Mitchell Hadley's Blog: It's About TV!, page 39
January 10, 2024
The wonderful world of Disney on TV
Today I'm pleased to welcome back Bill Griffiths. Last September, Bill penned a guest essay on his childhood memories of KTVU in Northern California, and now he's back with a look at the history of Disney on TV. As a former cast member at Walt Disney World for fifteen years (!), you can understand that this is a topic near and dear to him; I think this look back will bring back some fond memories for you as well, as it does me!
by Bill Griffiths
Disney a cartoon tonight?”This was the question my younger sister would ask each week. Having already read through the current TV Guide, I’d have a ready answer. While we both enjoyed the cartoon episodes best, we would still be guaranteed a fine hour (or two) of entertainment if it was one of the many animal-related stories, a gimmicky comedy (sometimes involving animals) an international and/or period-piece drama, a documentary or a theme park special. Such was The Wonderful World of Disney. It was the beginning of a great interest in the works of Walt Disney and his studio that continue to this day. That would lead by happy circumstance to becoming a Walt Disney World cast member, a role I was privileged to have for 15 years. Being part of the WDW team would also in an indirect way introduce me to my future wife. We would ultimately be married on Disney property although not in any of the parks—too expensive. Even though we no longer work for the Mouse, I still follow company developments.
Not too many years ago, we were visiting some relatives. While their kids were watching a Disney program, I casually remarked how I remembered when Disney was only on television once a week. Suddenly they turned around and one asked, "What? Only once a week?" Indeed it was true. Actually, I could very well be from that last generation that clearly recalls Disney coming on solely Sunday, and later Saturday nights. Now, there was the occasional special showing of an episode or a movie on another evening, and for a period during 1977-78 there was also The New Mickey Mouse Club in syndication (shown locally on KTVU Channel 2… and if you haven’t read my earlier salute to that station, go check it out. Sorry, there is no mention of that version of the Club that was made for you and me). The anthology series aired uninterrupted for an amazing 29 years and has been brought back for extended periods right through to the present day. It has been aired under eight different titles:
Disneyland (ABC 1954-58) Walt Disney Presents (ABC 1958-61) Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color (NBC 1961-69) The Wonderful World of Disney (NBC 1969-79) Disney’s Wonderful World (NBC 1979-81) Walt Disney (CBS 1981-83) The Disney Sunday Movie (ABC 1986-88) The Magical World of Disney (NBC 1988-90)
ABC revived The Wonderful World of Disney as a weekly series from 1997 until 2006, with occasional showings through 2008. Since 2015, it has again been seen on an irregular basis, "temporarily" returning as a weekly offering due to the writers and actors strikes in 2023. In my humble opinion, Walt Disney was a genius. He had a pretty good instinct for what the public wanted, and his track record is proof of that. He was the first major film producer to see television as an asset—something he could use not only to promote his product, but also generate original material. Once Walt fully entered television with the premiere of the Disneyland series on ABC October 27, 1954, he put more money into the TV productions than what he got out of it, although ultimately the show was quite profitable. For example, the majority of episodes were filmed in color even though ABC could only broadcast in black-and-white. Live-action stories such as the phenomenally successful "Davy Crockett" hours benefited from location shooting in addition to also being in color.
Then, there were the segments highlighting Disney’s classic cartoon characters. Specially commissioned animation—again, mostly in color—succinctly tied together the cartoon shorts where it was often difficult to tell what was new and what was older. Some of those animated showcases even had moments of host Walt Disney or other live action performers interacting with the characters, especially in those episodes devoted to Donald Duck. Additionally, at a time when most of the major studios refused to release their films to television, Walt was presenting relatively recent features on his program, albeit edited and sometimes divided over two weeks. These included now-classic movies such as Treasure Island and Alice in Wonderland. All of these efforts would pay off over the years the anthology aired on network television and later in airings on The Disney Channel, syndicated reruns, and VHS and DVD releases. I should note a point of criticism to some when it came to episodes devoted in whole or in part to upcoming theatrical movies or Disneyland and Walt Disney World. But again the information presented, and the production and entertainment values were so high that it could be easy to forget they were essentially extended commercials! In fact, those theme park episodes can now be viewed as a time capsule, capturing on film or videotape sights and sounds that have passed into history. This “promoting” of the parks even extended into the credit sequences which for most years opened with fireworks above Disneyland’s Sleeping Beauty Castle and later Cinderella’s Castle at the Magic Kingdom Park with Tinker Bell flying around followed by quick scenes encompassing the many facets of Disney. It certainly served its purpose to get viewers excited for the evening’s offering.
My initial exposure to The Wonderful World of Disney was in the mid 1970s into the early 1980s. It was one of four programs that in our household was appointment viewing on the weekends—other programs included Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom, The Muppet Show, and The Lawrence Welk Show. What I didn’t realize at the time was that the Disney organization as a whole (with the exception of the theme parks) was experiencing challenges due to the changing nature of the entertainment industry and the company’s reluctance to tamper with the successful formula established with Walt, who had died in 1966. While I certainly didn’t realize it, an increasing amount of episodes consisted of airings of live-action theatrical features (often shown in two parts, sometimes seen in one night) and reruns from earlier seasons. Original live action made for television productions declined to a mere handful per year.
But in carrying on the standard for quality set by Walt, these episodes shared the same production personnel and even actors that appeared in Disney theatrical films. Still, what had worked well for 25 years gave way to a feeling of complacency by 1979. This also reflected in the Nielsen ratings. Whereas The Wonderful World of Disney was routinely ranked in the top ten or top twenty through 1975, the series had fallen to 55th place by the end of the decade. Of course it didn’t help that NBC was mired in third place.
The same year NBC proclaimed it was "Proud as a Peacock," the Disney anthology made a few changes of its own, shortening the title to Disney’s Wonderful World and, for the first time since The Sherman Brothers memorable Wonderful World of Color title tune of the 1960’s ("The world is a carousel of color/ Wonderful, wonderful color!"), the opening montage of clips was accompanied by a new song announcing "It’s the friendly old place/A happy new face!" I remember when this happened and while the theme didn’t really catch on, I liked it even if not all the words made complete sense. The actual opening and closing music was fun and contemporary, which was certainly the goal. The composers of the theme song were John Debney and John Klawitter. If Debney’s name sounds familiar, he is one of the most prolific film and television composers having been nominated and won numerous awards in his career. This was his first major musical contribution. Needless to say after one year, the theme went back to the familiar medley of Disney songs that with variations to the arrangements and tempo had opened each episode since 1969…in this case, the version first used during the 1978-79 season.
In a callback to the 1954-61 episodes coming from Adventureland, Fantasyland, Frontierland or Tomorrowland, each week would now be themed Adventure Night, Comedy Night or Fantasy Night. Additionally, a new but familiar voice would be heard: Gary Owens, replacing Dick Tufeld, who had replaced original announcer Dick Wesson. Fun fact: all three men were heard as TV announcers in the 1971 comedy
The Barefoot Executive
. This movie is a must-see for classic TV fans, not only to spot the many familiar faces including Kurt Russell (Disney films of this era were always well-cast) but also prove that a chimpanzee can program a network just as good if not better than any human! The cosmetic changes didn’t help much. Then came 1981. One day that spring seemingly at random, I was told the Disney series was going to soon be on CBS Saturday nights. The move actually brought a little improvement to the anthology format with an increased emphasis on new episodes and even attempts at separate shows such as Small and Frye, a comic take on the 1950's Zorro series called Zorro and Son, and even two programs based on Disney films: Herbie the Love Bug (The Love Bug movies), and Gun Shy (The Apple Dumpling Gang). None of them lasted longer than a handful of episodes. Much more successful was the network television premiere of one of Walt Disney’s biggest hits—Mary Poppins. Taking over an entire evening’s schedule November 22, 1981, it was one of the first programs recorded on our new VCR. Despite these changes, CBS would end Walt Disney as a weekly series at the end of September 1983. While ratings were a factor, the decision was apparently at the request of Disney management. While ultimately Disney’s presence on television would eventually flourish 24/7, it was the launch of cable’s The Disney Channel in April 1983 that would in the short-term come at the expense of the studio’s broadcast presence. It was with considerable anticipation that we were finally able to access The Disney Channel with the installation of a huge satellite dish in 1984.
Around that time the channel began scheduling regular airings of The Wonderful World of Disney with most episodes taken from the period with Walt hosting. In earlier network showings, reruns from the 1950’s and 60’s often deleted his introductions. Now they were reinstated, with some being shown in color for the first time. Through these presentations, I came to appreciate Walt. He had a causal, welcoming on-camera presence even providing information to give the viewer a feeling that what they were about to see was indeed special. It was an element that could not be replicated even with later guest hosts that would appear from time to time post-Walt. One exception would be the animated Ludwig Von Drake (voiced by Paul Frees who was known to improvise some of the dialogue), a self-professed expert on everything who headlined some of the funniest hours Disney produced.
Although the anthology format was revived in 1986, I did not watch on a regular basis, having moved on to other programs. Then-Disney CEO Michael Eisner stepped in as the new host. While he largely did a capable job introducing the movies, he never quite captured the warmth and attention to detail of Walt. I do admit Eisner did a good job bringing Disney back onto network television in a big way, especially with hit individual shows through the Touchstone Television division such as The Golden Girls, Empty Nest, Home Improvement, and more. As Walt Disney Productions became The Walt Disney Company, Eisner and his team headed up an expansion far beyond what Walt could have ever imagined. A lot was positive. Other decisions—not so much. Ultimatel, such factors led to Eisner’s departure after 21 years (1984 to 2005) and the ascension of Bob Iger. Wisely, he recognized his on-camera limitations and has not hosted any subsequent versions of the anthology.
2024 will mark 70 years since the debut of Walt Disney's weekly foray into television. Wouldn’t it be WONDERFUL if those anthology episodes made specifically for television appeared complete on Disney Plus? For now, subscribers have to settle for a handful of shows available on the service which are generally accompanied by an unnecessary advisory that the presentation "may contain outdated cultural depictions." This of course is in keeping with current management's goal of pushing divisive social and political issues that have turned away Disney fans who simply don’t want to be bombarded with messaging that comes off as insulting and disrespectful. Supposedly Iger’s return from temporary retirement was in part to temper this justified criticism. That remains to be seen.
For the time being, there is a better option to watch classic Disney television. One enterprising individual has posted on You Tube hundreds of full episodes and rare clips under the heading "
Keeping Walt in Disney
." It is a great resource to track the evolution of the series, especially the different names and title sequences over the years. Most of the uploads appear to come from off-air recordings either in their original network runs or Disney Channel showings. Some however are from copies of ABC and NBC film prints that were sent to affiliates that aired the show on a delayed basis. A handful even come from rerun airings on Australian TV. The real treasure is seeing Walt himself happily and informatively present episodes. It is a reminder that Disney is capable of offering solid entertainment. I don’t think that is asking for too much. I’d like to conclude this essay with some episode recommendations. This is by no means a definitive list of the best ones. But they are some of my favorites and maybe yours too. If you grew up with The Wonderful World of Disney, you probably know of others that bring back fond memories.
The Disneyland Story (October 27, 1954)—This is the premiere of the anthology series. The first half-hour is a preview of Disneyland the park which was under construction as well as upcoming episodes of Disneyland the TV show. The highlight is Fess Parker’s performance of "The Ballad of Davy Crockett," heard for the first time. The Crockett shows and its theme song were soon to become major hits, far exceeding Walt’s or anyone else’s expectations. Those five episodes, first aired between 1954 and 1956, are also highly recommended. The second half-hour is devoted entirely to Mickey Mouse with highlights from his then-25 plus year career. In introducing the beloved character Walt famously says, "I only hope we never lose sight of one thing—that it was all started by a mouse."
From All of Us to All of You (December 19, 1958)—Jiminy Cricket hosts this collection of Christmas and winter-themed shorts along with "memorable moments" from classic animated features. The order and selection of cartoons would change in subsequent airings. Most showings from 1963 onward offered a "surprise gift" consisting of an extended excerpt of a new Disney animated feature film. This episode is still seen annually in Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Norway and Iceland where it is ranked as one of the most watched programs each year.
An Adventure in Color / Mathmagic Land (September 24, 1961)—After seven years on ABC in black-and-white, the anthology is now "brought to you in living color on NBC." Walt previews the new format and then introduces Professor Ludwig Von Drake (Donald Duck’s uncle) who humorously attempts to explain the mechanics of color. One statement in particular is brutally honest: "This whole program is being seen in color. And that’s a lie! You know that’s a lie because only the people with color tv sets are seeing this in color!"” Watch for the spectacular kaleidoscope opening with the classic theme penned by Richard & Robert Sherman, and a not-too-subtle jab at the NBC Peacock. The second half of the episode is the 1959 featurette "Donald in Mathmagic Land," the first Disney cartoon to be shown in its entirety on color television.
Fire on Kelly Mountain (September 30, 1973)—A Forest Service fire lookout spots smoke from a lightning strike and is sent out to investigate while another major fire is raging nearby. He is the only person keeping what is initially a small blaze from turning into one more inferno. Filmed on location, the action is punctuated with frightening wildfire footage (primarily taken from the 1961 docudrama episode "A Fire Called Jeremiah") and an intense music score by longtime Disney composer Buddy Baker. Starring Larry Wilcox, Andrew Duggan and Anne Lockhart (daughter of June).
Three on the Run (January 8, 1978)—Two brothers with three unlikely—and seemingly inept—dogs decide to enter an annual sled race that was once won by their deceased father. The episode is again enhanced by music from Buddy Baker especially during the race sequence. This particular show holds a sentimental element to me. The white dog in this story looked exactly like our German Shepherd that we called Bullet. Yes, our dog was named after the Steve McQueen movie. Starring Denver Pyle, Davey Davision, Peggy Rea and Ron Brown. Brown was an actor in Disney nature stories such as Charlie the Lonesome Cougar and Lefty the Ding-a-ling Lynx. He also served as a co-producer for other animal films made by the studio.
One Hour in Wonderland (December 25, 1950)— I’m including this because this was the first Walt Disney television production. The original format of the anthology series can be traced to this special, which partially serves to promote the 1951 animated feature Alice in Wonderland. It stars Walt Disney and Edgar Bergen, with Charlie McCarthy and Mortimer Snerd; also appearing are Kathryn Beaumont (the voice of Alice), Bobby Driscoll, and Walt’s daughters Diane and Sharon Disney. Hans Conried plays the Magic Mirror who also guest hosted several episodes of the anthology. According to the late Disney historian and author Jim Korkis (who passed away in 2023), it was estimated some 20 million viewers tuned in at a time when there were only 10.5 million sets in the United States. The huge success of the special led to another holiday program called "The Walt Disney Christmas Show" in 1951. In February 1953 Ed Sullivan devoted an entire edition of his Toast of the Town to Walt Disney, little knowing Walt’s series would one day air in part opposite Ed’s "really big show."
Thanks again to Mitchell for giving me the opportunity to contribute to Its About TV! TV
January 8, 2024
What's on TV? Monday, January 8, 1968
What did I notice in today's listings? Well, radio talk show host Joe Dolan, who's been described as Northern California's version of Joe Pyne, begins his weeknight TV show tonight, with an impressive lineup of guests including New York Senator Robert F. Kennedy, two months out from announcing his presidential bid, and Bay Area columnist Herb Caen. And then there's Danny Thomas's NBC special tonight. Like Bob Hope, Thomas hosted a weekly anthology series after he stepped down from the weekly sitcom grind, and while it didn't have the same success that Hope's did, it still produced some notable programs; tonight's show, "America, I Love You," has a superior guest cast, headed by Andy Williams, Polly Bergen, Van Johnson, and Louis Prima. Finally, William F. Buckley Jr. debates Tennessee Senator Albert Gore tonight—not the inventor of the Internet, but his father, who was also a U.S. senator. Nothing like keeping it all in the family, right? Our listings, as you might have figured, come from Northern California. -2- KTVU (BAY AREA) (IND.) Morning 8:45 RELIGION TODAY—Protestant 9:00 POPEYE—Cartoons COLOR 9:30 ROMPER ROOM—Children COLOR 10:30 JACK LA LANNE COLOR 11:00 LAUREL AND HARDY—Comedy 11:30 YOU ASKED FOR IT—Jack Smith Afternoon 12:00 NEWS COLOR 12:30 PASSWORD—Game COLOR Celebrities: John Forsythe, Barbara Rush 1:00 MOVIE—Drama “The Devil’s Bedroom” (1962) 2:55 NEWS COLOR 3:00 SUPERMAN—Adventure 3:30 CAPTAIN SATELLITE COLOR 4:30 UNCLE WALDO COLOR 5:00 LEAVE IT TO BEAVER—Comedy 5:30 DENNIS THE MENACE—Comedy Evening 6:00 PATTY DUKE—Comedy 6:30 McHALE’S NAVY—Comedy 7:00 I LOVE LUCY—Comedy 7:30 MOVIE—Drama COLOR “The Sand Runs Red” (1965) 9:30 PASSPORT TO TRAVEL COLOR 10:00 NEWS—Atkinson, Park COLOR 10:30 MOVIE—Mystery “The Circular Triangle” (French; 1964)
-3- KCRA (SACRAMENTO) (NBC) Morning 6:00 RHYME AND REASON 7:00 TODAY COLOR Guests: Betsy Palmer, Dr. Eugenie Clark, Prof. Kai Yu Hsu, the Staple Singers 9:00 SNAP JUDGMENT—Game COLOR Guests: Mark Goodson, Jessica Walter 9:25 NEWS—Nancy Dickerson COLOR 9:30 CONCENTRATION—Game COLOR 10:00 PERSONALITY—Game COLOR Celebrities: Joan Bennett, Bill Cullen, Joan Rivers. On-film: Burgess Meredith 10:30 HOLLYWOOD SQUARES—Game COLOR Players: Bill Bixby, Wally Cox, Abby Dalton, Felicia Farr, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Jan Murrary, Cesar Romero, Jackie Vernon, Charley Weaver 11:00 JEOPARDY COLOR 11:30 EYE GUESS COLOR 11:55 NEWS—Edwin Newman COLOR Afternoon 12:00 NEWS COLOR 12:30 MERV GRIFFIN—Variety COLOR Guests: Geraldine Chaplin, Allen and Rossi, Genee Taylor, Jerry Vale 1:30 ANOTHER WORLD COLOR 2:00 YOU DON’T SAY!—Game COLOR Celebrities: Mickey Manners, Pat Carroll 2:30 MATCH GAME COLOR Guests: Soupy Sales, Michele Lee 2:55 NEWS COLOR 3:00 MOVIE—Comedy “Louisa” (1950) 5:00 FLINTSTONES COLOR 5:30 TRAVENTURE THEATRE COLOR Evening 6:00 NEWS—Chet Huntley, David Brinkley COLOR 6:30 NEWS—Bob Whitten COLOR 7:30 MONKEES—Comedy COLOR 8:00 MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E. COLOR 9:00 DANNY THOMAS SPECIAL COLOR “America, I Love You” Guests: Andy Williams, Polly Bergen, Van Johnson, Louis Prima, Sam Butera and the Witnesses, the Thomas Group 10:00 I SPY—Drama COLOR 11:00 NEWS COLOR 11:30 JOHNNY CARSON—Variety COLOR
-4- KRON (BAY AREA) (NBC) Morning 6:25 FARM NEWS 6:30 MICHIGAN—Education 7:00 TODAY COLOR Guests: Betsy Palmer, Dr. Eugenie Clark, Prof. Kai Yu Hsu, the Staple Singers 9:00 SNAP JUDGMENT—Game COLOR Guests: Mark Goodson, Jessica Walter NEWS—Nancy Dickerson COLOR 9:30 CONCENTRATION—Game COLOR 10:00 PERSONALITY—Game COLOR Celebrities: Joan Bennett, Bill Cullen, Joan Rivers. On-film: Burgess Meredith 10:30 HOLLYWOOD SQUARES—Game COLOR Players: Bill Bixby, Wally Cox, Abby Dalton, Felicia Farr, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Jan Murrary, Cesar Romero, Jackie Vernon, Charley Weaver 11:00 JEOPARDY COLOR 11:30 EYE GUESS COLOR 11:55 NEWS—Edwin Newman COLOR Afternoon 12:00 LET’S MAKE A DEAL—Game COLOR 12:30 DAYS OF OUR LIVES COLOR 1:00 DOCTORS—Serial COLOR 1:30 ANOTHER WORLD COLOR 2:00 YOU DON’T SAY!—Game COLOR Celebrities: Mickey Manners, Pat Carroll 2:30 MATCH GAME COLOR Guests: Soupy Sales, Michele Lee 2:55 NEWS COLOR 3:00 DIVORCE COURT—Drama COLOR 3:30 MOVIE—Drama “Fighting Chance” (1955) 5:00 FLINTSTONES COLOR 5:30 ADDAMS FAMILY—Comedy Evening 6:00 NEWS COLOR 6:30 NEWS—Chet Huntley, David Brinkley COLOR 7:00 WIDE WONDERFUL WORLD COLOR 7:30 MONKEES—Comedy COLOR 8:00 MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E. COLOR 9:00 DANNY THOMAS SPECIAL COLOR “America, I Love You” Guests: Andy Williams, Polly Bergen, Van Johnson, Louis Prima, Sam Butera and the Witnesses, the Thomas Group 10:00 I SPY—Drama COLOR 11:00 NEWS COLOR 11:30 JOHNNY CARSON—Variety COLOR
-5- KPIX (BAY AREA) (CBS) Morning 6:00 SUNRISE SEMESTER—Education COLOR Psychological Novel: “The Novelist’s Problems” 6:30 CITIES IN CONFLICT—Discussion 7:00 NEWS COMMENTARY COLOR 7:05 NEWS—Joseph Benti COLOR 7:30 NEWS—Jim Anderson 8:00 CAPTAIN KANGAROO COLOR 9:00 CANDID CAMERA 9:30 BEVERLY HILLBILLIES 10:00 SECRET STORM—Serial COLOR 10:30 DICK VAN DYKE 11:00 LOVE OF LIFE—Serial COLOR 11:25 NEWS COLOR 11:30 SEARCH FOR TOMORROW—Serial COLOR 11:45 GUIDING LIGHT COLOR Afternoon 12:00 NEWS COLOR 12:30 AS THE WORLD TURNS—Serial COLOR 1:00 LOVE IS A MANY SPLENDORED THING—Serial COLOR 1:30 HOUSE PARTY COLOR Guest: Eddie Rickenbacker 2:00 TO TELL THE TRUTH—Game COLOR 2:25 NEWS COLOR 2:30 EDGE OF NIGHT—Serial COLOR 3:00 MIKE DOUGLAS—Variety COLOR Guests: Harold Stassen, Paul Lynde, Spanky and Our Gang, Katie Kelley 4:30 MERV GRIFFIN—Variety COLOR Guests: Geraldine Chaplin, Allen and Rossi, Genee Taylor, Jerry Vale Evening 6:00 NEWS COLOR 6:30 NEWS—Walter Cronkite COLOR 7:00 RIFLEMAN—Western 7:30 GUNSMOKE—Western COLOR 8:30 LUCILLE BALL COLOR 9:00 ANDY GRIFFITH COLOR 9:30 FAMILY AFFAIR COLOR 10:00 CAROL BURNETT COLOR Guests: Lana Turner, Frank Gorshin 11:00 NEWS COLOR 11:30 MOVIE—Drama “She Played with Fire” (English; 1958) 1:25 SILENTS PLEASE—Movies
-6- KVIE (SACREMENTO) (EDUC.) Morning 9:15 CLASSROOM—Education Recess: 11:30 A.M.-1:10 P.M. Afternoon 1:10 CLASSROOM—Education Recess: 2:30-5:45 P.M. 5:45 FRIENDLY GIANT—Children Evening 6:00 CIRCUS!—Documentary 6:30 KINDERGARTEN—Education 7:00 WHAT’S NEW—Children 7:30 BUSY KNITTER 8:00 WILLIAM F. BUCKLEY JR. Guest: Sen Albert Gore (D-Tenn.) 9:00 NET JOURNAL “Profile of a Peace Parade” 10:00 NET PLAYHOUSE—Drama “Infancy” and “Childhood”
-7- KGO (BAY AREA) (ABC) Morning 6:00 A.M.—Dunbar, Huss COLOR 8:00 VIRGINIA GRAHAM—Interviews COLOR Guests: Dodie Goodman, Terry Rice, Ruth Goode 8:30 MOVIE—Comedy “Appointment for Love” (1941) 10:30 DONNA REED—Comedy 11:00 TEMPTATION COLOR 11:25 NEWS—Marlene Sanders COLOR 11:30 HOW’S YOUR MOTHER-IN-LAW—Game COLOR Celebrities: Richard Erdman, Howard Morris, Arnold Stang Afternoon 12:00 BEWITCHED—Comedy 12:30 TREASURE ISLE COLOR 1:00 FUGITIVE—Drama 2:00 NEWLYWED GAME—Bob Eubanks COLOR 2:30 BABY GAME COLOR 2:55 CHILDREN’S DOCTOR—Dr. Lendon Smith COLOR 3:00 GENERAL HOSPITAL—Serial COLOR 3:30 DARK SHADOWS—Serial COLOR 4:00 DATING GAME COLOR 4:30 GYPSY ROSE LEE COLOR 5:00 NEWS COLOR 5:30 NEWS—Bob Young COLOR Evening 6:00 MOVIE—Adventure “South of Tahiti” (1941) 7:30 JACQUES COUSTEAU SPECIAL—Documentary SPECIAL COLOR “Sharks” “Cowboy in Africa” is pre-empted 8:30 RAT PATROL—Drama COLOR 9:00 FELONY SQUAD—Drama COLOR 9:30 PEYTON PLACE—Serial COLOR 10:00 BIG VALLEY—Western COLOR 11:00 NEWS COLOR 11:30 JOEY BISHOP—Variety COLOR Guests: Robert Wagner, Desi Arnaz, Billy Kenny
-7- KRCR (REDDING) (ABC, NBC) Morning 7:00 TODAY COLOR Guests: Betsy Palmer, Dr. Eugenie Clark, Prof. Kai Yu Hsu, the Staple Singers 9:00 JACK LA LANNE—Exercise 9:30 CONCENTRATION—Game COLOR 10:00 PERSONALITY—Game COLOR Celebrities: Joan Bennett, Bill Cullen, Joan Rivers. On-film: Burgess Meredith 10:30 HOLLYWOOD SQUARES—Game COLOR Players: Bill Bixby, Wally Cox, Abby Dalton, Felicia Farr, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Jan Murrary, Cesar Romero, Jackie Vernon, Charley Weaver 11:00 JEOPARDY COLOR 11:30 EYE GUESS COLOR 11:55 NEWS—Edwin Newman COLOR Afternoon 12:00 LET’S MAKE A DEAL—Game COLOR 12:30 TREASURE ISLE COLOR 1:00 FUGITIVE—Drama 2:00 NEWLYWED GAME—Bob Eubanks COLOR 2:30 MATCH GAME COLOR Guests: Soupy Sales, Michele Lee 2:55 NEWS COLOR 3:00 GENERAL HOSPITAL—Serial COLOR 3:30 DARK SHADOWS—Serial COLOR 4:00 DATING GAME COLOR 4:30 BEWITCHED—Comedy 5:00 COWBOY IN AFRICA—Adventure COLOR Evening 6:00 NEWS COLOR 6:30 NEWS—Chet Huntley, David Brinkley COLOR 7:00 BIG VALLEY—Western COLOR 8:00 FBI—Drama COLOR 9:00 DANNY THOMAS SPECIAL COLOR “America, I Love You” Guests: Andy Williams, Polly Bergen, Van Johnson, Louis Prima, Sam Butera and the Witnesses, the Thomas Group 10:00 I SPY—Drama COLOR 11:00 NEWS COLOR 11:30 JOHNNY CARSON—Variety COLOR
-8- KSBW (SALINAS) (CBS, NBC) Morning 7:00 TODAY COLOR Guests: Betsy Palmer, Dr. Eugenie Clark, Prof. Kai Yu Hsu, the Staple Singers 9:00 SNAP JUDGMENT—Game COLOR Guests: Mark Goodson, Jessica Walter 9:25 NEWS—Nancy Dickerson COLOR 9:30 CONCENTRATION—Game COLOR 10:00 PERSONALITY—Game COLOR Celebrities: Joan Bennett, Bill Cullen, Joan Rivers. On-film: Burgess Meredith 10:30 HOLLYWOOD SQUARES—Game COLOR Players: Bill Bixby, Wally Cox, Abby Dalton, Felicia Farr, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Jan Murrary, Cesar Romero, Jackie Vernon, Charley Weaver 11:00 LOVE OF LIFE—Serial COLOR 11:25 NEWS COLOR 11:30 EYE GUESS COLOR 11:55 NEWS—Bud Walling COLOR Afternoon 12:00 LET’S MAKE A DEAL—Game COLOR 12:30 AS THE WORLD TURNS—Serial COLOR 1:00 LOVE IS A MANY SPLENDORED THING—Serial COLOR 1:30 HOUSE PARTY COLOR Guest: Eddie Rickenbacker 2:00 TO TELL THE TRUTH—Game COLOR 2:25 NEWS COLOR 2:30 EDGE OF NIGHT—Serial COLOR 3:00 SECRET STORM COLOR 3:30 MOVIE—Drama “Girls in Prison” (1956) 5:30 MUNSTERS—Comedy Evening 6:00 NEWS—Mark Rogers 6:30 NEWS—Walter Cronkite COLOR 7:00 WYATT EARP—Western 7:30 GUNSMOKE—Western COLOR 8:30 LUCILLE BALL COLOR 9:00 ANDY GRIFFITH COLOR 9:30 FAMILY AFFAIR COLOR 10:00 CAROL BURNETT COLOR Guests: Lana Turner, Frank Gorshin 11:00 NEWS 11:30 JOHNNY CARSON—Variety COLOR
-9- KQED (BAY AREA) (EDUC.) Morning 9:15 CLASSROOM—Education Recess: 11:30 A.M.-1:10 P.M. Afternoon 12:00 KINDERGARTEN—Education 12:30 FRENCH CHEF—Cooking Poached salmon 1:00 CLASSROOM—Education 4:00 ART STUDIO TOO—Education 4:30 MISTEROGERS—Children 5:00 KINDERGARTEN—Education 5:30 FRIENDLY GIANT—Children 5:45 SMALL PLANET—Education Evening 6:00 PORTRAIT IN MUSIC 6:30 WHAT’S NEW—Children 7:00 SKIING COLOR 7:30 FOLK GUITAR PLUS—Music Last show of the series. Next week “The Great War” returns in this time spot. 8:00 CITY BEAT—Mel Wax 8:30 KALEIDOSCOPE—Interview Guest: Henry Kraus 9:00 NET JOURNAL “Profile of a Peace Parade” 10:00 WEEK IN REVIEW—Washington 10:30 BUSINESS ROUNDTABLE
-9- KIXE (REDDING) (EDUC.) Morning 8:00 CLASSROOM—Education Recess: 11:30 A.M.-12 Noon 11:30 YOGA FOR HEALTH Afternoon 1:10 CLASSROOM—Education Recess: 2:30-6 P.M. Evening 6:00 CIRCUS!—Documentary 6:30 KINDERGARTEN—Education 7:00 WHAT’S NEW—Children 7:30 BUSY KNITTER 8:00 WILLIAM F. BUCKLEY JR. Guest: Sen Albert Gore (D-Tenn.) 9:00 NET JOURNAL “Profile of a Peace Parade” 10:00 NET PLAYHOUSE—Drama “Infancy” and “Childhood”
10 KXTV (SACRAMENTO) (CBS) Morning 6:00 INDUSTRY ON PARADE 6:15 SALVATION ARMY 6:30 SUNRISE SEMESTER—Education COLOR Psychological Novel: “The Novelist’s Problems” 7:00 FOCUS ON FARMING COLOR 7:05 NEWS—Joseph Benti COLOR 7:30 NEWS—Taylor, Bates COLOR 8:00 CAPTAIN KANGAROO COLOR 9:00 CANDID CAMERA 9:30 BEVERLY HILLBILLIES 10:00 ANDY GRIFFITH—Comedy 10:30 DICK VAN DYKE 11:00 LOVE OF LIFE—Serial COLOR 11:25 NEWS COLOR 11:30 SEARCH FOR TOMORROW—Serial COLOR 11:45 GUIDING LIGHT COLOR Afternoon 12:00 NEWS COLOR 12:30 AS THE WORLD TURNS—Serial COLOR 1:00 LOVE IS A MANY SPLENDORED THING—Serial COLOR 1:30 HOUSE PARTY COLOR Guest: Eddie Rickenbacker 2:00 TO TELL THE TRUTH—Game COLOR 2:25 NEWS COLOR 2:30 EDGE OF NIGHT—Serial COLOR 3:00 SECRET STORM COLOR 3:30 PDQ—Game COLOR Celebrities: Bill Bixby, Michael Landon, Mickey Manners 4:00 MIKE DOUGLAS—Variety COLOR Guests: Harold Stassen, Paul Lynde, Spanky and Our Gang, Katie Kelley 5:30 NEWS—Gray, Row COLOR Evening 6:00 NEWS—Walter Cronkite COLOR 6:30 McHALE’S NAVY—Comedy 7:00 TWILIGHT ZONE—Drama 7:30 GUNSMOKE—Western COLOR 8:30 LUCILLE BALL COLOR 9:00 ANDY GRIFFITH COLOR 9:30 FAMILY AFFAIR COLOR 10:00 CAROL BURNETT COLOR Guests: Lana Turner, Frank Gorshin 11:00 NEWS COLOR 11:30 MOVIE—Drama COLOR “The Bridal Path” (English; 1958)
11 KNTV (SAN JOSE) (ABC) Morning 7:45 SAN JOSE STATE—Education “North and South During the Civil War” 8:30 HOCUS POCUS—Cartoons COLOR 9:00 HOCUS POCUS CLUBHOUSE 9:30 DISCOVERY ’67—Children 10:00 LU RYDEN—Variety 10:30 DONNA REED—Comedy 11:00 TEMPTATION COLOR 11:25 NEWS—Marlene Sanders COLOR 11:30 HOW’S YOUR MOTHER-IN-LAW—Game COLOR Celebrities: Richard Erdman, Howard Morris, Arnold Stang Afternoon 12:00 BEWITCHED—Comedy 12:30 TREASURE ISLE COLOR 1:00 FUGITIVE—Drama 2:00 NEWLYWED GAME—Bob Eubanks COLOR 2:30 BABY GAME COLOR 2:55 CHILDREN’S DOCTOR—Dr. Lendon Smith COLOR 3:00 GENERAL HOSPITAL—Serial COLOR 3:30 DARK SHADOWS—Serial COLOR 4:00 DATING GAME COLOR 4:30 PERRY MASON—Mystery 5:30 NEWS—Bob Young COLOR Evening 6:00 MIKE DOUGLAS—Variety COLOR Guests: Harold Stassen, Paul Lynde, Spanky and Our Gang, Katie Kelley 7:00 MOVIE—Biography COLOR “Battle Hymn” (1956) 9:00 FELONY SQUAD—Drama COLOR 9:30 PEYTON PLACE—Serial COLOR 10:00 BIG VALLEY—Western COLOR 11:00 NEWS 11:30 OUTDOOR WORLD COLOR 11:35 MOVIE—Drama “Intent to Kill” (1959)
12 KHSL (CHICO) (ABC, CBS) Morning 7:00 CHRISTOPERS COLOR 7:30 NEWS—Joseph Benti COLOR 7:55 SPORTS REPORT COLOR 8:00 CAPTAIN KANGAROO COLOR 9:00 CANDID CAMERA 9:30 BEVERLY HILLBILLIES 10:00 ANDY GRIFFITH—Comedy 10:30 DICK VAN DYKE 11:00 LOVE OF LIFE—Serial COLOR 11:25 NEWS COLOR 11:30 SEARCH FOR TOMORROW—Serial COLOR 11:45 GUIDING LIGHT COLOR Afternoon 12:00 DIVORCE COURT—Drama COLOR 12:30 AS THE WORLD TURNS—Serial COLOR 1:00 LOVE IS A MANY SPLENDORED THING—Serial COLOR 1:30 HOUSE PARTY COLOR Guest: Eddie Rickenbacker 2:00 TO TELL THE TRUTH—Game COLOR 2:25 NEWS COLOR 2:30 EDGE OF NIGHT—Serial COLOR 3:00 SECRET STORM COLOR 3:30 MIKE DOUGLAS—Variety COLOR Guests: Harold Stassen, Paul Lynde, Spanky and Our Gang, Katie Kelley 5:00 MERV GRIFFIN—Variety COLOR Guests: Geraldine Chaplin, Allen and Rossi, Genee Taylor, Jerry Vale Evening 6:00 NEWS COLOR 6:30 NEWS—Walter Cronkite COLOR 7:00 N.Y.P.D.—Drama COLOR 7:30 GUNSMOKE—Western COLOR 8:30 LUCILLE BALL COLOR 9:00 ANDY GRIFFITH COLOR 9:30 FAMILY AFFAIR COLOR 10:00 CAROL BURNETT COLOR Guests: Lana Turner, Frank Gorshin 11:00 NEWS COLOR 11:30 JOEY BISHOP—Variety COLOR Guests: Robert Wagner, Desi Arnaz, Billy Kenny
13 KOVR (SACRAMENTO) (ABC) Morning 6:25 NEWS COLOR 6:30 ED ALLEN TIME COLOR 7:00 CARTOON TIME COLOR 8:20 MILTON THE MONSTER—Cartoon 8:50 CARTOON TIME COLOR 9:00 DATING GAME 9:30 TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES—Game COLOR 10:00 LORETTA YOUNG—Drama 10:30 FAVORITE PLAYHOUSE—Drama 11:00 TEMPTATION COLOR 11:25 NEWS—Marlene Sanders COLOR 11:30 HOW’S YOUR MOTHER-IN-LAW—Game COLOR Celebrities: Richard Erdman, Howard Morris, Arnold Stang Afternoon 12:00 BEWITCHED—Comedy 12:30 NEWS COLOR 12:45 AGRICULTURE TODAY COLOR 1:00 FUGITIVE—Drama 2:00 NEWLYWED GAME—Bob Eubanks COLOR 2:30 DIVORCE COURT COLOR 3:00 GENERAL HOSPITAL—Serial COLOR 3:30 DARK SHADOWS—Serial COLOR 4:00 CAP’N DELTA—Cartoons COLOR 5:00 NEWS COLOR 5:30 NEWS—Bob Young COLOR Evening 6:00 MOVIE—Melodrama “Macabre” (1958) 7:00 OUTDOORSMAN COLOR 7:30 JACQUES COUSTEAU SPECIAL—Documentary SPECIAL COLOR “Sharks” “Cowboy in Africa” is pre-empted 8:30 RAT PATROL—Drama COLOR 9:00 FELONY SQUAD—Drama COLOR 9:30 PEYTON PLACE—Serial COLOR 10:00 BIG VALLEY—Western COLOR 11:00 NEWS COLOR 11:30 JOEY BISHOP—Variety COLOR Guests: Robert Wagner, Desi Arnaz, Billy Kenny
19 KLOC (MODESTO) (IND.) Afternoon 5:00 FARM SHOW 5:30 CARTOON FUN HOUSE Evening 7:00 RIFLEMAN—Western 7:30 MOVIE—Comedy “Don’t Go Near the Water” (1957) 9:30 SPORTS FILM
36 KGSC (SAN JOSE) (IND.) Afternoon 3:30 WORLD OF WOMEN—Adel Hall 4:00 COSMO’S CASTLE—Children 5:00 CISCO KID—Western COLOR 5:30 WELLS FARGO—Western Evening 6:00 YOU ASKED FOR IT—Jack Smith 6:30 GYPSY ROSE LEE COLOR Guest: Monique Van Vooren 7:00 MOVIE—Drama “Nights of Rasputin” (Italian; 1960) 8:30 MERV GRIFFIN—Variety COLOR Guests: Forrest Tucker, Virginia Graham, Stanley Myron Handleman, Alan Westin 10:00 CELEBRITY BILLIARDS COLOR Jan Murray vs. Minnesota Fats 10:30 WILBURN BROTHERS—Music 11:00 PORTER WAGONER—Music COLOR Guests: Spec Rhodes, Carl Smith, Norma Jean 11:30 FILM FEATURE COLOR “Calgary Stampede”
44 KBHK (BAY AREA) (IND.) Afternoon 5:00 MARINE BOY COLOR 5:30 ASTRO BOY—Cartoon Evening 6:00 LITTLE RASCALS—Comedy 6:30 MISTER ED—Comedy 7:00 DOBIE GILLIS—Comedy 7:30 HONEYMOONERS—Comedy 8:00 HAZEL—Shirley Booth COLOR 8:30 PAT BOONE—Variety COLOR Guests: Paula Prentiss and Richard Benjamin, Phil Ford and Mimi Hines, Joey Bishop and Regis Philbin, Joe E. Ross 10:00 JOE DOLAN—Discussion DEBUT COLOR Guests: Sen. Robert F. Kennedy (D, N.Y.), Herb Caen, Dieter Dengler 11:00 MOVIE—Adventure COLOR “The Golden Mistress” (1954)
TV
January 6, 2024
This week in TV Guide: January 6, 1968
Well, here we are with the first issue of 1968, and after everything that happened last year—the "long hot summer" of race riots, especially in Detroit and Newark; the expansion of the war in Vietnam; the Apollo 1 fire; the Six-Day War in the Middle East; and that's just for starters—it's a new year, and with it a fresh start. I mean, 1968 can't help but be better, right? Right?l l l
If you're hoping for something "fresh and innovative" on television this coming season, you're probably out of luck. That's the message from Richard K. Doan at this week's Doan Report, where the word is that "Unless the networks are keeping something up their sleeves—which is possible but unlikely—the new prime-time-shows next season will be just more of the familiar stuff."
The dilemma that network programmers face is a twin one: on the one hand, they feel "it is too risky and expensive to try the untried." (Nothing new there.) On the other hand, though, they've already tried "just about every variation in a known successful series formula." One executive reports the mood in Hollywood as being "panic-stricken. Nobody knows which way to turn next." The elephant in the room, if there is one, has been the prime-time movie, which has overrun all but the most popular of weekly series. Those shows—think Gomer Pyle, The Beverly Hillbillies, and Bonanza—can't last forever, though; sitcom "nonsense" abounds with its endless variations, Westerns are just about dead, and the only new variety shows are those helmed by Jonathan Winters on CBS and Rowan and Martin on NBC. With Doris Day the only big name on the calendar for the new season, the odds of finding something to take on the big, bad movies, and the ratings, seem pretty slim; NBC's plans to add a third movie night in the fall are proof of that.When you look at the programming for the next few seasons, you see the problem. Next year's schedule includes 60 Minutes, which is probably as close to "new and innovative" as it comes, and the biggest drama series are Hawaii Five-O and Columbo. ABC's Movie of the Week series, comprised entirely of made-for-TV movies, adds to the movie onslaught. Old, tired formats such as Danny Thomas's return in Make Room for Granddaddy, and The New Andy William Show, prove to be short-lived. In the end, the most ground-breaking shows of the next few years are a pair of sitcoms: All in the Family and The Mary Tyler Moore Show.
Oh, and there's one other series that makes its debut in a couple of seasons, one that's still on today: Monday Night Football. But hold that thought; we'll be back to it at the end.
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Throughout the 60s and early 70s, TV Guide's weekly reviews were written by the witty and acerbic Cleveland Amory. Whenever we get the chance, we'll look at Cleve's latest take on the shows of the era. The creative team responsible for The Dick Van Dyke Show—Bill Persky, Sam Denoff, Sheldon Leonard, and Carl Reiner—have been at work on a new sitcom for CBS, Good Morning World. The problem, says Cleveland Amory, is that it was "obviously not very hard." The idea behind the show is, apparently, "not to have any idea at all. Just have five characters in search of an offer." Well, that's not a very promising start, is it?
The five characters in question are a pair of radio disc jockeys, their big, bad boss, the wife of one of the DJs, and their next door neighbor. And if the show really does have no idea, then that's offset by the fact that it also has no stars. The best of them, Joby Baker, as good-guy DJ David, "somehow manages to get some real fun into his role," but his sidekick, Ronnie Schell, the swinging sidekick Larry, "comes on strong as the bad guy" who wants to stay single, for at least the length of the series. "Our guess is he'll make it in a walk." Billy de Wolfe, the boss, "mugs and shrugs his way through his role" (if you've ever seen the animated Frosty the Snowman, where he voices the evil magician, you'll understand what Cleve's talking about), while Julie Parrish plays Joby's wife, and Goldie Hawn, who has bigger and better things ahead of her, is the neighbor, who's in love with Ronnie.
At least, Amory says, "if you've got no basic idea for your show, then you've at least got to come up each episode with something pretty new and different. "Typical plots include Sandy, stuck with a girlfriend who's starting to get "ideas," telling her he can't marry her because doctors don't know how long he has to live. (But, then, whose doctor can?) "The important thing is to live each day to the hilt—with a smile on your face—like Ben Gazzara." Unfortunately, that was the high point of the episode; had they really wanted to be clever, they might have had the DJs interview Gazzara as himself, plugging Run for Your Life. Sure, it's on another network, but why not? And then, there was the story about the duo having to do their show on location from the Sunshine Dude Ranch. Only problem is that there's been a misunderstanding: it's actually the Sunshine Nude Ranch. Well, you get where it goes from there. Points to the writers for coming up with something different each week. But wouldn't it have just been easier to come up with an idea instead? "[N]ot a big one, mind you, just a teensy weensy little one."
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The bowl games are over, and the Super Bowl isn't until next week, but that doesn't mean we don't have football on tap, including the most meaningless football game of the season, the Playoff Bowl (Sunday, 11:00 a.m. PT, CBS). The concept of the Playoff Bowl, a charity game played in Miami to benefit the NFL players' pension fund, pits the second place teams of the Eastern and Western Conferences in a game for third place; it was originally called the Runner-Up Bowl, a more descriptive if no more glamorous title. If you're a football fan, you're no doubt aware of the growing trend in the college game of players opting out of meaningless dot.com bowl games in order to eliminate the risk of getting injured prior to the draft. You also probably know that the Pro Bowl, the NFL's all-star game, was changed to a skills competition a few years ago, for more or less the same reason. Now imagine telling these players that they're expected to play in a nationally televised game to determine the third best team in the league—or "second loser," if you will. No wonder the game ended after ten years. For the record, in this year's game, the Los Angeles Rams defeat the Cleveland Browns, 30-6.
A far more meaningful version of the game can be found in the critically acclaimed documentary The Violent World of Sam Huff (Sunday, 6:00 p.m., CBS), a profile of the New York Giants star linebacker originally telecast in 1960 but being rerun now because of Huff's recent retirement. Narrated by Walter Cronkite, The Violent World of Sam Huff was the first film to afford viewers the opportunity to actually see and hear the sounds of pro football, via ground-level cameras and a microphone embedded in Huff's uniform. The "controlled violence" of the sport thrilled and captivated the audience, and, coming as it did on the heels of the 1958 NFL Championship Game, aka "The Greatest Game Ever Played," and with Cronkite's gravitas providing a suitable background, The Violent World of Sam Huff played a major role in the growing popularity of professional football. More than 60 years later, the documentary still holds up today,
as you can see here
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January traditionally marks the start of television's second season, so there are a good number of premieres and specials among the week's offerings.
Saturday Night at the Movies opens the season with an instant classic: the network TV premiere of Alfred Hitchcock's 1963 nightmarish The Birds, starring Rod Taylor and Tippi Hedren (9:00 p.m., NBC). Hitchcock called it his "Vision of Judgment Day," while Judith Crist calls it "tedious" for as long as the humans hold center stage. "But when those winged creatures come to the fore the blandness of Tippi Hedren and stolidity of Rod Taylor are overshadowed and Hitchcockian terror takes over triumphantly. It’s enough to make you kick the next pigeon you come across."
How about Jack Palance as Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde? He's the star of a two-and-a-half hour adaptation this week, produced by Dan Curtis (Sunday, 9:00 p.m., ABC), and featuring Leo Genn, Oscar Homolka, Billie Whitelaw, and Denholm Elliott. It's been a troubled production from the start: Jason Robards was originally scheduled to star (that would have been interesting), working off a script by Rod Serling. However, Robards was unhappy with the script, and shooting delays led to him dropping out. Curtis hired Ian McLellan Hunter for a new script, hired Palance (whom he'd worked with in Dracula) to replace Robards, and moved production from London to Toronto, where shooting would be cheaper. It was nominated for four Emmys, including Outstanding Dramatic Program; you can
see it for free at Tubi
.On Monday, Jacques Cousteau debuts the first of a proposed twelve-part documentary series (telecast over three years) called "The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau" (7:30 p.m., ABC). Although Cousteau had first appeared on ABC in 1966 in a film called "Conshelf Adventure," it is "The Undersea World," which winds up producing 36 episodes and lasts until 1976, that clinches his reputation as "television's most celebrated maker and presenter of documentaries about the underwater world." Although it's not mentioned in this issue, Rod Serling narrates the series on ABC (Richard Johnson does the honors on the BBC); later on, it will be the equally distinguished Joseph Campanella.
Monday night, Robert Wagner's a guest on The Joey Bishop Show (11:30 p.m., ABC); Tuesday, it's the "Special World Premiere" of Wagner's new series, It Takes a Thief (8:30 p.m., ABC). Coincidence? I think not. For those of you who don't remember the premise, Wagner appears as Alexander Mundy, a convicted cat burglar who's paroled from prison in order to ply his trade for a thinly-disguised version of the CIA, with Malachi Throne as his handler, Noah Bain. It's a fun series, running for three seasons; some of the best episodes involve Mundy's father Alistair (Fred Astaire), also a master thief. Tonight's 90-minute debut, directed by Leslie Stevens, pulls out all the stops, featuring a guest cast including Senta Berger, John Saxon, and Susan Saint James, with cameos from Raymond Burr, Wally Cox, Joe Louis, Leslie Nielsen, and others. It's up against The Red Skelton Hour (8:30 p.m., CBS), in which Red presents a one-man show reviewing his career from vaudeville days to the present.The Avengers returns for a new season on Wednesday (7:30 p.m., ABC), with Steed and Mrs. Peel investigating the case of a treasury official who's been shrunk to miniature size, along with the Rolls-Royce he was driving. I've often wondered about the usefulness of a shrinking machine, whether it could be used for good purposes as well as world domination—and by the way, just how would that work ruling the world as a giant? It didn't do much good for that guy living in the beanstalk, did it? On the Kraft Music Hall, Bobby Darin is the host and the theme is "It's a Grand Night for Swinging" (9:00 p.m., NBC), with his guests Bobbie Gentry, George Kirby, and Bobby Van. One of Kirby's bits involves an impression of Bobby Kennedy; I wonder if they tried to get Bobby Vinton or Bobby Rydell?
Robert Wagner isn't the only one doing the late-show promo circuit; on Wednesday, former astronaut John Glenn appears on The Tonight Show (11:30 p.m., NBC) to promote his program the following night, Great Explorations (Thursday, 7:30 p.m., NBC), a David Wolper production (his second of the week!) in which Glenn follows the trail taken by Henry Stanley in his search for Dr. David Livingston. The show, and Glenn's role in it, is the subject of producer and writer John Peer Nugent's article. Glenn, whom the team comes to call "Bwana Satellite," takes an active role in the making of the show, having insisted before accepting the assignment that "The emphasis must be not on what the explorers did so much as what their discoveries did, or did not do, for the peoples and lands discovered." At one point Glenn is forced to drop a rogue elephant with a couple of well-placed shots from his rifle. It is a task which gives him no great pleasure; " 'In the war, I had to kill and I didn’t like it then,' he said, oblivious to the shouts of congratulations. 'I don’t like it now either.' " It's interesting to see Glenn here in something other than as either an astronaut or a politician.On Friday night, it's the premiere of the nighttime edition of The Hollywood Squares—not the syndicated version, but the network run that would last until September as a midseason replacement for Accidental Family (and NBC didn't make an accident with that change, did they?). Tonight's players are Edie Adams, Morey Amsterdam, Milton Berle, Raymond Burr, Wally Cox, Abby Dalton, Nanette Fabray, Buddy Hackett and Charley Weaver (9:30 p.m., NBC). If that's not your style, you might prefer the CBS Friday movie, A Shot in the Dark (9:00 p.m.), the second outing of Peter Sellers' bumbling Inspector Clouseau. It's once again directed by Blake Edwards, and having Elke Sommer in it doesn't hurt.
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Robert Musel takes a look at Lee Bouvier Radziwill's upcoming acting debut in ABC's remake of Laura, scheduled for next week. In a previous TV Guide review from last year, I shared some of the reviews from that broadcast, including star Robert Stack's comment that "the production resembled a junior high school effort." Musel takes a closer look at the drama behind the scenes of David Susskind's production, which he describes as "Society Girl Becomes Overnight Star." That's not what happens, though.
Lee Radziwill and Farley Granger Susskind, well-aware of the challenge of turning Jacqueline Kennedy's sister into an instant star despite the lack of acting experience, surrounded her with a veteran cast, including Arlene Francis, who thinks that she'll turn out all right even though "she’s had no time to develop her talent or her technique." "Her performance is a tribute to what can be done with a camera, boom shots, writing, lighting, direction and patience," Arlene continues. "And she looks ravishingly beautiful."Lee Bouvier grew up in a world of privilege, wealth, and social position. She's married to Prince Stanislas Radziwill, a real-estate millionaire and descendant of Polish royalty. She campaigned vigorously in 1960 for her brother-in-law, John F. Kennedy. She regularly appears in fashion magazines and on best-dressed lists. But inside, she harbored the desire to be an actress; her friend, Truman Capote, convinced her to follow that dream. Two years of private coaching followed, and last June she debuted in Chicago in a stage revival of The Philadelphia Story. It was the first time in her 34 years that she'd appeared on any professional stage. Representative of the reviews was one critic who commented, "A star is not born." She insists this is not a hobby, that if she didn't try it, "I'd never know if I had it in me."
Susskind says all the right things. "I really think she'll be a star," he says, comparing her to another princess, Grace Kelly. "A star is one who attracts an audience. . . She has that quality." Farley Granger, who plays her lover, says "She's working hard," and that she's learning. Robert Stack calls her "uncomplicated and untemperamental," and adds that "she doesn’t seem to have any of the qualms that a beginner usually has." Musil himself concludes by saying that she's "already thinking about her next starring role." It never comes.
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One last word about football. We've got three letters to the editor this week lamenting the amount of football on television each week: Patricia McClintic of Jeffersonville, Indiana asks, "Why must we be subjected to football game after football game for two whole days every, weekend?" while Mrs. Jim Grace of Shepherd, Michigan says, "I've sat at home Saturday after Saturday afternoon and steamed because channel after channel has nothing but sports to offer." And it's not just limited to the football widow, either; Charles A. Westfall of Severance, NY writes, "Frankly I am so fed up with football games I could scream!" And this was when the usual compliment of games amounted to five or six per weekend; it now starts on Thursday, ends on Monday, and encompasses perhaps a dozen games on broadcast television, plus dozens more on cable or streaming.
But to the point of this week's letter-writers, the fact is that nobody seems to think there's too much football on television today. Well, I don't literally mean "nobody"; I'm exaggerating to make a point—the point being that, according to Sportico , 82 of the top 100 most-watched U.S. TV broadcasts of 2022 were NFL games, and of the remaining 18, five were college football games. Only six of the programs were non-sports related, those being the Oscars, the Macy's parade, and news/political events. "The nearest a scripted TV episode got to the upper echelons was Paramount Global’s multi-network simulcast of the Season 5 premiere of Yellowstone, which claimed the No. 132 entry with an average draw of 12.5 million live-plus-same-day viewers." CBS's FBI, the highest-rated entertainment series on television, averages 7.21 million viewers per week, compared to the games in the Sunday football window, which average 25.8 million per week.
True, streaming, on-demand programming, and viewing habits, among other things, have changed everything. Still, the overall dominance of football on TV is impressive. I suppose the good news for people like Mrs. Grace is that she has more non-football shows than ever to choose from. That is good news, right? TV
January 5, 2024
Around the dial
For the first "Around the Dial" of 2024, we turn to Comfort TV, where David continues to make his way through the television of the 1970, watching an episode from each prime time series. He's up to
Wednesday, 1973
, where CBS dominates the night with three top-ten shows: Sonny & Cher, Cannon, and Kojak.At Cult TV Blog, John introduces a new series on The Prisoner, one that seeks to read the show on the assumption that Patrick McGoohan's Number 6 did not resign, but instead is a plant sent to spy on the operations of The Village. It's a provocative theory, one introduced in a book both he and I have read (The Official Prisoner Companion), and I'm looking forward to what he does with it.
Aurora celebrates the 12th anniversary of Once Upon a Screen with some meditations on the number twelve, which, if you want to look at it this way is twice six, which brings us back to The Prisoner! (Nicely done there, don't you think?) Anyway, thanks for twelve good years, and here's hoping we see twelve more!
At Realweegiemedget, Gill brings down the curtain on 2023 with a look at the considerable television work from three of the stars we've lost in the past year : Gayle Hunnicutt, David McCallum and Matthew Perry. This year did seem to take its toll, didn't it?
Terence is also looking back at A Shroud of Thoughts, with a reminder of how eventful a year 2023 was in the entertainment industry. Dare we hope that good trends will increase in 2024, while bad ones will ease up? We'll see.
Rick joins in the retrospective mood at Classic Film & TV Cafe with his top ten posts of 2023 . Naturally, he's talking about the posts that got the most views, since if he was referring to quality, he'd need a lot more than ten places!
Meanwhile, Professor Barnhardt closes down his Journal, which has entertained us for more than 20 years. Fortunately, the archives remain available, and good luck with the other things that Bob's looking to work on; I hope they bring you satisfaction!
Roger and Mike are back at The View from the Junkyard, and what they're viewing at the moment is " Death's Door ," from the Steed/Peel run of The Avengers. It's an episode that contains a mystery that needs to be solved: see if our dynamic duo is up to the challenge.
Someone I always liked but hadn't thought of lately is the singer Roger Miller, and I remember enjoying his short-lived variety show when it was on in 1966-67. (Why I remember that is beyond me, but such are the mysteries of life.) So thanks to Travalanche for taking a closer look at Miller's singing and acting career , which was more impressive than you might recall.
I've commented several times on my appreciation for Ernie Kovacs and his career; he's one of the great TV pioneers whose work has stood the test of time. Paul shares my enthusiasm at Drunk TV, where he looks at the terrific Ernie Kovacs DVD Collection , which barely scratches the surface of Kovacs' brilliance.
Remember Space: 1999? Of course you do. With Martin Landeau, Barbara Bain, Catherine Schell, and Barry Morse, it was a serious attempt to create a serious science fiction series. It only ran for two seasons, but if you'd like more, try and get E.C. Tubb’s Space: 1999 Rogue Planet , a TV tie-in novel reviewed this week at Cult TV Lounge. TV
January 3, 2024
WCCO's Miracle on 9th Street, 1974 - local programming the way it should be
When I was growing up, and for many years thereafter, WCCO, the CBS affiliate in Minneapolis-St. Paul, was considered one of the best hard news stations in the United States, and one that took seriously the admonition to provide meaningful public affairs programming to the community. Over the years, the station won five Peabody awards for local programming, and produced documentaries on Vietnam, Northern Ireland, and other heavyweight topics, always looking at the Minnesota angle to the story.They were also one of the few stations to use the Prime Time Access Rule for the purpose for which it was originally intended, at least for one night a week. Moore on Sunday, a kind of local 60 Minutes, featured in-depth providing the kind of in-depth reporting and commentary that we often say we want from our local stations yet seldom watch; the show ran for two decades and itself won a Peabody. The host of Moore on Sunday was Dave Moore, the legendary anchorman for WCCO from 1957 to 1991, a man who could project the gravitas that is missing so often in local news today.
And yet, that was In addition to being a newsman, Moore was also an amateur actor, occasionally appearing in local theaters. He usually expressed his natural haminess through The Bedtime Nooz , his satirical news spoof that ran late Saturday nights during the '60s and early '70s. However, on December 22, 1974, Moore on Sunday presented something quite extraordinary for a local public-affairs program: an original comedy-drama entitled Miracle on 9th Street.
Miracle on 9th Street (named after the then-location of WCCO's studios) displays the satire typical of The Bedtime Nooz, criticizing the commercialism of Christmas (including the station's own role in it), with wonderful over-the-top performances by weatherman Bud Kraehling as the evil toy manufacturer, Ron Meshbesher, one of the Twin Cities' most prominent attorneys, playing himself as Kris Kringle's defense attorney, and real-life members of WCCO's news team (reporter Rod Challenger, commentator Al Austin, and station manager Sherm Headley). It's filled with inside jokes aimed at Minnesotans of the era, but the gist of the story is as timeless as the movie it spoofs, Miracle on 34th Street. Most of all, it's Moore's portrayal of Kris Kringle, a mix of off-the-wall comedy and poignant warmth, that carries the day.
The story, in a nutshell: Kris Kringle is an elderly man (with white hair and beard), stranded in the Twin Cities when his Amtrak train is forced to layover due to budget cuts. Meanwhile, at the studios of WCCO, the director of a local kids' show is forced to scramble when the announcer scheduled to play Santa (John Gallos) is injured after a picture of Laurel and Hardy falls on his head, knocking him out.* Seeing Kris passing by the studio, the director begs him to substitute for the injured Gallos and play Santa. All he has to do is give each child in the studio audience a toy from the Tuffy Toy Company.
*The video showing Gallos being hit by the picture is real, having happened while Gallos was hosting the weekly Laurel & Hardy show. It was one of the Twin Cities' most well-known bloopers.
Everything proceeds according to plan until, while giving one of the children a toy robot, Kris notices how poorly made and potentially dangerous the toy is, and calls out Tuffy Toys on the air. The owner of the company, Hiram Blye (Kraehling), is outraged by Kris's criticism of his company, and promptly files a $1 million slander suit against WCCO and Kris, a case that is due to go to trial just before Christmas.
Much as the original Miracle on 34th Street, Miracle on 9th Street functions on multiple levels, eschewing sentimentality in favor of a comedic/satiric parody. In the case of 9th Street, the satire is mostly expressed inwardly, as a spoof of the television business: the director consulting a notebook to make sure he uses the right technical jargon, the banal questions asked by reporters, and most of all the kowtowing to station sponsors. Moore and Kraehling do double-duty, playing themselves during the WCCO newscast as well as their characters in the story, in scenes that are shot on tape, using WCCO's actual news set and graphics. (Imagine today's local anchors deigning to do the same.) In one memorable scene that could have come straight out of The Bedtime Nooz, WCCO reporter Rod Challenger is doing his standup in front of the Hennepin County Government Center when a beautiful young woman walks past him. The cameraman ignores Challenger entirely, following the woman as she continues walking, returning to Challenger only when the annoyed reporter stops talking.
One of my favorite moments occurs later in the report, when Challenger interviews Kringle as part of his story:
Voiceover: During an interview, we asked Kringle what he thought his chances were of being acquitted in the million-dollar libel action scheduled to begin tomorrow in Hennepin County District Court.
Challenger: Mr. Kringle, what do you think your chances are of being acquitted in the million-dollar libel action scheduled to begin tomorrow in Hennepin County District Court?
Kringle: Oh, not bad.
Later, Challenger notes how, with three days to go until Christmas, defense attorney Meshbesher requests a delay in the proceedings "so that his client could attend to some important prior commitments," business that Kringle was reluctant to discuss it in open court "for fear people would laugh." The judge invites Kringle to approach the bench to explain it in confidence; Kringle does so, but "the judge laughed and denied the motion." As Challenger does the voiceover, the report is accompanied by sketches from a courtroom artist (cameras in the courtroom being decades away).
Al Austin, WCCO's editorial journalist and investigative reporter, also has fun spoofing his well-known liberal views, attacking the "powerful Toy Lobby in Washington" in an almost word-for-word parody of his frequent gun control commentaries, simply replacing the word "guns" with "toys." Austin slams dangerous toys as "cheap Saturday morning specials," and concludes with his call that "all toys should be registered." We then see Blye, who has just viewed Austin's editorial, calling the station's editorial feedback line, identifying himself as an "average" viewer and going on to refer to Austin as "a no-good, filthy, pinko, radical idiot." Such satire is the equal of anything in Miracle on 34th Street, all the more amazing because it's being done by the very industry and personalities it targets.
*Pretty much the same thing my mother called him every time he delivered one of his editorials.
I enjoy this for so many reasons: the multi-leveled satire, the attention to detail in the faux news reports, the in-jokes that Minnesotans would get but that aren't necessary in order to appreciate the show. Most of all, I marvel at the idea of a half-hour comedy being done by a local station, using the station's own personnel, on a public affairs program produced by that same local station. It shows the kind of commitment to the community that the FCC valued so highly back in the day, and which is so lacking now—just like the kids' shows, local movie hosts, and variety shows that have almost entirely bitten the dust. And it isn't even the only time WCCO did something like this; among others, there was One Who Stole at Christmas in 1982 and The Gift of the Magi in 1984.
At a time when informercials and syndicated garbage take up non-network hours and some local stations are shuttering their news operations , it's good to take a look back at the way stations used to operate. Will we ever see anything ljke it again? TV
January 1, 2024
What's on TV? Monday, January 1, 1962
I debated whether or not to do New Year's Day as our first listing for 2024. After all, I've already given you the highlights of the day; what more could there be? But then I reconsidered. Unlike later New Year's, the bowl games are over by the beginning of the evening, meaning that the regular prime-time schedule is more or less unaffected. We have Johnny Carson, who later in the year will become the new host of The Tonight Show, as a panelist on To Tell the Truth; Brett Somers and John Larch as a husband and wife on Ben Casey; Alan Hale on The Andy Griffith Show; and Dick Van Dyke as a guest on I've Got a Secret. So there was more to add after all! The listings are from the Philadelphia edition; any references you might see to channels 15, 21, 27, and 43 are stations in Lebanon, York, and Harrisburg; only their network listings appear in TV Guide, and so they haven't been included here. Happy New Year!-3- WRCV (NBC) MORNING 5:45 THOUGHT FOR TODAY 5:50 FARM AND MARKET NEWS 5:55 NEWS 6:00 GOAL OF LIFE—Religion 6:30 STORY—Music 7:00 TODAY—John Chancellor 9:00 LEE DEXTER—Children 9:30 EXERCISE—Roeder 9:50 WHAT’S DOING—Bob Bradley 9:55 NEWS—Bob Bradley 10:00 SAY WHEN—Art James 10:30 PLAY YOUR HUNCH—Griffin COLOR Guest: Della Reese. Host: Merv Griffin 11:00 PRICE IS RIGHT COLOR 11:30 TOURNAMENT OF ROSES PARADE—Pasadena SPECIAL COLOR Commentators: Betty White, Roy Neal, John Davidson The first 15 minutes are telecast in black and white. “Concentration,” “Your First Impression” and “Truth or Consequences” will not be seen today. AFTERNOON 1:45 SUGAR BOWL—Alabama vs. Arkansas SPECIAL COLOR Alabama vs. Arkansas at New Orleans “Jan Murray,” “Loretta Young,” “Young Dr. Malone” and “Make Room for Daddy” will not be seen today. 4:30 SCOUTING REPORT SPECIAL “Here’s Hollywood” will not be seen. 4:45 ROSE BOWL—UCLA vs. Minnesota SPECIAL COLOR UCLA vs. Minnesota at Pasadena “Kukla and Ollie,” “Five O’clock Show” and the Huntley-Brinkley Report will not be seen tonight. EVENING 8:00 NATIONAL VELVET—Drama 8:30 PRICE IS RIGHT—Bill Cullen COLOR 9:00 87TH PRECINCT—Police 10:00 THRILLER—Mystery 11:00 NEWS—Vince Leonard COLOR 11:10 WEATHER—Kinnan COLOR 11:15 JACK PAAR—Variety COLOR 1:00 DOUGLAS FAIRBANKS—Drama 1:30 SPEAK UP—Discussion 2:00 NEWS 2:05 THOUGHT FOR TODAY
-6- WFIL (ABC) MORNING 6:45 R.F.D. SIX—Agriculture 7:00 BREAKFAST TIME COLOR 7:30 ROCKY AND HIS FRIENDS 7:45 MORGAN IN THE MORNING 9:00 TRIANGLE THEATER—Drama “Edge of the Law” 9:30 MUMMERS PARADE—Philadelphia SPECIAL AFTERNOON 12:45 ORANGE BOWL—LSU vs. Colorado SPECIAL Louisiana State vs. Colorado at Miami “Day in Court,” “December Bride,” “Number Please,” “Seven Keys,” “Queen for a Day,” and “Who Do You Trust” will not be seen today. 3:30 MUMMERS PARADE Time approximate 5:30 YOGI BEAR—Cartoons EVENING 6:00 POPEYE THEATER—Starr COLOR 6:55 CLUTCH CARGO COLOR 7:00 NEWS—Gunnar Back COLOR 7:10 WEATHER—Davis COLOR 7:15 NEWS—ABC Evening 7:30 CHEYENNE 8:30 RIFLEMAN—Western 9:00 SURFSIDE 6 10:00 BEN CASEY 11:00 NEWS—ABC Final 11:10 NEWS—Gunnar Back COLOR 11:20 WEATHER—Davis COLOR 11:25 SPORTS—Mal Alberts COLOR 11:30 MOVIE—Biography World’s Best Movies: “Juarez” (1939)
-8- WGAL (Lancaster) (CBS, NBC) MORNING 7:00 TODAY—John Chancellor 9:00 BIG PICTURE—Army 9:30 FUNNY MANNS—Cliff Norton 9:40 KUKLA AND OLLIE—Tillstrom 9:45 DEBBIE DRAKE—Exercise 10:00 SAY WHEN—Art James 10:30 PLAY YOUR HUNCH—Griffin COLOR Guest: Della Reese. Host: Merv Griffin 11:00 PRICE IS RIGHT COLOR 11:30 TOURNAMENT OF ROSES PARADE—Pasadena SPECIAL COLOR Commentators: Betty White, Roy Neal, John Davidson The first 15 minutes are telecast in black and white. “Concentration,” “Your First Impression” and “Truth or Consequences” will not be seen today. AFTERNOON 1:45 SUGAR BOWL—Alabama vs. Arkansas SPECIAL COLOR Alabama vs. Arkansas at New Orleans “Jan Murray,” “Loretta Young,” “Young Dr. Malone” and “Make Room for Daddy” will not be seen today. 4:30 SCOUTING REPORT SPECIAL “Here’s Hollywood” will not be seen. 4:45 ROSE BOWL—UCLA vs. Minnesota SPECIAL COLOR UCLA vs. Minnesota at Pasadena “Kukla and Ollie,” “Five O’clock Show” and the Huntley-Brinkley Report will not be seen tonight. EVENING 7:30 TO TELL THE TRUTH Panelists: Peggy Cass, Betty Furness, Tom Poston, Johnny Carson. Host: Bud Collyer. 8:00 PETE AND GLADYS 8:30 PRICE IS RIGHT—Bill Cullen COLOR 9:00 DANNY THOMAS 9:30 ANDY GRIFFITH 10:00 THRILLER—Mystery 11:00 NEWS, SPORTS AND WEATHER COLOR 11:30 JACK PAAR—Variety COLOR 1:00 NEWS 1:05 ONE MINUTE WITH YOUR BIBLE
10 WCAU (CBS) MORNING 5:50 GIVE US THIS DAY—Religion 5:55 NEWS 6:00 COLLEGE OF THE AIR New Biology: Review 6:30 HOUSE WE LIVE IN 7:00 BILL BENNETT’S ALMANAC 7:30 NEWS—Crane, Hart, Leslie 7:35 PIXANNE—Children 8:00 CAPTAIN KANGAROO 9:00 GENE LONDON—Children 9:30 MUMMERS PARADE—Philadelphia SPECIAL AFTERNOON 2:15 COTTON BOWL—Mississippi vs. Texas SPECIAL Mississippi vs. Texas at Dallas “House Party,” “Millionaire,” “Verdict is Yours,” “Brighter Day,” and “Edge of Night” will not be seen today. 5:30 MOVIE—Comedy Early Show: “Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein” (1949) EVENING 7:00 NEWS—John Facenda 7:05 CHARLES SHAW—Commentary 7:10 WEATHER—Herb Clarke 7:15 NEWS—Walter Cronkite 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: Dick Van Dyke. Panelists: Dorothy Collins, Betsy Palmer, Henry Morgan, Bill Cullen. Host: Garry Moore. 11:00 NEWS—John Facenda 11:10 WEATHER—Herb Clarke 11:15 MOVIE—Comedy Late Show: “Behind the Eight Ball” (1942) Philadelphia TV Debut. 12:30 MOVIE—Drama Time approximate. Late Late Show: “Midnight Madonna” (1937) Philadelphia TV Debut. 2:00 NEWS 2:05 GIVE US THIS DAY—Religion
TV
December 30, 2023
This week in TV Guide: December 30, 1961
The new movie, Maestro, directed by and starring Bradley Cooper, tells the story—OK, a story—of Leonard Bernstein, the famed conductor and composer, one of the giants of the classical/pop culture crossover of the 20th Century. This week's feature article, by Edith Efron, also tells a story of Leonard Bernstein—specifically, the Young People's Concerts that began on CBS in 1958 and ran for 13 seasons and, I think, represent his most important and lasting contribution to classical music.Efron joins Bernstein following his first telecast of the 1961-62 season, a study of impressionism that, lucidly and literately, explains the musical style to an audience of children who listen, transfixed, to Bernstein's talk—lecture would be far too stuffy a word to describe how he communicates the complexities of musical theory, in such a way that both children and adults can understand such concepts as how bitonality aids in creating the dreamy image that is impressionism. The whole of the interview takes place in Bernstein's cramped dressing room, where we're exposed to the full-on magnitude of the maestro's blinding rock-star celebrity.
It's a chaotic scene, with Efron (the "girl reporter") crammed into a crouching position under the sink while Bernstein tries to shave without cutting himself. She's hard-pressed to get her questions in between interruptions: elegantly-dressed ladies praising Bernstein's performance; children asking for autographs; photographers asking him to pose standing up, sitting down, pretending to be conducting ("I can't fake conducting," Bernstein snaps at one); aides and press agents, all looking for a piece of the maestro. I haven't seen the movie yet, but I have to wonder if it could possibly capture the kinetic energy of the scene.
In between it all, though, we do get some interesting perspectives on Bernstein's thoughts about music. Asked why children should be introduced to music, he replies, almost disbelievingly, "The purpose is pleasure. Pleasure—nothing else. Music makes life more enjoyable, more exalted, more berable." If it's true that many children consider listening to classical music a duty, it's "[b]ecause so many adults consider it as a duty." It becomes a challenge if the parent doesn't like classical music; "Children are sensitive to parents' likes and dislikes. On the other hand, music is there. A child can discover it independently." And there should be no limit to the kind of music that a child is exposed to; "Very few things are beyond a child's comprehension. Any good music will do. The only thing to watch out for is not to strain a child's attention span." We learn some other things about Bernstein's philosophy. While scrambling around for his shirt (it turns out he already has it on), he proffers the idea that there is no such thing as bad taste in music. "There is only good art and bad art," he says, extending the analogy, "good Beethoven and dull Beethoven, good rock 'n' roll and bad rock 'n' roll." The last catches Efron off-guard—the master of classical music praising rock music? "Elvis Presley," he goes on. "There's one, 'I'm All Shook Up'." I like it. Presley's performance is fantastic."
Through all this, I think we get an insight into why Bernstein was such a good teacher. Because he gives children credit for being able to comprehend ideas and concepts, he doesn't talk down to them—instead, he breaks ideas down into more digestible bits and pieces, using references that are relevant to them. He doesn't tell them to be interested in classical music; instead, he demonstrates what makes it interesting, trusting that they'll accompany him on the journey. He conveys the passion, the love he has for music, confident that they'll catch the bug as he once did.
I was a faithful viewer of the Young People's Concerts for the few years that I was of an age to understand them. I was fortunate to be introduced to classical music in school, by the Young People's Concerts that the Minneapolis Symphony staged. I had a mother who appreciated classical music, and was willing to invest in it on my behalf. Even though I've never played an instrument, it has, in Bernstein's words, provided pleasure.
It's true that public schools don't make that investment any more. Television doesn't either; it hasn't invested in anything particularly artistic in decades. The audience for the long-haired stuff is getting older all the time, and nobody quite seems to know how to attract younger audiences. That's an issue for another day. But if Maestro the movie does well, one can hope that, no matter how fleeting, classical music can be cool again. If that happens, then the maestro will have succeeded once again.
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New Year's Day, in 1962 as well as 2024, is Monday, and that means one thing: football. Well, actually it means more than that, but we'll get to the rest later. But, as Melvin Durslag writes, football fans are "up to their eyeballs" in bowl games, and the colleges are loving every minute of it.
There are twelve bowl games scheduled for the end of the season (as contrasted to the 42 being played this year), and none of them are named after corporate advertisers. But, as any fan can tell you, there are only four that really matter, and all of them are being played on January 1: the Rose, Sugar, Cotton, and Orange Bowls. They are the games "in whose stadia loot is collected in the largest quantities and whose fame is enhanced each New Year's Day with national television before enormous audiences."
Despite the revenue and exposure generated by the games, there are critics in the educational realm who feel the games are unnecessary, creating an overemphasis on athletics. That the regular season usually ends in late November, with the national champion already chosen before the bowls are played, only strengthen the argument. It's one reason, in fact, why, Ohio State's faculty council declined the invitation to the 1962 Rose Bowl despite the Buckeyes winning the Big 10 championship, which would ordinarily have resulted in a trip to Pasadena. They hoped their decision would "vastly improv[e] the university's reputation as an academic institution fit for service in a Cold War political economy."* At any rate, as Durslag points out, money being thrown around by TV has boosted the overall budgets of the participating schools and their conferences to such an extent that any sentiment to the contrary is becoming a moot point. *I went into the behind-the-scenes drama of the 1962 bowl selection process in this 2012 article, which you can read here.
Which brings us to the big day itself, starting at 12:45 p.m. ET with ABC's coverage of the Orange Bowl, pitting #4 LSU against #7 Colorado, reported by Curt Gowdy, Paul Christman, and Jim Simpson. (LSU 25, Colorado 7) At 1:45 p.m., NBC kicks off the first of its New Year's Day doubleheader, with undefeated national champion Alabama taking on #9 Arkansas in the Sugar Bowl; Lindsey Nelson and Art Gleason are behind the mic. (Alabama 10, Arkansas 3) If that's not enough for you, CBS joins the fray at 2:15 p.m. with the Cotton Bowl, as Tom Harmon and Johnny Lujack covering the action between #5 Mississippi and #3 Texas. (Texas 12, Mississippi 7) Finally, it's the Granddaddy of them all, the Rose Bowl, beginning at 4:45 p.m. on NBC, with Mel Allen and Braven Dyer calling the game between #6 Minnesota, becoming the first Big 10 team to make consecutive appearances in the Rose Bowl, and unranked UCLA. (Minnesota 21, UCLA 3)
These games were, practically speaking, exhibition games, originally meant to boost tourism in the host cities. They did not count in the standings, the national champion already having been selected; and they served as a reward for excellence, with players often expressing preferences based on the cities they'd like to travel to. (New Orleans was always a popular destination.) Perhaps it wasn't the best way to choose the best team, and Heaven knows there was plenty of corruption in college sports even then, but it seems like it was much simpler, maybe even more fun than it is today. I feel for those who never got a chance to experience it, even just as a fan.
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There's more to New Year's than football, though, hard as it may be to believe. I myself used to scoff, back in the day, at the idea that there could be anything more important than the bowl games. Not being a partier, my idea of a good time on New Year's Eve was sitting down with one of the lesser bowl games and then watching the ball drop in New York. The parties that we did go to were sedate ones with family or friends, always in someone's home. Lately, it's been New Year's Eve marathons with The Three Stooges, Thin Man or Matt Helm movies, and so on. If we make it to midnight, it's been a good day.
So I have to ask, is New Year's Eve still a thing? Do people go out, or did the virus finally kill all that off? It was a thing back in 1961; as kind of a pre-show, Gordon and Sheila MacRae host Highways of Melody (10:00 p.m., NBC), a musical hour sponsored by Cities Service (Citgo), which explains the "Highway" motif. Their guests include George Chakiris, Buddy Ebsen, Kathryn Grayson, Jack Jones, Rita Moreno, Jane Morgan, the Cities Service Singers and Dancers, and Paul Lavalle and the Band of America.
At 11:15 p.m. on NBC, the serious shows begin. Bandleader Xavier Cugat and his then-wife, singer Abby Lane, host a New Year's Eve party from the ballroom of the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York. (NBC). Just before midnight, the cameras switch to Times Square, where Ben Grauer covers the ball drop. Mr. New Year's Eve himself, Guy Lombardo, does the honors on CBS (11:15 p.m.), with newsman Robert Trout in Times Square.
That brings us to New Year's Day itself and the parades, and you'll notice the plural. It actually starts on Saturday night, with live coverage of the King Orange Jamboree Parade in Miami, with Jim McKay and George Fenneman describing the spectacular (7:30 p.m., ABC). This parade ceased after the national television contract ended (a misfortune that also befell the Cotton Bowl Parade), but it made the game itself feel more special, more than just a simple football game.
This being a Philadelphia edition, it's appropriate that Monday morning begins on multiple channels with the Mummers Parade (9:30 a.m., WFIL and WCAU in Philadelphia, plus stations in Lebanon, Harrisburg, and York), a marathon that runs nearly five hours, either non-stop or sandwiched between bowl games, depending on the station. At 11:30 a.m. on NBC, it's the Granddaddy of all parades, the Tournament of Roses, live and in color (except for the first 15 minutes). Former Tournament president John Davidson narrates the opening portion of the telecast, reviewing the history of the parade and what to expect today. He's then joined by Betty White and NBC newsman Roy Neal (a curious choice) for commentary. Among the stars appearing in the parade are actors John McIntire, Scott Miller, Frank McGrath, and Terry Wilson from Wagon Train; John Russell and Peter Brown from Lawman; and Grand Marshal Albert Rosellini, governor of Washington, who was probably chosen based on Seattle hosting the 1962 World's Fair.
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That seems like a pretty big start to the year, but there's more. Not content to turn the spotlight over completely to the college game, the NFL Championship is Sunday, with the New York Giants taking on the Green Bay Packers in the first championship game ever played in Green Bay (1:45 p.m., NBC). Lindsey Nelson, who heads to New Orleans after the game to cover Monday's Sugar Bowl, and Chris Schenkel are on the play-by-play. The Packers, who lost in heartbreaking fashion to the Philadelphia Eagles in last year's title tilt, rout the Giants 37-0, the start of a reign of terror over the rest of the league that will result in five championships over seven years (including three in a row), plus the first two Super Bowls. They remain the last team to win three consecutive league championships. It's the oldest NFL Championship game for which the original TV broadcast exists; you can see the game in its entirety here .
Also on Sunday is a curious program that attracted my attention for an even more curious reason. It's called Let Freedom Ring (3:00 p.m., CBS), featuring Richard Boone, Laraine Day, Howard Keel, and Dan O'Herlihy, and starring the group now known as the the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square. It's an hour of patriotic music, interspersed with dramatic readings and performances by the four stars; Boone recites the Gettysburg Address, for example, and Day reads Lincoln's famous Letter to Mrs. Bixby; neither of these choices was coincidental, given that 1961 was the 100th anniversary of Lincoln's presidency. It is, in its way, a perfect example of a Sunday afternoon program, one that would have been at home on Omnibus. It's a bit static, very serious, and ultimately sounds a hopeful note for the nation as the new year approaches.As for the curious reason why this stood out for me: the program was rebroadcast by CBS on Saturday morning, November 23, 1963, as part of the network's coverage of the aftermath of JFK's assassination. You might think this an odd choice, and if it were to be seen purely as an entertainment show, you'd be right. But the very nature of it being static, serious, and hopeful is why it was shown: it was a reminder to a shell-shocked nation about the greatness of America, reflected in part through the words of its first martyred president. Of the several memorial concerts broadcast over that weekend, I think this was the only one not specifically done for the occasion. But then, maybe this kind of thing only interests me.
With the bowl games taking up Monday, there are several weekday programs making their debuts on Tuesday, including Your First Impression, a new game show hosted by Bill Leydon (noon, NBC). It's a variation on the mystery guest segment of What's My Line?, with a panel of celebrities trying to guess the identity of the guest based on clues given to them by Leydon; Dennis James is a regular panelist and fills in for Leydon on occasion. The show has a healthy run, lasting until June, 1964. Also premiering this day is Floyd Kalber's five-minute afternoon newscast (2:25 p.m., NBC), a staple for many years. By the way Kalber's nickname was "The Big Tuna"; has any newsman ever had a better one? Jane Wyman returns as host and occasional star of her eponymous dramatic anthology series (2:00 p.m., ABC), and NBC debuts the serial Our Five Daughters (3:30 p.m.), "the story of Helen and Jim Lee and their daughters." It had better be a short story; the series is gone nine months later, barely time for one of the daughters to have a baby.
There's a pictorial feature this week on how makeup artists prepare Sebastian Cabot's beard for the detective series Checkmate (among other tidbits, the reddish-brown hair is sprayed with glit paint, since it shows up as jet black on B&W), and his beard needs to be in good form in Wednesday's episode (8:30 p.m., CBS), as Jack Benny makes his TV dramatic debut playing a comedian who discovers someone has planted a bomb in his suitcase. Also on Wednesday, Bonanza stars Lorne Greene and Dan Blocker guest on Perry Como's Kraft Music Hall (9:00 p.m., NBC).
The end of the year is a great time for year-end reviews: poet John Ciardi hosts Accent on 1961 (Thursday, 9:00 p.m.), a special edition of his weekly CBS series, and his words accompany a picture montage of the major events of the past year. And what a year it was—Alan Shepard's space shot, Roger Maris's 61st home run, Judy Garland at Carnegie Hall, the Freedom Riders in the South, the JFK inauguration, and more. The flip side of a year-end review is a preview of the coming year, and that's what NBC has in store with Projection '62 (Friday, 9:30 p.m.), with Frank McGee hosting hosting the network's domestic and foreign correspondents in a look back at the year past, and predictions on what might be ahead. And it tells you something about how large news staffs used to be, with McGee talking to correspondents covering Berlin, Moscow, Tokyo, Africa, South America, India and the Middle East, London, Paris, Southeast Asia, Cuba and the Caribbean, and the White House. Not for nothing was NBC the leading news source on television.l l l
On the cover this week is Cynthia Pepper, star of the new ABC sitcom Margie, set in the flapper era of 1926. Actually, Jim Henaghan's story is as much about her stage father Jack, a failed vaudevillian who reared Cynthia for the very purpose of stardom. Despite being called "one of [20th Century Fox's] most valuable properties," her career is of limited duration; Margie is her only starring role in a series, and she might be just as well-known for playing Midge in Elvis Presley's Kissin' Cousins. I wonder what Leonard Bernstein thought of the music in that? Still, as I always note in situations like this, her movie career lasted a lot longer than mine.
There's also an interesting behind-the-scenes look at one of the most high-pressure quiz shows on television, and the exhaustive preparation required by the participants prior to appearing on it. No, it's not Jeopardy; that doesn't even premiere until 1964, and anyway, as far as intellectual wattage is concerned, it doesn't even begin to compare to the show in question, G-E College Bowl. I always considered it a moment of great pride to be able to correctly answer one question on that show; I'm not sure that the hardest question on today's Jeopardy would even make it to a practice round of College Bowl. At the time of this article, Allen Ludden is the host of College Bowl, but as his other show, Password, adds a nighttime edition to its weekly daytime version, he cedes the role to Robert Earle, the host whom I remember. I was always sorry about the show leaving the air; t the time, with violent dissent running wild on college campuses, General Electric decided it was bad optics to be associated with such radicals. It was revived for a couple of seasons in 2020 with Peyton Manning as host, but I'm sorry—after Ludden and Earle (and Art Fleming, who hosted an earlier revival), it's hard to take a show like College Bowl seriously with Peyton Manning as host. l l l
And so we come to the end of another year of "This week in TV Guide," and for the first time in many, many years, we've had 52 new issues, with no repeats from previous years, something I'm very pleased about. Unlike many collectors, I don't own a full set of TV Guides covering multiple decades; in fact, I don't even have a complete set of issues from any single year. I've been fortunate enough to piece together this year thanks to a combination of issues I own, those loaned to me by others, those from the Internet Archive, and some from other online sources. Although I've got a couple of dozen lined up so far for next year, with more to come, I don't know if we'll ever see an entire year of new issues again.
Nevertheless, it's been satisfying to pull it off, and I've got you to thank for helping me do it. I've done around 500 through the years, and if you have an issue you'd like to see me cover, feel free to email me about it. And when we come back on Monday for the listings, they'll be from a new year, 1962, and we'll be in a new year, 2024. Until then, have a safe and happy New Year. TV
December 29, 2023
Around the dial
Up first for this last "Around the Dial" of the Spyear is Jack's Hitchcock Project at bare-bones e-zine, where we're up to Thomas Grant's second contribution to the series, "
Hooked
," airing in 1960 and starring Robert Horton and Anne Francis, with a terrific twist ending.At Cult TV Blog, John looks at The Avengers episode " Quick-Quick Slow Death ," and just as Jack often compares the TV version of a story with the original source material, John looks at the episode from two different angles: the television broadcast, and a version aired on the South African Springbok Radio. Interesting comparison.
The View from the Junkyard travels to Avengers territory as well, with Roger and Mike comparing notes on " Return of the Cybernauts ," a sequel to the hugely popular original Cybernauts story; the show's favorite villains are back with a cautionary message about the growth of technology. See what the two of them have to say.
Last week I linked to Variety's 100 Greatest TV Shows of All Time list, which I managed to avoid reading. If you're curious, though, head over to Comfort TV, where David's done the heavy lifting so you don't have to. Hint: it's what you'd expect, with a few pleasant surprises along the way. Unpleasant ones as well: no room for Gunsmoke or Perry Mason, but Sex and the City at #6? Bite me.
Speaking of "Bite Me," if you're a fan of Mystery Science Theater 3000, you'll recognize that phrase. And for those fans, you'll enjoy Jeffrey Blehar's appreciation of the series at the unlikely site of National Review. Over the many years of this feature, I've linked to both National Review and The Atlantic, which I think says something for my open-mindedness.
And since we're on the subject of favorites, Christmas is, indeed, the most wonderful time of the year, and one of my favorite specials from the Yuletide season is the 1966 edition of The Andy Williams Christmas Show. You can both see it and read about it in this Christmas present from the Metzinger Sisters at Silver Scenes.
At Drunk TV, Paul has moved on to season four of Mister Ed , and it's a return to form for the series, with the season featuring some of the show's best episodes (including the epic "Leo Durocher Meets Mister Ed"), along with a new supporting cast for Ed, Wilbur, and Carol. This was one of those after-school shows for me when I was in grade school, along with Gilligan's Island.
The Horn Section is back, and with it comes F Troop. This week, Hal gives us part one of a more in-depth look at how F Troop did in the ratings during the 1965-66 season. Did it really only place 40th in the ratings for the season, or does it deserve more credit than that? Inquiring minds want to know, and Hal has an answer.
At The Classic TV History Blog, Stephen Bowie interviews director Robert Butler about his experiences directing the first episode of Shane, the 1966 series starring David Carradine that was an ill-fated attempt to continue the story of the legendary movie of the same name. It's a sidebar to this piece from last month , which has more on the background of the series
Tom Smothers died a couple of days ago, aged 86, and not surprisingly, we have a couple of remembrances of the man who formed one half of the influential comedy team; this one from Travalanche, and this one from Terence at A Shroud of Thoughts. I have never pretended to be a fan of the Smothers Brothers; neither, however, have I ever denied their influence and impact.
At Shadow & Substance, Paul has the details on this year's Twilight Zone marathon on Syfy. Well, actually, it would be next year's marathon as well, wouldn't it? It starts on Saturday, December 30, and runs through the early hours of Tuesday, January 2. I'm going to stick to my continuing rewatch of the series on DVD, but this is still a great thing to have.
Before we close, I want to take a moment to thank all of these bloggers, many of whom I know, for their contributions to classic television history over the past year—and to simply providing entertaining reads. Let's do it again next year! TV
December 27, 2023
December 25, 2023
What's on TV? Sunday, December 25, 1955
Merry Christmas, everyone! As TV Guide mentions in its Christmas programming preview, the networks will be devoting Christmas Day almost exclusively to special programming. We covered some of these on Saturday, but that was only the tip of the Christmas tree, so to speak, so let's see what else is in store in this Chicagoland edition.With Christmas Day falling on Sunday, many of the morning's regular religious programs have a Christmas theme, including Look Up and Live (8:30 a.m. CT, CBS), with Merv Griffin, Bruce Buckley, and the Mary Anthony Dancers providing the musical entertainment, plus jazz expert Rev. Alvin Kershaw. WTMJ is back with a Christmas morning service from Mt. Olive Lutheran Church (9:00 a.m.), and NBC presents the Christmas Day Service from Washington National Cathedral (10:00 a.m.); this is another tradition which NBC carried into the 1980s.
The CBS science program Adventure (2:30 p.m.) shows how Christmas is celebrated in different parts of the world, with a remote from a convent in Bethlehem, Connecticut that displays Nativity sets from all races and cultures. That's followed at 3:00 p.m. by This Day We Celebrate, with informal Christmas readings are given by Rosalind Russell, Danny Thomas, Ann Blyth and Frank Lovejoy. At 4:00 p.m., Omnibus presents a semi-staged performance of Handel's "Messiah" with Leonard Bernstein conducting the Symphony of the Air. Fortunately, that broadcast has been preserved, and can be seen here (part one) and here (part two). On You Are There (5:30 p.m., CBS), Walter Cronkite and his reporters join George Washington in his famous Christmas crossing of the Delaware.
Even Dr. Benjamin Spock gets into the act; his childcare advice program (2:00 p.m., NBC) features a choir and narration of the Christmas story. And while it's not, strictly speaking, a Christmas show, Meet the Press (5:00 p.m., NBC) has, as its special guest, poet Robert Frost, talking about the place of poetry and the poet in American culture. Norman Cousins is among the panelists.
In primetime, ABC offers a special Christmas presentation of the movie classic The Red Shoes (6:30 p.m.), starring Moira Shearer, and featuring a ballet based on Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale of the same name. (A pity it wasn't shown in color, but you can see that here .) On NBC, It’s a Great Life (6:00 p.m.) repeats its Christmas show, "There Is a Santa Claus," in which a small boy’s faith in Santa is restored and three skeptics see something to astonish them. The Loretta Young Show (9:00 p.m.) sees its star return from her illness to play a waitress whose faith in the Christmas spirit is restored in " Christmas Stopover ." Over on CBS, Ed Sullivan's Christmas show (7:00 p.m.) is for the kids, with an ice show, puppets, animal acts, and bell ringers. And on Appointment with Adventure (9:00 p.m.), "A Touch of Christmas" stars James Daly in a story of Civil War soldiers at Christmastime.
The day ends with WBKB's midnight triple feature of half-hour made-for-TV Christmas stories: "Christmas for Sweeney," "Joe Santa Claus,' and Vincent Price's "Christmas Carol." Combined with the programs we looked at on Saturday, it shapes up to be quite a day, doesn't it? [ -2- WBBM (CBS) MORNING 8:30 Look Up and Live—Religion Guests: Merv Griffin, Rev. Alvin Kershaw, Bruce Buckley, the Mary Anthony Dancers 9:00 Christmas Party SPECIAL 10:00 MOVIE—Western “Bandits of the Badlands” 11:00 Winky Dink & You 11:30 Hollywood on Broadway “Emergency” AFTERNOON 12:00 Range Rider—Western 12:30 Gene Autry—Western 1:00 MOVIE—Western “Thunder River Feud” 2:00 Talkaround—Kids 2:30 Adventure—Science 3:00 This Day We Celebrate SPECIAL Guests: Rosalind Russell, Danny Thomas, Ann Blyth, Frank Lovejoy 3:30 Playhouse—Drama “Heart of Gold” 4:00 Omnibus—Cooke “The Messiah” with Leonard Bernstein, William Warfield, Adele Addison, Gloria Lane 5:30 You Are There “Washington Crosses the Delaware” EVENING 6:00 Lassie—Drama 6:30 Private Secretary 7:00 ED SULLIVAN 8:00 G.E. THEATER “A Child is Born” 8:30 HITCHCOCK PRESENTS “The Cheney Vase” 9:00 APPOINTMENT WITH ADVENTURE—Drama “A Touch of Christmas” 9:30 WHAT’S MY LINE? 10:00 SUNDAY NEWS SPECIAL 10:15 HARMON’S WORKSHOP 10:30 HOUR OF INTRIGUE 11:30 MOVIE—Musical “Jamboree” 12:00 Playhouse—Drama
4 WTMJ (MILWAUKEE) (NBC) MORNING 8:45 Man to Man—Religion 9:00 Church Services—Religion 10:00 Christmas Day Service SPECIAL From Washington National Cathedral 11:00 This Is the Live—Religion 11:30 To Be Announced AFTERNOON 12:00 MOVIE—To Be Announced 1:30 A Star Shall Rise SPECIAL 2:00 Dr. Spock—Child Care 2:30 Zoo Parade COLOR 3:00 His Way, His Word—Religion DEBUT 3:30 Assignment: India—Documentary SPECIAL COLOR 4:30 Captain Gallant—Adventure 5:00 Soldiers of Fortune 5:30 Roy Rogers EVENING 6:00 It’s a Great Life 6:30 Frontier 7:00 VARIETY HOUR Host: Robert Paige. Film clip from “White Christmas” This is the final show 8:00 ALCOA HOUR “Amahl and the Night Visitors” 9:00 LORETTA YOUNG SHOW—Drama “Christmas Stopover” 9:30 NEWS—Kelly and Clark 10:00 WATERFRONT—Drama 10:30 PEOPLE’S CHOICE 11:00 Big Town—Drama 11:30 NEWS 11:35 MOVIE—Drama “The Sullivans”
-5- WNBQ (NBC) MORNING 8:00 The Christophers—Religion 8:30 Sunday Funnies—Kids 9:00 Bible Times—Stories 9:15 The Pulpit—Religion 9:30 American Forum—Panel 10:00 Christmas Day Service SPECIAL From Washington National Cathedral 11:00 Pet Show—Ned Locke 11:15 Industry on Parade 11:30 Cowboy G-Men—Western AFTERNOON 12:00 Terry and the Pirates 12:30 Frontiers of Faith 1:00 American Inventory 1:30 Youth Wants to Know—Panel 2:00 Dr. Spock—Child Care 2:30 Zoo Parade COLOR 3:00 His Way, His Word—Religion DEBUT 3:30 Assignment: India—Documentary SPECIAL COLOR 4:30 Captain Gallant—Adventure 5:00 Meet the Press Guest: Robert Frost 5:30 Roy Rogers EVENING 6:00 It’s a Great Life 6:30 Frontier 7:00 VARIETY HOUR Host: Robert Paige. Film clip from “White Christmas” This is the final show 8:00 ALCOA HOUR “Amahl and the Night Visitors” 9:00 LORETTA YOUNG SHOW—Drama “Christmas Stopover” 9:30 JUSTICE—Drama “End of a Chase” 10:00 WEATHER—Clint Youle 10:10 DORSEY CONNORS—Ideas 10:15 NEWS—Alex Dreier 10:30 SPORTS—Norm Barry 10:45 PATTI PAGE—Songs 11:00 MOVIE—Drama “Tales of Robin Hood”
-7- WBKB (ABC) MORNING 9:00 The World Tomorrow 9:30 Dr. Preston Bradley—Talk 10:00 MOVIE—Drama “Alice in Wonderland” (English; 1951) 11:30 Faith for Today—Religion AFTERNOON 12:00 Joe Palooka—Drama 12:30 Amateur Hour—Talent 1:30 Wild Bill Hickok—Western 2:00 Long John Silver—Adventure 2:30 Andy’s Gang—Kids 3:00 Captain Z-Ro—Adventure 3:30 Rin Tin Tin—Drama 4:00 Super Circus—Variety 5:00 Cisco Kid—Western 5:30 Soldiers of Fortune EVENING 6:00 You Asked for It—Requests 6:30 Famous Film Festival “The Red Shoes” (1948) Part 1 8:00 CHANCE OF A LIFETIME 8:30 AMATEUR HOUR 9:00 LIFE BEGINS AT 80 9:30 THEATER—Drama “Rain Forest” 10:00 BIG LEAGUE BOWLING 11:30 Ulmer Turner Calling 12:00 Theater—Triple Date (1) “Christmas for Sweeney” (2) “Joe Santa Claus” (3) “A Christmas Carol”
-9- WGN (Du Mont) MORNING 8:30 The Ten Commandments 8:45 The Christophers—Religion 9:00 MOVIE—Western “Thunder Pass” 10:00 MOVIE—Western “Abilene Town” 11:00 MOVIE—Drama “Kid Monk Baroni” (1952) AFTERNOON 12:00 MOVIE—Western “Winds of the Wasteland” 1:00 MOVIE—Comedy “Tucson” (1949) 2:00 MOVIE—Comedy “Arthur Takes Over” (1948) 3:00 CHAMPIONSHIP BOWLING 4:00 MOVIE—Drama “The Strange Mr. Gregory” 5:00 MOVIE—To Be Announced EVENING 6:00 Life with Father—Comedy 6:30 Chicago by Lyon—Variety 7:00 FAITH OF OUR FATHERS 7:30 SUCCESS STORY—Nagel 8:00 MOVIE—Drama “A Christmas Carol” (English; 1951) 10:00 MOVIE—Drama “It’s a Wonderful Life” (Chicago TV Debut) 11:30 NEWS—Les Nichols 11:45 Beauty Secrets—Tips
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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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