Mitchell Hadley's Blog: It's About TV!, page 17
January 20, 2025
What's on TV? Monday, January 19, 1959
Even NBC, the color network, has very few color shows in 1959, though two of the three color broadcasts today are for daytime quiz shows. That probably had a lot to do with the ability of various studios to handle color broadcasts; non-color studios will continue to be converted throughout the early and mid '60s. It's also been said that daytime color broadcasts allowed shoppers to see demonstrations of them in department stores, thus encouraging purchases. On the other hand, CBS has but one colorcast, Lowell Thomas' special High Adventure, seen at 9:00 p.m. on three of the four CBS affiliates in this issue. That will end as the network becomes convinced of its viability (and also gets over losing the initial color technology battle to NBC). The listings today are in living black-and-white from the Minnesota State Edition.
-2- KTCA (Educ.)
AFTERNOON
1:30 SING-A-LONG—2nd Grade
2:00 LANGUAGE IN ACTION
2:30 JAPANESE BRUSH PAINTING DEBUT
3:00 TEA AT THREE—Jeanni K.
3:30 PASING NOTES ON MUSIC DEBUT
4:00 CREATIVE ART—Education
4:30 SCULPTURE—Educaiton
5:00 MAGIC DOORWAYS—Education
5:15 SING HI-SING LO—Music
5:30 GREAT PLAINS TRILOGY
EVENING
6:00 ATOMIC PRIMER—Education
6:30 JUNIOR HIGH ON PARADE
7:00 MUSIC FOR YOUNG PEOPLE DEBUT
7:30 UN REVIEW—Education
8:00 PRIVATE COLLEGE HOUR
8:30 PRIVATE COLLEGE HOUR
9:00 AT HOME WITH MUSIC
9:30 ADVERTISING TODAY—Education
10:00 GREAT BOOKS—Education
10:30 CHILDREN GROWNG—Education
-3- KGLO (MASON CITY) (CBS)
MORNING
8:00 CAPTAIN KANGAROO
8:45 NEWS—Richard C. Hottelet
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
12:30 AS THE WORLD TURNS
1:00 JIMMY DEAN Guest: Jill Corey
1:30 HOUSE PARTY Guest: Ann Richards
2:00 BIG PAYOFF—Quiz
2:30 VERDICT IS YOURS
3:00 BRIGHTER DAY
3:15 SECRET STORM
4:00 BOB CAVANAUGH—Variety
5:00 BART’S CLUBHOUSE—Kids
EVENING
6:00 FARM REPORTER—Al Helms
6:05 NEWS, SPORTS, WEATHER
6:15 NEWS—Doug Edwards
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 HIGH ADVENTURE SPECIAL COLOR
10:00 NEWS
10:30 DR. CHRISTIAN—Drama
11:00 NEWS
-5- KSTP (NBC) MORNING 6:05 DAVID STONE—Variety 6:30 CONTINENTAL CLASSROOM—Education “Hysteresis” 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 TREASURE CHEST—Quiz 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 WELLS FARGO 8:00 PETER GUNN 8:30 GOODYEAR THEATER “Afternoon of the Beast” 9:00 ARTHUR MURRAY COLOR Guest: Pat Stanley 9:30 HIGHWAY PATROL—Police 10:00 NEWS 10:30 BADGE 714—Jack Webb 11:00 JACK PAAR—Variety Guest host: Dick Van Dyke 12:00 NEWS—Roger Krupp
-6- WSDM (DULUTH) (NBC) MORNING 6:30 CONTINENTAL CLASSROOM—Education “Hysteresis” 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—Drama “Dr. Monica” (1934) 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 WELLS FARGO 8:00 PETER GUNN 8:30 GOODYEAR THEATER “Afternoon of the Beast” 9:00 ARTHUR MURRAY COLOR Guest: Pat Stanley 9:30 PATTI PAGE—Variety 10:00 NEWS 10:15 SCIENCE FICTION THEATER 10:45 JACK PAAR—Variety Guest host: Dick Van Dyke
-6- KMMT (AUSTIN) (ABC) MORNING 10:30 HERALD OF TRUTH—Religion 11:00 HOW TO MARRY A MILLIONAIRE—Comedy 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 MUSIC BINGO—Quiz 3:00 BEAT THE CLOCK—Collyer 3:30 WHO DO YOU TRUST—Quiz 4:00 AMERICAN BANDSTAND Guest: Ronnie Dee 5:30 MICKEY MOUSE CLUB EVENING 6:00 NEWS 6:15 NEWS—Don Goddard 6:30 WOODY WOODPECKER 7:00 THIS IS ALICE—Comedy 7:30 BOLD JOURNEY 8:00 VOICE OF FIRESTONE Guests: Paul Whiteman, Mindy Carson, Earl Wild 8:30 DR. I.Q.—Quiz 9:00 PATTI PAGE—Variety Guests: Julius LaRosa, Shari Lewis 9:30 TARGET—Adolphe Menjou 10:00 NEWS 10:15 NEWS—John Daly 10:30 MOVIE—Drama “Three Desperate Men” (1950)
-8- WKBT (LaCROSSE) (CBS) MORNING 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 HONEYMOONERS—Gleason 12:30 TOP PLAYS—Drama “Mr. Onion” 1:00 JIMMY DEAN Guest: Jill Corey 1:30 HOUSE PARTY Guest: Ann Richards 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: Lloyd Bridges 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 “The Bamboo Blonde” (1946) 3:30 BINGO—Joe Cooper 4:30 TV READER’S DIGEST—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—Drama “Background to Danger” (1943) 10:30 NEWS—David Lee 10:45 SPORTS—Tony Parker 10:50 OPEN HOUSE—Mel Jass 11:55 NEWS—Joe Cooper
10 KROC (ROCHESTER) (NBC) MORNING 6:30 CONTINENTAL CLASSROOM—Education “Hysteresis” 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 WELLS FARGO 8:00 PETER GUNN 8:30 GOODYEAR THEATER “Afternoon of the Beast” 9:00 ARTHUR MURRAY COLOR Guest: Pat Stanley 9:30 AFRICAN PATROL—Drama 10:00 NEWS 10:30 JACK PAAR—Variety Guest host: Dick Van Dyke
13 WEAU (EAU CLAIRE) (NBC) MORNING 6:30 CONTINENTAL CLASSROOM—Education “Hysteresis” 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 FILM FEATURE 12:45 MARKETS, NEWS 1:00 TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES—Quiz 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 “Eyes of Texas” (1948) 5:30 CARTOONS—Kids 5:45 TELEVISITS—Bye Napier EVENING 6:00 CARTOONS—Kids 6:10 NEWS, WEATHER 6:30 WALT DISNEY—Adventure 7:30 WELLS FARGO 8:00 PETER GUNN 8:30 SHERIFF OF COCHISE—Western 9:00 ARTHUR MURRAY COLOR Guest: Pat Stanley 9:30 SCIENCE FICTION THEATER 10:00 NEWS 10:30 MOVIE—Drama “Fifty Roads to Town” (1937)
TV
January 18, 2025
This week in TV Guide: January 17, 1959
Xe start off the week with Bob Johnson's very amusing article on James Garner and Jack Kelley, the "Maverick Brothers" of ABC's Sunday night series.The two stars maintain separate lives; Johnson suggests that "the boys don't like to discuss each other," although I'm not sure that there's any particular animosity between them. Certainly Garner, who was the first Maverick, is also first among equals; his episodes have higher ratings, and his appearances outnumber Kelly's through the course of the season (of the 20 episodes so far this season, nine have starred Garner, six for Kelly, and five have featured both of them.
It's not hard to dissect Garner's popularity: his easy-going manner, the implicit humor he brings to the role, are all products of his acting talent—or, as he puts it, his lack of same. He's no actor, he insists, but a personality; in fact, he can't act. "I'll learn if I have to, but I haven't had to yet. I'm playing me. Bret Maverick is lazy. I'm lazy. I like to get the bit over with at the studio and get out of there. I like being lazy." He adds that he's never taken a script home to study, "and I don't plan to."
You might be familiar with the story behind Maverick, of how the first few episodes were played straight—stock Westerns—until bored scriptwriter Marion Hargroves inserted a stage direction that changed the series forever. "Maverick," he wrote, "looks at him with his beady little eyes." Garner loved it. "You can't say that about a star," the research department told Hargroves. Nonsense, replied Hargroves; he'd met Garner, and he does have beady little eyes.
Soon the series had made the transformation to a comedy, and the Maverick boys "have been subjected to more house gags, in stage directions by Hargrove and other writers, than any two other actors living." For example, when Kelly leaves the saloon, he doesn't just leave. "He sees his horse. He smiles. His horse sees him and just nods." Garner is described as "ahr hero" or "an itinerant clergyman," and when he considers a problem, "we can see his flabby little mind make a small connection." There's even a situation where "His face shows resentment, frustration, anxiety and anything else the director thinks he can get out of him." These directions don't explicitly show up on screen, of course, but it influences the way Garner and Kelly play their roles, and more important it indicates the spirit that has infected the entire show.Interestingly, Kelly thinks the show can go three more seasons after this one, but "Garner has other ideas." As to what those ideas are, Johnson doesn't really say; instead, he captures Garner talking about the recent satire the show did on Gunsmoke. ("It's a classic.") Garner's other ideas, however, don't include three more seasons of Maverick; he quits the series in 1960 in a dispute with Warner Brothers, a case he wins in court. He's replaced by, at various times, Roger Moore and Robert Colbert; ultimately, in the fifth and final season (as Jack Kelly predicted), reruns of old Garner stories alternate with Kelly's new shows. Maverick ends its run with a secure place in TV history, and a warm spot in viewers' hearts.
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One of Ed Sullivan's first great on-air challenges came from Steve Allen, who left Tonight to take over an NBC variety show which, at the beginning, aired opposite Ed. It didn't run as long as Ed's, of course, but then Allen said his goal was never to conquer Ed, but to coexist with him, which he did for three seasons. Let's see who gets the best of the contest this week.Sullivan: Ed's guests are actress Celeste Holm; French singer Edith Piaf; musical-comedy star Pat Suzuki; operatic soprano Antonietta Stella; musical-comedy writers Betty Comden and Adolph Green, currently appearing on Broadway in a two-man show; comedian Alan Drake; and juggler Francis Brunn.
Allen: Steve's guests are actress Esther Williams and singers Vic Damone and Jennie Smith. A large part of tonight's show takes place in and around a swimming pool located in the studio. Steve dons a bathing suit to join Miss Williams in an aquatic comedy routine.
As far as stars go, it's hard to top Celeste Holm, Edith Piaf, and Comden and Green. As far as entertainment, Steve Allen in a bathing suit with Esther Williams, cavorting in a studio swimming pool—that says it all. It depends on what turns you on, which is why this week is a push.
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That man in the baggy blue uniform is Bob Keeshan, aka Captain Kangaroo, whose show stands out "amid the cacophonous carnival of TV attractions for children" featuring broad slapstick comedy and raucous peanut galleries. Instead, the good Captain (his name comes from the enormous pockets on his jacket, vaguely resembling a kangaroo's pouch) treats them to "beautiful music, dancing, unusual games and toys, live animals, amusing cartoons, simple studies of nature, and tips on how to make things." Keeshan's entire television career has been about children. For five years he played the voiceless Clarabell the Clown on Howdy Doody, and followed that up with two local kids' shows in New York. Talking about the philosophy behind his series, Keeshan stresses the importance of his "gentle lessions" he presents to his young viewers, which mirror those he's imparted on his own children. "One important lesson I try to teach my own kids is that gentleness in a person doesn't necessarily indicate weakness; and that good manners and thoughtfullness are necessary to a happy life."
He's an ambassador for UNICEF, and creator of the "Trick or Treat" campaign that encouraged kids to collect coins, rather than Halloween candy, for the UN organization. (He's pictured above talking about UNICEF with three of Sir Winston Churchill's grandchildren.) Its success had led him to travel to other countries, including a stop at the Brussels World's Fair, encouraging similar ideas. He has a long-term goal of creating a news show for children, explaining the issues of the day in a way that they can understand. (A forerunner of In the News , perhaps?) Says Keeshan, "Children are an important part of the world—today's world. We owe them an honest explanation of what's happening to it."
Reading this brief article, one sees many of the same qualities and concerns that Fred Rogers would teach to later generations of children, and it's unfortunate, I think, that Captain Kangaroo often gets overlooked amidst the deserved praise that we've lavished on Mister Rogers over the years. Is it because of the Captain's episodes (the show ran on CBS from 1955 to 1984) were, as was too often the case back then, wiped? Or did Mister Rogers' Neighborhood come along at a time when children's programming was even worse, relatively speaking, than it was when Captain Kangaroo started? I'm not sure which, but the two men were great admirers of each other, and the shows themselves were never in competition. I've written about Captain Kangaroo before, noting the irony that the "Love Generation" that viewed his program often displayed attributes directly at odds with those he strove to teach them. Regardless, it's good to remember the genuine concern Bob Keeshan had for his young viewers, and the lessons he worked so hard and so long to teach them.
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Lest we get too caught up in the panacea of the 1950s, Wednesday reminds us of the decade's downside, with Edward R. Murrow's The Lost Class of '59 (7:00 p.m, CBS), a report on six high schools in Norfolk, Virginia, that the state ordered closed rather than submit to a federal court order to integrate. Murrow interviews local and state officials, segregation leaders and their opponents, and four local students to get their views on the situation, which affects some 43,000 students, including the "Norfolk 17," 17 black students whose attempt to enroll sparked the crisis.
The Lost Class of '59 turns a national spotlight on Norfolk, bringing "unwanted" attention to the school crisis. Shortly after the broadcast, a group of 100 business leaders take out ◀ a full-page ad in the Virginian Pilot, urging that the schools reopen; they concede that while they prefer segregated schools, it's time to acknowledge and accept the "new reality." A week later, on February 2, the schools are reopened; by that time, however, many of the affected students had scattered to other schools in other cities and states, while others stayed home, married, or joined the military. On the 50th anniversary, honorary diplomas were awarded to 1,300 seniors who lost the experience of their senior year in high school. Murrow and producer Fred Friendly receive a Peabody Award for The Lost Class of '59, "for their concise reporting and compassionate insight into the plight of the group most seriously affected by the struggle for integration.
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On a very quiet Saturday, I'll give the nod to Perry Como's show (7:00 p.m., NBC). Perry's guest stars are Nat King Cole, the McGuire Sisters, and Dick Van Dyke. At 11:30 p.m., KDAL in Duluth has the movie Michael Shayne, Private Detective, starring Lloyd Nolan. It's actually a pretty good movie if you forget both the novels by Brett Halliday and the series starring Richard Denning. Opposite that, on WTCN, is I Led Three Lives, and this week "Herb Philbrick becomes embroiled in a Communist plot to infiltrate a labor union." What a shock.
Returning to the news beat for a moment, Meet the Press expands to an hour on Sunday afternoon (5:00 p.m., NBC) for an appearance by Soviet First Deputy Premier Anastas Mikoyan, next to Khruschev the most powerful man in the Soviet Union. Mikoyan was a survivor if nothing else, serving Lenin, Stalin, Khrushchev and Brezhnev, and was one of the rare top Soviet officals to retire rather than meet a violent death at the hands of a rival; although he was forced out by Brezhnev, he was "allowed" to die of natural causes in 1978. In the great panoply of Communist figures, Mikoyan was thought to be friendlier to the United States than most, one reason why was sent to represent the USSR at the funeral of John F. Kennedy. He's being interviewed here on the occasion of his second trip to America.
The second half of Meet the Press runs into competition from ABC, with the final round of the Binbg Crosby Pro-Am golf tournament from Pebble Beach, California. (4:30 p.m.) Then, as now, the stars are part of the attraction, and this year's batch is expected to include Bob Hope, Phil Harris, Desi Arnaz, James Garner, Bob Crosby, Fred MacMurray, Randolph Scott and Dennis O'Keefe. And then there's Der Bingle, of course. It's as fine a lineup of stars as you'll see anywhere on TV this week.There are a few stars left over for Sunday evening, though, as Nina Foch stars in a special presentation of Agatha Christie's famed mystery Ten Little Indians. (6:00 p.m., NBC) In today's politically correct times, it would probably be known by its alternate title, "And Then There Were None." Fine with me; the original title of the story is even more problematic . At 8:00 p.m., it's G.E. Theater on CBS, starring Tony Curtis, in the David and Goliath story, "The Stone." (8:00 p.m., CBS)
An ad in this week's issue proclaims CBS's hour-long block of The Danny Thomas Show and The Ann Sothern Show on Monday as the "funniest hour on TV." I wouldn't know about that, not being a particular fan of either one—which leads me to ask whether, aside from us classic TV aficionados, anyone really remembers them anymore. I'm not being sarcastic in asking this question, just wondering what kind of a cultural footprint either of them left. Danny Thomas, of course, is probably best known for St. Jude Children's Hospital, but how many know that at one time he was considered "one of television's greatest comedians"? Just a thought. At any rate, Danny's guest tonight is Tennessee Ernie Ford (8:00 p.m.), which counts for something. Meanwhile, Ann Sothern (8:30 p.m.) resurrects the old question facing women of the time: do you choose a career, or marriage? To find out, though, you'll have to pass up Peter Gunn on NBC and The Voice of Firestone on ABC.
If one night of Steve Allen (Sunday) is good, two nights must be better, right? Tuesday is the second night, and The Bob Cummings Show* is the occasion (8:30 p.m., NBC). Tonight, Bob tries to get rid of his girlfriend Betty (Joyce Jameson) by telling her that he can get her a job on Steve's show. Have you seen that one,
Hal Horn
? Even more significant than a second night of Steve, though, is the first night of Alcoa Presents (9:00 p.m., ABC), which you'll probably recognize by its subtitle: One Step Beyond. The much-loved supernatural cult series, presented by John Newland, will stick around for three seasons, joining a panoply that includes The Twilight Zone and The Outer Limits.*Fun fact: According to the always-reliable Wikipedia, The Bob Cummings Show was the first series to debut as a midseason replacement. There's no citation to prove it, though.
Lawrence Welk is one of the few stars to enjoy the distinction of two weekly prime time programs running each week; besides his better-known Saturday night extravaganza, he also has an hour each Wednesday. Initially known as Lawrence Welk Presents Top Tunes and New Talent, it now carries the title The Lawrence Welk Plymouth Show (6:30 p.m., ABC), and it has a distinction of its own: according to the always-reliable Wikipedia, the Welk Plymouth Show is the first television program to be aired in stereo; this was accomplished, "by ABC simulcast the show on its radio network, with the TV side airing one audio channel and the radio side airing the other; viewers would tune in both the TV and the radio to achieve the stereophonic effect." As corroboration, the program description notes that viewers watching the show on WTCN, the ABC affiliate in Minneapolis-St. Paul, "can hear this program in stereophonic sound by also tuning to radio station WTCN, operating on 1280 kilocycles."
On Thursday, Cesar Romero guest stars as "The Gay Caballero" (not to be confused with Guy Caballero ) on Zorro (7:00 p.m., ABC). I'll bet he steals the show. At 8:30 p.m., CBS's Playhouse 90 presents "The Velvet Alley," a Rod Serling play about a struggling writer who may have finally gotten his big break when he sells a script to—Playhouse 90. Art Carney makes a rare dramatic appearance as the playwright who has to ask himself whether success is worth selling your soul.
Speaking of show-stealing and meta stories, Phil Silvers is well-positioned to steal Friday in an expanded one-hour edition of his series (8:00 p.m., CBS) which is wonderfully, bizarrely meta. In it, Sydney Chaplin (actor and son of Charlie), playing himself, plans to use Bilko's life story for an Army musical. Bilko travels to Hollywood to meet the actor chosen to play him: Phil Silvers! Diana Dors, also playing herself, guests; later this year, she'll marry an actor who'll do pretty well in an Army sitcom himself—Richard Dawson.
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A word about the changing face of television production. While the movie studios have tried, once they realized that television wasn't going anywhere, to enter the TV production industry, the three studios that today dominate television are all independent from the movie moguls: Desilu, Screen Gems, and Revue. Together, as Dan Jenkins reports, the three of them will do an estimated gross of $100 million in this fiscal year, all of it in television. And their output far dwarfs that of their big-screen counterparts.
As an example, the three networks use an average of 36 hours of film in prime time each week, the equivalent of 24 feature films. Over the course of a 39-week television season, that amounts to an equivalent of 936 movies, more than four-and-a-half times the number of movies turned out by studios in 1958. And keep in mind that these figures don't include syndicated series or shows broadcast outside prime time.
Of the three, Screen Gems is the oldest, having started out in 1949 as a subsidiary of Columbia. Desilu represents "the ever-lengthening shadow of one man, Desi Arnaz," who has gone from being virtually shoved down CBS's throat by his wife, Lucille Ball, to become television's most successful producer, with three former motion picture studios and more soundstanges than are owned by MGM.* Revue, the third of the big three, grosses an estimated $40,000 per episode, multiplied by 39 episodes, for each of the series in its stable. Together, the three turn out 32 network and syndicated shows, representing 17 hours of television per week, "more than twice the footage of all the major and indpenedent movie companies combined." *And this is how, as the cover notes, Lucy and Desi became "America's Favorite Tycoons."
There are, however, challenges on the horizon. Warner Bros. currently puts out four hours of television per week on ABC alone, including the aforementioned Maverick. Walt Disney has three film shows of his own on the same network, while other studios, including Ziv, "sausage-grinder of the syndication field," and George Burns' McCadden Productions.
For the most part, Jenkins notes, members from the motion picture industry have had little to do with the rise of television productions. Even when the studios have jumped into TV, they've chosen TV-trained executives, such as Harry Ackerman at Screen Jems, and Martin Manulis at Fox. Even in the case of rising contender Four Star Films, which was founded by movie actors Dick Powell, David Nive, and Charles Boyer, the organization was put together by radio-TV agent-producer Don Sharpe.
Times will change, though. Remember not that long ago, we read about Lucille Ball selling out Desilu to Paramount . WB will become more and more prominent in television, and Disney will come to control just about everything. But in the meantime there is no question that the big three are part of Hollywood's new elite, in an industry that didn't even exist ten years ago.
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And now a moment to mention this week's starlet, 23-year-old Nancy Malone: 23, "red-haired and blue-eyed and freckled and pert." She's been acting since she was 11, and left school at 17 to appear in the Broadway play Time Out for Ginger. Since then she's appeared on many of the New York-based dramatic anthologies (Studio One, Armstrong Circle Theatre, Robert Montgomery Presents, the Hallmark Hall of Fame) and is currently a regular on the CBS sudser The Brighter Day, along with her dog, Miss Madrigal (five years old, half beagle, half dachshund, likes to chase squirels). Next year she'll take on her best-known role, that of Libby Kingston, aspiring actress and good-hearted girlfriend of Paul Burke's Detective Adam Flint, in Naked City. She'll remain on Naked City for three seasons; later, she'll be one of the stars on ABC's The Long Hot Summer. After that, she'll work her way up the entertainment ladder, moving into producing and directing (where she wins an Emmy and is nominated for two others), and does a stint as vice-president of television at 20th Century Fox. Always a pleasure to watch, she's an example of a starlet who makes good.
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Finally, some notes from the TV Teletype:
Bill Lundigan's new series Moon Flight, which is billed as a "new semidocumentary series abou tman's exploration of space," has gone into production. It will emerge with a new name, Men Into Space, when it airs this September on CBS. You can catch reruns of it on Comet if you're so inclined. And speaking of new series, that guest appearance by Tennessee Ernie Ford on Monday's Danny Thomas Show made an impact on the producer, who liked the character Ernie played on the show and thought it was a great idea for a new sitcom—not for Ernie, but for Andy Griffith. They're working on it now, and when it premieres as The Andy Griffith Show in October 1960, it will find a place in television history.
Dwayne Hickman is leaving the aforementioned The Bob Cummings Show at the end of this season for his own series, The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, good for four seasons on CBS starting this fall. The detective series Peter Gunn, which debuted last September on NBC, has been picked up for the rest of the year—a full 39 episodes. And Dave Garroway has postponed his trip to Paris from April until early May; there's a funny ancedote about that trip in my interview with Jodie Peeler .
Finally, a note from the local section that Miss America 1959, Carol Ann Mobley, "is in town to crown the North St. Paul Jaycee Queen," and will be appearing with Arle Haeberle on her WCCO afternoon show Around the Town. I don't see any "Carol Ann Mobley" as Miss America, in 1959 or any other year. There is, however, a Mary Ann Mobley , who happens to be Miss America 1959. I hope the Jaycees that were expecting Carol weren't too disappointed.TV
January 17, 2025
Around the dial
Xet's start this week across the pond at Cult TV Blog, where John has turned his attention to the private detective genre, one of my favorites. The show is the 1979-80 series Shoestring, the star is Trevor Eve, the premise is that he's a "private ear" for a radio station, and the episode is "
Stamp Duty
." Intriguing.At RealWeegieMidget, Gill takes her monthy tour of TV movies and miniseries watched last month, including Baby Snatcher with David Duchovny; the miniseris Mistral's Daughter, based on the novel by Judith Krantz; Till We Meet Again, starring Barry Bostwick (another Judith Krantz story); and Ring of Musketeers, which wasn't by Krantz but was made in Germany and stars David Hasselhoff.
Doorbells aren't what they used to be; people come to the door a lot less often than they used to, and when someone does ring it, you're not always sure you want to answer it. But such was not always the case, and at Comfort TV, David loos back to when doorbells were an essential part of classic television, as well as life.
A few hours before I started typing this, the news came that David Lynch had died , age 78. It wasn't terribly surprising, but sad nonetheless, and a great loss to both movies and television. At A Shroud of Thoughts, Terence looks back at the career of the great man and his accomplishments. We'll never know what really happened to Dale Cooper now, and I think that would have pleased David Lynch. And for a bonus Shroud, Terence talks about the 60th anniversary of NBC's music show Hullabaloo , which made a wonderful cameo appearance in Once Upon A Time in Hollywood.
Baseball announcer Bob Uecker died on Thursday as well, age 90. He was not only a beloved announcer for the Milwaukee Brewers, he was a terrific raconteur (just watch him on The Tonight Show), a very good actor in both television and the movies, and the star of a memorable series of commercials for Miller Lite. It's often a cliche to call someone an "original," but Uecker truly was, and both baseball and television are richer for his life and poorer for his death. Farewell, Mr. Baseball.
Martin Grams has reviews of five recent classic television books : Five Fingers: Elegance in Espionage, starring David Hedison as a Cold War CIA agent; The History of Hiram Holliday, about the post-Mr. Peepers series starring Wally Cox; Buck Rogers in the 25th Century: A TV Companion, based on the sci-fi series of the early 1980s; Banacek: A Behind-the-Scenes History and Episode Guide, which was a series I really enjoyed (George Peppard is especially good in it); and The Jeffersons, about, well, The Jeffersons. You can get the authors' names and more details on their books at the link.
At Drunk TV, Paul looks at the second season of The Odd Couple , a season which saw some fairly substantial changes made in the wake of the show's inaugural season. I guess it's been a while since I've seen the series; while I remember getting rid of the laugh track, for example, I'll have to go back and look at the changes made by going from a one-camera to three-camera layout.
And the latest issue of Opera has a review of my friend Nancy Spada's book Beyond the Handsomeness: A Biography of Thomas Schippers, the dynamic American conductor whose career would have known no limits had he not died at 47. Schippers, you will remember from this blog, was the conductor for the landmark telecast of Amahl and the Night Visitors, as well as other operas for NBC Opera Theatre, and was a wonderful talent. TV
January 15, 2025
The charm of "Monsterpiece Theatre"
With everything that's happened in the first half of the first month of the year, I think we could do with a little bit of whimsy today, so let's put aside the serious subjects today and look at something really important, one of the most charming of the regular features on Sesame Street: "Monsterpiece Theatre."Regardless of what you might think about the educational merits of Sesame Street, one of the strengths of the longtime children's series has been its ability to deal in humor that appeals to children and adults alike, often on two completely different levels. "Monsterpiece Theatre," introduced by "Alistair Cookie" (Cookie Monster), is one of the best examples of this. It's obviously a parody of Masterpiece Theatre, right down to the meticulously detailed opening sequence (including pictures from previous "Monsterpiece" episodes, and spines of books adapted for the show, such as "The 39 Stairs."*)
*A parody, of course, on John Buchan's famous thriller The 39 Steps.
This segment spoofs Spading Gray's "Monster in a Box." The title is the same, but the story is much different.
As usual, the introduction by Cookie Monster is very funny, particularly his perpetual problem with pronouns. "Me digress," he says at one point, though I doubt children would know what the word "digress" means.I particularly appreciate his sly throwaway comment when, referring to how the story is written by Spalding Monster and stars Spalding Monster, he remarks "No ego problem there."* It also features something that, to the best of my knowledge, never happened with Alistair Cooke on the original, when Cookie Monster becomes directly involved with the story, as he has to show the dimwitted Spalding what "inside" means. A bit of a thin plot, though.
*Lest this be seen as a shot at Spalding Gray, I had the opportunity to see him in person once, at the Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis, when he was performing "Gray's Anatomy." It was terrific, as were most of his other monologues.
What would "Monsterpiece Theatre" be without the most famous of the Masterpiece Theatre plays, though? Here's the appropriately-named "Me Claudius," (a "classy drama") complete with new opening credits.
I can guarantee you no child is going to get those opening titles. I also have to think that the writer of this scene saw Spartacus at one point, don't you? (I don't think I ever saw Alistair Cooke eat his pipe after the broadcast.)
Here's a brilliant take on "Waiting for Godot," called "Waiting for Elmo," a "contemporary classic," which means nobody can understand it, "Not even Alistair." After the absurdist drama plays out, Cookie astutely comments, "That deep, deep stuff,"
Finally, what would any classy show be without the touching and heartwarming "Conversations With My Father"? After all, the only thing better than one Cookie Monster is two Cookie Monsters.
There are other funny take-offs out there, of everything from "West Side Story" to "Lethal Weapon." As I mentioned, you can argue about whether or not Sesame Street has done a good job of educational television. However, there's no doubt that skits like this show how the program has always had the knack of appealing to adults without contaminating, if you will, the effect it has on kids. As evidence, I'll leave you with a non-Cookie Monster skit, the famous Ernie & Bert bit about "Bert's Brother Bart." Unless you have a very precocious child, I don't think he'll get that "I'm aghast" joke.
TV
January 13, 2025
What's on TV? Friday, January 18, 1974
We're back looking at the Eastern New England edition this week, and among this week's offerings is the 1973 made-for-TV movie Genesis II, airing at 11:30 p.m. on WPRI in Providence. Whenever you see this mentioned nowadays, it's almost always because it was a failed pilot developed by Gene Roddenberry, so I was somewhat surprised to see it here with no mention of Roddenberry as a hook. Of course, times were different then; Star Trek hadn't become the behemoth franchise it is today, so this might not have been anything more than just another plot that didn't make it any further. But you can go further, just be scrolling down. -2- WGBH (BOSTON) (PBS) MORNING 10:00 SESAME STREET 11:00 ELECTRIC COMPANY AFTERNOON 3:00 ELLIOT NORTON REVIEWS 3:30 MAGGIE AND THE BEAUTIFUL MACHINE 4:00 SESAME STREET 5:00 MISTER ROGERS 5:30 ELECTRIC COMPANY—Children EVENING 6:00 ZOOM 6:30 MAGGIE AND THE BEAUTIFUL MACHINE 7:00 EVENING COMPASS 7:30 WHERE TO GET OFF IN BOSTON 8:00 WASHINGTON WEEK IN REVIEW 8:30 WALL $TREET WEEK—Louis Rukeyser 9:00 RELIGIOUS AMERICA—Documentary 9:30 KITCHEN SYNC 10:00 JEAN SHEPHERD’S AMERICA 10:30 DAY AT NIGHT
-3- WTIC (HARTFORD) (CBS) MORNING 6:00 TO BE ANNOUNCED 6:30 FROM THE COLLEGE CAMPUS 7:00 CBS NEWS—Hughes Rudd/Sally Quinn 8:00 CAPTAIN KANGAROO 9:00 HAP RICHARDS 9:15 YOGI BEAR 9:30 GAMBIT—Game 10:00 MIKE DOUGLAS 11:30 LOVE OF LIFE 11:55 CBS NEWS—Douglas Edwards AFTERNOON 12:00 NEWS 12:30 SEARCH FOR TOMORROW—Serial 1:00 BEAT THE CLOCK Guest: Larry Storch 1:30 AS THE WORLD TURNS—Serial 2:30 EDGE OF NIGHT—Serial 3:00 PRICE IS RIGHT—Game 3:30 RANGER STATION 4:00 ANDY GRIFFITH—Comedy BW 4:30 MERV GRIFFIN EVENING 6:00 NEWS 6:30 CBS NEWS—Walter Cronkite 7:00 WORLD AT WAR 8:00 DIRTY SALLY—Western 8:30 MOVIE—Western “The Undefeated” (1969) 11:00 NEWS 11:30 MOVIE—Drama “Story of Three Loves” (1953) 1:45 MOVIE—Mystery BW “The Risk” (English; 1960)
-4- WBZ (BOSTON) (NBC) MORNING 5:55 FARM MARKET REPORT 6:15 SIGN ON SEMINAR 6:45 DAILY ALMANAC 7:00 YES, WE CAN Special 9:00 YES, WE CAN Special AFTERNOON 12:00 YES, WE CAN Special 4:00 YES, WE CAN Special EVENING 7:00 YES, WE CAN Special 10:30 YES, WE CAN Special 11:00 NEWS 11:30 JOHNNY CARSON 1:00 MIDNIGHT SPECIAL—Music Host: Smokey Robinson. Guests: Paul Butterfgield’s Better Days, Eddie Kendricks, Johnny Taylor, Edwin Starr, Ann Peebles, Grin
-5- WCVB (BOSTON) (ABC) MORNING 5:55 MORNING GLORY 6:00 NEWS 6:25 NEWS FOR THE DEAF 6:30 NEWS 6:50 NEWS FOR THE DEAF 7:00 JABBERWOCKY 7:30 LEAVE IT TO BEAVER 8:00 FATHER KNOWS BEST 8:30 ROMPER ROOM 9:00 GOOD MORNING 10:30 PASSWORD 11:00 BIG VALLEY AFTERNOON 12:00 NEWS 12:30 SPLIT SECOND—Game 1:00 ALL MY CHILDREN—Serial 1:30 LET’S MAKE A DEAL—Game 2:00 NEWLYWED GAME 2:30 GIRL IN MY LIFE 3:00 GENERAL HOSPITAL—Serial 3:30 ONE LIFE TO LIVE—Serial 4:00 BONANZA—Western 5:00 MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE—Adventure EVENING 6:00 NEWS 6:30 ABC NEWS—Howard K. Smith/Harry Reasoner 7:00 TO TELL THE TRUTH Alan Alda, Kitty Carlisle, Peggy Cass 7:30 YOU, ME AND JOE 8:00 BRADY BUNCH 8:30 SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN—Drama Return 9:30 ODD COUPLE 10:00 TOMA—Crime Drama 11:00 NEWS 11:30 IN CONCERT Jerry Lee Lewis, Del Shannon, Little Anthony, Freddie Cannon, Rufus Thomas 1:00 FLIPSIDE Guests: Judy Collins, Mickey Newbury 1:30 ALFRED HITCHCOCK—Drama BW 2:00 NEWS 2:10 MOVIE—Comedy BW “Tall, Dark and Handsome" (1941) 4:00 YOU, ME AND JOE 4:30 GOOD MORNING!
-6- WTEV (NEW BEDFORD) (ABC) MORNING 6:00 ENGLISH THROUGH TELEVISION 6:30 JACK LA LANNE 6:45 NEWS 7:00 HOGAN’S HEROES 7:30 LEAVE IT TO BEAVER 8:00 FLINTSTONES 8:25 NEWS 8:30 COMMUNITY 9:00 ROMPER ROOM 9:30 GOMER PULE, USMC 10:00 DICK VAN DYKE BW 10:30 ANDY GRIFFITH 11:00 SPLIT SECOND 11:30 BRADY BUNCH AFTERNOON 12:00 PASSWORD—Game Celebrities: Martin Milner, Greg Morris 12:30 NEWS 1:00 ALL MY CHILDREN—Serial 1:30 LET’S MAKE A DEAL—Game 2:00 NEWLYWED GAME 2:30 GIRL IN MY LIFE 3:00 GENERAL HOSPITAL—Serial 3:30 ONE LIFE TO LIVE—Serial 4:00 BONANZA—Western 5:00 MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE—Adventure EVENING 6:00 NEWS 6:30 ABC NEWS—Howard K. Smith/Harry Reasoner 7:00 CIRCUS! 7:30 WAIT TIL YOUR FATHER GETS HOME—Cartoon 8:00 BRADY BUNCH 8:30 SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN—Drama Return 9:30 ODD COUPLE 10:00 TOMA—Crime Drama 11:00 NEWS 11:30 IN CONCERT Jerry Lee Lewis, Del Shannon, Little Anthony, Freddie Cannon, Rufus Thomas 1:00 NEWS 1:15 SAINT—Crime Drama BW
-7- WNAC (BOSTON) (CBS) MORNING 6:45 FARM AND MARKET REPORT 6:50 LAS NOTICIAS DE HOY 7:00 CBS NEWS—Hughes Rudd/Sally Quinn 8:00 CAPTAIN KANGAROO 9:00 PAUL BENZAQUIN 10:00 JOKER’S WILD—Game 10:30 $10,000 PYRAMID—Game 11:00 DICK VAN DYKE BW 11:30 LOVE OF LIFE 11:55 NEWS AFTERNOON 12:25 CBS NEWS—Douglas Edwards 12:30 SEARCH FOR TOMORROW—Serial 1:00 SECRET STORM 1:30 AS THE WORLD TURNS—Serial 2:30 EDGE OF NIGHT—Serial 3:00 PRICE IS RIGHT—Game 3:30 MATCH GAME Betty White, Joe Flynn, Charles Nelson Reilly, Linda Kaye Henning 4:00 MERV GRIFFIN 5:30 CANDLEPINS FOR CASH EVENING 6:00 NEWS 6:30 CBS NEWS—Walter Cronkite 7:00 WHAT’S MY LINE? Allen Ludden, Elaine Joyce, Soupy Sales, Arlene Francis. Host: Larry Blyden 7:30 HOLLYWOOD SQUARES 8:00 DIRTY SALLY—Western 8:30 MOVIE—Western “The Undefeated” (1969) 11:00 NEWS 11:30 MOVIE—Drama “They Came to Cordura” (1959) 1:30 PAUL BENZAQUIN PLAYBACK
-8- WTNH (NEW HAVEN) (ABC) MORNING 6:25 DIALOGUE 6:55 NEWS 7:00 CARTOON CARNIVAL 7:30 I DREAM OF JEANNIE 8:00 FATHER KNOWS BEST 8:30 PHIL DONAHUE 9:30 DIALING FOR DOLLARS 10:30 PASSWORD 11:00 SPLIT SECOND 11:30 BRADY BUNCH AFTERNOON 12:00 NEWS 12:30 WHAT’S MY LINE? 1:00 ALL MY CHILDREN—Serial 1:30 LET’S MAKE A DEAL—Game 2:00 NEWLYWED GAME 2:30 GIRL IN MY LIFE 3:00 GENERAL HOSPITAL—Serial 3:30 ONE LIFE TO LIVE—Serial 4:00 MOVIE—Drama “The Deadly Affair” (English; 1967) EVENING 6:00 NEWS 6:30 ABC NEWS—Howard K. Smith/Harry Reasoner 7:00 TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES 7:30 DATING GAME 8:00 BRADY BUNCH 8:30 SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN—Drama Return 9:30 ODD COUPLE 10:00 TOMA—Crime Drama 11:00 NEWS 11:30 IN CONCERT Jerry Lee Lewis, Del Shannon, Little Anthony, Freddie Cannon, Rufus Thomas
-9- WMUR (MANCHESTER) (ABC) MORNING 10:00 MOVIE—Drama BW “The Scar” (1948) 11:30 BRADY BUNCH AFTERNOON 12:00 PASSWORD—Game Celebrities: Martin Milner, Greg Morris 12:30 SPLIT SECOND—Game 1:00 ALL MY CHILDREN—Serial 1:30 LET’S MAKE A DEAL—Game 2:00 NEWLYWED GAME 2:30 GIRL IN MY LIFE 3:00 GENERAL HOSPITAL—Serial 3:30 ONE LIFE TO LIVE—Serial 4:00 TIMMY AND LASSIE—Drama BW 4:30 UNCLE GUS 5:30 ROBIN HOOD—Adventure BW EVENING 6:00 NEWS 6:30 ABC NEWS—Howard K. Smith/Harry Reasoner 7:00 NANNY AND THE PROFESSOR 7:30 TREASURE HUNT 8:00 BRADY BUNCH 8:30 SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN—Drama Return 9:30 ODD COUPLE 10:00 TOMA—Crime Drama 11:00 NEWS 11:30 IN CONCERT Jerry Lee Lewis, Del Shannon, Little Anthony, Freddie Cannon, Rufus Thomas
10 WJAR (PROVIDENCE) (NBC) MORNING 6:00 TV CLASSROOM 6:55 NEWS 7:00 TODAY—Frank McGee/Barbara Walters 9:00 NOT FOR WOMEN ONLY 9:30 TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES 10:00 DINAH SHORE 10:30 JEOPARDY!—Game 11:00 WIZARD OF ODDS—Game 11:30 HOLLYWOOD SQUARES AFTERNOON 12:00 NEWS 12:30 BAFFLE—Game 12:55 NBC NEWS—Edwin Newman 1:00 JACKPOT!—Game 1:30 THREE ON A MATCH—Game 2:00 DAYS OF OUR LIVES—Serial 2:30 DOCTORS—Serial 3:00 ANOTHER WORLD—Serial 3:30 HOW TO SURVIVE A MARRIAGE—Serial 4:00 SOMERSET—Serial 4:30 BEWITCHED—Comedy 5:00 MOD SQUAD—Crime Drama EVENING 6:00 NEWS 6:30 NBC NEWS—John Chancellor 7:00 CONCENTRATION 7:30 TO TELL THE TRUTH Bill Cullen, Peggy Cass, Larry Blyden, Kitty Carlisle. Host: Garry Moore 8:00 SANFORD AND SON 8:30 LOTSA LUCK!—Comedy 9:00 OZZIE’S GIRLS 9:30 BRIAN KEITH—Comedy 10:00 DEAN MARTIN Roastee: Leo Durocher Musical guests: Gladys Knight and the Pips 11:00 NEWS 11:30 JOHNNY CARSON 1:00 MIDNIGHT SPECIAL—Music Host: Smokey Robinson. Guests: Paul Butterfgield’s Better Days, Eddie Kendricks, Johnny Taylor, Edwin Starr, Ann Peebles, Grin
12 WPRI (PROVIDENCE) (CBS) MORNING 6:30 TO BE ANNOUNCED 7:00 CBS NEWS—Hughes Rudd/Sally Quinn 8:00 CAPTAIN KANGAROO 9:00 DIALING FOR DOLLARS 10:00 JOKER’S WILD—Game 10:30 $10,000 PYRAMID—Game 11:00 GAMBIT—Game 11:30 LOVE OF LIFE 11:55 CBS NEWS—Douglas Edwards AFTERNOON 12:00 NEWS 12:30 SEARCH FOR TOMORROW—Serial 1:00 WHAT’S MY LINE? Soupy Sales, Virginia Vestoff, Arlene Francis, Gene Shalit 1:30 AS THE WORLD TURNS—Serial 2:00 FLIPPER—Drama 2:30 EDGE OF NIGHT—Serial 3:00 PRICE IS RIGHT—Game 4:00 I DREAM OF JEANNIE—Comedy 4:30 MERV GRIFFIN EVENING 6:00 NEWS 6:30 CBS NEWS—Walter Cronkite 7:00 BEAT THE CLOCK Guest: Larry Storch. Host: Gene Wood 7:30 PROTECTORS 8:00 DIRTY SALLY—Western 8:30 MOVIE—Western “The Undefeated” (1969) 11:00 NEWS 11:30 MOVIE—Science Fiction “Genesis II” (Made-for-TV; 1973)
27 WSMW (WORCESTER) (Ind.) AFTERNOON 12:00 CHURCH SERVICE—Catholic 12:30 THRILLER—Drama BW 1:30 MOVIE—Drama BW “The Forbidden Street” (English; 1949) 3:30 FELIX THE CAT 4:00 POPEYE 4:30 LASSIE—Drama BW 5:00 SUPERMAN—Adventure BW 5:30 GOMER PYLE, USMC—Comedy EVENING 6:00 PETTICOAT JUNCTION 6:30 CHALLENGING SEA—Documentary 7:00 MOVIE—Drama BW “The Final War” (Japanese; 1962) 9:00 THRILLER—Drama BW 10:00 NEWS 10:30 JOE HYDER 11:00 NEWS
36 WSBE (PROVIDENCE) (PBS) MORNING 10:00 SESAME STREET AFTERNOON 1:30 ELECTRIC COMPANY 4:00 SESAME STREET 5:00 MISTER ROGERS 5:30 ELECTRIC COMPANY—Children EVENING 6:00 ZOOM 6:30 ACROSS THE FENSE 7:00 TIME OF OUR LIVES 7:30 ARRIVEDERCI 8:00 WASHINGTON WEEK IN REVIEW 8:30 WALL $TREET WEEK—Louis Rukeyser 9:00 MASTERPIECE THEATRE “Upstairs, Downstairs,” Part 2 10:00 INSIGHT—Religion 10:30 CONSULTATION
38 WSBK (BOSTON) (Ind.) MORNING 11:00 TOM LARSON AFTERNOON 12:00 CAN YOU TOP THIS—Game Guests: Milton Berle, Morey Amdsterdam, Henny Youngman 12:30 BEAT THE CLOCK 1:00 JACK LA LANNE 1:30 MR. MAGOO AND FRIENDS 2:00 FLIPPER—Drama 2:30 TENNESSEE TUXEDO 3:00 PORKY PIG AND FRIENDS 3:30 BUGS BUNNY 4:00 THREE STOOGES 5:00 F TROOP—Comedy 5:30 McHALE’S NAVY—Comedy BW EVENING 6:00 BEVERLY HILLBILLIES 6:30 I DREAM OF JEANNIE 7:00 HOGAN’S HEROES—Comedy 7:30 WILD, WILD WEST—Adventure 8:30 EVERYTHING GOES 10:00 SAINT—Crime Drama 11:00 LAUGH CLASSICS
44 WGBX (BOSTON) (PBS) AFTERNOON 3:30 MISTER ROGERS 4:00 SESAME STREET 5:00 HODGEPODGE LODGE 5:30 ELECTRIC COMPANY—Children EVENING 6:00 SESAME STREET 7:00 AVIATION WEATHER 7:30 MARTIN AGRONSKY: EVENING EDITION 8:00 WASHINGTON WEEK IN REVIEW 8:30 CATCH 44 9:00 BLACK EXPERIENCE 9:30 RELIGIOUS AMERICA—Documentary 10:00 EVENING COMPASS 10:30 DAY AT NIGHT 11:00 ABC NEWS—Howard K. Smith/Harry Reasoner Captioned for the deaf
53 WEDN (NORWICH) (PBS) MORNING 10:00 SESAME STREET AFTERNOON 1:00 ELECTRIC COMPANY 3:00 FRENCH CHEF 3:30 RELIGIOUS AMERICA 4:00 SESAME STREET 5:00 MISTER ROGERS 5:30 ELECTRIC COMPANY—Children EVENING 6:00 ZOOM 6:30 BOOK BEAT 7:00 AVIATION WEATHER 7:30 WALL $TREET WEEK—Louis Rukeyser 8:00 WASHINGTON WEEK IN REVIEW 8:30 ARTS AND CRAFTS OF CHINA—Documentary Special 9:00 AZTEC TWO-STEP 10:00 ENERGY ALERT 10:05 FREE-FOR-ALL 10:35 MASTERPIECE THEATRE “Upstairs, Downstairs,” Part 2
56 WKBG (BOSTON) (Ind.) MORNING 10:00 NOT FOR WOMEN ONLY 10:30 NEW ENGLAND NEWSCENE 11:00 NEW ZOO REVUE 11:30 BULLWINKLE AFTERNOON 12:00 I LOVE LUCY—Comedy BW 12:30 MOVIE—Musical “The Daughter of Rosie O’Grady” (1950) 2:30 HUCK AND YOU 3:00 SPEED RAER 3:30 BATMAN—Adventure Guest villain: Victor Buono (King Tut) 4:00 LITTLE RASCALS BW 4:30 FLINTSTONES 5:30 GILLIGAN’S ISLAND—Comedy EVENING 6:00 STAR TREK 7:00 UNTOUCHABLES—Crime Drama BW 8:00 MOVIE—Fantasy “The Three Worlds of Gulliver” (Spanish-American-English; 1959) 9:30 MOVIE—Science Fiction BW “The Magnetic Monster" (1953) 11:30 MOVIE—Science Fiction “The Lost Missile” (1958)
TV
January 11, 2025
This week in TV Guide: January 12, 1974
Looking back through the years, I have, more than once, used the terms "Super Bore" or "Stupor Bowl" to refer to the Super Bowl. The game is only a small part of what has grown to encompass special commercials made for the occasion, pregame and halftime concerts featuring superstar artists, and marathon analysis both before and after the game. (It doesn't hurt that there have actually been some pretty good games the last couple of decades, but face it—that's just a bonus.)Back in the 1970s, though, the game was the thing, to paraphrase Shakespeare, and over the first seven editions, the "ultimate game" hadn't really delivered much. Several of them had been blowouts, the two games won by the AFL had been huge upsets but not all that interesting, and the closest game—Baltimore's 16-13 victory over Dallas three years ago—had been so full of mistakes by both teams pit was called the "Blunder Bowl."
Al Stump uses the "Super Bore" line in his preview of Sunday's Big Game between the defending champion Miami Dolphins and the NFC champion Minnesota Vikings, from Rice Stadium in Houston (3:30 p.m. ET, CBS). Even in its infancy, the game had a feeling approaching "near-lunacy," with the game being the last thing on anyone's mind; Washington defensive back Mike Bass recalls having to attend three team press conferences, photo events, program signing parties, team busses stalled in traffic jams (last year's game was played in Los Angeles), besides practicing for, you know, the game. "Things are so wild that you're distracted—to the point where you can't perform normally on the field. At the kickoff, those 22 cats out there are in trouble, man." Not surprisingly, the game itself was "dull and a letdown, with some spectators walking out before the Dolphins finally beat the skins 14-7."
Stump calls these past games "a bore, and, at times, a farce," where the teams "make an abundance of errors and do little scoring." Coaches, feeling the pressure and fearing defeat, run ultra-conservative game plans and use even tighter defenses than the regular season. There have been few spectacular plays in Super Bowls (only four times has a runner gained 20 or more yards on a single run), and no last-minute comebacks. And in those seven games, a total of only 12 touchdown passes have been thrown. (In fact, there have only been 25 touchdowns in total scored in the game's history.)
That doesn't stop CBS from offering up today's contest as the "ultimate game," utilizing 14 color cameras and six miles of cable, and "[n]o fewer than 15 experts will be trotted out, or roughly one expert for every five players who'll see action." But, then, who says it's about the game? "The past seven Super Bowls have sold 543,852 tickets, taken in $25 million and paid $8.7 million to the athletes. NBC and CBS, investing $17,750,000 for telecast rights since 1967, now reach 28 milion homes and some 75 million people. A cool 10 million words have been filed from Super Bowl press boxes." That's what the Super Bowl is all about, Charlie Brown. As I mentioned at the outset, the Super Bowl has come a long way since these early days. The networks spend more and more money to broadcast the game to more and more viewers, while commercials sell for extraordinarily obscene amounts of money (in 1974, 30 seconds sold for $103,000, while last year, a half-minute commercial would cost you $7 million.) The game was played in the afternoon back in 1974 (preceded by an NBA game), and the pregame show was only 30 minutes long. The half-time entertainment was provided by the University of Texas Longhorn Band, with Miss Texas, Judy Mallett, playing the fiddle. Networks didn't bother to try and introduce a promising show in the coveted post-game timeslot; Super Bowl VIII was followed by the local news.
As for Super Bowl VIII? Well, it fit the pattern to a T; the Dolphins dominated early and often with its ground game; Miami quarterback Bob Griese through only seven passes (completing six, for 63 yards total), while the Dolphins rushed for almost 200 yards on 53 attempts. No touchdown passes were thrown by either team. The final score was Miami 24, Minnesota 7, and it wasn't even that close.
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From 1963 to 1976, TV Guide's weekly reviews were written by the witty and acerbic Cleveland Amory. Whenever they appear, we'll look at Cleve's latest take on the shows of the era. James Stewart's transition to television as star of his own series has not, Cleveland Amory says, been a smooth one. In his previous try, the "unlamented" Jimmy Stewart Show, he played a college professor "with all the authority of a nervous giraffe." Now, as a high-powered country lawyer in the 90-minute Hawkins, airing as part of CBS's new Tuesday Night Movies wheel series, he returns to "the kind of role that made him famous—the barefoot boy with chic." And while he has all the gestures down pat, it's the kind of character that has always had a limited range; "At its best, it makes you nostalgic for some of Mr. Stewart's old films. At its worst, it makes you wonder what you ever saw in them."
We could just stop right here, because this gives you the jist of Cleve's thoughts on Hawkins, but we continue because 1) he has more to say about why he feels this way, and 2) I have two more paragraphs to fill. The problem with a series like Hawkins, is that it plays to all the cliches we've come to expect from shows with a cornpone sense of things. Take Stewart's character, for instance, whose name is Billy Jim Hawinks. (He has a cousin, "R.J.," played by Strother Martin, and a nephew, "Jeremiah," in case we didn't get the point.) As the series is structured, Hawkins is often retained to travel to the big city to defend big shots, which gives it the fish-out-of-water trope of McCloud, plus the aw-shucks jurisprudence that Andy Griffith would put to more effective use in Matlock. Hawkins plays up this angle, which we know is false to start with because otherwise he wouldn't have such a reputation that the big shots hire him instead of, say, F. Lee Bailey.
The plots don't help out. One involved one of Billy Jim's kinfolk who's killed in a Civil War recreation, and Hawkins not only has to defend the man accused of the crime (who happens to be thoroughly unlikable) but also has to prevent an old feud from flaring up. Even Lew Ayres, who played a Civil War historian, couldn't save this one. Neither could Julie Harris, in another episode that involves a rich old man who's murdered by his much younger wife; "there is," Amory observes, "one time when Billy Jim gets driven off the road," but as far as suspense goes, "that was it." It's all too bad, because James Stewart, throughout his career, gave ample evidence of being able to play a character with a very sharp, and vary dark, edge. Something like that might have helped Hawkins make it past one season, although Stewart himself asked that the show be cancelled becaue he didn't believe the scripts could measure up to the quality he'd been used to working with. It's another case, I fear, of what might have been.
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Two of television's definitive rock music shows, NBC's The Midnight Special and ABC's In Concert, faced off on Friday nights in the early '70s. Whenever the two slug it out, we'll be on hand to see who's better, who's best.Midnight: Host Smoke Robinson welcomes blues group Paul Butterfield's Better Days, soul artists Eddie Kendricks, Johnny Taylor, Edwin Starr and Ann Peebles, and rock group Grin. Smokey sings "The Tracks of My Tears," "The Tears of a Clown," "Mickey's Monkey," "Show and Tell."
Concert: An all-oldioes show featuring Jerry Lee Lewis, Del Shannon, Little Anthony, Freddie Cannon and Rufus Young. Songs include "Great Balls of Fire," "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On'" (Lewis), "Runaway," "Handy Man" (Shannon), "Hurt So Bad" (Little Anthony).
The emphasis is on the oldies this week, and the winner depends in large part on what suits your taste. As for me, it'll be tough to beat Del Shannon and The Killer, so the summary is short and sweet: Concert has the fire this week.
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Having looked back at last Saturday's writeup, I think I fell short when it came to looking at what was actually on TV. That doesn't mean it was bad; I wouldn't have given it to you if I'd thought that. But let's see what's up besides the Super Bowl and our rock shows.
It's a big week on the movie front, dominated by a trio of John Wayne classics, foremost among them being with the second showing of The Duke's Oscar-winning turn in True Grit (Sunday, 7:30 p.m., ABC). Judith Crist finds it irrestible, "one of the rip-roaringest, snortingest (and belchingest) entertainments in a long time." It is, she says, "early John Wayne in spirit, the latter-day Wayne in the flesh." The previous night, on the same network, we're treated to the fourth telecast of The Sons of Katie Elder (Saturday, 8:30 p.m.), "still as good-natured and simple-minded as ever," with Wayne as the eldest of the Elder boys, and Dean Martin next in line, "and you can write the script yourself." The week wraps up with the third showing of The Undefeated (Friday, 8:30 p.m., CBS), with Rock Hudson sharing the bill. It's "spiced by brawls, massacres, murders and executions. Just a good clean all-American entertainment." Hey, it works for me. It's a tribute to John Wayne's star power that this triple-header relegates to second place the network television premiere of From Russia with Love, the second of the James Bond adventures (Monday, 9:00 p.m., ABC, and what a movie week they're having!), with Sean Connery as dynamic as ever as the superspy, Robert Shaw and Lotte Lenya as the heavies, and Daniela Bianchi as "the major sexpot" (although I don't think that's how she appears in the credits. Crist calls it "vintage grown-up nonsense," which is a compliment coming from her. And as if it weren't already a big week for ABC, Wednesday night sees a repeat of 1972's The Night Stalker (8:00 p.m.), "that diverting tale of a vampire stalking Las Vegas," starring Darren McGavin, Simon Oakland, and Carol Lynley in the first of two TV-movies leading to the much-loved Kolchak series.
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And now for the rest of the week, and though I've mentioned this before, I'll say it again: Saturday night used to be a prime night for television, and on a week-to-week basis nothing surpasses the Murderer's Row CBS schedule, with All in the Family at 8:00 p.m., M*A*S*H T 8:30, Mary Tyler Moore at 9:00, The Bob Newhart Show at 9:30, and The Carol Burnett Show at 10:00; Carol's guests tonight are Eydie Gorme and Paul Sand. Add to that The Sons of Katie Elder on ABC and another Western, The Way West, with Kirk Douglas, Robert Mitchum, and Richard Widmark on NBC 9:00 p.m.), and you can see why people used to stay home. Why that changed, I'm not sure.
Sunday features one of the most popular episodes of Columbo, "Publish or Perish" (8:30 p.m., NBC), in which the consummate Columbo villain, Jack Cassidy, returns as a publisher who hires a hitman to bump off his his leading writer (Mickey Spillaine!), who's preparing to move over to another publishing house. Meanwhile, Watergate is going to play out in a big way in 1974, and on Firing Line (10:00 p.m., PBS), host William F. Buckley Jr. and presidential aide Patrick Buchanan discuss the subpoenaed White House tapes, plus media coverage of the scandal.Avid readers (as well as fans of Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry ) will remember P.G. Wodehouse as the author of the wonderfully witty Jeeves and Wooster stories (35 short stories and 11 novels, written between 1915 and 1974). Despite their being set in a world that is long gone, however, Wodehouse is still alive and writing at age 92, and on Monday night he's the guest of Bob Cromie on Book Beat (10:30 p.m., PBS), where he reflects on the disappearance of humorous writing and recalls some of his contemporaries, including James Thurber and Dorothy Parker.
The Super Bowl isn't the only stare-studded sports event this week; Tuesday night sees the NBA All-Star Game, live from Seattle (9:30 p.m., CBS). The West Coast locale is, in part, responsible for the late hour of the game's start, but it's also true that the low-rated NBA is no substitute for CBS's regular prime-time lineup, and so the start time allows the network to fit in episodes of Maude and Hawaii Five-O. I doubt that most people remember the game (it was won by the West, 134-123), but they will remember the series that premieres that night on ABC as part of the network's second season: a 50's-inspired sitcom called Happy Days (8:00 p.m.). That's followed at 8:30 p.m. by yet another ABC TV-movie, Mrs. Sundance, a sequel to Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, starring Elizabeth Montgomery in the title role, with future husband Robert Foxworth as the man trying to track her down.
We'll turn to late night for Wednesday's highlight, a 90-minute roast of Steve Allen on ABC's Wide World of Entertainment (11:30 p.m.). The occasion is Allen's 25th year on television, and many former co-stars from his various shows are on hand, including Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme, Jayne Meadows, Louis Nye, and Tim Conway; George Burns, Buddy Hackett, Rowan & Martin, Jack Carter, and Zsa Zsa Gabor are also on hand. Milton Berle is the roastmaster. I'm happy to report that you can
catch it all here
.Thursday sees the debuts of two half-hour dramas on ABC; first, it's Chopper One (8:00 p.m.), with Jim McMullan and Dirk Benedict playing cops in helicopters, and Ted Hartley as their boss. It's a formula good for 13 weeks. That's followed by Firehouse (8:30 p.m.), a modification of that formula, starring James Drury, Richard Jaeckel, and Michael Delano as L.A. firefighters; think Emergency! without the paramedic bit. It's also primed for a 13-week run. Better, I think, to go local with WKBG's airing of the political thriller Seven Days in May (8:00 p.m.), starring Kirk Douglas, Burt Lancaster, Frederic March, and Ava Gardner.
If you're looking for an alternative to The Duke on Friday night, you can return to ABC for the premiere of The Six Million Dollar Man as a weekly series (8:30 p.m.); formerly, it had been a rotating part of ABC's Movie of the Week, with three telemovies airing in 1973. And, speaking of roasts as we were a moment ago, the final season of Dean Martin's weekly variety series, now on Friday, is best known for the "Man of the Week" celebrity roast; this week, the honoree is baseball's Leo Durocher, with Maury Wills, Dizzy Dean, Bobby Riggs, Alex Karras, Gene Kelly, Chuck Connors, and Foster Brooks among the roasters (10:00 p.m., NBC). Gladys Knight and the Pips are the musical guests. Next season, the celebrity roasts will expand to a full hour and appear as occasional specials.
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The Woman's Lib movement is in full swing in 1974, and perhaps the most dramatic television example comes on Friday, when Boston's WBZ devotes the entire day—not just prime time, but 16 hours, from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m., to a live special, Yes, We Can!, "entirely produced and staffed by women, with only women appearing on air, discussing women’s concerns." As you can see from the ad at the left, there's no topic off limits; it sounds much like the kinds of day-long seminars conducted nowadays, with main speakers, breakout sessions, vendors, demonstrations, and various activities from which attendees can pick and choose. A live variety show hosted by entertainment critic Pat Mitchell, featuring only female entertainers (including Helen Reddy and The Labelles) precedes the special at 10:00 p.m. on Thursday. It wasn't that long ago that we were marveling at ABC's Africa documentary that took up an entire prime-time in September, 1967, but that was only four hours, not an entire day. The only thing I can think of that compares to this is a telethon, but when you think of it, that's what this amounts to: a telethon raising not funds, but awareness.
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Finally, to answer the question posed on the cover: why TV is having a crime wave. The answer, according to Paul Klein, is a simple one: it normally takes two years for a show to go from idea to treatment to script to sale. Two years ago, two of the big hits on television were Columbo and Cannon. Producers and networks took notice. And here we are today, with crime shows all over teh place. There's more to it than that, of course, but why make things more complicated than they already are?
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MST3K alert: The Human Duplicators (1964) Outer-space aliens pose as humans in their plan for conquest. George Nader, Barbara Nichols, George Macready, Richard Arlen, Huge Beaumont, Richard Kiel, Dolores Faith, Tommy Leonetti, Lonnie Satin. Good cast in a so-so sci-fi movie. (Saturday, 11:30 p.m., Channel 5) The description isn't exactly accurate; Richard Kiel plays an alien plotting to create android duplicates to use in the takeover of Earth. But the movie doesn't really matter; what you want to see is the second appearance of "Hugh Beaumont" (Michael J. Nelson), this time griping about how it's always "How's Beaver?" but never "How's Hugh." Worth the price of admission. TV
January 10, 2025
Around the dial
At bare-bones e-zine, Jack's first Hitchcock Project of the new year is "
Make My Death Bed
," a sixth-season episode by "Henry A. Cogge," dealing with a nasty suburban triangle that invariably involves murder.The "Ann Way Season" continues apace at Cult TV Blog, and this week John visits the British detective series Shoestring and the episode " The Farmer Had a Wife ," which features Ann as an informant who triggers a murder investigation.
At A Shroud of Thoughts, Terence takes note of the 70th anniversary of The Bob Cummings Show , which we know from Hal Horn as Love That Bob. You'll pardon me if I still have difficulty accepting that some of my favorite shows are that old, because it means I'm getting close to being that old myself.
Those Were the Days takes a look back at the career of character actor Hal Smith , whom we probably know best as Otis, the town drunk on The Andy Griffith Show. It shouldn't surprise us that his body of work encompassed many more roles in television, the movies, and voice work.
It's quite possible that you only remember Betty Furness as the commercial spokeswoman for Westinghouse on Studio One, but as Travalanche reminds us, she had a very successful career in movies and television, and did a stint as LBJ's Special Assistant for Consumer Affairs.
At The View from the Junkyard, Roger takes on " House of Cards ," the second episode of The New Avengers, in which we find Steed in a precarious position, with Purdy needing to stay one step ahead in order to save him.
Finally, it's impossible not to think about the fires currently ravaging the Los Angeles area. I don't know how many of our readers are affected by them, but it warrents a moment or two of consideration. The losses suffered by these poor people is unimaginable—and yes, while it's true that many of them are wealthy, many of them aren't, and most of them have lost everything they have; in a few cases, even their lives. There's every reason to believe that certain officials and their policies bear a responsibility for what is happening, but there's not much most of us can do about that. What we can do, and should do, is pray for the safety of all concerned, and that the fires will be brought under control. It might also be a good idea for us all to take a moment and be grateful for our blessings, for the fact that our lives, regardless of whatever challenges we face, might not be so bad after all. TV
January 8, 2025
January 6, 2025
What's on TV? Monday, January 8, 1962
Our cover star for the week, Vincent Edwards, stars in tonight's episode of Ben Casey, in which our hero tries to rehab a skid row wineo (Franchot Tone) by putting him to work in the hospital's lab, only to have him make an accident on a lab test that could cost a patient his life. Casey, as Saturday's article pointed out, was not one to tolerate any kind of mistake, so I wonder how he reacts here? Frankly, I'm surprised he'd even take a chance like that. Anyway, I'd recommend keeping with NBC's excellent police drama 87th Precinct, based on the Ed McBain series of books, starring Robert Lansing, or ABC's WB detective mystery Surfside 6, which wasn't great television but was fun to watch. Fortunately, neither of them are on against Casey, so you can have it all from this Eastern New England edition.-2- WGBH (CAMBRIDGE) (Educational) MORNING 9:15 SCIENCE—Grade 6 10:00 SCIENCE—Grade 6 10:45 SCIENCE—Grade 6 AFTERNOON 1:00 SCIENCE—Grade 6 3:30 PARLONS FRANCAIS I 4:00 PARLONS FRANCAIS II 4:30 PARLONS FRANCAIS III 5:30 WHAT’S NEW?—Children EVENING 6:00 CLASSICAL MUSIC 6:25 NEWS—Louis Lyons 6:30 NEWS—Louis Lyons 6:45 BACKGROUNDS 7:00 INTERTEL—Documentary SPECIAL 8:00 RICHEST PEOPLE—Dr. Charles Schottland 8:30 WESTERN WAY 9:00 ANGELS ON ART 9:30 I’VE BEEN READING “A Whole Creation” 10:00 ROBERT HERRIDGE THEATER “An Early Morning of a Bartender’s Waltz” 10:30 BACKGROUNDS 10:45 NEWS, SPORTS, WEATHER
-4- WBZ (BOSTON) (NBC) MORNING 6:00 CONTINENTAL CLASSROOM COLOR Modern Algebra: “Subspaces” 6:30 ENGLISH FOR AMERICANS “Adjectives and Adverbs” 6:45 DAILY ALMANAC 7:00 TODAY—John Chancellor Local news and weather at 7:25 and 8:25 9:00 NEWS—Adams, Chase, Kent 9:30 MEDIC—Drama 10:00 SAY WHEN—Art James 10:30 PLAY YOUR HUNCH—Merv Griffin COLOR 11:00 PRICE IS RIGHT—Bill Cullen COLOR 11:30 CONCENTRATION AFTERNOON 12:00 NEWS—Jack Chase 12:10 WEATHER—Don Kent 12:15 BIG BROTHER—Bob Emery 12:45 KUKLA AND OLLIE—Burr Tillstrom 12:50 MOVIE—Western “The Savage Horde” (1950) 2:15 NEWS—Jim Jensen 2:25 WEATHER—Don Kent 2:30 LORETTA YOUNG “The Best Season” 3:00 YOUNG DR. MALONE 3:30 OUR FIVE DAUGHTERS 4:00 MAKE ROOM FOR DADDY—Comedy 4:30 HERE’S HOLLYWOOD 4:55 NEWS—Sander Vanocur 5:00 MOVIE—Western “Showdown at Boot Hill” (1958) EVENING 6:30 NEWS, WEATHER 6:45 NEWS—Chet Huntley, David Brinkley 7:00 MOVIE—Adventure “Two Years Before the Mast” (1946) 8:30 PRICE IS RIGHT COLOR 9:00 87TH PRECINCT 10:00 THRILLER—Mystery “Waxworks” 11:00 NEWS, WEATHER 11:15 PM EAST. . . PM WEST Guests: Elizabeth Seal, Jerry Orbach, Peggy and Milton Salkind 12:45 NEWS, SPORTS, WEATHER 1:00 MOVIE—Mystery “Nancy Drew, Trouble Shooter” (1939)
-5- WHDH (BOSTON) (CBS) MORNING 5:55 NEWS 6:00 COLLEGE OF THE AIR New Biology: “Development of the Inherited Pattern,” Part 1 6:30 CONTINENTAL CLASSROOM—Education COLOR American Government: “Democracy in 1961” 7:00 MORNING KEY CLUB COLOR 8:00 CAPTAIN KANGAROO 9:00 ROMPER ROOM COLOR 9:45 DEBBIE DRAKE—Exercise 10:00 NEWS—Leo Egan COLOR 10:05 CHRIS EVANS—Woman COLOR 10:15 WE BELIEVE—Religion 10:30 I LOVE LUCY—Comedy 11:00 VIDEO VILLAGE 11:30 YOUR SURPRISE PACKAGE 11:55 NEWS—Harry Reasoner AFTERNOON 12:00 LOVE OF LIFE 12:30 SEARCH FOR TOMORROW—Serial 12:45 GUIDING LIGHT 1:00 NEWS—Leo Egan 1:05 FARM AND FOOD COLOR 2:00 PASSWORD—Allen Ludden Contestants: Ben Gazzara, Peggy Cass 2:30 HOUSE PARTY 3:00 MILLIONAIRE—Drama 3:30 VERDICT IS YOURS 3:55 NEWS—Charles Collingwood 4:00 BRIGHTER DAY 4:15 SECRET STORM 4:30 EDGE OF NIGHT—Serial 5:00 BOZO THE CLOWN COLOR 5:45 ROCKY AND HIS FRIENDS EVENING 6:00 NEWS—Leo Egan COLOR 6:05 DATELINE BOSTON—Jim Britt COLOR 6:30 BAT MASTERSON—Western 7:00 NEWS, SPORTS—Day COLOR 7:10 WEATHER—Walker COLOR 7:15 NEWS—Douglas Edwards 7:30 TO TELL THE TRUTH Panelists: Peggy Cass, Betty White, Tom Poston, Johnny Carson. Host: Bud Collyer 8:00 PETE AND GLADYS 8:30 WINDOW ON MAIN STREET—Drama 9:00 DANNY THOMAS 9:30 ANDY GRIFFITH 10:00 HENNESEY—Comedy 10:30 I’VE GOT A SECRET Guest: Henry Fonda. Panelists: Peter Lawford, Betsy Palmer, Bess Myerson, Henry Morgan 11:00 NEWS, WEATHER COLOR 11:15 JACK PAAR COLOR 1:00 ALMANAC NEWSREEL
-6- WCSH (PORTLAND) (NBC) MORNING 5:50 FARM MARKET REPORT 6:00 CONTINENTAL CLASSROOM COLOR Modern Algebra: “Subspaces” 6:30 CONTINENTAL CLASSROOM—Education COLOR American Government: “Democracy in 1961” 6:50 FARM REPORT—Jack Brofee 7:00 TODAY—John Chancellor Local news and weather at 7:25 and 8:25 9:00 ROMPER ROOM—Connie Roussin 9:30 BEST OF GROUCHO—Quiz 10:00 SAY WHEN—Art James 10:30 PLAY YOUR HUNCH—Merv Griffin COLOR 11:00 PRICE IS RIGHT—Bill Cullen COLOR 11:30 CONCENTRATION AFTERNOON 12:00 YOUR FIRST IMPRESSION—Bill Leyden COLOR 12:30 TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES—Bob Barker 12:55 NEWS—Ray Scherer 1:00 WEEKDAY ON SIX—Variety 2:00 JAN MURRAY—Game COLOR 2:25 NEWS—Floyd Kalber 2:30 LORETTA YOUNG “The Best Season” 3:00 YOUNG DR. MALONE 3:30 OUR FIVE DAUGHTERS 4:00 MAKE ROOM FOR DADDY—Comedy 4:30 HERE’S HOLLYWOOD 4:55 NEWS—Sander Vanocur 5:00 SS POPEYE—Children 5:30 RANGE RIDER—Western EVENING 6:00 HUCKLEBERRY HOUND 6:30 NEWS, SPORTS, WEATHER 6:45 NEWS—Chet Huntley, David Brinkley 7:00 YOUTH CAVALCADE 7:30 FATHER OF THE BRIDE 8:00 BEACH COMBER—Drama 8:30 PRICE IS RIGHT COLOR 9:00 87TH PRECINCT 10:00 THRILLER—Mystery “Waxworks” 11:00 NEWS, WEATHER 11:15 JACK PAAR COLOR
-7- WNAC (BOSTON) (ABC) MORNING 7:00 THREE STOOGES—Comedy 8:30 DAY IN COURT—Drama 8:55 NEWS 9:00 JACK LA LANNE—Exercise 9:30 MOVIE—Drama “The Arnelo Affair” (1947) 11:00 TEXAN—Western 11:30 YOURS FOR A SONG AFTERNOON 12:00 CAMOUFLAGE—Don Morrow 12:30 TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES—Bob Barker 12:55 NEWS—Ray Scherer 1:00 LOUISE MORGAN—Woman 1:30 MOVIE—Drama “Indiscretion of an American Wife” (1954) 2:25 NEWS—Floyd Kalber 2:30 SEVEN KEYS—Jack Narz 3:00 QUEEN FOR A DAY 3:30 WHO DO YOU TRUST? 4:00 MOVIE—Mystery “Unholy Partners” (1941) 5:30 THREE STOOGES—Comedy EVENING 6:00 NEWS—ABC Evening 6:15 NEWS—Roy Leonard 6:25 WEATHER—Jane Day 6:30 QUICK DRAW McGRAW 7:00 TEXAS RANGERS—Western 7:30 CHEYENNE 8:30 RIFLEMAN—Western 9:00 SURFSIDE 6—Mystery 10:00 BEN CASEY—Drama 11:00 NEWS, WEATHER 11:15 MOVIE—Double Feature 1. “Devil Doll” (1936) 2. “Down in San Diego” (1941)
-8- WMTW (POLAND SPRING) (ABC) MORNING 8:15 FARM AND HOME—Report 8:45 TEDDY BEAR PLAYHOUSE 10:00 MUSIC—Elementary 10:15 TEDDY BEAR PLAYHOUSE 10:30 CAPTAIN GRIEF—Adventure 10:55 WEATHER—Sally Proud 11:00 TEXAN—Western 11:30 YOURS FOR A SONG AFTERNOON 12:00 CAMOUFLAGE—Don Morrow 12:30 MAKE A FACE—Bob Clayton 1:00 DAY IN COURT—Drama 1:25 NEWS—Alex Dreier 1:30 FLORIAN ZABACH—Music 2:00 JANE WYMAN—Drama “The Pendulum” 2:30 SEVEN KEYS—Jack Narz 3:00 QUEEN FOR A DAY 3:30 WHO DO YOU TRUST? 4:00 AMERICAN BANDSTAND 4:50 AMERICAN NEWSSTAND 5:00 SUPERMAN—Adventure 5:30 MOVIE—Drama “Johnny One-Eye” (1950) EVENING 7:15 NEWS, WEATHER 7:30 CHEYENNE 8:30 RIFLEMAN—Western 9:00 SURFSIDE 6—Mystery 10:00 BEN CASEY—Drama 11:00 NEWS—ABC Final 11:15 NEWS, WEATHER 11:20 MOVIE—Drama “Aloma of the South Seas” (1941)
-9- WMUR (MANCHESTER) (ABC) MORNING 9:30 MOVIE—Drama “Dr. Broadway” (1942) 10:45 KATHY PETERSON—Women 11:00 TEXAN—Western 11:30 YOURS FOR A SONG AFTERNOON 12:00 CAMOUFLAGE—Don Morrow 12:30 MAKE A FACE—Bob Clayton 1:00 DAY IN COURT—Drama 1:25 NEWS—Alex Dreier 1:30 COUNTRY STORE—Variety 2:00 JANE WYMAN—Drama “The Pendulum” 2:30 SEVEN KEYS—Jack Narz 3:00 QUEEN FOR A DAY 3:30 WHO DO YOU TRUST? 4:00 AMERICAN BANDSTAND 4:50 AMERICAN NEWSSTAND 5:00 UNCLE GUS—Cartoons EVENING 6:00 CARTOONS—Children 6:30 NEWS, WEATHER 6:45 NEWS—ABC Evening 7:00 EXPEDITION!—Documentary 7:30 CHEYENNE 8:30 CALIFORNIANS—Western 9:00 SURFSIDE 6—Mystery 10:00 BEN CASEY—Drama 11:00 NEWS—ABC Final 11:15 NEWS, WEATHER 11:30 MOVIE—Comedy “Let’s Face It” (1943)
10 WJAR (PROVIDENCE) (ABC, NBC) MORNING 6:25 NEWS 6:30 CONTINENTAL CLASSROOM—Education COLOR American Government: “Democracy in 1961” 7:00 TODAY—John Chancellor Local news and weather at 7:25 and 8:25 9:00 WORLD AROUND US—Interview 9:30 QUEEN FOR A DAY—Bailey 10:00 BEST OF GROUCHO—Quiz 10:30 PLAY YOUR HUNCH—Merv Griffin COLOR 11:00 PRICE IS RIGHT—Bill Cullen COLOR 11:30 CONCENTRATION AFTERNOON 12:00 NEWS 12:05 TALK OF THE TOWN—Kroll 12:30 TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES—Bob Barker 12:55 NEWS—Ray Scherer 1:00 MOVIE—Drama “Highway Dragnet” (1954) 2:25 NEWS—Floyd Kalber 2:30 LORETTA YOUNG “The Best Season” 3:00 YOUNG DR. MALONE 3:30 OUR FIVE DAUGHTERS 4:00 MAKE ROOM FOR DADDY—Comedy 4:30 HERE’S HOLLYWOOD 4:55 NEWS—Sander Vanocur 5:00 MOVIE—Mystery “Breakaway” (English; 1957) EVENING 6:30 NEWS, WEATHER 6:45 NEWS—Chet Huntley, David Brinkley 7:00 DEATH VALLEY DAYS 7:30 CHEYENNE 8:30 PRICE IS RIGHT COLOR 9:00 87TH PRECINCT 10:00 THRILLER—Mystery “Waxworks” 11:00 NEWS, WEATHER 11:15 JACK PAAR COLOR
11 WENH (DURHAM) (Educational) MORNING 9:15 MAN AND THE LIVING WORLD 10:00 MUSIC—Elementary 11:15 VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE AFTERNOON 12:15 MAN AND THE LIVING WORLD 1:15 NEW HAMPSHIRE—History 1:45 SCIENCE—Grade 3 2:00 HUMANITIES—Grades 11, 12 3:30 PARLONS FRANCAIS I 4:00 PARLONS FRANCAIS II 4:30 PARLONS FRANCAIS III 5:30 WHAT’S NEW?—Children EVENING 6:00 CLASSICAL MUSIC 6:25 EVENTS—New Hampshire 6:30 NEWS—Louis Lyons 6:45 BACKGROUNDS 7:00 INTERTEL—Documentary SPECIAL 8:00 MAN AND THE LIVING WORLD 8:30 WESTERN WAY 9:00 ORIGAMI—Instruction 9:30 I’VE BEEN READING “A Whole Creation”
12 WPRO (PROVIDENCE) (CBS) MORNING 7:00 COLLEGE OF THE AIR New Biology 7:30 STORYTIME—Beth Chollar 8:00 CAPTAIN KANGAROO 9:00 ROMPER ROOM—Bonnie Riker 9:15 MORNING MERRY-GO-ROUND 10:00 CALENDAR—Harry Reasoner 10:30 I LOVE LUCY—Comedy 11:00 VIDEO VILLAGE 11:30 AS THE WORLD TURNS AFTERNOON 12:00 LOVE OF LIFE 12:30 SEARCH FOR TOMORROW—Serial 12:45 GUIDING LIGHT 1:00 MOVIE—Comedy “Here Come the Waves” (1944) 2:20 NEWS—Lynch, Stuart 2:30 HOUSE PARTY 3:00 MILLIONAIRE—Drama 3:30 VERDICT IS YOURS 3:55 NEWS—Charles Collingwood 4:00 BRIGHTER DAY 4:15 SECRET STORM 4:30 EDGE OF NIGHT—Serial 5:00 SALTY BRINE’S SHACK 5:55 YOGI BEAR—Cartoons EVENING 6:25 NEWS, SPORTS, WEATHER 6:45 NEWS—Douglas Edwards 7:00 WYATT EARP—Western 7:30 TO TELL THE TRUTH Panelists: Peggy Cass, Betty White, Tom Poston, Johnny Carson. Host: Bud Collyer 8:00 RIFLEMAN—Western 8:30 WINDOW ON MAIN STREET—Drama 9:00 DANNY THOMAS 9:30 ANDY GRIFFITH 10:00 HENNESEY—Comedy 10:30 I’VE GOT A SECRET Guest: Henry Fonda. Panelists: Peter Lawford, Betsy Palmer, Bess Myerson, Henry Morgan 11:00 NEWS, WEATHER 11:15 SPORTS—Chris Clark 11:20 CAIN’S HUNDRED—Drama 12:20 WRESTLING CHAMPIONS
13 WGAN (PORTLAND) (CBS) MORNING 6:55 NEWS 7:00 CARTOONS—Children 7:30 WONDERFUL WORLD 8:00 CAPTAIN KANGAROO 9:00 JACK LA LANNE—Exercise 9:30 VIEWPOINT—Binnie Elli 10:00 CALENDAR—Harry Reasoner 10:30 I LOVE LUCY—Comedy 11:00 VIDEO VILLAGE 11:30 OUR MISS BROOKS—Comedy 11:55 NEWS—Harry Reasoner AFTERNOON 12:00 LOVE OF LIFE 12:30 SEARCH FOR TOMORROW—Serial 12:45 GUIDING LIGHT 1:00 MEDIC—Drama 2:00 PASSWORD—Allen Ludden Contestants: Ben Gazzara, Peggy Cass 2:30 HOUSE PARTY 3:00 MILLIONAIRE—Drama 3:30 VERDICT IS YOURS 3:55 NEWS—Charles Collingwood 4:00 BRIGHTER DAY 4:15 SECRET STORM 4:30 EDGE OF NIGHT—Serial 5:00 CAPTAIN AND THE KIDS 5:30 MOVIE—Mystery “Phantom Lady” (1944) EVENING 7:00 NEWS, SPORTS, WEATHER 7:15 NEWS—Douglas Edwards 7:30 TO TELL THE TRUTH Panelists: Peggy Cass, Betty White, Tom Poston, Johnny Carson. Host: Bud Collyer 8:00 PETE AND GLADYS 8:30 WINDOW ON MAIN STREET—Drama 9:00 DANNY THOMAS 9:30 ANDY GRIFFITH 10:00 HENNESEY—Comedy 10:30 I’VE GOT A SECRET Guest: Henry Fonda. Panelists: Peter Lawford, Betsy Palmer, Bess Myerson, Henry Morgan 11:00 NEWS, WEATHER 11:15 PLAYBOY’S PENTHOUSE Guests: Josh White, Larry Kert, Monique Van Vooren, Bob Newhart. Host: Hugh Hefner
TV
January 4, 2025
This week in TV Guide: January 6, 1962
t's t's once again the start of a new year: 2025 if you're reading this today, 1962 if you were reading it in real time. I like to think of these TV Guide articles as cultural snapshots, giving us a look at what things were like at a given point in time, and if you want to know what was hot at the beginning of 1962, here it is: the Twist. The Twist is something of a scandal in the world of dance, as indicated by the headline of this unbylined article, in which Dick Clark and Chubby Checker are referred to as the "culprits" responsible for the Twist's popularity, "and, worse, they seem happy about it all." It was nearly two years ago that the dance, described as a "spine-torturing, dervishlike tribal rite," first began to appear on Clark's American Bandstand, piquing the curiosity of the host. "I'm always watching for new things," Clark explains, "and I asked [the kids] what it was. 'The Twist,' they said. So I looked it up and found Hank Ballard had a record out called 'The Twist.' " Clark decided to import it from Ballard's nightclub act, and recruited a young singer named Chubby Checker to cut a remake of it. It caught on, in Clark's words, "like blue jeans and chino pants," and soon was being danced everywhere from high schools to country clubs, even bar mitzvahs.
And, with the help of Atlantic Records president Ahmet Ertegun, who introduced a few of his society friends to the dance, it soon spread to the adult set. Next thing anyone knew, there was a "Twist Party" at the posh Manhattan nightspot Four Seasons, and everyone from the Duke and Duchess of Bedford to Elsa Maxwell, Merle Oberon, and Greta Garbo, have been twisting away. "I could pontificate around like the brain boys who've been taking pen in hand over this thing," says Clark, "talk about inhibitions, release of cold-war tensions and all that jazz. But I think it's mostly that adults are beginning to find out how much fun the kids are having."
Despite its looks, it's actually not a particularly difficult dance to perform, as you can see in the pictures of Chubby (like Fats Domino, "only not so fat") demonstrating the moves, "a twisting of the hips to a rock 'n' roll beat." Notwithstanding that, I'd wind up in traction if I tried to do it, but then sitting at a keyboard doesn't call for much in the way of twisting. As for where it all ends, Clark says that it actually peaked about a year ago, and now is actually staging a revival in the wake of the Bop, the Slop, the Chop, the Mashed Potatoes, and other dances that sound like it came from your local Golden Corral. The always-astute Clark, however, thinks it may have a longer lifespan than usual. "The kids discard such dance fads quickly, but I'm inclined to think the adults won't."
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One of Cleveland Amorys most anticipated columns of the year was the one in which the reader had his say, praising—or, as is more often the case, excoriating—the critic's opinions throughout the past year. Although we don't have Cleve to kick around yet, we do have Gilbert Seldes, and this week he opens up the mailbag to see what you, the viewer, thought of his views.
Most of the letters he receives begin by asking him to "shut up" and conclude with "We like the show and we don't care what you think!" These, Seldes says, are the letters he most appreciates. One of America's greatest attributes is that it's a free country, "and the editors of TV Guide have made use of their freedom to give me the freedom to say what I think." This, he acknowledges, may have been a mistake, and he's the first to admit that he's commited a mistake or two (or three) himself. But what is beyond any doubt is that he's free to make such mistakes. What is also beyond doubt is that, no matter what he says about whatever program he may be reviewing, he'll get ten letters from people who disagree with him. But when it comes to being a critic, there's one simple fact: "No matter what program you like, there are two or three times as many peole who like something else better." Furthermore, "[t]here are probably 40 million people, not professional critics, who don't particularly like the program you are crazy about." And their letters "give me exactly the same kind of pain I give the readers of this page at times." But before we turn this into some kind of Barneyesque "I don't like you, you don't like me" moment, Seldes gets to the point: "one of the most agreeable aspects of our freedom comes in the letters readers write to me, telling me to keep my trap shut." After all, if he's free to tell us what he thinks, it's only fair that we have the same opportunity. One of the problems we face in America these days is that we're really not free to disagree with each other anymore, because our disagreements get so disagreeable. We don't take them as an opportunity to teach each other, or to learn from each other. We view disagreement as chance to prove our superiority versus someone else's inferiority. And let's be honest: where's the fun in that? There isn't any, which is part of what makes modern culture just as disagreeable as our own disagreements. That is what Gilbert Seldes is really writing about here, from a past that was far more open to discussion than ours is. Whereas we are, today, too prone to think that opinions other than ours should be silenced, Seldes thinks just the opposite. To those who say he should keep his "trap shut," his response is a simple one: "I won't." But, he adds, "I'm glad they don't."
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And now, here's something I think we can all agree on: that Suzanne Pleshette, according to Troy Donahue, sets "bells ringing." Not only is she a dark-haired beauty of smoldering good looks, she's a very talented actress who throws herself into her work with enthusiasm, and gets nervous when she isn't working. "Luckily I've had only 10 days off since I started four years ago."She's worked with the likes of old-time stars Victor Jory, Mary Astor, and Mildred Dunnock on anthologies such as Playhouse 90. ("I've never done a TV show I didn't like.") She's worked with Roddy McDowall, Eli Wallach and Tom Poston on Broadway. And she's now making her way into movies, having appeared in The Geisha Boy with Jerry Lewis, and Rome Adventure with Angie Dickinson and the aforementioned Troy Donahue (whom she'll marry and divorce in 1964). As if that weren't enough, she's working on writing a novel; I don't know if it was ever published, although she did write several screenplays under a pseudonym. No wonder she's considered a "non-conformist" and "secret thinker" in Hollywood.
I would have included this brief feature on her regardless, but considering what we previously noted in Gil Seldes' review, I think this quote from a 2006 interview Pleshette gave with the Television Academy is quite prescient: "We're losing manners. We're losing style. We're losing kindness. A lot of it is happening as a result of the television we're doing and the characters we're willing to play that reflect a piece of human nature. But it's done over and over because it gets laughs or because it's dramatically interesting. What's the actor's obligation to make the world a better place?" What, indeed?
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The NFL season ended last weekend, with the Green Bay Packers defeating the New York Giants on New Year's Eve, but that doesn't quite mean that we're done with football. On Saturday, we have one of the most pointless, unimportant games ever thought up by the NFL: the Play Off Bowl (1:45 p.m., CBS), pitting the second-place teams from the East and West. Granted, the purpose of the game was to raise money for the players' pension fund, so it served a charitable purpose, but what football player wants to put his health on the line in a game that was originally called the Runner-Up Bowl? At that, the game was played for ten years, from 1961 to 1970, at the Orange Bowl in Miami. Today's contestants are the Philadelphia Eagles and Detroit Lions, with the Lions winning 38-10. They hold the dubious record of having won the first three Play Off Bowls, meaning they were always a bridesmaid, never a bride. On Sunday, the AFL engages in a similarly meaningless game, the inaugural All-Star Game, live from San Diego (3:30 p.m., ABC), with the West All-Stars coming out on top of the East, 47-27.We've also got a couple of college all-star games on-hand, games that were more important back in the days before specialized scouting and ad nauseam bowl games, because they provided an opportunity for college players to display their talents to viewers and scouts alike. On Saturday, North and South stars face-off in the Senior Bowl from Mobile, Alabama (3:00 p.m., NBC). For the players participating, it's their first "professional" game, as the winners receive $600 each, the losers $500. Of course, that isn't even meal money for these guys today, more credit to them. Sunday sees a game that even I'd never heard of, played (to the best of my knowledge) only once: the U.S. Bowl (2:00 p.m., NBC), with the players drafted by East Division NFL teams playing against those drafted by West Division NFL teams. Yes, back then the draft was held right at the end of the season, rather than being held over until April the way it is today.
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There's a strong whiff of nostalgia in this week's issue, and not just because we're looking back at it from the perspective of 63 years. On Sunday night, the DuPont Show of the Month presents " Hollywood—My Home Town " (10:00 p.m., NBC), a one-hour documentary based on the famous 16mm home movie collection taken by vaudeville comedian Ken Murray, who in 1927 began documenting his Hollywood experiences, and I don't think it's an exaggeration to say that virtually everyone who was anyone showed up in Murray's movies, often in candid moments, including W.C. Fields, Will Rogers, Leslie Howard, Carole Lombard, Jack Lemmon, Douglas Fairbanks Sr., Mary Pickford, Errol Flynn, Gary Cooper, Bing Crosby, Elizabeth Taylor, Bob Hope, Glenn Ford, and others. If Hollywood had a scrapbook, this would be it.
That's followed on Friday by "The Good Years" (8:30 p.m., CBS), a 90-minute Westinghouse Presents variety special based on the very good book by historian Walter Lord, author of the definitive Titanic book A Night to Remember. Covering the years 1900-1914, the show, produced by Leland Hayward and directed by Franklin Schaffner, features Henry Fonda, Lucille Ball, and Mort Sahl using skits, songs, recreations, photograps, and cartoons to review the major events of the day. And there were plenty of significant events over those 14 years, from the Wright Brothers at Kitty Hawk to Teddy Roosevelt becoming president, with figures such as Einstein, Freud, and Lenin thrown in. (As you can see, one of the events that occurred was the adoption of the income tax, which just proves that the word "Good" can be relative.) As remarkable as these two programs are, what might be even more remarkable is that both of them still exist, and can be viewed at those YouTube links. Interesting that while the shows presented a nostalgic look-back in 1962, they themselves are nostalgia for us today.l l l
Contrasting articles on two of television's stars, Vincent Edwards and Michael Landon. At age 25, Landon, according to our unbylined profile, has what one producer called "the most highly intuitive set of natural acting responses I've seen in a young actor." He's seen laughing and joking on the Bonanza set, seemingly unconcerned about an upcoming, highly-charged death scene, only to transform himself as the camera rolls, becoming so involved in the scene that genuine tears roll down his cheeks, and leaving his co-stars too shaken to speak. After a moment to regain his composure, he's off again, with a reference to the deceased character's love life that was "so irreverent, so hilarious (and so unprintable) that they are still talking about it around Paramount studios."On the other hand we have Vince Edwards, star of ABC's first-year medical series Ben Casey, described by Bobby Darin as "a combination of Charlton Heston and Burt Lancaster." He's a man who, in Robert de Roos's cover story, is absolutely "dedicated" to his work. "I couldn't have stuck to it for 12 years unless I had the same sort of fanaticism Ben Casey has for medicine." Unlike Landon, who seems to be able to turn it on whenever required, Edwards often mirrors the intense, almost surly demeanor of his character. Says co-star Nick Dennis of the similarities between actor and role, "They're both educated peasants, Casey and Vince Edwards. That's the most dangerous kind."
Away from work, Landon raises tropical fish, loves DIY projects, and adores his family. "Acting?" he says. "Sure. I can still get hold of those emotions when I need 'em. But I also like the financial security. Just say I have the family I always loved and wanted." Edwards is a "nut" about many things, from flying ("I used to fly my own plane" but gave it up because of his responsibilities on the show) to sports, working out, and "any kind of excitement," but rarely has time due to the intense filming schedule of Casey; unlike Landon, who is just one member of an ensemble cast, Edwrds is in every scene, every day. "It's a grind, but I've waited for it and I like it."
It's so interesting looking at the two men in retrospect. There were other things that Edwards was a "nut" about, including his addiction to gambling, which caused him to gain a reputation as "one of the most difficult stars now working on television." leading co-star Sam Jaffe to leave the series, fed up with Edwards' distractions. He makes another attempt at series television after Casey ends, but Matt Lincoln fails to make it past its first season.
And Landon, the dedicated family man, will divorce his wife Dodie later in 1962, and marries twice more before his death in 1991. He, too, gains a reputation for being strong-willed, both on- and off-set. However, unlike Edwards, Landon's television career seems to go from one hit to another: Bonanza to Little House on the Prairie to Highway to Heaven.
All of this is in the future, however. For now, Vincent Edwards and Michael Landon remain two young stars of tremendous talent, with varying reputations that somewhat belie their real lives. But after all, Hollywood is a place of dreams, where reality often takes a back seat. And as someone once said, if sin showed on a man's face, there would be no mirrors. TV
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Insightful commentary on how classic TV shows mirrored and influenced American society, tracing the impact of iconic series on national identity, cultural change, and the challenges we face today.
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