9:30 CRUZ DE MARISA CRUCES 10:00 ANGELITO NEGROS—Novela 11:00 NOTICIAS—Miguel Torres -C- 11:30 ALLEGRIAS—Musica
47 WNJU (NEWARK) (Ind.) AFTERNOON 4:30 MOVIE—Mystery “EJ Santo Contra el Tigre” (1943) 5:30 LOS JUANES—Novela -C- EVENING 6:00 NOTICIAS—Kevin Corrigan -C- 6:30 VERANO PARA RECORDAR 7:30 MIGUELITO VALDES -C- 8:00 PUMAREJO—Variedad -C- 9:30 COMEDY HOUR -C- 10:30 MOVIE—Comedy “Maridos Libres” (1934 TV
December 26, 2020
This week in TV Guide: December 25, 1971
The biggest television event on Christmas Day doesn't have anything to do with Christmas, although it might have interfered with a few Christmas dinners. It takes place in Kansas City, where the Miami Dolphins are taking on the Kansas City Chiefs in the first round of the NFL playoffs.You'll remember that back in 1960 , when Christmas fell on a Sunday, the NFL moved its championship game to Monday, the legal holiday. In 1966, the next time it happened, both the NFL and AFL finished their seasons on December 18 and then had bye weeks before settling their championships the following weekend. But in 1971, the league decided to schedule a doubleheader on Christmas Day (there would be another the following day). In the first game, at 1:00 p.m. ET on CBS, the Dallas Cowboys defeat the Minnesota Vikings 20-12. But nobody remembers that game; I had to look it up myself. It's the second game, which kicks off at 4:00 p.m., that goes into the record books.
Near the end of the game, with the score tied at 24-24, Chiefs kicker Jan Stenerud misses a 32-yard field goal attempt, and the game goes into sudden-death overtime. Each team misses opportunities in the first 15 minutes, and with the score still tied, the two teams head for a second overtime. Just over seven and a half minutes into the second extra period, Dolphins kicker Garo Yepremian finally ends it with a 37-yard field goal, and the Dolphins win, 27-24. At a total playing time of 82 minutes, 40 seconds, it is the longest NFL game ever played (and remains so to this day) and one of the greatest NFL games ever played. According to legend, it also played havoc with Christmas dinners all around the country, as football fans everywhere, caught up in the drama and excitement of the overtime thriller, refused to tear themselves from their television sets for the dinner table. (Former Dolphins linebacker Nick Buoniconti once said, "Everyone I knew in Miami told me they had to shut off their ovens to avoid ruining their Christmas turkeys." Since then, the NFL has tended to avoid Christmas Day games, save a prime-time game here and there. After dinner.
It all could have been avoided, of course, if they'd eaten Christmas dinner in the early afternoon, like sensible people; but hindsight is always 20/20, and the game must have run at least an hour later than scheduled. I would have settled that kind of conflict by having my dinner served in front of the TV, even at 11 years old, I had a forceful personality. (I was also spoiled rotten, but let's not get into that.) I clearly remember watching the game, and I never met a dinner I didn't like, so I'm assuming that we must have eaten earlier in the day. I don't know that for sure, though, and anyway it's all a moot point: after all, a great meal only lasts until it exits your body later on, but a great football game lasts forever.t t t
Amidst the reruns that one has come to expect on Christmas (when, presumably, people have better things to do than sit around watching television), there are some pretty interesting programs, so let's sample some. NBC carries the Christmas Day service from the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. (11:30 a.m.), a service known for its magnificent music. (I used to love watching that Christmas morning.) WPIX has a terrific Christmas double-feature, with Miracle on 34th Street at 3:00 p.m., followed by Bing Crosby and Ingrid Bergman in The Bells of St. Mary's at 5:00 p.m. Burt Lancaster hosts An American Christmas: Words and Music (8:00 p.m., PBS), with James Earl Jones reading from Frederick Douglass's writings on a slave's Christmas; a skit on what Christmas morning might have been like at the Mark Twain household; and sacred music sung by the Ella Mitchell Singers, the Columbus Boychoir and the Harlem Children's Chorus.
If you have to watch it, watch it this way.At 8:30 p.m, WNEW presents the epic Santa Claus Conquers the Martians, not only one of the worst Christmas movies ever made, one of the worst movies period.* At 9:00 p.m., Jonathan Winters hosts a Christmas party for the children of Navy families (WPIX), and at 9:30 p.m. PBS's Hollywood Television Theatre re-creates the radio drama "The Plot to Overthrow Christmas," Norman Corwin's verse play about the devil's attempts to eliminate Santa Claus through the efforts of Nero, Lucrezia Borgia, Simon Legree, and other famous fiends. And at 10:30 p.m,, it's back to WPIX for A Bittersweet Christmas, with Cliff Robertson, Eddie Albert, Eli Wallach, Joanne Woodward and others doing readings touching on poverty, Christmas and children.As for the non-Yule programming. ABC's Wide World of Sports looks back on highlights from the show's first decade, headed by Muhammad Ali, Arnold Palmer, Peggy Fleming, Jean-Claude Killy and A.J. Foyt, to name a few. (Vintage decade, wasn't it?) In prime time, ABC repeats the Emmy-winning TV-movie Tribes, with Darren McGavin and Jan-Michael Vincent as a drill instructor and hippie playing out the generation gap in the Marines. NBC's Saturday Night at the Movies counters with part one of Far from the Madding Crowd (part two airs Monday), which Judith Crist praises for the lavish atmosphere and "brilliant performers," including Peter Finch, Julie Christie, Alan Bates and Terence Stamp. And then there's the 11:30 p.m. movie on WOR, the West German crime thriller The Return of Dr. Mabuse, a sequel to Fritz Lang's trilogy of Mabuse movies. Gert Fröbe stars as Polizei Komissar Lohmann, nemesis of the master criminal Mabuse; he'll become better known as a master criminal himself: Auric Goldfinger.
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Throughout the 60s and early 70s, TV Guide's weekly reviews were written by the witty and acerbic Cleveland Amory. Whenever we get the chance, we'll look at Cleve's latest take on the shows of the era. It's not uncommon for a television critic to offer a post-mortem on those shows that have come and gone during the course of the season. However, as Cleveland Amory points out in this week's column, sometimes there are shows that are so bad, their demise so predictable, one can acutally offer a pre-mortem, an appreciation of their death before the fact.
Such is the case with programs like Sarge, with George Kennedy as a cop turned priest, and The Partners, a cop-buddy comedy with Don Adams and Rupert Crosse. Kennedy may be a convincing actor, but, says Cleve, too few people are buying "that priestly a copy or that coply a priest." Adams and Crosse are good, and there are some very funny scenes, but the show has tough competition, and "somehow we feel we've seen it all before, that it isn't a new show at all." And The Funny Side, a series about five couples that combines comedy with singing and dancing, isn't bad either—except that "it isn't very funny."
One of the biggest disappointments of the season is Shirley's World with Shirley MacLaine, and while some big stars (e.g. Henry Fonda) haven't been served well by TV, she "has really not been served at all." MacLaine is "bright, interesting and involved" in real life, but Shirley's World is something she "never should have gotten mixed up with." Another underachiever is The Good Life, with Larry Hagman and Donna Mills as a butler and cook to a wealthy Society couple. "It is a good idea—the trouble is the writing," which shows as much sophistication as "a s ompomore smoker." They'll be more succesful the next time they share the screen, though.
Finally, there are those shows that scrape the bottom of the barrel. Bobby Sherman's Getting Together has its moments—"about four out of 30," which is not a very good ratio. The D.A., with Robert Conrad, is both overrated and overnarrated. And as for The Chicago Teddy Bears and Bearcats!, "the tastelessness of the bears is matched only by the unbelievability of the cats." Shows like this, which hearken back to the nostalgia of the Roaring '20s, do succeed in one way: they make you nostalgic for the shows they replaced.
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It's probably not fair for us to have made such a big deal about those two NFL playoff games on Saturday without mentioning the Sunday doubleheader; the early game (1:00 p.m;, NBC) sees the defending champion Baltimore Colts shut defeat the Cleveland Browns, 20-3, while in the nightcap (4:00 p.m., CBS), it's the San Francisco 49ers 24, Washington Redskins 20. On Monday, the North-South Shrine college football game, usually played on Christmas but bumped this year by the NFL, slides into ABC's Monday Night Football slot (9:00 p.m.). The growing number of bowl games means a diminishing number of stars in this early all-star contest. Anyway, there's more college football on tap: more all-stars clash in the Blue-Gray classic (Tuesday, 8:00 p.m., WPIX), while Mississippi takes on Georgia Tech in the Peach Bowl (Thursday, 8:00 p.m., WPIX), and on New Year's Eve it's a triple-header with Georgia facing North Carolina in the Gator Bowl (2:00 p.m., NBC), the East-West Shrine Game (4:00 p.m., ABC; not to be confused with the North-South version) and Colorado vs. Houston in the Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl (7:30 p.m., WOR).
Yes, let's take a look at New Year's Eve, because it's more than just college football. At 8:00 p.m., CBS repeats their 1965 production of Cinderella, with Lesley Ann Warren as the title character, Stuart Damon as her Prince, Walter Pidgeon and Ginger Rogers as the King and Queen, Jo Van Fleet as the Wicked Stepmother, and Celeste Holm as the Fairy Godmother. It's a great cast, but if musical theater isn't your thing, you might like the King Orange Jamboree Parade, live from Miami (8:00 p.m., NBC), with Joe Garagiola and Anita Bryant calling the action. And of course, what would the night be without Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians ringing in 1972 (11:30 p.m., CBS), live from the ballroom of the Waldorf-Astoria. Guy's special guests are Bobby Rydell, Shani Wallis, and The Bells, with live cut-ins from Times Square, where a teeming throng counts down the seconds until the ball drops. Yes, those were the days, when people were allowed to gather in large numbers.t t t
One of my favorite newsmen, whom I don't mention here often enough, was Frank McGee. He was never the "star" of NBC News in the way that Chet Huntley and David Brinkley were, but whenever major news was breaking, he was on the air: yeoman work during the civil rights struggle, and the assassination of John F. Kennedy, brilliant and knowledgable coverage of the manned space program, host of his own news program, unflappable and professional reporter—and now taking over from Hugh Downs as the new host of The Today Show.
For McGee, it's been a long road from his beginnings in Oklahoma to "one of the most prestigious assignments in television." As he recounts to Merle Miller, he started out at WKY in Oklahoma City, where he was responsible for a 15-minute, five-day-a-week documentary that often required him to "borrow" a camera while everyone else was at lunch and found him doing all the photography, editing, and narration himself. They were wonderful stories, though—what happens to a drop of rain from the time it falls until it makes it into your glass of water, how an office building is cleaned at night—and convinced him he had the talent for a career in broadcast journalism.Some of McGee's best work came with the NBC affiliate in Montogmery, Alabama as he covered the burgeoning civil rights movement; he was the first TV newsman to interview the young Martin Luther King. Jr., the first to interview the young circuit court judge George Wallace, the first to give national coverage to a woman named Rosa Parks who refused to give up her seat on a bus. "At the station we had great trust from the black community and, in the best, sense, we worked hard to keep it,' he explains. "For instance, there was talk about separate but equal playgrounds. So we went to the black playground and showed that there was nothing there but one fire hydrant sticking out of the ground." And then there was the time he heard about an ambulance drive who'd refued to pick up a black accident victim. He pressed the dispatcher for the company's policy, to which the dispatcher said, "Would you want to be in an ambulance" after it had carried a black? "Replied McGee," OK, now we know what your policy is." It appeared on the news that night.
He doesn't expect any fundamental changes with Today, though there will probably be more news than there has been. "I am not going to allow [my credentials as a newsman] to atrophy," he says. Remarks one observr, "nobody will mistake what Frank does for what Dave Garroway, John Chancellor or Hugh Downs did."
Not enough people today know what a great newsman and consummate professional Frank McGee was. The Doan Report notes that more than a half-million fewer people watched the network news in 1971 than they did the previous year (though the networks blame it on the prime time access rule), and one can only imagne how many millions have tuned out today, disgusted by media bias or content to get their news from a source that confirms their own beliefs. If today's reporters spent even a few minutes watching some of the work Frank McGee did over the years, they'd learn a lot from it. Both we and they would benefit.
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Among the week's other highlights is the return of the hit summer show The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour (Monday, 10:00 p.m., CBS), with the feature skit being an operatic spoof of All in the Family, featuring opera star Robert Merrill as Archie, and Harvey Korman playing both a priest and a rabbi. Carroll O'Connor and Glenn Ford both make special appearances.
And that leads us to dueling Letters to the Editor on the merits of CBS's most controversial success. Jean Merrill of Southgate, Kentucky praises O'Connor's performance as one that "perfectly captured the lower-middle-class bit-hard hat character" and notes that he was just as effective in an episode of That Girl in which he played a Frenchman. R, Dunn of New York City, however, has nothing good to say about the show: "One would have to be naive indeed not to realize that the ulterior motive behind All in the Family is to semar all right-wingers as bigots." The contrived situations aredesigned to convince viewers that "there can be no such thing as an intelligent, informed and creative conservative. This odious show is not a television satire on bigotry; it is itself a bigoted performance." I think you could hear pretty much this same discussion anywhere in social media today.t t t
And with that, we come to the end of another year of TV Guide. Next week at this time, we'll be looking to the past once again, this time from the perspective of 2021. My thanks again to all of you for coming along on this journey, and in a special way to those generous patrons out there who've donated or loaned various issues for my benefit, as well as the entertainment of their fellow readers. As always, if you'd care to make a contribution (temporary or permanent) to the Hadley TV Guide Archives, please send me an email or drop a comment in the box below. TV
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