Mitchell Hadley's Blog: It's About TV!, page 74
May 16, 2022
What's on TV? Tuesday, May 18, 1965
One of the things I most enjoy about looking at New York TV Guides is the big-name network talent that appears on local news broadcasts. Since all the networks have their home bases in NYC, it's not at all uncommon to see, as we do here, Frank McGee, Jim Hartz, Robert MacNeil, and Gabe Pressman on WNBC, Robert Trout on WCBS, or Bill Beutel on WABC. Likewise, in other issues we've seen Bill Ryan on the local news, and in Chicago, Floyd Kalber. Wouldn't that caliber of anchor be cool to see again today? Might even make me start watching the local news again.-2- WCBS (CBS) Morning 6:30 SUMMER SEMESTER Civil Rights and Civil Liberties: The Civil Liberties Revolution of Our Time 7:00 NEWS AND WEATHER 8:00 CAPTAIN KANGAROO 9:00 LOVE THAT BOB!—Comedy 9:30 JACK BENNY—Comedy 9:55 NEWS—Bob Wilson 10:00 NEWS—Mike Wallace 10:30 I LOVE LUCY—Comedy 11:00 ANDY GRIFFITH—Comedy 11:30 McCOYS—Comedy Afternoon 12:00 LOVE OF LIFE—Serial 12:25 NEWS—Robert Trout 12:30 SEARCH FOR TOMORROW 12:45 GUIDING LIGHT—Serial 1:00 LEAVE IT TO BEAVER 1:30 AS THE WORLD TURNS 2:00 PASSWORD—Game Celebrities: Joan Fontaine, George Grizzard 2:30 HOUSE PARTY—Linkletter Guest: Adela Rogers St. Johns 3:00 TO TELL THE TRUTH—Panel Panelists: Robert Q. Lewis, Ann Sheridan, Penny Fuller, Dick Shawn 3:25 NEWS—Douglas Edwards 3:30 EDGE OF NIGHT—Serial 4:00 SECRET STORM 5:00 MOVIE—Drama “The Young Don’t Cry” (1957) Evening 6:30 NEWS—Robert Trout 7:00 NEWS—Walter Cronkite 7:30 EYE ON NEW YORK 8:00 JOEY BISHOP—Comedy 8:30 RED SKELTON—Comedy “A Concert in Pantomime” Introduced by Maurice Chevalier. Guest: Marcel Marceau 9:30 PETTICOAT JUNCTION 10:00 DOCTORS/NURSES 11:00 NEWS—Jim Jensen 11:20 MOVIE—Comedy Late Show: “The Fuller Brush Girl” (1950) 1:00 NEWS—Peter Hymas 1:10 MOVIE—Western Time approximate: Late Late Show: “The Parson of Panamint” (1941) 2:45 MOVIE—Musical Time approximate: “Mountain Music” (1937) 4:20 MOVIE—Comedy Time approximate: “A Night at Earl Carroll’s” (1940)
3 WTIC (HARTFORD) (CBS) Morning 6:30 SUMMER SEMESTER Civil Rights and Civil Liberties: The Civil Liberties Revolution of Our Time 7:00 MAN THE MAKER “The Automatic Age” 7:30 PERCEPTION—Dick Bertel 7:45 PROFILE—History 8:00 CAPTAIN KANGAROO 9:00 HAP RICHARDS—Children 9:15 DEPUTY DAWG—Cartoons 9:30 LEAVE IT TO BEAVER 10:00 NEWS—Mike Wallace 10:30 MOVIE—Mystery “Chase a Crooked Shadow” (1958) Afternoon 12:00 LOVE OF LIFE—Serial 12:25 NEWS—Robert Trout 12:30 SEARCH FOR TOMORROW 12:45 GUIDING LIGHT—Serial 1:00 MOVIE—Drama “The Story of Dr. Wassell” (1944) Pt. 1 1:30 AS THE WORLD TURNS 2:00 PASSWORD—Game Celebrities: Joan Fontaine, George Grizzard 2:30 HOUSE PARTY—Linkletter Guest: Adela Rogers St. Johns 3:00 EDGE OF NIGHT—Serial 3:30 TO TELL THE TRUTH—Panel Panelists: Phyllis Newman, Barry Nelson, Anita Gillette, Jan Murray 3:55 NEWS—Douglas Edwards 4:00 RANGER ANDY—Children Evening 6:00 SPORTS—Bob Steele 6:15 NEWS—Bruce Kern 6:25 WEATHER—Ken Rabat 6:30 NEWS—Walter Cronkite 7:00 TO TELL THE TRUTH—Panel 7:30 JOHN DANDO—Quiz 8:30 RED SKELTON—Comedy “A Concert in Pantomime” Introduced by Maurice Chevalier. Guest: Marcel Marceau 9:30 PETTICOAT JUNCTION 10:00 DOCTORS/NURSES 11:00 NEWS AND SPORTS 11:15 WEATHER 11:20 MOVIE—Western “Last of the Commanches” (1953) 1:00 NEWS AND WEATHER
-4- WNBC (NBC) Morning 6:00 EDUCATION EXCHANGE COLOR Consultation ’65: What is Plastic Surgery? 6:30 CRUSADER RABBIT—Cartoon 7:00 TODAY Guests: Liza Minelli, Fleur D’Antonakis, John Keats 9:00 BIRTHDAY HOUSE—Children 10:00 TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES—Game COLOR 10:30 WHAT’S THIS SONG?—Game COLOR Panelists: Roger Smith, Carmel Quinn 10:55 NEWS—Edwin Newman 11:00 CONCENTRATION—Game 11:30 JEOPARDY—Game COLOR Afternoon 12:00 CALL MY BLUFF—Game COLOR Celebrities: Les Crane, Selma Diamond 12:30 I’LL BET—Game COLOR Celebrities: Bob and Maggie Denver vs. Lola Albright and William Chadney 12:55 NEWS—Ray Scherer 1:00 EVERYTHING’S RELATIVE 1:30 LET’S MAKE A DEAL COLOR 1:55 NEWS—Floyd Kalber 2:00 MOMENT OF TRUTH—Serial 2:30 DOCTORS—Serial 3:00 ANOTHER WORLD—Serial 3:30 YOU DON’T SAY!—Game COLOR Celebrities: Sally Ann Howes, Mel Torme 4:00 MATCH GAME COLOR Panelists: Henry Morgan, Lauren Bacall 4:25 NEWS—Nancy Dickerson Evening 6:00 NEWS—MacNeil, Pressman 7:00 NEWS—Huntley, Brinkley 7:30 MR. NOVAK—Drama 8:00 CAR 54—Comedy 8:30 BEST ON RECORD—Music SPECIAL 9:30 CLOAK OF MYSTERY—Drama “The Earring” 10:00 THE MIDDLE AGES SPECIAL COLOR 11:00 NEWS—Frank McGee 11:10 WEATHER—Tex Antoine 11:15 LOCAL NEWS—Jim Hartz 11:30 JOHNNY CARSON—Variety COLOR Scheduled guests include Don Adams 1:00 NEWS—Geoffrey Pond 1:15 MOVIE—Musical “Little Nellie Kelly” (1940)
-5- WNEW (IND.) Morning 7:15 NEWS 7:30 SURVEY OF THE ARTS Africa: Cultural History, 1807-1960 8:00 SANDY BECKER—Children 8:15 CARTOONS—Children 8:30 ROMPER ROOM—Children 9:30 TOPPER—Comedy 10:00 MOVIE—Drama “The House of Rothschild” (1934) 11:25 NEWS 11:30 HALL OF FUN—Fred Hall Afternoon 1:00 CARTOONS—Children 1:25 NEWS 1:30 MOVIE—Drama “The House of Rothschild” (1934) 2:55 NEWS 3:00 PETER GUNN—Mystery 3:30 CARTOONS—Children 4:30 SANDY BECKER—Children Evening 6:00 MICKEY MOUSE CLUB 6:30 ASTROBOY—Cartoon 7:00 SOUPY SALES—Variety 7:30 WELLS FARGO—Western 8:00 SUGARFOOT—Western 9:00 MOVIE—Drama “Since You Went Away” (1944) 12:30 NEWS 12:40 MOVIE—Drama Time approximate. “I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang” (1942) 2:30 NEWS 2:40 WATERFRONT—Drama
-7- WABC (ABC) Morning 6:20 NEWS 6:30 PROJECT KNOW—Education Journalism: Editing the News III 7:00 CARTOONS—Children 9:00 GALE STORM—Comedy Interrupted for news at 9:15 A.M. 9:15 NEWS—Bill Owen 9:20 GAIL STORM—Comedy 9:30 MOVIE—Comedy “Hired Wife” (1940) Interrupted for news at 11:05 A.M. 11:00 05 NEWS—Bill Owen 11:10 MOVIE—Continued 11:30 PRICE IS RIGHT—Game Celebrity: Hermoine Gingold Afternoon 12:00 DONNA REED—Comedy 12:30 FATHER KNOWS BEST 1:00 REBUS—Game 1:30 GIRL TALK—Panel Panelists: Jayne Mansfield, Beth Holland, Totie Fields 2:00 FLAME IN THE WIND—Serial 2:30 DAY IN COURT—Drama 2:55 NEWS—Marlene Sanders 3:00 GENERAL HOSPITAL—Serial 3:30 YOUNG MARRIEDS—Serial 4:00 TRAILMASTER—Western 5:00 MOVIE—Drama “Hey, Pineapple!” (1963) NY TV Debut Evening 6:30 LOCAL NEWS—Van Sickle 6:45 NEWS—Peter Jennings 7:00 BILKO—Phil Silvers 7:30 COMBAT!—Drama 8:30 McHALE’S NAVY 9:00 TYCOON—Comedy 9:30 PEYTON PLACE—Serial 10:00 FUGITIVE—Drama 11:00 NEWS—Bill Beutel 11:15 NIGHTLIFE—Variety Guest host: Dale Robertson 1:00 MOVIE—Police “The Counterfeiters” (1948)
8 WNHC (NEW HAVEN) (ABC) Morning 6:40 NEWS AND WEATHER 6:45 OPERATION ALPHABET 7:15 PRAYER WITH MONSIGNOR 7:30 MR. GOOBER COLOR 8:30 GLORIA—Exercise COLOR 9:00 GIRL TALK—Panel Panelists: Ilka Chase, Emily Hahn, Sylvia Lyons 9:30 YOUNG MARRIEDS—Serial 10:00 GENERAL HOSPITAL—Serial 10:30 FLAME IN THE WIND—Serial 11:00 REBUS—Game Afternoon 12:00 DONNA REED—Comedy 12:30 FATHER KNOWS BEST 1:00 MOVIE—Musical Comedy “Garden of the Moon” (1938) 2:30 DAY IN COURT—Drama 2:55 NEWS—Marlene Sanders 3:00 TRAILMASTER—Western 4:00 MICKEY MOUSE CLUB 4:30 ADMIRAL JACK 5:30 WOODY WOODPECKER Evening 6:00 LOCAL NEWS—Salmona 6:10 WEATHER—Joe Francis 6:15 NEWS—Peter Jennings 6:30 WIDE COUNTRY—Drama 7:30 COMBAT!—Drama 8:30 McHALE’S NAVY 9:00 TYCOON—Comedy 9:30 PEYTON PLACE—Serial 10:00 FUGITIVE—Drama 11:00 NEWS—George Thompson 11:10 WEATHER—Linda Pritchard 11:15 SPORTS—Carl Grande 11:20 TELL ME, DR. BROTHERS 11:25 MOVIE—Drama “On Dangerous Ground” (1952) 1:00 NEWS
-9- WOR (IND.) Morning 10:50 FARM REPORT 10:55 NEWS AND WEATHER 11:00 PLAYS OF SHAKESPEARE 11:30 TELL ME, DR. BROTHERS COLOR Afternoon 12:00 MEMORY LANE—Joe Franklin Guests: Eartha Kitt, Neil Sedaka 1:30 MOVIE—Opera “The Medium” (1951) 3:00 JAMES BEARD-Women 3:30 MOVIE—Adventure “The Jungle” (1952) 5:00 MIKE DOUGLAS—Variety Co-host: Louis Nye. Guests: Totie Fields, Jean Paul Vignon, Henry Boyd Evening 6:30 TRAILS WEST—Drama 7:00 HARRIGAN AND SON 7:30 MOVIE—Drama Million Dollar Movie: “Big Guy” (1939) 9:00 DANGER IS MY BUSINESS COLOR 9:30 KINGDOM OF THE SEA COLOR 10:00 SPREAD OF THE EAGLE 11:00 NEWS—Wingate, Kiernan 11:15 SPORTS—Clure Mosher 11:25 MOVIE—Science Fiction Million Dollar Movie: “The Lost Missile” (1958) 12:55 NEWS AND WEATHER
11 WPIX (IND.) Morning 8:00 OPERATION ALPHABET II 8:30 CARTOONS—Children 8:40 KUKLA AND OLLIE—Puppets 8:50 CARTOONS—Children 9:00 JACK LA LANNE—Exercise 9:30 RACKET SQUAD—Police 10:00 CODE THREE—Police 10:30 STAR THEATER—Drama 10:55 PINOCCHIO—Cartoon 11:00 CARTOONS—Children 11:30 CAROL CORBETT—Children Afternoon 12:00 CARTOONS—Children 12:30 BUCKAROO 500—Buck Weaver 12:45 DICK TRACY—Cartoon 1:00 MOVIE—Western “Treasure of Ruby Hills” (1955) 2:20 NEWS 2:30 TRUE ADVENTURE 3:00 PIONEERS—Drama 3:30 LAUREL AND HARDY 4:00 CHUCK McCANN—Children 5:00 BEACHCOMBER BILL 5:30 THREE STOOGERS—Comedy Evening 6:00 NEWS—Kevin Kennedy 6:05 LOCAL NEWS—John Tillman 6:25 WEATHER—Vivian Farrar 6:30 SUPERMAN—Adventure 7:00 WOODY WOODPECKER 7:30 YOU ASKED FOR IT 7:55 BASEBALL—Yankees Boston Red Sox at New York Yankees 10:45 YANKEE WRAP UP 11:00 MERV GRIFFIN—Variety Scheduled uests include Sammy Davis Jr. 12:30 SPORTS—Bob Wolff 12:35 BEST OF GROUCHO—Quiz
13 WNDT (EDUC.) Morning 9:30 WORKING WITH SCIENCE 9:50 BOOKS THAT LIVE—Dorian 10:10 PARLONS FRANCAIS II 10:25 GET ON BOARD—Children 10:45 AMERICAN SHRINES 11:05 PARLONS FRANCAIS III 11:20 BOOKS THAT LIVE—Dorian 11:40 FOURTH GRADE SCIENCE Afternoon 12:00 EN FRANCAIS—Lessons 12:30 FRANKLIN TO FROST 1:00 MAGIC OF WORDS 1:15 SOUNDS TO SAY—Desmond 1:30 MATHEMATICS 5 1:50 PARLONS FRANCAIS II 2:05 GET ON BOARD—Children 2:25 BOOKS THAT LIVE—Dorian 2:45 PARLONS FRANCAIS III 3:00 MUSIC INTERLUDE 3:30 INTERMEDIATE READING 4:00 ENGLISH—Junior High School 4:30 LET’S LIPREAD 5:00 CHARITY BAILEY—Children 5:30 WHAT’S NEW—Children Evening 6:00 OPERATION ALPHABET II 6:30 DANCERS IN MAY S 8:00 NEWS—Gary Gilson 8:10 MUSIC INTERLUDE 8:15 CONGRESSIONAL REPORT 8:30 ART OFFILM—Kauffmann 9:00 RED MADONNA—Report SPECIAL 9:30 CREATIVE PERSON—Osborn 10:00 NEWS—Robert Potts 10:05 PORTRAIT IN THOUGHT 10:35 REFLECTIONS TV
May 14, 2022
This week in TV Guide: May 15, 1965
We'll start this week with an actor I've always enjoyed, Robert Lansing. Lately I've been watching a few episodes of his 1967 spy series The Man Who Never Was, a show intriguing enough that I mentioned it in my novel The Car. It should have been better than it was, considering it co-starred Dana Wynter and was produced by John Newland—but then, I'm getting ahead of myself, since I'll be writing about this show, along with many others, in the next version of "What I've Been Watching." It just explains why I have Lansing on my mind today. Anyway, back to this week's issue. As you can see from the cover, Robert Lansing is currently—but not for long—the star of 12 O'clock High, ABC's World War II drama based on the movie starring Gregory Peck. Lansing stars in the Peck role, as General Frank Savage, and for my money he gives a better portrayal than Peck. I've always regarded Peck as a somewhat wooden actor, which is not quite the same thing as Lansing's often understanded acting. But, as is always the case, your mileage may vary. It's not that my opinion is wrong; an opinion, by definition, can't be wrong. If you have a differing opinion, you'd be right too.
But I digress again, and if I don't stop doing that, we'll never get to the end of this. I was talking about Lansing and 12 O'clock High; I've read various accounts of why he was sacked from the show after one season. Quinn Martin, the show's producer, offers one of the strangest reasons I've ever read. His theory: Lansing is an actor who plays best with the audience at a later, more adult, hour—say 10:00 p.m. (ET), which is the time that 12 O'clock High currently airs. Problem is, next season the show's moving to 7:30 p.m., and Martin claims that ABC asked him to "find another series for [Lansing]" that ran at 10 pm. "Had we remained at 10," Martin says, "Bob would have continued."
Now, quite frankly, that sounds ridiculous, but Lansing, who's being replaced by former Naked City star Paul Burke, is sanguine about it. "My contract was with Quinn Martin, and he's the only one I've talked to. I can't be mad at Quinn, either. He says it was the network's decision, and I have no evidence to make me doubt him." To show that he's a team player, Lansing adds that he feels the show's quality will suffer from being moved to an earlier time with, presumably, a younger audience. "When I realized what changes would be made in the show for that younger audience, I knew that 12 O'clock High couldn't be the same quality show next year." Offered the chance to stay on and make occasional appearances, he declined; "12 hours a day is too long to work at something you don't like."
A second theory about Lansing's departure is that it was hard for the audience to accept that General Savage, would be out there in the middle of the war himself, flying bombers, rather than directing things from behind a desk. (Paul Burke's character, by contrast, is a colonel, and we know from Colonel Robert Hogan that colonels do fly bombers.)
I just don't know about all this. As I said, I'm a Lansing fan; he projects a tough, masculine image but has a softer side that still resonates with the audience. For instance, as Detective Carella in 87th Precinct, he was able to portray a no-nonsense cop who still had a sense of humor, not to mention a dedication to protecting the public. As the character Gary Seven, he's one of the few guest stars to hold his own with Mr. Spock and the rest of the Star Trek crew, outwitting them at almost every turn. He did a better job on the short-lived series The Man Who Never Was than the series deserved, and he had a memorable guest role in The Equalizer many years later. Cleveland Amory, a hard man to please, describes Lansing's work in 12 O'clock High: "Make no mistake about it. Robert Lansing is magnificent." The idea that he has to have a "10 p.m." timeslot is just—odd.This leads to today's trivia question, which might make for some fun comments below. The second season of 12 O'clock High begins with Savage's plane being shot down and the general being killed. Paul Burke's previous series, Naked City, was also based on a movie, the stars of which were Barry Fitzgerald as Detective Lt. Dan Muldoon and Don Taylor as his partner, Jimmy Halloran. When the series transitioned to television, John McIntire assumed the Muldoon role (right down to Fitzgerald's Irish brogue; it's a wonderful portrayal), while James Franciscus played Halloran. McIntire soon tired of the weekly grind of a series, however, and was killed off late in the first season, to be replaced by Horace McMahon as Mike Parker.*
*I'll bet you thought I was going to say he was replaced by Paul Burke, right? No, his character replaces Halloran, who disappears for no apparent reason. Perhaps he was drafted to fly B-52s for the Air Force.
Having given you those examples, can you name any other television series adapted from a movie that then proceeded to kill off one of that movie's star characters?
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During the 60s, the Ed Sullivan Show and The Hollywood Palace were the premiere variety shows on television. Whenever they appear in TV Guide together, we'll match them up and see who has the best lineup..Sullivan: Ed's special guests are Rudolf Nureyev and Dame Margot Fonteyn, stars of London's Royal Ballet Company. Also on the bill are Welsh recording star Petula Clark; comedian Alan King, who tells about the New York World's Fair; the West Point Glee Club; the rock 'n' rolling Beach Boys; comedienne Sue Carson and pop singer Frankie Randall.
Palace: Host George Burns introduces operatic soprano Mary Costa; singer Jack Jones; comics Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks in an interview sketch on dating; the Young Americans, vocal group; pantomimists Cully Richards and Company; the Flying Zacchinis, trapeze artists; and the Almiros, jugglers.
The Palace really starts strong this week, both musically (Costa and Jones) and comedically (Burns, Reiner and Brooks), but just when I was starting to get excited—the Young Americans, mimes (I hate mimes), jugglers, trapeze artists...
On the other hand, your affection for Ed will depend largely on what you think of ballet; since Nureyev and Dame Margot are two of the very biggest names in the business, you can bet they're getting a lot of airtime, with three excerpts from Nureyev's version of Swan Lake. I happen to like ballet myself, and since this is my blog, and since I also like Petula Clark and Alan King and think the Beach Boys are probably the best American rock act of the time, I'm giving this week to Ed; he dances away from the Palace.
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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. Chuck Connors was a bankable star on television in the 1950s and '60s. The Rifleman was a hit for five seasons, and he'd go on to star in Arrest and Trial and Cowboy in Africa. In-between the latter two, there was Branded. And that's where we find Cleveland Amory this week.
Connors plays Captain Jason McCord, or rather ex-Captain McCord, washed out of the service for, allegedly, showing cowardice at the Battle of Bitter Creek, a battle in which every other man in his unit was killed. It is, Cleve points out, NBC's version of The Fugitive, only "Instead of the unjustly accused murderer, we have the unjustly accused coward." McCord, you see, is innocent of the charges, and travels around the land trying to convince others of that fact. How to do that when you're the only survivor? Don't worry; "In almost every episode a lot of people keep coming back from the Creek—and, the way we see it, there were more men engaged at Bitter Creek than at Normandy on D-Day."
And that pretty much sums up the entire series in a nutshell. Which is a problem, because the producers are left coming up with, as Amory charitably puts it, some "involved" plots. One example is a girl who hates McCord because her brother died at Bitter Creek, but also needs his testimony to save her ranch from evil bankers, who then threaten to kill McCord themselves until she saves his life. Then, there's the story of the crazy preacher whose two sons beat McCord up; there were three sons, but one of them was killed—at Bitter Creek. No wonder everyone in this series is so bitter. There are also Indians involved in this one; one of them tells McCord, "I could have killed you, but I have no desire to open the old wound of Bitter Creek." Eventually, of course, At the end, only McCord and the preacher are left, with McCord telling him to put away the idea of revenge. "You can't bring old things back. Not your sons, not Bitter Creek, not this town." And that, Cleveland Amory says, is "good, unenigmatic advice, and we hope NBC takes it."
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This week's issue is from New York City, home of movies. Lots and lots of movies. But that doesn't necessarily mean more movies, just more times that movies are on. For example, WNEW (now WNYW, the Fox affiliate, but an independent in 1965) has a movie which they show daily at 10:00 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.*, presumably for those housewives who either go shopping or have to pick up the kids from kindergarten or, I don't know, entertain the milkman in the morning. Whatever the case, when a movie's shown twice during the day, you don't really have any excuse for missing it unless you work outside the office, in which case it wouldn't matter how many times it's on.
*Just so there's no confusion, they show the same movie at 10am and 1:30pm. Not part two of the movie, the same movie. The same exact movie.
Next, there's WOR's famous Million Dollar Movie. Million Dollar Movie, which began in 1955, was really a quite clever way of exploiting the showing of a big-time movie—which, due to the continuing antagonism between movie studios and television, wasn't always that commonplace. Million Dollar Movie's hook was twofold: the movies would have never before been seen on television, and they would be shown multiple times a day for the entire week—as many as sixteen times a week, according to some. By 1965, the number was down to seven times a week: 11:00 a.m. and 11:00 p.m. on Sunday, and then 11:25 p.m. Monday through Friday. This week's feature: The Lost Missile, starring Robert Loggia and Ellen Parker. "New Yorkers have little more than an hour left to live, as a radioactive missile circles the earth, destroying everything in a 10-mile-wide swath."**In other words, they only have an hour to live—until the next showing. And you shouldn't confuse it with either WTIC's Satellite in the Sky, in which "a rocket ship heads for outer space to explode an experimental bomb," or WCBS's Abandon Ship, where 27 passengers of a luxury liner that sank try to fit into a lifeboat that can only hold 12 (a budget A Night to Remember), both airing on Monday at 11:20 p.m.
And then there are the two movie shows that have the most iconic names of all: The Late Show and The Late Late Show, both of which air on WCBS, Channel 2. Here's the opening to The Late Show, with its famous theme, Leroy Anderson's "Syncopated Clock":
Channel 2's couplet of The Late Show and The Late Late Show were billed as "post-midnight entertainment for 'television's other audience'," back in a time when it was somewhat sophisticated and grown up to stay up late during the week. The Late Show starts at 11:20 p.m., and The Late Late Show at about 1:25 a.m., which brings us up to about 3:00 a.m. most times, when Channel 2 airs a couple more movies to take the viewing audience up to Summer Semester that morning.
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Here's a quick look at the rest of the TV week:
Sports: The Preakness, live from Pimlico in Baltimore (5:30 p.m., CBS). The favorite is Lucky Debonair, winner of the Kentucky Derby, but Dapper Dan winds up in the winner's circle with the Black-Eyed Susans. If horse racing's not your game, there's plenty of baseball, with both the Yankees and Mets appearing numerous times throughout the week, and the final round of the New Orleans Open golf tournament airs on Sunday.
Comedy: I'll be talking about Gilligan's Island in a moment, but on Saturday we have that delightful situation that finds Jim Backus competing against himself, as Gilligan airs on CBS at 8:30 p.m., up against NBC's Mr. Magoo. It's the only time in TV history that an actor has been a regular in two different shows on two different networks at the same time.
Game Shows: Paul Anka is the guest panelist on What's My Line? Sunday night (10:30 p.m., CBS) On the daytime shows, Roger Smith and singer Carmel Quinn are on What's This Song? (10:30 a.m. CBS), while Hermoine Gingold is the week's celebrity guest on The Price is Right (11:30 a.m., ABC). Selma Diamond and Les Crane appear on Call My Bluff (Noon, NBC), followed by singer Gogi Grant and her husband Bob Rifkind taking on Alan and Virginia Young on I'll Bet (12:30 p.m., NBC). George Grizzard and Joan Fontaine are on Password (2:00 p.m., CBS), singers Mel Torme and Sally Ann Howes are on NBC's You Don't Say! (3:30 p.m., NBC) and Henry Morgan and Lauren Bacall follow on The Match Game (4:00 p.m., NBC). Not a bad week of celebrity sightings.
Drama: "On Thursday We Leave for Home," featuring a moving performance by James Whitmore, is the first of 17 hour-long Twilight Zone reruns to debut in the show's Sunday night slot. (9:00 p.m., CBS) A sea monster terrorizes a Norwegian village on Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (Monday, 7:30 p.m., ABC). And on Thursday (8:00 p.m., CBS), Perry Mason gets involved in the case of an actor taking part in one of Shakespeare's sword-dueling scenes—and winds up dead.Current Events: Nothing could be more current than a repeat of last month's critically acclaimed CBS Reports report on "Abortion and the Law." (Monday, 10:00 p.m.)
Music: Tuesday night at 8:30 p.m., it's CBS's annual Best on Record, entertainment featuring winners of the 1964 Grammys. Dean Martin hosts, Sammy Davis Jr. performs a tribute to the late Nat King Cole, and Frank Sinatra receives the Grammy Golden Achievement Award. All that's missing is Joey Bishop.
Culture: On Monday, Channel 9 presents the movie version of Gian-Carlo Menotti's sinister opera The Medium (1:30 p.m.), starring Marie Powers, Leo Coleman and Anna Maria Alberghetti. WCBS has a documentary Tuesday about a place that'll get plenty of culture: the newly constructed Lincoln Center. And what could possibly be more cultural than the New York State finals of the Miss Universe pageant, shown live Thursday night (10:00 p.m,, WPIX)? The winner is Gloria Jon; I was hoping it might be someone who went on to great fame and stardom, but being Miss New York isn't bad at all.
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Finally, Sherwood Schwartz tells Richards Warren Lewis about the difficulties he's had in getting Gilligan's Island from the drawing board to the screen.
For one thing, everyone in the executive suite at CBS loved it—except for Jim Aubrey. And the problem there was that Jim Aubrey was the president of CBS. United Artists, co-producers with Schwartz, hated the idea of a theme song that told the backstory. The pilot was submitted to CBS, sans music, and it was rejected without comment.
At this point, Schwartz takes matters into his own hands. He reedits the pilot the way he wants it done; "Is everybody through with the film now? Can I do it my way?" He writes the theme song himself, assembles a new version, and ships it to New York, with a note that reads, "This is the pilot I had in mind."The results were a smash. The test audience loved it so much that CBS made another audience sit through it, unable to believe the show had scored so high. When the second audience seconded its approval, the show finally got on the schedule. But even then, Schwartz's problems weren't done. The suits didn't like the Hollywood actress character: "Who can identify?" They didn't like the billionaire: "Who's going to understand a billionaire?" They didn't like the science teacher: "What kind of flair does that have to it?" Schwartz fought their suggestions and won. Then the network fired three of the seven actors who appeared in the pilot, which required further filming and editing.
The episode that winds up debuting on television is actually a combination of three separate shows, including about half of that pilot.* "It was an outlandish beginning," Schwartz says of that first episode. "If you're telling a story about people who get shipwrecked, the only honest way is if the first show is about how they got wrecked. Instead, it was about how they were trying to get off the island. It's like starting on chapter two. You didn't know who they were." He thinks that has something to do with the bad initial reviews from some critics.
*As you've probably read, you may notice that the flag in the marina is flying at half-staff; the pilot was completed on November 22, 1963.
Even now, having spent the entire season in the top 40, not everyone at CBS is happy, but it doesn't matter to Schwartz. He's proud of the way audiences have identified with the characters and the situation; "Whether you like my show or not, you turn into Gilligan's Island and in one second you know what show you're looking at."
Reading this, I'm struck by the thought that, for all the accusations that Gilligan was part of the dumbing-down of television, the objections from the suits at CBS suggest they didn't have much confidence in their audience's ability to identify with characters and figure things out. Indeed, one can assume that if the network had had their way, Gilligan's Island would have been far, far dumber than even the harshest critics suggested. And it wouldn't be half as loved today. TV
May 13, 2022
Around the dial
More impressionable young minds enthralled by C-SPAN I think we'll kick off this Friday the 13th edition with something I've mentioned before—many times, I'm sure—how classic TV fans are accused of living in the past, and the shows themselves are held up to present an unrealistic and unattainable ideal. This week at Comfort TV, David takes a thoughtful look at this and asks the question:
are these ideals beneficial or dangerous?
When I lived in the World's Worst Town™, you'll recall, I spent the better (or worst) part of six years with little more television entertainment than NBC, then suffering through a very bad decade. Petrocelli wasn't a bad series by any means, but it never caught on with me. Nonetheless, it's certainly watchable, and at Classic Film & TV Café, Rick reviews Night Moves , the pilot for the series, with Barry Newman reprising his role in the theater movie The Lawyer, and Susan Howard as his loyal wife and secretary.
At Cult TV Blog, John looks about a series I have seen before: The Prisoner. One of the reasons I celebrate this as one of my favorite series is that it never ceases to make me think, even though I've watched it numerous times. And John comes up with a scenario that's making me think again—as it should you.
An oldie but goodie: at TVParty!, Billy remembers what surely must be one of the most controversial sitcoms ever seen on television anywhere: the British series Heil Honey, I'm Home , a spoof of American '50s sitcoms, which chronicled (or would have, were it not cancelled after one showing) the trials and domestic travails of Adolph Hitler and Eva Braun.
At A Shroud of Thoughts, Terence takes a look at the final episode of a long-running series that few people realize was actually a "proper" final episode: " The Case of the Final Fade-Out ," the series finale of Perry Mason. And it is, as Terence says, one of the best.
The A.V. Club's Will Harris has a very interesting interview with John Astin , in which the Addams Family icon talks about everything from getting into acting (a great story) to his career role as Gomez, to his relationship with Fellini. What a life!
Forget the political discussions: Fox Entertainment talks with Diane McBain , a mainstay in the Warner Bros. shows of the early 1960s, about her new novel, The Color of Hope, how Aaron Spelling wanted to marry her, what it was like working with Elvis, and more.
Finally, Ben Model, who usually blogs about theater organs and silent film music, takes a good look at Ernie Kovacs, and one of his best sketches: " Albert Gridley ," the story of the talk-show guest who can't remember the details of the subject he's being interviewed about. Matt Dennis plays the unfortunate guest. I'd better watch this again the next time I'm being interviewed. TV
May 11, 2022
The "It's About TV" Interview: in Daniel R. Budnik, author of From Beverly Hills To Hooterville: Exploring TV's Henningverse 1962-1971
You'll probably recognize our guest from his fantastic podcast Eventually Supertrain, which I've been pleased to appear on many times over the years, but he has also authored several books, including the book we're here to talk about today, From Beverly Hills To Hooterville: Exploring TV's Henningverse 1962-1971. And so, without further delay, Mystery Guest, will you enter and sign in, please?[Thunderous applause]
Thank you, Mitchell, and hello everyone. I’m Daniel R. Budnik. Call me Dan. I’m a writer and podcaster. I’ve written fiction. But, I’m mainly known for writing about TV and movies. I have a book on 1980s horror and 1980s action. And they are delightful. But here, we’re going to talk all about Paul Henning and his three big shows of the 1960s. Or, at least, we’re going to talk about my book about those shows and Mr. H.
The bookIt's About TV: I think most people who visit this site will recognize the shows that Paul Henning created: in order, The Beverly Hillbillies, Petticoat Junction, and Green Acres. For someone my age, they were a staple of CBS's lineup when I was growing up. (Which is one reason I loved the book.) That wouldn't have been the case for a whippersnapper like you, though. So how did you discover them?Dan Budnik: Rick Mitz’s The Great TV Sitcom Book really hates Henning’s 1960s sitcoms. That book was a sitcom Bible for me (3rd edition) until I got Eisner and Krinsky’s Television Comedy Series . Those two loved The Beverly Hillbillies and adored Green Acres. So, when a station in 1985 (CBN) started showing Acres, I gave it a try. CBN were showing the series (more or less) in order. And they were near the end of the 6th season. I watched a few episodes and I just loved it. It made me laugh. It made me smile. I thought it was intelligent. And I wanted to watch it more. (Get Smart was the main 1960s show from that time that I had similar feeling about but that always got rotten syndication in Rochester. NY.) Then, WTBS started showing the Hillbillies and I fell in love. The laughs from Acres. The serialization and satire from Hillbillies. Always gave them a place n my heart. In the mid-1990s when Columbia House released Acres on VHS, I bought every tape. Junction came later. I first watched it on DVD. But, those two others were very important to me in the world of sitcoms from early on..
Introduce us to this fictional "Henningverse" that Paul Henning created? How did he come up with the idea, where did he start, how did he add to it?
To me, it began when Paul decided to make Bea Benaderet the lead in Junction. She played Cousin Pearl in Season 1 of the Hillbillies. Having an actress who was so familiar in a role (in a #1 TV show) and then giving her another important role, I feel like that stuck in people’s minds. And then, when Acres was created, it made sense to set it in Hooterville. Then, as time went on, it made sense to bring the Hillbillies characters into Hooterville. And that, suddenly, gave us a world, an integrated universe. Of course, the people on Acres used to watch the Hillbillies on TV. So, how does that all fit in? You got me. But, I have theories.
Although the three shows were all victims of CBS's rural purge, each has a distinct personality from the rest--they're not just cookie cutter clones. What makes the three shows different in a way that, say, the Warner Bros. detective shows of the early '60s aren't?
So, the Hillbillies, at its best, is beautiful satire. Some of it is dated, obviously. But much of it still holds true. It is a “fish out of water” show but with one advantage. These fish, the Clampetts, are richer than almost everyone else. Because of that, the people in the world they now a part of treat them as superior. Almost as royalty. Then, all of them get confused when they find hillbillies at the big, big mansion on the hill. At it worst, the show comes off as a bit dumb. But, generally, it is funny, and the serialization makes it rather modern. There are no reset switches thrown. If something happens, if someone appears, they probably will be back. And it probably will continue the story.
Petticoat Junction, apart from Season 2, is a standard 1960s sitcom. Sometimes there’s continuity, sometimes there isn’t. Sometimes characters act within their characters, sometimes they act weird. But, if you like the setting ad the basic characters when they act like themselves, you will enjoy the show. It’s not as funny nor as sharp as the others but it sure can be fun.
Green Acres starts off relatively normal but highly serialized and very funny. At some point, Jay Sommers and Dick Chevillat (the main writers) decided to go a bit crazy. They decided to indulge all their comedy whims. And the show goes surreal, the show goes screwy, the show becomes really, really funny. Making it such a different beast from the other two.
And of course, John Charles Daly introduces the first episode of Acres, which explains why I started off our interview as a kind of homage. [Both laugh] So where did the idea for the book come from?
I was pitching ideas for my next book after 80s Action Movies on The Cheap . I like to come up with about seven or eight ideas. Right before that. I had started watching Hillbillies and Junction in tandem, as aired. I thought “This might make a fun podcast.” As I pitched books, I added, as the last entry, a book on the Henningverse, which I just made up. I had a lot of great book ideas. But, the publisher wanted the Hennigverse book. So, I spent the next 1 ½ years writing it. They rejected it. And I published it through Throckmorton Press.*
*Full disclosure: Throckmorton Press is also my publisher, as well.
This is a big book, that you can just pick up and start at a random point and be drawn into it. Tell us a little about how the book works.You can start from where you want. To me, some folks buying it would prefer one show to another. And they’d skip around to the shows they wanted. Hopefully, later on, they’d read it all. Or you can start at the beginning and go. It’s a journey. It’s a very meticulous journey. It’s a step-by-step journey. But it is rewarding. If you chose to jump through randomly, remember that the book is cumulative. If you read an early Hillbillies review where I don’t mention the name of their hometown, I haven’t done that because the show hadn’t named it yet. (It’s "Bug Tussle.") So, please, don’t feel like the book is inept because of its structure. You need to read the intro before you dive in. The book learns as the creators tell us. Once you are conversant with how the book works, do whatever you want. Read a page and then eat it. I don’t care. That’s your thing. I don’t judge.
Was there any other addition to the Henningverse that he never had the chance to explore?
I think once Junction ended in 1970 (and it was supposed to end the year before) that fractured the Henningverse. Hillbillies was close to Junction and Junction was close to Acres. On Acres, Hillbillies was almost more fictional than "real." I think once Junction went away there was no way we were all going to get together as we did previously, although they were still technically together. Part of me wishes, Junction had gone on longer. But, as I think it’s the weakest of the shows, it was right to end when it did.
Do you have a favorite of the three shows? And do you have a favorite episode from each one?
Green Acres is my favorite. And it’s my favorite because it does a tricky thing. Back in 1986, when I was 13, I was watching the show. And I had a subscription to a magazine called Reruns, which focused on classic TV. (At the same time, I got TV Guide every week and was focusing on current TV. The moment one realizes that they can’t truly focus on all of it (from The Goldbergs to The Goldbergs) is a big moment. I realized that in late 1987. I ran away into music and horror/ exploitation films for some time after that.) In the back of Reruns were ads. From one of those ads, I ordered script copies of TV shows from a nice couple somewhere in the U.S. I ordered several Acres scripts from them. And I asked, at age 13, which show do you prefer, Hillbillies or Acres? The couple wrote back “Acres. Because of the relationship between Oliver and Lisa. No matter how crazy things got, they loved each other.” In the three shows, including Bettie Jo and Steve, there is no closer relationship than Oliver and Lisa. Their show was the funniest, but it was also the most human in some respects. Keeping it so screwy and yet keeping that relationship real isn’t easy. Acres did it. That’s why it’s my favorite.
Junction favorite episodes: Either "Cannonball Christmas" or "The Curse of Chester W. Farnsworth."
Hillbillies: "The Clampetts In Court." Because I think it’s the perfect encapsulation of what the show does best. Email me for another 10 episodes.
Green Acres: "Love Meets Arnold Ziffel," or "Lisa’s Vegetable Garden," or "Kimball Gets Fired." There are too many to name.
Where, in fact, is Hooterville? I've read many theories, but nobody seems to know for sure.
It’s near Chicago. That’s all I can gauge. Probably in Illinois. Maybe near Springfield, where the Simpsons live. But, I don’t really know where they live either.
I was talking recently with David Hofstede, who runs the blog Comfort TV, about what vintage television shows can provide us during these--I don't want to lapse into cliche, but I will--turbulent times. Do the shows of the Henningverse provide the same benefit?
I think Junction can provide great comfort if you get into the groove of it. Of the three, it’s the most “regular” sitcom. It’s a woman raising her three kids and trying to run a small country hotel. Apart from Season 2, which is quite funny and rather odd, it’s a sweet and almost simple show. Occasionally it goes topical and, occasionally, it embarrasses itself by doing so. But, if you can get into the world, it’s seven seasons of fun.
Hillbillies is sharp satire, at its best, that can still work today. It helps that it’s a very funny show. But there are times when it goes down odd rabbit holes, especially in its last two seasons. And those might be more exasperating to people than comforting. Can I just say one word? “Frogmen.”
Green Acres is one of my favorite TV shows of all time. (Did I mention that?) Pop in almost any episode and it will make you laugh and, possibly, calm you down. It’s a good show to take you out of the world for a while. And it does what it says it’s going to: it makes you laugh. And it brings you back again, because it did fulfill that promise.
The best shows are the ones that fulfill their promise. The sitcom that makes you laugh. (Or in the case of a show like My Favorite Martian, a sitcom that is clever and imaginative.) An action show that thrills you. A detective show steeped in good mysteries. That’s all I want. You give me one episode of one these shows that succeeds and I will return. And if you give me several or quite a few, I will buy your Complete Series boxset or hunt down all the episodes. I think there are many that fail. I think the members of the Henningverse succeed, some better than others. But they do. (And, not to be self-serving, Junction works better in tandem with the rest of the Henningverse than it does alone.)
The authorWe know there are people out there who, for whatever reason—they've got recency bias, or they don't like black-and-white shows and movies; they're think they're not cool, even though Green Acres was always in color and Hillbillies and Junction were mostly in color—and they're like, "Why should I be bothered with these old TV shows?" What do you say to them?
One of the areas of pop culture I’ve written about quite a bit is a realm some might call the region of the “bad movie.” Or the movie that doesn’t meet blockbuster expectations. And so many times over the past 15 years or so, I’ve been asked or challenged about why one would watch these movies? (Except to laugh at them.) I’m happy to say that I have fought the good fight valiantly and have convinced some people to watch these things even though they aren’t huge, expensive epics. Some will never care or try. But, quite a few people will. And quite a few like it.
Now with TV, it is different because so much of what people watch nowadays is serialized. And the weird thing is I don’t think it has anything to do with age. My Mom was born in Eastern Europe in the late 1940s. She loves Lucy but she never watches any other old shows. She just watches new shows. My stepdad was the same way, apart from Sanford and Son. If I went to visit them and suggested we watch some Hillbillies or Acres, they might say “Sure,” watch an episode and then return to Ice City Truckers or something set in a pawn shop.
As if that's more real-life than Hooterville.
[Laughs] Or they might wonder why bother? It’s an old show. They make new shows. Why watch old shows? That is the attitude of almost all of the older members of my family. So, if the older members don’t care, why on Earth would the younger members care? I think the people who watch older shows are becoming more and more a select few. I don’t think it’s a dislike for the older shows. It’s just a “Why? Would I bother? I’ve only a certain amount of time in the day and I’d prefer to watch new shows.” I can’t argue with that. The only thing I can do is appeal to the quality of some of the older shows. I mean, there are plenty of bad old shows. Plenty of them. But the best ones should be watched and should continue to be watched. With people that I feel might try an older show, I’ll pick episodes very carefully and try to introduce them. If it doesn’t work, it doesn’t work. But, when it does, it’s awesome. I knew when I wrote a book on the Henningverse it would appeal to a very small group and maybe annoy some others. In the end, I may have written the book for myself. It’s exactly the guide I want to have to these three shows. My complaint? Needs a better index. (I would like to apologize to myself for not having a better index. At this time, Amazon does not allow books over 800 pages. If I put in the complete index I wanted, the book would have been very close to (or over) that allotment. So, I kept it simple.)
Paul HenningWhere are the pictures? You know me—all these words make my brain hurt. That was the original publisher’s idea. They pointed out that the cost of acquiring rights to a decent amount of photos would cost more money than I would make from the book. They suggested that I don’t include photos. I agreed. I do hope that everyone either knows what the main characters look like or don’t mind hopping on Google to find the images.
What's your next project?
I was interested in doing something related to more American shows from this time period. But, my encounters with the Henningverse Gatekeepers have stopped me there. (I won’t go into detail. But, they’re all men. They all claimed to have watched the shows when they originally aired. They don’t know why someone who wasn’t alive when the shows aired has written this book. They’re arrogant. They’re unpleasant. And, when questioned, they’re always wrong.) So, my next best is going to be a Doctor Who book. Reviewing each episode, like the Henningverse book. But, after each story/ serial, I will be including a postscript relating my personal experiences with the show from 1981 to the most recent episode, which aired on Easter. And also I will include some stories and remembrances regarding the history of the show, which some people may have forgotten. It’s going to be hefty but I think it’s going to be fun.
l l l
As I often said about Eventually Supertrain, I hope you all had as much fun reading this as we did doing it. My thanks to Dan, not only for From Beverly Hills To Hooterville: Exploring TV's Henningverse 1962-1971, but for his time today, and his friendship. If this book isn't already on your classic TV bookshelf, make room for it. TV
This interview has been lightly edited for clarity.
The "It's About TV" Interview: Daniel R. Budnick, author of From Beverly Hills To Hooterville: Exploring TV's Henningverse 1962-1971
You'll probably recognize our guest from his fantastic podcast Eventually Supertrain, which I've been pleased to appear on many times over the years, but he has also authored several books, including the book we're here to talk about today, From Beverly Hills To Hooterville: Exploring TV's Henningverse 1962-1971. And so, without further delay, Mystery Guest, will you enter and sign in, please?[Thunderous applause]
Thank you, Mitchell, and hello everyone. I’m Daniel R. Budnik. Call me Dan. I’m a writer and podcaster. I’ve written fiction. But, I’m mainly known for writing about TV and movies. I have a book on 1980s horror and 1980s action. And they are delightful. But here, we’re going to talk all about Paul Henning and his three big shows of the 1960s. Or, at least, we’re going to talk about my book about those shows and Mr. H.
The bookIt's About TV: I think most people who visit this site will recognize the shows that Paul Henning created: in order, The Beverly Hillbillies, Petticoat Junction, and Green Acres. For someone my age, they were a staple of CBS's lineup when I was growing up. (Which is one reason I loved the book.) That wouldn't have been the case for a whippersnapper like you, though. So how did you discover them?Dan Budnick: Rick Mitz’s The Great TV Sitcom Book really hates Henning’s 1960s sitcoms. That book was a sitcom Bible for me (3rd edition) until I got Eisner and Krinsky’s Television Comedy Series . Those two loved The Beverly Hillbillies and adored Green Acres. So, when a station in 1985 (CBN) started showing Acres, I gave it a try. CBN were showing the series (more or less) in order. And they were near the end of the 6th season. I watched a few episodes and I just loved it. It made me laugh. It made me smile. I thought it was intelligent. And I wanted to watch it more. (Get Smart was the main 1960s show from that time that I had similar feeling about but that always got rotten syndication in Rochester. NY.) Then, WTBS started showing the Hillbillies and I fell in love. The laughs from Acres. The serialization and satire from Hillbillies. Always gave them a place n my heart. In the mid-1990s when Columbia House released Acres on VHS, I bought every tape. Junction came later. I first watched it on DVD. But, those two others were very important to me in the world of sitcoms from early on..
Introduce us to this fictional "Henningverse" that Paul Henning created? How did he come up with the idea, where did he start, how did he add to it?
To me, it began when Paul decided to make Bea Benaderet the lead in Junction. She played Cousin Pearl in Season 1 of the Hillbillies. Having an actress who was so familiar in a role (in a #1 TV show) and then giving her another important role, I feel like that stuck in people’s minds. And then, when Acres was created, it made sense to set it in Hooterville. Then, as time went on, it made sense to bring the Hillbillies characters into Hooterville. And that, suddenly, gave us a world, an integrated universe. Of course, the people on Acres used to watch the Hillbillies on TV. So, how does that all fit in? You got me. But, I have theories.
Although the three shows were all victims of CBS's rural purge, each has a distinct personality from the rest--they're not just cookie cutter clones. What makes the three shows different in a way that, say, the Warner Bros. detective shows of the early '60s aren't?
So, the Hillbillies, at its best, is beautiful satire. Some of it is dated, obviously. But much of it still holds true. It is a “fish out of water” show but with one advantage. These fish, the Clampetts, are richer than almost everyone else. Because of that, the people in the world they now a part of treat them as superior. Almost as royalty. Then, all of them get confused when they find hillbillies at the big, big mansion on the hill. At it worst, the show comes off as a bit dumb. But, generally, it is funny, and the serialization makes it rather modern. There are no reset switches thrown. If something happens, if someone appears, they probably will be back. And it probably will continue the story.
Petticoat Junction, apart from Season 2, is a standard 1960s sitcom. Sometimes there’s continuity, sometimes there isn’t. Sometimes characters act within their characters, sometimes they act weird. But, if you like the setting ad the basic characters when they act like themselves, you will enjoy the show. It’s not as funny nor as sharp as the others but it sure can be fun.
Green Acres starts off relatively normal but highly serialized and very funny. At some point, Jay Sommers and Dick Chevillat (the main writers) decided to go a bit crazy. They decided to indulge all their comedy whims. And the show goes surreal, the show goes screwy, the show becomes really, really funny. Making it such a different beast from the other two.
And of course, John Charles Daly introduces the first episode of Acres, which explains why I started off our interview as a kind of homage. [Both laugh] So where did the idea for the book come from?
I was pitching ideas for my next book after 80s Action Movies on The Cheap . I like to come up with about seven or eight ideas. Right before that. I had started watching Hillbillies and Junction in tandem, as aired. I thought “This might make a fun podcast.” As I pitched books, I added, as the last entry, a book on the Henningverse, which I just made up. I had a lot of great book ideas. But, the publisher wanted the Hennigverse book. So, I spent the next 1 ½ years writing it. They rejected it. And I published it through Throckmorton Press.*
*Full disclosure: Throckmorton Press is also my publisher, as well.
This is a big book, that you can just pick up and start at a random point and be drawn into it. Tell us a little about how the book works.You can start from where you want. To me, some folks buying it would prefer one show to another. And they’d skip around to the shows they wanted. Hopefully, later on, they’d read it all. Or you can start at the beginning and go. It’s a journey. It’s a very meticulous journey. It’s a step-by-step journey. But it is rewarding. If you chose to jump through randomly, remember that the book is cumulative. If you read an early Hillbillies review where I don’t mention the name of their hometown, I haven’t done that because the show hadn’t named it yet. (It’s "Bug Tussle.") So, please, don’t feel like the book is inept because of its structure. You need to read the intro before you dive in. The book learns as the creators tell us. Once you are conversant with how the book works, do whatever you want. Read a page and then eat it. I don’t care. That’s your thing. I don’t judge.
Was there any other addition to the Henningverse that he never had the chance to explore?
I think once Junction ended in 1970 (and it was supposed to end the year before) that fractured the Henningverse. Hillbillies was close to Junction and Junction was close to Acres. On Acres, Hillbillies was almost more fictional than "real." I think once Junction went away there was no way we were all going to get together as we did previously, although they were still technically together. Part of me wishes, Junction had gone on longer. But, as I think it’s the weakest of the shows, it was right to end when it did.
Do you have a favorite of the three shows? And do you have a favorite episode from each one?
Green Acres is my favorite. And it’s my favorite because it does a tricky thing. Back in 1986, when I was 13, I was watching the show. And I had a subscription to a magazine called Reruns, which focused on classic TV. (At the same time, I got TV Guide every week and was focusing on current TV. The moment one realizes that they can’t truly focus on all of it (from The Goldbergs to The Goldbergs) is a big moment. I realized that in late 1987. I ran away into music and horror/ exploitation films for some time after that.) In the back of Reruns were ads. From one of those ads, I ordered script copies of TV shows from a nice couple somewhere in the U.S. I ordered several Acres scripts from them. And I asked, at age 13, which show do you prefer, Hillbillies or Acres? The couple wrote back “Acres. Because of the relationship between Oliver and Lisa. No matter how crazy things got, they loved each other.” In the three shows, including Bettie Jo and Steve, there is no closer relationship than Oliver and Lisa. Their show was the funniest, but it was also the most human in some respects. Keeping it so screwy and yet keeping that relationship real isn’t easy. Acres did it. That’s why it’s my favorite.
Junction favorite episodes: Either "Cannonball Christmas" or "The Curse of Chester W. Farnsworth."
Hillbillies: "The Clampetts In Court." Because I think it’s the perfect encapsulation of what the show does best. Email me for another 10 episodes.
Green Acres: "Love Meets Arnold Ziffel," or "Lisa’s Vegetable Garden," or "Kimball Gets Fired." There are too many to name.
Where, in fact, is Hooterville? I've read many theories, but nobody seems to know for sure.
It’s near Chicago. That’s all I can gauge. Probably in Illinois. Maybe near Springfield, where the Simpsons live. But, I don’t really know where they live either.
I was talking recently with David Hofstede, who runs the blog Comfort TV, about what vintage television shows can provide us during these--I don't want to lapse into cliche, but I will--turbulent times. Do the shows of the Henningverse provide the same benefit?
I think Junction can provide great comfort if you get into the groove of it. Of the three, it’s the most “regular” sitcom. It’s a woman raising her three kids and trying to run a small country hotel. Apart from Season 2, which is quite funny and rather odd, it’s a sweet and almost simple show. Occasionally it goes topical and, occasionally, it embarrasses itself by doing so. But, if you can get into the world, it’s seven seasons of fun.
Hillbillies is sharp satire, at its best, that can still work today. It helps that it’s a very funny show. But there are times when it goes down odd rabbit holes, especially in its last two seasons. And those might be more exasperating to people than comforting. Can I just say one word? “Frogmen.”
Green Acres is one of my favorite TV shows of all time. (Did I mention that?) Pop in almost any episode and it will make you laugh and, possibly, calm you down. It’s a good show to take you out of the world for a while. And it does what it says it’s going to: it makes you laugh. And it brings you back again, because it did fulfill that promise.
The best shows are the ones that fulfill their promise. The sitcom that makes you laugh. (Or in the case of a show like My Favorite Martian, a sitcom that is clever and imaginative.) An action show that thrills you. A detective show steeped in good mysteries. That’s all I want. You give me one episode of one these shows that succeeds and I will return. And if you give me several or quite a few, I will buy your Complete Series boxset or hunt down all the episodes. I think there are many that fail. I think the members of the Henningverse succeed, some better than others. But they do. (And, not to be self-serving, Junction works better in tandem with the rest of the Henningverse than it does alone.)
The authorWe know there are people out there who, for whatever reason—they've got recency bias, or they don't like black-and-white shows and movies; they're think they're not cool, even though Green Acres was always in color and Hillbillies and Junction were mostly in color—and they're like, "Why should I be bothered with these old TV shows?" What do you say to them?
One of the areas of pop culture I’ve written about quite a bit is a realm some might call the region of the “bad movie.” Or the movie that doesn’t meet blockbuster expectations. And so many times over the past 15 years or so, I’ve been asked or challenged about why one would watch these movies? (Except to laugh at them.) I’m happy to say that I have fought the good fight valiantly and have convinced some people to watch these things even though they aren’t huge, expensive epics. Some will never care or try. But, quite a few people will. And quite a few like it.
Now with TV, it is different because so much of what people watch nowadays is serialized. And the weird thing is I don’t think it has anything to do with age. My Mom was born in Eastern Europe in the late 1940s. She loves Lucy but she never watches any other old shows. She just watches new shows. My stepdad was the same way, apart from Sanford and Son. If I went to visit them and suggested we watch some Hillbillies or Acres, they might say “Sure,” watch an episode and then return to Ice City Truckers or something set in a pawn shop.
As if that's more real-life than Hooterville.
[Laughs] Or they might wonder why bother? It’s an old show. They make new shows. Why watch old shows? That is the attitude of almost all of the older members of my family. So, if the older members don’t care, why on Earth would the younger members care? I think the people who watch older shows are becoming more and more a select few. I don’t think it’s a dislike for the older shows. It’s just a “Why? Would I bother? I’ve only a certain amount of time in the day and I’d prefer to watch new shows.” I can’t argue with that. The only thing I can do is appeal to the quality of some of the older shows. I mean, there are plenty of bad old shows. Plenty of them. But the best ones should be watched and should continue to be watched. With people that I feel might try an older show, I’ll pick episodes very carefully and try to introduce them. If it doesn’t work, it doesn’t work. But, when it does, it’s awesome. I knew when I wrote a book on the Henningverse it would appeal to a very small group and maybe annoy some others. In the end, I may have written the book for myself. It’s exactly the guide I want to have to these three shows. My complaint? Needs a better index. (I would like to apologize to myself for not having a better index. At this time, Amazon does not allow books over 800 pages. If I put in the complete index I wanted, the book would have been very close to (or over) that allotment. So, I kept it simple.)
Paul HenningWhere are the pictures? You know me—all these words make my brain hurt. That was the original publisher’s idea. They pointed out that the cost of acquiring rights to a decent amount of photos would cost more money than I would make from the book. They suggested that I don’t include photos. I agreed. I do hope that everyone either knows what the main characters look like or don’t mind hopping on Google to find the images.
What's your next project?
I was interested in doing something related to more American shows from this time period. But, my encounters with the Henningverse Gatekeepers have stopped me there. (I won’t go into detail. But, they’re all men. They all claimed to have watched the shows when they originally aired. They don’t know why someone who wasn’t alive when the shows aired has written this book. They’re arrogant. They’re unpleasant. And, when questioned, they’re always wrong.) So, my next best is going to be a Doctor Who book. Reviewing each episode, like the Henningverse book. But, after each story/ serial, I will be including a postscript relating my personal experiences with the show from 1981 to the most recent episode, which aired on Easter. And also I will include some stories and remembrances regarding the history of the show, which some people may have forgotten. It’s going to be hefty but I think it’s going to be fun.
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As I often said about Eventually Supertrain, I hope you all had as much fun reading this as we did doing it. My thanks to Dan, not only for From Beverly Hills To Hooterville: Exploring TV's Henningverse 1962-1971, but for his time today, and his friendship. If this book isn't already on your classic TV bookshelf, make room for it. TV
This interview has been lightly edited for clarity.
May 9, 2022
What's on TV? Thursday, May 11, 1972
Here is WTCG, Channel 17, circa 1972, pre-Superstation, pre-Atlanta Braves. The "TCG" stands for Turner Communications Group, although they like to say it means "Watch This Channel Grow." The programs still start on the hour and half-hour instead of five minutes after each, and the programming is entirely conventional for an independent station: cartoons, movies, and even a couple of network programs that aren't cleared by WSB, the NBC affiliate that prefers to air Mike Douglas instead. In other words, it's business as usual, the lull before the storm, TV as we've always known it. It's the Georgia edition this week, with added programming from Chattanooga.-2- WSB (NBC) MORNING 6:20 TOWN AND COUNTRY 6:25 FARM NEWS -C- 6:30 AFTER EDEN 7:00 TODAY -C- 9:00 TODAY IN GEORGIA -C- 10:00 DINAH SHORE -C- Abbe Lane, Neil Solomon 10:30 CONCENTRATION -C- 11:00 SALE OF THE CENTURY -C- 11:30 HOLLYWOOD SQUARES -C- Guests: Marty Allen, Jim Backus, Joel Grey, Paul Lynde, Rose Marie, Suzanne Pleshette, Vincent Price, Jo Anne Worley AFTERNOON 12:00 NEWS—Dave Sisson -C- 12:30 MIKE DOUGLAS -C- Guests: Dave Brubeck, Jerry Mulligan, Shirley Temple Black, Joyce Chen 2:00 DAYS OF OUR LIVES -C- 2:30 DOCTORS -C- 3:00 ANOTHER WORLD -C- 3:30 RETURN TO PEYTON PLACE -C- 4:00 SOMERSET -C- 4:30 TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES -C- 5:00 PERRY MASON EVENING 6:00 NEWS—Philp/Sisson -C- 7:00 NBC NEWS—John Chancellor -C- 7:30 TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES -C- 8:00 FLIP WILSON -C- Carol Channing, David Steinberg, the Modern Jazz Quartet 9:00 IRONSIDE -C- 10:00 DEAN MARTIN -C- Ginger Rogers, Arte Johnson, Don Meredith, Norm Crosby 11:00 NEWS—Horner/Philp -C- 11:30 JOHNNY CARSON -C- Guest: Lola Falana
3 WRCB (CHATTANOOGA) (NBC) MORNING 7:00 TODAY -C- 9:00 VIRGINIA GRAHAM -C- Pat Boone and family 10:00 DINAH SHORE -C- Abbe Lane, Neil Solomon 10:30 CONCENTRATION -C- 11:00 SALE OF THE CENTURY -C- 11:30 HOLLYWOOD SQUARES -C- Guests: Marty Allen, Jim Backus, Joel Grey, Paul Lynde, Rose Marie, Suzanne Pleshette, Vincent Price, Jo Anne Worley AFTERNOON 12:00 JEOPARDY -C- 12:30 WHO, WHAT OR WHERE—Game -C- 12:55 NBC NEWS—Kalber -C- 1:00 MERRY-GO-ROUND -C- 1:30 THREE ON A MATCH—Game -C- 2:00 DAYS OF OUR LIVES -C- 2:30 DOCTORS -C- 3:00 ANOTHER WORLD -C- 3:30 RETURN TO PEYTON PLACE -C- 4:00 SOMERSET -C- 4:30 MOVIE—Science Fiction “The Fly” (1958) EVENING 6:00 NEWS—Morris/Wick -C- 6:30 NBC NEWS—John Chancellor -C- 7:00 TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES -C- 7:30 MAYBERRY R.F.D. -C- 8:00 FLIP WILSON -C- Carol Channing, David Steinberg, the Modern Jazz Quartet 9:00 IRONSIDE -C- 10:00 DEAN MARTIN -C- Ginger Rogers, Arte Johnson, Don Meredith, Norm Crosby 11:00 NEWS—Wick/Hill -C- 11:30 JOHNNY CARSON -C- Guest: Lola Falana
-5- WAGA (CBS) MORNING 6:00 SUNRISE SEMESTER -C- Latin-American Literature: Gabriel Garcia Marquez 6:30 UNIV. OF MICHIGAN -C- 7:00 CBS NEWS—Hart -C- 8:00 CAPTAIN KANGAROO -C- 9:00 PHIL DONAHUE -C- 10:00 LUCILLE BALL -C- 10:30 MY THREE SONS -C- 11:00 FAMILY AFFAIR -C- 11:30 LOVE OF LIFE -C- AFTERNOON 12:30 SEARCH FOR TOMORROW -C- 1:00 IT’S YOUR BET -C- 1:30 AS THE WORLD TURNS -C- 2:00 LOVE IS A MANY SPLENDORED THING -C- 2:30 GUIDING LIGHT -C- 3:00 SECRET STORM -C- 3:30 EDGE OF NIGHT -C- 4:00 I LOVE LUCY 4:30 VIRGINIAN -C- EVENING 6:00 NEWS—Chuck Moore -C- 6:30 CBS NEWS—Walter Cronkite -C- 7:00 NEWS—Axel/Moore -C- 7:30 I DREAM OF JEANNIE -C- 8:00 MEANDTHE CHIMP -C- 8:30 MY THREE SONS -C- 9:00 MOVIE—Comedy “Arrivederci, Baby!” (1966) 11:00 NEWS—Chuck Moore -C- 11:30 MOVIE—Comedy -C- “Ensign Pulver” (1964)
-8- WGTV (PBS) AFTERNOON 4:30 ELECTRIC COMPANY—Children -C- 5:00 SESAME STREET -C- EVENING 6:00 MISTER ROGERS -C- 6:30 WHAT’S NEW—Children -C- 7:00 TV HIGH SCHOOL “Beginning Algebra” 7:30 UNIVERSITY NEWS -C- 7:45 WHY! -C- 8:00 A PUBLIC AFFAIR/ELECTION ‘72 -C- 8:30 PLAYHOUSE NEW YORK -C- 10:00 BLACK JOURNAL -C- 10:30 COACH LAWSON -C-
9 WTVC (CHATTANOOGA) (ABC) MORNING 7:30 NEW ZOO REVUE—Children -C- 8:00 FUNTIME—Children -C- 9:00 NEWS—Hogue/Mazza -C- 9:30 MOVIE—Drama “The Miami Story” (1954) 11:00 WHAT EVERY WOMAN WANTS TO KNOW -C- 11:30 BEWITCHED -C- AFTERNOON 12:00 PASSWORD -C- Carol Channing, Martin Milner. Host: Allen Ludden 12:30 SPLIT SECOND—Game -C- 1:00 ALL MY CHILDREN -C- 2:00 NEWLYWED GAME -C- 2:30 DATING GAME -C- 3:00 GENERAL HOSPITAL -C- 3:30 ONE LIFE TO LIVE -C- 4:00 LOVE, AMERICAN STYLE -C- 4:30 HERE COME THE BRIDES -C- 5:30 NEWS—Willette/McAfee -C- EVENING 6:00 ABC NEWS—Howard K. Smith, Harry Reasoner -C- 6:30 HIGH CHAPARRAL -C- 7:30 DEATH VALLEY DAYS -C- 8:00 ALIAS SMITH AND JONES -C- 9:00 LONGSTREET—Crime Drama -C- 10:00 OWEN MARSHALL, COUNSELOR AT LAW -C- 11:00 NEWS—Willette/McAfee -C- 11:30 DICK CAVETT -C- Guests: Ben Gazzara, Janice Rule
11 WQXI (ABC) MORNING 6:25 UNDERDOG -C- 6:55 PROFESSOR KITZEL—Children -C- 7:00 TUBBY AND LESTER -C- 8:00 ROMPER ROOM -C- 8:30 WHAT EVERY WOMAN WANTS TO KNOW -C- 9:00 MOVIE—Drama “Forever Amber” (1947) conclusion 11:00 SPLIT SECOND—Game -C- 11:30 BEWITCHED -C- AFTERNOON 12:00 PASSWORD -C- Carol Channing, Martin Milner. Host: Allen Ludden 12:30 NEWS—Neal/Faye -C- 1:00 ALL MY CHILDREN -C- 2:00 NEWLYWED GAME -C- 2:30 DATING GAME -C- 3:00 GENERAL HOSPITAL -C- 3:30 ONE LIFE TO LIVE -C- 4:00 LOVE, AMERICAN STYLE -C- 4:30 DICK VAN DYKE 5:00 DANIEL BOONE -C- EVENING 6:00 ABC NEWS—Howard K. Smith, Harry Reasoner -C- 6:30 GREEN ACRES -C- 7:00 WHAT’S MY LINE? -C- Panel: Arlene Francis, Allen Ludden, Soupy Sales, Gail Sheldon. Host: Wally Bruner 7:30 TO TELL THE TRUTH -C- Panel: Kitty Carlisle, Peggy Cass, Bill Cullen, Gene Rayburn. Host: Garry Moore 8:00 ALIAS SMITH AND JONES -C- 9:00 LONGSTREET—Crime Drama -C- 10:00 OWEN MARSHALL, COUNSELOR AT LAW -C- 11:00 NEWS—Carmack/Brooks -C- 11:30 MOVIE—Drama “Young Dillinger” (1965) 1:00 NEWS -C-
12 WDEF (CHATTANOOGA) (CBS) MORNING 6:25 SUNRISE SEMESTER -C- Latin-American Literature: Gabriel Garcia Marquez 6:55 FARM REPORT 7:00 CBS NEWS—Hart -C- 7:30 MORNING SHOW -C- 8:30 ROMPER ROOM -C- 9:00 CAPTAIN KANGAROO -C- 10:00 LUCILLE BALL -C- 10:30 MY THREE SONS -C- 11:00 FAMILY AFFAIR -C- 11:30 LOVE OF LIFE -C- AFTERNOON 12:00 NEWS—Vic Gramount -C- 12:25 CBS NEWS—Edwards -C- 12:30 SEARCH FOR TOMORROW -C- 1:00 PEYTON PLACE -C- 1:30 AS THE WORLD TURNS -C- 2:00 LOVE IS A MANY SPLENDORED THING -C- 2:30 GUIDING LIGHT -C- 3:00 SECRET STORM -C- 3:30 EDGE OF NIGHT -C- 4:00 AMATEUR’S GUIDE TO LOVE—Game -C- Charles Nelson Reilly, Joan Rivers 4:30 MERV GRIFFIN -C- Guests: Della Reese, Michael York, Pamela Mason, Jean Paul VIgnon EVENING 6:00 NEWS—Mort Lloyd -C- 6:30 CBS NEWS—Walter Cronkite -C- 7:00 PAUL HARVEY—Commentary -C- 7:05 NEWS—Dick James -C- 7:30 TO TELL THE TRUTH -C- Panel: Larry Blyden, Kitty Carlisle, Peggy Cass, Bill Cullen. Host: Garry Moore 8:00 ME AND THE CHIMP -C- 8:30 MY THREE SONS -C- 9:00 MOVIE—Comedy “Arrivederci, Baby!” (1966) 11:00 NEWS—Dick James -C- 11:30 MOVIE—Western “Cattle King” (1963)
13 WMAZ (CBS, ABC) MORNING 6:50 NEWS -C- 7:00 CBS NEWS—Hart -C- 8:00 CAPTAIN KANGAROO -C- 9:00 LET’S TALK IT OVER -C- 9:30 GENERAL HOSPITAL 10:00 LUCILLE BALL -C- 10:30 MY THREE SONS -C- 11:00 FAMILY AFFAIR -C- 11:30 LOVE OF LIFE -C- AFTERNOON 12:00 WHERE THE HEART IS -C- 12:25 CBS NEWS—Edwards -C- 12:30 SEARCH FOR TOMORROW -C- 1:00 ALMANAC -C- 1:15 DATE WITH DEL -C- 1:30 AS THE WORLD TURNS -C- 2:00 LOVE IS A MANY SPLENDORED THING -C- 2:30 GUIDING LIGHT -C- 3:00 SECRET STORM -C- 3:30 EDGE OF NIGHT -C- 4:00 AMATEUR’S GUIDE TO LOVE—Game -C- Charles Nelson Reilly, Joan Rivers 4:30 HIGH CHAPARRAL -C- 5:30 TO TELL THE TRUTH -C- Panelists: Orson Bean, Kitty Carlisle, Peggy Cass, Bill Cullen EVENING 6:00 NEWS, WEATHER, SPORTS -C- 6:30 CBS NEWS—Walter Cronkite -C- 7:00 TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES -C- 7:30 RUN FOR YOUR LIFE -C- 8:30 MY THREE SONS -C- 9:00 MOVIE—Comedy “Arrivederci, Baby!” (1966) 11:00 NEWS, WEATHER, SPORTS -C- 11:30 MOVIE—Western “Cattle King” (1963)
17 WTCG (Ind.) MORNING 7:00 LITTLE RASCALS 8:00 BANANA SPLITS -C- 8:30 FLINTSTONES -C- 9:00 NEW ZOO REVUE—Children -C- 9:30 CARTOON CARIVAL -C- 10:00 JACK LaLANNE—Exercise -C- 10:30 MANTRAP—Discussion -C- 11:00 DONNA REED 11:30 GALLOPING GOURMET -C- French Canadian meat pie AFTERNOON 12:00 JEOPARDY -C- 12:30 WHO, WHAT OR WHERE—Game -C- 12:55 NBC NEWS—Kalber -C- 1:00 MOVIE—Drama “The Locket” (1946) 3:00 MAGIC FUNNIES -C- 3:30 BANANA SPLITS -C- 4:00 SPIDERMAN -C- 4:30 FLINTSTONES -C- 5:00 LEAVE IT TO BEAVER 5:30 SEA HUNT EVENING 6:00 STAR TREK -C- 7:00 RIFLEMAN 7:30 DRAGNET -C- 8:00 LARADO -C- 9:00 MOVIE—Musical Comedy “Pardon My Sarong” (1942) 10:30 SOUTHERN SPORTSMAN -C- 11:00 ONE STEP BEYOND 11:30 MOVIE—Western “Cattle King” (1963)
41 WCWB (MACON) (NBC) MORNING 7:00 TODAY -C- 9:00 ROMPER ROOM -C- 9:30 WHAT EVERY WOMAN WANTS TO KNOW -C- 10:00 DINAH SHORE -C- Abbe Lane, Neil Solomon 10:30 CONCENTRATION -C- 11:00 SALE OF THE CENTURY -C- 11:30 HOLLYWOOD SQUARES -C- Guests: Marty Allen, Jim Backus, Joel Grey, Paul Lynde, Rose Marie, Suzanne Pleshette, Vincent Price, Jo Anne Worley AFTERNOON 12:00 JEOPARDY -C- 12:30 WHO, WHAT OR WHERE—Game -C- 12:55 NBC NEWS—Kalber -C- 1:00 NEWS—McEldowney -C- 1:10 WOMAN’S WORLD -C- 1:30 THREE ON A MATCH—Game -C- 2:00 DAYS OF OUR LIVES -C- 2:30 DOCTORS -C- 3:00 ANOTHER WORLD -C- 3:30 RETURN TO PEYTON PLACE -C- 4:00 SOMERSET -C- 4:30 MOVIE—To Be Announced EVENING 6:30 NBC NEWS—John Chancellor -C- 7:00 ADDAMS FAMILY 7:30 DRAGNET -C- 8:00 FLIP WILSON -C- Carol Channing, David Steinberg, the Modern Jazz Quartet 9:00 IRONSIDE -C- 10:00 DEAN MARTIN -C- Ginger Rogers, Arte Johnson, Don Meredith, Norm Crosby 11:00 MOVIE GAME -C- 11:30 JOHNNY CARSON -C- Guest: Lola Falana
45 WTCI (CHATTANOOGA) (PBS) AFTERNOON 4:10 SWEDISH CLOSE-UP -C- 4:30 HODGEPODGE LODGE -C- 5:00 SESAME STREET -C- EVENING 6:00 MISTER ROGERS -C- 6:30 ELECTRIC COMPANY—Children -C- 7:00 OUR STREET—Serial -C- 7:30 DESIGNING WOMEN—Sewing -C- 8:00 IMPROVING YOUR MATH 8:30 ASSIGNMENT 45 10:00 AESTHETIC VENTURE
46 WHAE (Ind.) AFTERNOON 5:00 MUSIC TO LIVE BY 5:30 FURY EVENING 6:00 JIM AND TAMMY -C- 7:00 ROY ROGERS 7:30 TEACH-IN—Discussion 8:30 OF LANDS AND SEAS -C- 9:30 700 CLUB -C-
61 WRIP (CHATTANOOGA) (Ind.) MORNING 7:30 CARTOON CARNIVAL -C- 8:00 MOVIE—Musical “Happy Go Lovely” (1951) 10:00 MOVIE—Western “Fort Yuma” (1955) AFTERNOON 12:00 MOVIE—Musical “Swing Your Lady” (1938) 2:00 MOVIE—Drama “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” (1939) 3:30 BUGS BUNNY/THREE STOOGES -C- 4:00 MOVIE—Musical “Happy Go Lovely” (1951) EVENING 6:00 MOVIE—Western “Fort Yuma” (1955) 8:00 MOVIE—Musical “Swing Your Lady” (1938) 10:00 MOVIE—Drama “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” (1939) 11:30 MOVIE—Musical “Happy Go Lovely” (1951) TV
May 7, 2022
This week in TV Guide: May 6, 1972
Who decides what your children watch on television? The question is much more complex than it seems, because the answer you give will raise all kinds of additional questions, each of them requiring similar answers. At the end, you may want to test yourself on how consistent your answers are.A few weeks ago—April 1, to be exact—the TV Guide editorial expressed concern about the 25 CBS affiliates that refused to run The Damned on the February 28 CBS Late Movie. Now, a word of exposition, in case we've never discussed The Damned here. It was—still is, for that matter—a 1969 movie by Luchino Visconti, which was among the first X-rated movies ever to be shown on television. It is, according to the editorial, a "brilliant allegory of Nazi Germany," which won raves from many critics, including TV Guide's own Judith Crist, who ranked it #7 on her own l0-best list of 1969 (just behind Midnight Cowboy, which she ranked #6). It also, as one critic pointed out, included murder, incest, cross dressing, pedophilia, suicide, rape, a gay orgy and mass murder. (In other words, typical Weimar Germany.) It had already been heavily edited to get an R rating, and CBS cut another 11 minutes of "objectionable scenes" to show it in a late-night timeslot. One wag ventured that so much had been cut, it should have been called "The Darned."
But back to the editorial. "Obviously, those stations which shied away from showing [The Damned] feared offending some viewers who were aware of the film's original reputation. But the result was that those viewers who wanted to see even a bowdlerized version of the Visconti classic were denied the chance." Some of the stations, it was pointed out, had made their decision even before seeing the film.
The editorial points out that "a station's responsibility for what it puts on the air is to the entire community, including those of us who are more offended by the leering, puerile jokes of some variety and talk shows." And while stations obviously need to "exercise caution" with what they program while children may be watching, the conclusion is that "if they are watching when the CBS late-night movie is on, their parents might be better occupied putting them to bed than by writing letters to stations objecting to anything that may not meet their own personal blandness standards."
That brings us to this week's Letters section, which is dominated by discussion of the April 1 editorial. From similar controversies in the past, we know that the published pro-and-con letters more or less reflect the same proportion that the magazine receives, and in this case we're evenly split, at two supporting the editorial and two opposing.
I was going to put a picture from the moviehere, but I think I'd rather not.The arguments can be summed up in these two representative letters: J.R. Kohlhepp of Cincinnati says, "Bravo for your excellent editorial," and notes that their local station, WCPO, was one of the 25 not carrying the movie. "We have sent the station a copy of your editorial in the naive hope of educating them to their responsibility to, as you point out, 'the entire community,' not merely special vociferous factions. Though their decision was disappointing, it was hardly surprising, since in this town, self-appointed legislators of public morality are in obnoxious abundance."
On the other hand, Marian Cure of Albany, NY speaks against the editorial: "There should be concern for those opposed to having tasteless pornography and violence coming into their homes under the name of 'art.' Parents have every right to be concerned. TV GUIDE—and broadcasters—have no right to dictate when children should be in bed, or what they shall do in the privacy of their homes." To this letter, the editor makes the following response: "There was no pornography in what was telecast. We won't tell you when to put your kids to bed if you won't tell other viewers what they may or may not see on television."
And here we come to the key issue raised by this editorial. TV Guide's response makes sense given their constant aversion to government control of television; it's the old "if you don't want your children watching this movie, change the channel" argument. So far, so good. The answer to the question I posed at the beginning is that it is the responsibility of the parents to decide what their children should watch. Not the networks, not the community. Generally, this would be seen as a classically liberal position.
This, however, is where things start to get slippery, for if it's up to the parents to monitor their children's TV viewing, could not the same thing be said about, say, their education? That parents should monitor what their children are taught in school, and that if they don't approve, they shouldn't allow them to learn it? It's a logical argument, after all—parents should be the guardians of what their children consume, whether it's pop culture like television, or the educational material taught in schools. And in today's political climate, that's a decidedly conservative argument.
I think that in today's world, with more and more people turning away from the traditional programming delivery methods via cord-cutting and streaming services, it's fair to say that parents who are concerned about what their children watch are taking it into their own hands. They're changing the channel or getting rid of the channel altogether. Shouldn't that logic be applied consistently? Wouldn't it follow that parents should have the same rights when it comes to education?
I'm not saying, I'm just saying. As I mentioned yesterday, I love provocative questions.
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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. This week, Cleveland Amory takes a rare sojourn into daytime television with a look at General Hospital, ABC's venerable soap opera. And if you're feeling kind of down about how things are going in this old world of ours, Cleve has some words of encouragement for you: until you've seen General Hospital, "you don't know what troubles are."
I don't think I've ever read an Amory review like this; it consists, quite literally, of nothing other than a pair of convoluted storylines. (Probably running at the same time.) And the best part about it (or the worst, depending, I guess, on how you look at it), is that if you think this is typical Amory embellishment, you'd be wrong. It's just a sober, but well-written, look at what happens behind the scenes in your favorite hospital. At this point we should probably be grateful that we don't have government-run healthcare; just imagine how bad things might be then.
To be honest, though, it does make things a little hard to excerpt. But in order to give you a taste of what things are like in dear old Port Charles, let's look at the story of one of its typical residents, Nurse Jessie Brewer (Emily McLaughlin), who's married to Phil but really loves former husband Dr. Peter:
[Phil] had amnesia, and even though he was married to Jessie while he had this amnesia, he didn't know he was, and started going with Nurse Diana. And the next thing you knew, Diana and Phil had a baby. Before they did, though, Dr. Peter had offered to marry Diana, to give the baby a home. So Jessie lost Dr. Peter and wound up with Phil again, who is only interested in Diana's baby. He and Jessie, you see, could never have a baby. So this baby means a terrible lot to him. It makes life just awful for Jessie. And since Phil comes over to Diana's house any old time, it's pretty bad for Diana too. One day she just can't stand it any more. "Phil," she tells him, "he's not your baby, he's not your baby, he's not your baby, he's not your baby." To recap, it's not his baby. Anyway, our guess is we're due for another kidnapping here.
(And you thought The Damned was bad.)
See what I mean? Cleve doesn't have to resort to hyperbole; just reading the storyline is a riot. I don't know how anyone could do it with a straight face. Indeed, as Amory admits at the end, "we just love this show. It's really so awful that it is, in its awful way, wonderful." And it still is—50 years later.
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The first Saturday in May means it's Kentucky Derby time, and you can see the Run for the Roses at 5:00 p.m. on CBS. Will favorite Riva Ridge fulfill his promise as last year's 2-year old champion, and break the 24-year drought between Triple Crown winners? (The answers are yes, he wins; and no, he'll fade in the Preakness, but does win the Belmont Stakes.)
Elsewhere in the sports world, ABC will be televising the fifth, sixth, and seventh games (all if necessary) in the NBA finals between the Los Angeles Lakers and New York Knicks. As it turns out, only one of these three broadcasts will be necessary; Sunday's primetime game (10:00 p.m., ABC) in which the Lakers, winners of a record 60 games during the regular season, batter the Knicks 114-100 to win their first championship since 1954, when they were still in Minneapolis. Not to be outdone, CBS carries the first game of the ABA finals on Saturday (2:00 p.m.), with the New York Nets losing to the Indiana Pacers 124-103; the Pacers will win the championship in six games, their first of three ABA titles in four years. And let's not forget the NHL; CBS carries game four of the Stanley Cup final between the New York Rangers and Boston Bruins (Sunday, 2:00 p.m.), a series won by the Bruins in six games.
You might have noticed that New York teams played in all three of this winter's finals. They lost all three.
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One of the reasons for the emphasis on sports is that we've moved into the rerun season, and until the summer replacement series begin to air, there isn't a whole lot new to talk about. Of course, in eleven years that hasn't stopped us, and it's not about to start now.
However, we'll start with some things that actually are new: an ABC News Special on "The Masks We Wear" (Monday, 8:00 p.m.), a personality study on "the roles people play," hosted by Harry Reasoner. How do we see ourselves, and what do our clothes, gestures, and speech reveal about us? And how do others see us? I suppose today we'd think of these masks as our "avatars."
On Thursday, Playhouse New York takes a look at "The '40s: The Great Radio Comedians" (8:30 p.m., PBS), which must be a wonderful journey back to look at the Golden Age of Radio, with clips from classic shows featuring Jack Benny and Fred Allen; Bing Crosby and Bob Hope; Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy; interviews with Benny, Crosby, and George Burns; and a segment on Fibber McGee and Molly, among other highlights. What a great 90 minutes.
Documentaries aren't all that's new; on Sunday, it's a Special London Bridge Special (9:00 p.m., NBC), with a star-studded lineup hosted by Tom Jones and Jennifer O'Neill, with Kirk Douglas, Rudolf Nureyev, and—well, you can see them for yourself listed in the ad over there on the left.A couple of first-run movies also make the cut this week: Enter Laughing (Sunday, 7:30 p.m., CBS), Carl Reiner's 1967 film version of his 1963 Broadway hit, which Judith Crist says is "warm and funny and on occasion hilarious"; despite Reni Santori replacing Alan Arkin in the lead role, Crist assures us that there the movie "has much to compensate" for his absence.
On Friday, PBS shows Our Daily Bread (8:30 p.m.), the controversial 1934 King Vidor drama that was denounced variously as leftist by some American newspapers, and capitalist propaganda by the Soviets. It tells the story of farmers banding together to form a cooperative community in the face of the Great Depression. Crist calls it "a piece of Americana to revel in."
That's not to say that there isn't anything worth a second look this week. Chief among them is Monday's repeat of the Emmy-winning special Annie, the Women in the Life of a Man (10:00 p.m., CBS), with Anne Bancroft in a tour de force portraying the different faces a woman wears based on the roles played by the different men in her life. (I wonder if she would have benefited from watching that documentary?) Playing the men are Jack Cassidy, Lee J. Cobb, John McGiver, Dick Shawn, and David Susskind.
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Finally, since we started on such a grim note, we should end on a lighthearted one. And what could be better than Robert Meyers's story on the man they pay $1,000 an hour to listen to jokes? It's none other than Peter Marshall, host of NBC's hit game show The Hollywood Squares, and while contestants do compete, and money does change hands, "Marshall never lets the game get in the way of the jokes. His primary task is to feed the panelists the straight lines they need for their gags."
Marshall got his training as a straight man as part of the comedy team Noonan and Marshall, with comedian Tommy Noonan. Marshall explains his role as "the one who's got to pace the act, set up the rhythms, know when to cut and move—but also when not to get in the way." It's a phrase you hear from others as well; "He goes along with our gags," Vincent Price says. "He feeds us openings but never gets in the way."
There's no question that, despite the lineup of stars in the squares, Marshall is the glue holding the show together. "You won't find the same sense of family we have here," Suzanne Pleshette says. "Peter creates the atmosphere. Wally Cox says that, even with all the one-liners flying around, "Peter remains an oasis of peace." And Charley Weaver adds, "If we get too wild, he scolds us. He has great regard for the show." As for those one-liners:
Peter: "What makes water 'hard'?"Charley Weaver: "Water."
Peter: "Is it true that a new millionaire is made every half hour?"Rose Marie: "Not by me."
Marshall doesn't mind being the straight man, though; as Meyers says, to make a quarter of a million dollars each year, you don't need to be a genius, a saint, or be the world's greatest actor. All you need is "a strong voice, a pretty face, a professional bearing, the ability to handle temperamental guests, and the willingness (at those prices, who wouldn't be willing?) to let other people tell you jokes." Or as Peter Marshall says, "It cracks me up to see actors who think they're important. Just stay off the air for two years and see what happens. I couldn't care less if I get remembered."
Or, as they might have put it on the show:
Peter: "True or false: having a good memory is a sign of a well-adjusted personality.Karen Valentine: "What was the question?" TV
May 6, 2022
Around the dial
I love to start the week with something provocative, don't you? What's that, you say? You don't? Well, if that's the case, feel free to skip down to the next link, which isn't provocative, only interesting. For the rest of you, this article at Human Events is a few months old, but I just found out about it: Bill Hurrell writes about how
the series
Glee may well have marked the start of the woke movement in television. Agree with him or not, it's precisely this in-depth treatment of television as a cultural avitar that this site is all about. One thing you can be sure of in an episode called " A Man Greatly Beloved " is that there's more to it than meets the eye. Find out what Sir Cedric Hardwicke's secret is when you read Jack's review of this 1957 Hitchcock story, based on Sarett Rudley's script, at bare-bones e-zine.
Is there anyone out there who wouldn't want to be The Man With the Power? Well, these kinds of things can be more trouble than they're worth, and at Cult TV Blog, John looks at how complicated it can be in the Power episode " The Mind Beyond ."
You may recall that awhile back, David began a quest to watch at least one episode of every prime time network television series to air in the 1970s. Find out how he's doing at Comfort TV, where he's up to Monday, 1970 . How many of these shows do you remember?
Despite the snarking about how unrealistic sitcoms of the classic TV era are, Leave It to Beaver is, paradoxically, more popular now than it was when it originally aired. Read about the show's 1962 episodes this week at Television's New Frontier: The 1960s.
Two obituaries of television stars from the '70s and '80s feature at A Shroud of Thoughts, as Terence pays tribute to the careers of David Birney and Joanna Barnes , both of whom died at the end of April; Birney aged 83 and Barnes 87, and both of them leaving us with plenty of fine performances.
Finally, at Classic Film & TV Cafe, Rick has an interview with Samantha Glasser on the inaugural Columbus Moving Picture Show , which takes place May 26-29 of this year. Given that we now live about three hours from Columbus, we might have to consider this trip; if not this year, then in the future. Sounds like fun, doesn't it? TV
May 4, 2022
Lost In Space is lost on him
Mitchell here, with the first of what I hope will be several guest articles from faithful reader Stephen Taylor, who has some ideas about his favorite TV shows—and, in this case, one that isn't. Thanks for a great piece, Stephen—looking forward to more!
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Well, I had to quit watching Lost In Space. It’s unclear to me why I bought LIS in the first place. I have only vague memories of it from childhood; we just didn’t watch it at our house. I was familiar with the basic concept. The Robinson family, on board an interstellar spacecraft fleeing an overcrowded Earth circa 1997, is thrown off course by the added weight of a saboteur from a competing power; it’s never made clear just which power that might be. And it was never important. What was important was that the competing power didn’t perform psychological assessments on their deep-cover operatives, and they ended up with Dr. Zachary Smith, a craven coward and all-around incompetent. His extra weight and the sabotage of The Robot meant that the spaceship, the Jupiter II, was sent light-years off course; they crash landed on a miserable little armpit of a planet called Priplanus. The series details their efforts to survive on Priplanus and then to leave and find a way back to Earth.
Irwin Allen had good intentions, I think. He invested a fair amount of money into sets and things like The Robot, whose original duties included sampling the air on new planets, and the Chariot, a tracked vehicle that allowed exploration of the surrounding area on Priplanus. There was some actual science at the beginning, and Allen tried to keep the scripts focused on the Robinson family and their efforts to survive.
That didn’t work out. He hadn’t counted on an absolute ham of an actor named Jonathan Harris, who played Dr. Smith. He was only supposed to be on for a few episodes, but Harris was having too much fun with the part, and audiences responded well. Dr. Smith was cowardly, lazy and unctuous by turns, and sometimes all three at the same time. He wanted to get back to Earth, and was perfectly willing to leave the Robinsons behind if that’s what it took to make that happen. He was, in short, a very widely drawn villain. The audience responded positively to Dr. Smith, so Irwin Allen began to allow him to modify his lines for greater effect. Harris ran with this, and his portrayal of Dr. Smith, along with the other breakout character, The Robot, soon led the series to become "The Dr. Smith and Robot Show."Irwin Allen allowed the series to become centered around Dr. Smith and The Robot because it drove ratings, and the show soon began to become more cartoonish. In the beginning The Robot was driven solely by his programming, but he slowly became able to initiate conversation, take action without adhering to programming and to act on his own initiative. The Robot was an early example of what we might call artificial intelligence. I found Dr. Smith to be perpetually annoying; his mannerisms grated on me, but having The Robot engage in dialogue with Dr. Smith was a great idea and a huge success. The Robot began to make fun of Smith, and in one episode the dialogue between the two made me laugh out loud. The two were excellent together. That they were so good together, however, meant that there was no room for the rest of the Robinson Family. Not that the audience was missing much; the rest of the family were simply cardboard cutouts designed to act as a background for Dr. Smith and his attempts to get back to Earth. It’s a shame, really, because there were many other things that could have been done to keep the series serious, more or less. It was never going to be Star Trek, but it could’ve been far better.
"Danger, Will Robinson!"I only watched the first season in its entirety, but there was never any mention of the relationship between Major West (Mark Godard) and Judy Robinson (Marta Kristen). There should have been, because it might have set up some tension between stalwart John Robinson and the notoriously quick-tempered Major West. (There is no other word in the English language that better describes Guy Williams than stalwart). Was there marital tension between John and Maureen Robinson? There should have been; their living situation was precarious, and John tended to leave Maureen out of the decision making. There never was. In fact, none of the children added much to the show, with the one exception being Will Robinson (Billy Mumy). He was extremely precocious, yet still a child in every other way. He was willful and made a bad habit of disobeying his father, he was extremely impetuous,, and had an absolute weakness for allowing Dr. Smith to talk him into his schemes. Yet when the chips were down, he showed great courage and a knack for improvisation. A example of this was in one of the better episodes of the first season titled "There Were Giants In The Earth"; Will saved John Robinson and Major West from being consumed by a 60-foot Cyclops by climbing up a rocky outcrop and zapping the Cyclops with a laser rifle. Quite a kid. Will was a driver in many of the first season plots, and could have been used a little more effectively. He wasn’t. And what about Dr. Smith? Instead of allowing his character to overwhelm the show, his character could have been written as a genuine villain, but one who grudgingly develops some respect and even affection for the Robinson family. I could envision an episode where he conspires with the Alien of the Week to harm the Robinson family in some way, but then joins forces with the Robinsons to defeat the alien, thus revealing that he had a heart after all, and could possibly be redeemed at some point down the road. There would have been tension between John Robinson and this Dr. Smith, and it would’ve helped the show.
The scripts as written never gave the characters a chance to act, although acting at a professional level was always going to be beyond Marta Kristen’s abilities, and Mark Goddard wasn’t any more talented than she was. And if the word “stalwart” described Guy Williams, then the word for June Lockhart was "maternal." She made a career out of playing someone else’s mother. She was good at it, but LIS could have allowed her to stretch her wings a bit. It never did.
The show began the slide into camp before the first season even ended, and never made any attempt to recover. At which point I gave up. I thought I might be able to stick it out until the infamous episode where Stanley Adams turns everyone into a vegetable, but I couldn’t finish my journey through some of the most relentlessly bad science fiction I’ve ever seen. Maybe I was expecting too much. TV
May 2, 2022
What's on TV? Sunday, May 1, 1955
Last Monday it was Bay Area Sunday television circa 1980; today we go back 25 years to look at the same lineup on a Sunday in 1955; some of the stations are the same, but very little of their programs are. KQED, the educational station, didn't broadcast on the weekend back then, and DuMont, the network, doesn't broadcast at all anymore. Anyway, have fun with the comparisons.Two specials of note: at 11:30 a.m., KPIX presents a repeat of the 1954 Studio One play An Almanac of Liberty, within the context of the Democratic Legacy Awards program from the Anti-Defamation League. The Anti-Defamation broadcast probably doesn't exist anymore, but you can see An Almanac of Liberty here . And then, in a preview of things to come, KPIX hosts a debate on the future of pay TV at 2:15 p.m. Should viewers pay for the programs they watch? TV Guide promises a writeup of the issue next week.
-4- KRON (NBC) MORNING 10:15 News and Music 10:30 American Forum—Education 11:00 The Christophers—Religion 11:30 Green Thumb—Gardening 11:45 Scripture Sketches—Fisher AFTERNOON 12:00 Frontiers of Faith 12:30 Things to Remember 1:00 Background—Documentary 1:30 Time for Youth 2:00 Kierans’ Kaleidoscope 2:30 Take a Stand—Trumbull 3:00 Meet the Press—Panel Guest: Gov. Averell Harriman (D—NY) 3:30 People Are Funny 4:00 MOVIE—Drama Feature Playhouse: “Jane Eyre” 5:00 Hall of Fame—Drama “Oliver Wendell Holmes” 5:30 Capt. Gallant—Adventure EVENING 6:00 MOVIE—Drama “The Macomber Affair” 7:15 MYSTERY THEATER 7:30 MR. PEEPERS—Wally Cox 8:00 COMEDY HOUR Guest: Liberace 9:00 TV PLAYHOUSE “Letter of Recommendation” 10:00 LORETTA YOUNG SHOW “I Remember the Rani” 10:30 VICTORY AT SEA—Navy 11:00 Captured—Crime 11:30 MOVIE—Drama Owl Theater: “Mister Cinderella”
-5- KPIX (CBS) MORNING 8:45 Industry on Parade 9:00 Lamp Unto My Feet 9:30 Look Up and Live 10:00 The Big Picture—Army Film 10:30 Puppet Tales 10:45 Cartoon Cutups—Kids 11:30 Almanac of Liberty SPECIAL AFTERNOON 12:30 Let’s Take a Trip 1:00 The Lone Ranger—Western 1:30 Face the Nation—Panel 2:00 The American Week 2:15 Subscription TV—Debate SPECIAL 3:00 MOVIE—Drama Sunday Matinee: “Johnny Doughboy” 4:00 Del Courtney—Variety 4:45 Short Story Theater 5:00 Lucy Show—Comedy 5:30 Bandstand Revue EVENING 6:00 You Are There “The Emancipation Proclamation” 6:30 Lassie—Drama 7:00 JACK BENNY 7:30 WHAT’S MY LINE? Guest Panelist: Laraine Day. Panelists: Bennett Cerf, Dorothy Kilgallen, Fred Allen. John Daly emcees. 8:00 TOAST OF THE TOWN Guests: Eartha Kitt, Lionel Hapton, Georgia Gibbs, Victor Julian, Phil Foster, NYU and Skidmore College choruses 9:00 G.E. THEATER “Mr. Blue Ocean” 9:30 LIBERACE—Music 10:00 NEWS ANALYSIS—Winter 10:30 STAGE 7—Drama “Armed” 11:00 Sunday News Special 11:15 MOVIE—Western Late Show: “Challenge of the Frontier” 12:30 Headline News
-7- KGO (ABC) MORNING 9:30 Film Feature 10:00 Garden Show 10:30 The Christophers—Religion 11:00 Church in the Home AFTERNOON 12:00 This is the Life—Religion 12:30 Faith for Today—Fagal 1:00 Our Catholic Heritage 1:30 Cartoon Time 1:45 Manners for Mutts 2:00 Super Circus—Variety 3:00 Cisco Kid—Western 3:30 Captain Midnight—Kids 4:00 Sky King—Adventure 4:30 Boston Blackie—Drama 5:00 Amateur Hour—Budda 5:30 MOVIE—Musical Sunday Matinee: “52nd Street” EVENING 7:00 YOU ASKED FOR IT 7:30 PLAYHOUSE—Polly Bergen “The Longest Legs in Town” 8:00 MOVIE—Mystery “It’s Up in the Air” 9:00 WALTER WINCHELL—News 9:15 AMES BROTHERS—Music 9:30 RACKET SQUAD—Crim 10:00 BREAK THE BANK—Quiz 10:30 LET’S LOOK AT BOOKS 11:00 MOVIE—Drama “The Case of the Telegraph Swindle”
-8- KSBW (All) AFTERNOON 4:00 World in Documentary 4:30 This is the Life—Religion 5:00 It’s a Great Life—Comedy 5:30 People Are Funny EVENING 6:00 You Are There “The Emancipation Proclamation” 6:30 Douglas Fairbanks Presents “Sensible Man” 7:00 JACK BENNY 7:30 EDDIE CANTOR—Comedy 8:00 TOAST OF THE TOWN Guests: Eartha Kitt, Lionel Hampton, Georgia Gibbs, Victor Julian, Phil Foster, NYU and Skidmore College choruses 9:00 G.E. THEATER “Mr. Blue Ocean” 9:30 LORETTA YOUNG SHOW “Feeling No Pain” 10:00 APPOINTMENT WITH ADVENTURE 10:30 THE CHRISTOPHERS—Religion
10 KBET (CBS, ABC) AFTERNOON 1:45 News Report 1:50 Church at Work 2:15 News Review 2:30 The Search—Documentary 3:00 Our Story 3:30 Oral Roberts—Religion 4:00 Mather Field, U.S.A. 4:30 To Be Announced 5:00 The Professor 5:30 Prescription for Living EVENING 6:00 You Are There “Lou Gehrig’s Greatest Day” 6:30 Lassie—Drama 7:00 JACK BENNY 7:30 WHAT’S MY LINE? Guest Panelist: Laraine Day. Panelists: Bennett Cerf, Dorothy Kilgallen, Fred Allen. John Daly emcees. 8:00 TOAST OF THE TOWN Guests: Eartha Kitt, Lionel Hapton, Georgia Gibbs, Victor Julian, Phil Foster, NYU and Skidmore College choruses 9:00 G.E. THEATER “Mr. Blue Ocean” 9:30 STAGE 7—Drama 10:00 APPOINTMENT WITH ADVENTURE 10:30 VICTORY AT SEA 11:00 Father MacConnell—Religion 11:30 News Bulletins
13 KOVR (Du Mont) AFTERNOON 2:45 Industry on Parade 3:00 MOVIE—Western Cowboy Classics: “Six Gun Rhythm” 4:00 MOVIE—Drama “Juggernaut” 5:00 Oral Roberts—Religion 5:30 Big Picture—Army Film EVENING 6:00 This is the Life—Religion 6:30 Bible Dramas 7:00 MOVIE—Drama Academy Theater: “Steel Helmet” 8:15 WRESTLING 10:00 MOVIE—Musical Feature Theater: “Second Chorus”
36 KTVU (NBC) AFTERNOON 4:00 Town Meeting—Religion 4:30 This is the Life—Religion 5:00 Facts Forum 5:30 Big Picture—Army Film EVENING 6:00 MOVIE—Drama Star Theater: “Driftwood” 7:00 THE BIG PICTURE—Army 7:30 MR. PEEPERS—Wally Cox 8:00 TO BE ANNOUNCED 9:00 TV PLAYHOUSE “Letter of Recommendation” 10:00 BREAK THE BANK—Quiz
40 KCCC (Ind.) MORNING 10:45 The Christophers—Religion 11:00 Faith for Today—Fagal 11:30 This is the Life—Religion AFTERNOON 12:00 Frontiers of Faith 12:30 Film Feature 1:00 Background—Education 1:30 How Does Garden Grow? 2:00 Sacramento Varieties 3:00 MOVIE—To Be Announced EVENING 6:00 Meet the Press—Panel Guest: Gov. Averell Harriman (D—NY) 6:30 Superman—Adventure 7:00 PEOPLE ARE FUNNY 7:30 LIFE OF RILEY—William Bendix 8:00 COMEDY HOUR Guest: Liberace 9:00 WHERE WERE YOU? 9:30 BADGE 714—Jack Webb 10:00 TV PLAYHOUSE “Letter of Recommendation” 11:00 MOVIE—To Be Announced
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It's About TV!
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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