Mitchell Hadley's Blog: It's About TV!, page 76
April 11, 2022
What's on TV? Friday, April 17, 1964
On Saturday I mentioned that the New York Mets game on WHCT marked the opening of Shea Stadium, but there's another baseball game that's a sign of the times: WHDH's coverage of the Boston Red Sox home opener against the Chicago White Sox, which serves as a benefit for the John F. Kennedy Memorial Library Fund that's to be built at Harvard University. It occurred to me that this might have been a special game, an exhibition, but no, it was a regular season game. If you'd suggested such a thing could be possible on Opening Day 1963, you would have been laughed out of town. Enjoy the listings from the Western New England edition.-3- WTIC (HARTFORD) (CBS) Morning 6:30 SUNRISE SEMESTER Civilizations: The Reorganization of the Roman States 7:00 PLAYS ON SHAKESPEARE 7:30 FROM THE COLLEGE CAMPUS 8:00 CAPTAIN KANGAROO 9:00 HAP RICHARDS—Children 9:15 DEPUTY DAWG—Cartoon 9:30 LEAVE IT TO BEAVER—Comedy 10:00 NEWS—Mike Wallace 10:30 MOVIE—Mystery “Dangerous Blondes” (1943) Afternoon 12:00 LOVE OF LIFE—Serial 12:25 NEWS—Robert Trout 12:30 SEARCH FOR TOMORROW—Serial 12:45 GUIDING LIGHT—Serial 1:00 MOVIE—Comedy “You Gotta Stay Happy,” conclusion 1:30 AS THE WORLD TURNS 2:00 PASSWORD—Allen Ludden Guests: Peter Fonda, Chita Rivera 2:30 HOUSE PARTY 3:00 EDGE OF NIGHT—Serial 3:30 TO TELL THE TRUTH Panel: Sam Levenson, Joan Fontaine, Barry Nelson, Phyllis Newman. Bud Collyer is host. 3:55 NEWS—Douglas Edwards 4:00 RANGER ANDY—Children 4:30 MOVIE—Drama “Between Midnight and Dawn” (1950) Evening 6:10 SPORTS—Bob Steele 6:15 NEWS, WEATHER 6:30 NEWS—Walter Cronkite 7:00 DEATH VALLEY DAYS—Drama COLOR 7:30 GREAT ADVENTURE 8:30 ROUTE 66—Drama 9:30 TWILIGHT ZONE 10:00 ALFRED HITCHCOCK 11:00 NEWS, WEATHER 11:15 MOVIE—Drama “Impact” (1949)
-4- WBZ (BOSTON (NBC) Morning 6:15 SIGN ON SEMINAR—Education 6:45 DAILY ALMANAC 7:00 TODAY Local news and weather at 7:25 and 8:25 9:00 LEAVE IT TO BEAVER—Comedy 9:30 BACHELOR FATHER—Comedy 10:00 SAY WHEN 10:25 NEWS 10:30 WORD FOR WORD—Merv Griffin COLOR 11:00 CONCENTRATION—Hugh Downs 11:30 JEOPARDY—Art Fleming COLOR Afternoon 12:00 NEWS, WEATHER 12:30 MIKE DOUGLAS—Variety 2:00 LET’S MAKE A DEAL—Monty Hall 2:25 NEWS—Kalber 2:30 DOCTORS 3:00 LORETTA YOUNG—Drama 3:30 YOU DON’T SAY!—Tom Kennedy COLOR Guests: Cornel Wilde, Laraine Day 4:00 MATCH GAME Panelists: Robert Merrill, Phyllis Diller 4:25 NEWS 4:30 CLUBHOUSE 4—Bob Emery 5:00 MOVIE—Comedy “Unexpected Father” (1939) Evening 6:30 NEWS, WEATHER 7:00 NEWS—Huntley, Brinkley 7:30 INTERNATIONAL SHOWTIME—Don Ameche 8:30 BOB HOPE—TV GUIDE AWARDS SPECIAL 9:30 THAT WAS THE WEEK THAT WAS—Satire 10:00 JACK PAAR COLOR Guests: Jayne Mansfield, Helen O’Connell, Jackie Vernon 11:00 NEWS, WEATHER 11:15 STEVE ALLEN—Variety 12:45 NEWS, SPORTS, WEATHER 1:00 MOVIE—Drama “Kiss of Death” (1947)
-5- WHDH (BOSTON) (CBS) Morning 6:00 CONTINENTAL CLASSROOM 6:30 SUNRISE SEMESTER Civilizations: The Reorganization of the Roman States 7:00 MORNING KEY CLUB COLOR 7:30 CAPTAIN BOB COLOR 8:00 CAPTAIN KANGAROO 9:00 ROMPER ROOM COLOR 9:30 CHRIS EVANS—Women COLOR 9:45 WE BELIEVE—Religion COLOR 10:00 NEWS—Mike Wallace 10:30 I LOVE LUCY—Comedy 11:00 McCOYS—Comedy 11:30 PETE AND GLADYS Afternoon 12:00 LOVE OF LIFE—Serial 12:25 NEWS—Robert Trout 12:30 SEARCH FOR TOMORROW—Serial 12:45 GUIDING LIGHT—Serial 1:00 NEWS—Leo Egan COLOR 1:05 FARM AND FOOD COLOR 1:30 BASEBALL—Red Sox SPECIAL Chicago White Sox at Boston Red Sox to benefit John F. Kennedy Memorial Library Fund “Trailmaster” immediately follows. 5:30 SEA HUNT—Adventure Evening 6:00 NEWS—Leo Egan COLOR 6:05 DATELINE BOSTON COLOR 6:30 NEWS—Walter Cronkite 7:00 NEWS, SPORTS—Day COLOR 7:25 WEATHER—Ted Miller COLOR 7:30 GREAT ADVENTURE 8:30 ROUTE 66—Drama 9:30 TWILIGHT ZONE 10:00 ALFRED HITCHCOCK 11:00 NEWS, WEATHER COLOR 11:20 SPORTS—Don Gillis 11:30 JOHNNY CARSON—Variety COLOR
-6- WTEV (NORTHFIELD) (ABC) Morning 6:30 CONTINENTAL CLASSROOM 7:00 BILLY BANG BANG—Children 8:00 WHIRLYBIRDS—Adventure 8:30 ABBOTT AND COSTELLO 9:00 ED ALLEN TIME—Exercise 9:30 AMOS ‘N’ ANDY—Comedy 10:00 COMMUNITY—Bob Bassett 10:30 PRICE IS RIGHT: Pat Carroll 11:00 GET THE MESSAGE—Frank Buxton Panelists: Paula Prentiss, Joel Grey, Barry Nelson, Dorothy Kilgallen 11:30 MISSING LINKS Panelists: Sam Levenson, Robert Q. Lewis, Barbara Feldon Afternoon 12:00 FATHER KNOWS BEST—Comedy 12:30 ERNIE FORD Guest: Charles Schulz 1:00 DIVORCE COURT—Drama 2:00 WOMEN—Athena Parker 2:30 DAY IN COURT 2:55 NEWS—Lisa Howard 3:00 GENERAL HOSPITAL 3:30 QUEEN FOR A DAY 4:00 TRAILMASTER 5:00 MICKEY MOUSE CLUB 5:30 SUPERMAN—Adventure Evening 6:00 NEWS—Ron Cochran 6:15 NEWS, WEATHER 6:30 SURFSIDE 6—Mystery 7:30 DESTRY—Western 8:30 BURKE’S LAW 9:30 PRICE IS RIGHT Guest: Edie Adams. Bill Cullen is the host 10:00 BOXING Joey Giardello vs. Juan Rivero 10:45 MAKE THAT SPARE—Bowling 11:00 NEWS—Young 11:10 NEWS, SPORTS, WEATHER 11:30 MOVIE—Comedy “So Long at the Fair” (English; 1951)
-7- WNAC (BOSTON) (ABC) Morning 6:25 FARM AND MARKET REPORT 6:30 UNDERSTANDING OUR WORLD 7:00 THREE STOOGES—Comedy 8:15 KING AND ODIE—Cartoon 8:30 JACK LA LANNE—Exercise 9:00 PEOPLE ARE FUNNY 9:30 GIRL TALK—Panel Panelists: Hermione Gingold, Virginia Peterson, Caroline B. Swann 10:00 ERNIE FORD—Variety Guest: Jackie Jensen 10:30 PRICE IS RIGHT Celebrity: Pat Carroll 11:00 GET THE MESSAGE—Frank Buxton Panelists: Paula Prentiss, Joel Grey, Barry Nelson, Dorothy Kilgallen 11:30 MISSING LINKS Panelists: Sam Levenson, Robert Q. Lewis, Barbara Feldon Afternoon 12:00 DAVID ALLEN—Variety 12:30 FATHER KNOWS BEST 1:00 GENERAL HOSPITAL—Serial 1:30 TRAILMASTER—Western 2:30 MOVIE—Drama “The Scarlet Coat” (1955) 3:55 NEWS—Lisa Howard 4:00 ADVENTURES IN PARADISE 5:00 MAGILLA GORILLA 5:30 THREE STOOGES—Comedy Evening 6:00 NEWS—Ron Cochran 6:15 NEWS, WEATHER 6:30 DOBIE GILLIS—Comedy 7:00 MOVIE—Western “Across the Wide Missouri” (1951) 8:30 BURKE’S LAW 9:30 PRICE IS RIGHT Guest: Edie Adams. Bill Cullen is the host 10:00 BOXING Joey Giardello vs. Juan Rivero 10:45 MAKE THAT SPARE—Bowling 11:00 NEWS, WEATHER 11:15 MOVIE—Double Feature 1. “Jump into Hell” (1955) 2. “Around the World” (1943)
-8- WNHC (NEW HAVEN) (ABC) Morning 6:45 CHRISTOPHER PROGRAM 7:00 MORNING SEMINAR 7:30 MR. GOOBER—Children 8:30 JACK LA LANNE—Exercise 9:00 GIRL TALK—Panel 9:30 QUEEN FOR A DAY—Bailey 10:00 GENERAL HOSPITAL—Serial 10:30 PRICE IS RIGHT Celebrity: Pat Carroll 11:00 GET THE MESSAGE—Frank Buxton Panelists: Paula Prentiss, Joel Grey, Barry Nelson, Dorothy Kilgallen 11:30 MISSING LINKS Panelists: Sam Levenson, Robert Q. Lewis, Barbara Feldon Afternoon 12:00 FATHER KNOWS BEST—Comedy 12:30 ERNIE FORD Guest: Charles Schulz 1:00 MOVIE—Comedy “The Fuzzy Pink Nightgown” (1957) 2:30 DAY IN COURT 2:55 NEWS—Lisa Howard 3:00 TRAILMASTER—Western 4:00 ADMIRAL JACK—Children 5:00 MAGILLA GORILLA 5:30 ROCKY AND HIS FRIENDS Evening 6:00 NEWS 6:10 WEATHER—John Martin 6:15 NEWS—Ron Cochran 6:30 NEW BREED—Police 7:30 DESTRY—Western 8:30 BURKE’S LAW 9:30 PRICE IS RIGHT Guest: Edie Adams. Bill Cullen is the host 10:00 BOXING Joey Giardello vs. Juan Rivero 10:45 MAKE THAT SPARE—Bowling 11:00 NEWS—Young 11:10 NEWS, SPORTS, WEATHER 11:30 MOVIE—Biography “Juarez” (1939)
10 WJAR (PROVIDENCE) (NBC) Morning 6:30 TV CLASSROOM—Education 7:00 TODAY Local news and weather at 7:25 and 8:25 9:00 TALK OF THE TOWN—Jay Kroll 9:30 NEWS 9:35 WORLD AROUND US 10:00 SAY WHEN 10:25 NEWS 10:30 WORD FOR WORD—Merv Griffin COLOR 11:00 CONCENTRATION—Hugh Downs Afternoon 12:00 FIRST IMPRESSION COLOR Guest: Skip Ward. Panelist: Dennis James. Host: Bill Leyden 12:30 TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES—Bob Barker COLOR 12:55 NEWS—Ray Scherer 1:00 MAKE ROOM FOR DADDY 1:30 LEAVE IT TO THE GIRLS 2:00 LET’S MAKE A DEAL—Monty Hall 2:25 NEWS—Kalber 2:30 DOCTORS 3:00 LORETTA YOUNG—Drama 3:30 YOU DON’T SAY!—Tom Kennedy COLOR Guests: Cornel Wilde, Laraine Day 4:00 MATCH GAME Panelists: Robert Merrill, Phyllis Diller 4:25 NEWS 4:30 MOVIE—Western “Ambush at Cimarron Pass” (1958) Evening 6:00 EYE-DENTIFY—Jay Kroll 6:15 NEWS, WEATHER 6:30 NEWS—Huntley-Brinkley 7:00 M SQUAD—Police 7:30 INTERNATIONAL SHOWTIME—Don Ameche 8:30 BOB HOPE—TV GUIDE AWARDS SPECIAL 9:30 THAT WAS THE WEEK THAT WAS—Satire 10:00 JACK PAAR COLOR Guests: Jayne Mansfield, Helen O’Connell, Jackie Vernon 11:00 NEWS, WEATHER 11:20 SPORTS—Clem Labine 11:30 JOHNNY CARSON—Variety COLOR
12 WPRO (PROVIDENCE) (CBS) Morning 6:30 SUNRISE SEMESTER Outlines of Art: 17th Century Spain: The Paintings of Velasquez 7:00 CARTOONS—Children 7:30 KING AND ODIE—Cartoon 7:45 STORYTIME—Beth Chollar 8:00 CAPTAIN KANGAROO 9:00 ROMPER ROOM 9:30 DIALING FOR DOLLARS 10:00 NEWS—Mike Wallace 10:30 I LOVE LUCY—Comedy 11:00 McCOYS—Comedy 11:30 PETE AND GLADYS Afternoon 12:00 LOVE OF LIFE—Serial 12:25 NEWS—Robert Trout 12:30 SEARCH FOR TOMORROW—Serial 12:45 GUIDING LIGHT—Serial 1:00 GIRL TALK—Panel 1:30 AS THE WORLD TURNS 2:00 PASSWORD—Allen Ludden Guests: Peter Fonda, Chita Rivera 2:30 HOUSE PARTY 3:00 TO TELL THE TRUTH Panel: Morey Amsterdam, John Payne, Bess Myerson, Phyllis Newman 3:30 EDGE OF NIGHT—Serial 4:00 SALTY’S FUNNY COMPANY 4:30 ROCKY AND HIS FRIENDS 5:00 MOVIE—Drama “Steel Fist” (1952) Evening 6:30 NEWS—Walter Cronkite 7:00 NEWS, SPORTS, WEATHER 7:30 GREAT ADVENTURE 8:30 ROUTE 66—Drama 9:30 TWILIGHT ZONE 10:00 ALFRED HITCHCOCK 11:00 NEWS, WEATHER 11:15 SPORTS—Chris Clark 11:20 MOVIE—Double Feature 1. “The Screaming Skull” (1958) 2. “The Monster and the Girl” (1941)
18 WHCT (HARTFORD) (IND.) Afternoon 1:45 BASEBALL—Metropolitans Pittsburgh Pirates at New York Metropolitans 5:00 FILM FEATURE Evening 6:00 IN THE PUBLIC INTEREST 6:30 LIFE OF RILEY—Comedy 7:00 PAY TV—Movie “The Mouse on the Moon” (English; 1963) Code 042F. Price $1.25 8:30 PAY TV—Movie “Two for the Seesaw” (1963) Code: 042D. Price: $1.00 10:45 PAY TV—Movie “A Global Affair” (1964) Code: 044F. Price: $1.25
20 WATR (WATERBURY) (ABC) Morning 10:30 PRICE IS RIGHT Celebrity: Pat Carroll 11:00 GET THE MESSAGE—Frank Buxton Panelists: Paula Prentiss, Joel Grey, Barry Nelson, Dorothy Kilgallen 11:30 MISSING LINKS Panelists: Sam Levenson, Robert Q. Lewis, Barbara Feldon Afternoon 12:00 FATHER KNOWS BEST—Comedy 12:30 ERNIE FORD Guest: Charles Schulz 1:00 FILM FEATURE 1:30 AT HOME WITH KITTY 2:00 FILM FEATURE 2:30 DAY IN COURT 2:55 NEWS—Lisa Howard 3:00 GENERAL HOSPITAL 3:30 QUEEN FOR A DAY 4:00 TRAILMASTER 5:00 MAIL ORDER MARKET Evening 6:45 NEWS—Ron Cochran 7:00 MAIL ORDER MARKET 7:30 DESTRY—Western 8:30 BURKE’S LAW 9:30 PRICE IS RIGHT Guest: Edie Adams. Bill Cullen is the host 10:00 BOXING Joey Giardello vs. Juan Rivero 10:45 MAKE THAT SPARE—Bowling 11:00 NEWS—Young
22 WWLP (SPRINGFIELD) (NBC) Morning 7:00 TODAY Local news and weather at 7:25 and 8:25 9:00 ROMPER ROOM 10:00 SAY WHEN 10:25 NEWS 10:30 WORD FOR WORD—Merv Griffin COLOR 11:00 CONCENTRATION—Hugh Downs 11:30 JEOPARDY—Art Fleming COLOR Afternoon 12:00 FIRST IMPRESSION COLOR Guest: Skip Ward. Panelist: Dennis James. Host: Bill Leyden 12:30 TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES—Bob Barker COLOR 12:55 NEWS—Ray Scherer 1:00 AT HOME WITH KITTY 2:00 LET’S MAKE A DEAL—Monty Hall 2:25 NEWS—Kalber 2:30 DOCTORS 3:00 LORETTA YOUNG—Drama 3:30 YOU DON’T SAY!—Tom Kennedy COLOR Guests: Cornel Wilde, Laraine Day 4:00 MATCH GAME Panelists: Robert Merrill, Phyllis Diller 4:25 NEWS 4:30 MOVIE—Musical “Painting the Clouds with Sunshine” (1951) Evening 6:15 SPORTS 6:30 NEWS—Huntley-Brinkley 7:00 NEWS, WEATHER 7:15 WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS HIGHLIGHTS—Tom Colton 7:30 AS SCHOOLS MATCH WITS 8:00 BIOGRAPHY—Documentary Joseph R. McCarthy 8:30 BOB HOPE—TV GUIDE AWARDS SPECIAL 9:30 THAT WAS THE WEEK THAT WAS—Satire 10:00 JACK PAAR COLOR Guests: Jayne Mansfield, Helen O’Connell, Jackie Vernon 11:00 NEWS, WEATHER 11:30 JOHNNY CARSON—Variety COLOR
24 WEDH (HARTFORD) (EDUC.) Morning 9:30 MUSIC—Elementary 10:00 NATURAL SCIENCE 10:30 AT ISSUE—Discussion 11:05 ART OF MANY LANDS 11:40 FILM FEATURE Afternoon 1:00 SOCIAL STUDIES—Grades 4-6 1:30 WONDER OF WORDS 2:00 SCIENCE—Junior High 5:15 FRIENDLY GIANT—Children 5:30 WHAT’S NEW—Children Evening 6:00 FILM FEATURE 6:30 WHAT’S NEW—Children 7:00 SURVIVAL IN THE SEA 7:30 SCIENCE REPORTER 8:00 THE MAN: SHAKESPEARE SPECIAL 9:00 AGE OF KINGS—Shakespeare “Henry VI, Part 2”
30 WHNB (WEST HARTFORD) (NBC) Morning 6:30 AGRICULTURE ON PARADE 7:00 TODAY Local news and weather at 7:25 and 8:25 9:00 TODAY IN CONNECTICUT 9:30 ROMPER ROOM—Children 10:00 SAY WHEN 10:25 NEWS 10:30 WORD FOR WORD—Merv Griffin COLOR 11:00 CONCENTRATION—Hugh Downs 11:30 JEOPARDY—Art Fleming COLOR Afternoon 12:00 FIRST IMPRESSION COLOR Guest: Skip Ward. Panelist: Dennis James. Host: Bill Leyden 12:30 TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES—Bob Barker COLOR 12:55 NEWS—Ray Scherer 1:00 AT HOME WITH KITTY 1:30 WILD BILL HICKOK—Western 2:00 LET’S MAKE A DEAL—Monty Hall 2:25 NEWS—Kalber 2:30 DOCTORS 3:00 LORETTA YOUNG—Drama 3:30 YOU DON’T SAY!—Tom Kennedy COLOR Guests: Cornel Wilde, Laraine Day 4:00 MATCH GAME Panelists: Robert Merrill, Phyllis Diller 4:25 NEWS 4:30 MAKE ROOM FOR DADDY 5:00 THREE STOOGES—Comedy 5:30 MAVERICK—Western Evening 6:30 NEWS—Huntley-Brinkley 7:00 NEWS, WEATHER 7:15 SPORTS—Jack Comley 7:30 INTERNATIONAL SHOWTIME—Don Ameche 8:30 BOB HOPE—TV GUIDE AWARDS SPECIAL 9:30 THAT WAS THE WEEK THAT WAS—Satire 10:00 JACK PAAR COLOR Guests: Jayne Mansfield, Helen O’Connell, Jackie Vernon 11:00 NEWS, WEATHER 11:15 JOHNNY CARSON COLOR
32 WRLP (NORTHFIELD) (NBC) Morning 7:00 TODAY Local news and weather at 7:25 and 8:25 9:00 ROMPER ROOM 10:00 SAY WHEN 10:25 NEWS 10:30 WORD FOR WORD—Merv Griffin COLOR 11:00 CONCENTRATION—Hugh Downs 11:30 JEOPARDY—Art Fleming COLOR Afternoon 12:00 FIRST IMPRESSION COLOR Guest: Skip Ward. Panelist: Dennis James. Host: Bill Leyden 12:30 TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES—Bob Barker COLOR 12:55 NEWS—Ray Scherer 1:00 AT HOME WITH KITTY 2:00 LET’S MAKE A DEAL—Monty Hall 2:25 NEWS—Kalber 2:30 DOCTORS 3:00 LORETTA YOUNG—Drama 3:30 YOU DON’T SAY!—Tom Kennedy COLOR Guests: Cornel Wilde, Laraine Day 4:00 MATCH GAME Panelists: Robert Merrill, Phyllis Diller 4:25 NEWS 4:30 MOVIE—Musical “Painting the Clouds with Sunshine” (1951) Evening 6:15 SPORTS 6:30 NEWS—Huntley-Brinkley 7:00 NEWS, WEATHER 7:15 FILM FEATURE 7:30 RELAY QUIZ 8:00 BIOGRAPHY—Documentary Joseph R. McCarthy 8:30 BOB HOPE—TV GUIDE AWARDS SPECIAL 9:30 THAT WAS THE WEEK THAT WAS—Satire 10:00 JACK PAAR COLOR Guests: Jayne Mansfield, Helen O’Connell, Jackie Vernon 11:00 NEWS, WEATHER 11:30 JOHNNY CARSON—Variety COLOR
40 WHYN (SPRINGFIELD) (ABC) Morning 8:15 AGRICULTURE ON PARADE 8:30 FRONTIERS OF SCIENCE 9:00 BOZO THE CLOWN—Cartoon 9:45 KING AND ODIE—Cartoon 10:00 O. HENRY PLAYHOUSE—Drama 10:30 PRICE IS RIGHT Celebrity: Pat Carroll 11:00 GET THE MESSAGE—Frank Buxton Panelists: Paula Prentiss, Joel Grey, Barry Nelson, Dorothy Kilgallen 11:30 MISSING LINKS Panelists: Sam Levenson, Robert Q. Lewis, Barbara Feldon Afternoon 12:00 FATHER KNOWS BEST—Comedy 12:30 ERNIE FORD Guest: Charles Schulz 1:00 NEWS—Gary Garrison 1:05 BARBARA BERNARD—Women 1:30 MOVIE—Melodrama “Trouble at Midnight” (1937) 2:30 DAY IN COURT 2:55 NEWS—Lisa Howard 3:00 GENERAL HOSPITAL 3:30 QUEEN FOR A DAY 4:00 TRAILMASTER 5:00 ADMIRAL AND SWABBY 5:30 SUPERMAN—Adventure Evening 6:00 NEWS 6:10 LARAMIE—Western 7:00 NEWS, WEATHER 7:15 NEWS—Ron Cochran 7:30 DESTRY—Western 8:30 BURKE’S LAW 9:30 PRICE IS RIGHT Guest: Edie Adams. Bill Cullen is the host 10:00 BOXING Joey Giardello vs. Juan Rivero 10:45 MAKE THAT SPARE—Bowling 11:00 NEWS—Young 11:10 NEWS, WEATHER 11:15 STEVE ALLEN—Variety
TV
April 9, 2022
This week in TV Guide: April 11, 1964
dith Efron asks the question: is speech on television really free? The answer: no, at least according to the right wing. And according to the left wing. What could possibly bring these two divergent sides together?
The answer is the Fairness Doctrine, or as Efron describes it, "the latest and most disturbing development in the history of America's only Government-regulated communications medium." Both the left and right are "simultaneously blaming it for the suppression of their views and invoking it for protection." The Fairness Doctrine, dating back to 1949, gives broadcasters "the right to express [their] views—provided [they] also sought out and presented 'all sides of controversial issues.'" Said presentation must be "'fair,' 'non-distorted,' 'nonpartisan,' 'non-one-sided,' 'equal,' 'equally forceful.'"
In theory it's supposed to prevent broadcasters from "slanting" the news. In reality, as Efron finds out, it's almost impossible, an "outright myth," to prevent editorializing. The respected Quincy Howe, veteran reporter at ABC, points out that "[t]he newscaster editorializes in what he emphasizes and what he plays down, in what he omits and in what he includes." As NBC's David Brinkley points out, "News is what I say it is. It's something worth knowing by my standards." Documentaries are no different; ABC's John Secondari says it is "absolutely impossible to write, broadcast, or put together pictures without having a point of view."
Given how impossible the task seems, then, how does a broadcaster abide by the Fairness Doctrine? Says Efron, by "making sure that newscasters and documentary producers conform as closely as possible to a safe, middle-of-the-road point of view." Howard K. Smith calls it "conformist. As compared to the other media, TV is by far the most colorless, the most cowardly." Don Hewitt, who will go on to be longtime producer of 60 Minutes, says that networks "are in the hands of corporations, which see the world the same way—as moderate liberals." But, as Efron points out, the political middle "does not reflect the views of millions of Americans who represent a vast reservoir of diversified political opinion, both left and right of center." They feel they've been relegated to a "token role," that they're "being actively deprived of an 'equal' and 'equally forceful' voice on the publicly owned air waves." Their numbers, which include 60 percent of those at a recent meeting of the Radio-Television News Directors Association, argue that, in essence, broadcasters are being deprived of freedom of the press. Until then, says Maryland Congressman Glenn Cunningham, "broadcasting will never have the political diversity that the other media all have."
The FCC, from whose hands the Fairness Doctrine was created, begs to differ. Chairman E. William Henry accuses broadcasters of "voluntary self-constriction," and points out that the Commission believes in "proportional representation," that a spectrum of ideas should be presented "based on the statistical prevalence of such positions in the country." Practically speaking, this would result in news and public-affairs departments that "represent all the polar political positions in this country. They would cover and interpret news from these identified points of view, like by-lined newspaper reporters and columnists. They would produce documentaries on social and political issues from these different identified points of view." Efron believes that such an application of the Fairness Doctrine would produce news that was both politically more realistic and also livelier, with the public the big winner. They would get "a glimpse of U.S. political life as it really is, a violently colored dramatic spectrum of conflicting ideas."
I think it's fair to say that, despite the fact the Fairness Doctrine was repealed in 1987. no news network comes even close to representing this idea of "proportional representation." What we have instead is a variety of echo chambers, each responding to the desires of its audience, and that's a disservice to the nation as a whole. If it is true that the airwaves belong to the public—especially the ones we pay for—then it seems we should expect no less.
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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: Tonight's taped hour is devoted to the Moscow Circus, which visited the United States last fall. Acts include: Filatov's trained bears, who are accomplished motorcyclists, boxers; Cossack horsemen, precision gymnasts; acrobatic strongmen; tumblers who somersault onto stilts; the Volzhansky wire walkers.
Palace: Host Donald O'Connor introduces comics Jack E. Leonard and Jerry Van Dyke; songstress Fran Jeffries; impressionist Rich Little; the Wellington Singers; the singing Four Little Angels; Tarzan and his eight lions; and the Frielanes, balancing acrobats.
Hmm. Both shows have acrobats, both shows have animal acts. I'm sure the Moscow Circus puts on a very colorful show (even in black-and-white), but it's very dry unless you can actually see it. And while it might not win every week, I think Donald O'Connor gives the Palace an edge that holds up even though the guest lineup isn't the best. I wouldn't blame you for going the other way, but I've got the Palace getting the nod.
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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. Chronicles, which alternates each week with CBS Reports, is one of those cultural shows I talked about a couple of weeks ago, the kind that networks like to boast about to keep the FCC off their back. That description sells Chronicles short, though, because as Cleveland Amory says, it really is quite a remarkable program.
Every program is, as the network describes it, "a collection of random entries on the arts and sciences, some items from the long list of human achievements and human failures, it all being a record of interesting people, places and events and some notes on the human condition, past and present." If that sounds ambitious, it's also largely accurate, for despite some of the hokum implicit in such a description, the show is often "worth your attention," artistic but not teachy, with a way of drawing you into the subject before you're even aware you're interested in it. A recent segment on five major scientific breakthroughs, for example, was "long and at times tedious, but the treatment was remarkable," thanks to executive producer Richard Siemanowski, host Charles Collingwood, and special effects wizard Paul Wittlig; another show included "Four Views on Caesar," taken from Plutarch, Shakespeare, Shaw, and Caesar himself.
This is, again, a show that wouldn't be on commercial television today; it might make it to public broadcasting, which is what PBS is for in the first place. Amory closes his review with a look at a program that featured an interview with a Mr. Merry, an 80-some-year-old trolly-car conductor in Masachusetts. Mr. Merry's is a modest story, one of three unconnected stories from 80-year-olds that comprises "American Tap Roots," but its unforgettable conclusion remains with Amory: "It took me two hours to get from here as far as that cattle cart," he said, "and to this day the feeling's still here." I suspect it's still there for anyone who saw this program; I wonder how many of today's programs can make that statement?
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Second only to the TCM year-end tribute to stars who died during the past year is the moment when the networks announce the fate of their current shows. Which shows have survived (especially among the new entries), and which are headed for the great syndicator in the sky.
Roughly a third of last season's debut shows have won a second season, including favorites like The Fugitive, The Patty Duke Show, Burke's Law, The Farmer's Daughter, The Outer Limits, and The Hollywood Palace (ABC); Petticoat Junction, My Favorite Martian, and The Danny Kaye Show (CBS); and Mr. Novak, The Bill Dana Show, Kraft Suspense Theatre, Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theater, and That Was the Week That Was (NBC). When you think about it, that's a pretty impressive lineup of programs all to have debuted in the same season. The story doesn't end with the winners, of course, as we see several big-name shows bite the dust after their inaugural seasons. Jerry Lewis's much-heralded two-hour extravaganza is the most glaring casualty, but Judy Garland's variety show is another, as are attempted comebacks by Phil Silvers (The New Phil Silvers Show), Richard Boone (The Richard Boone Show) and Imogene Coca (Grindl). East Side/West Side and Arrest and Trial were also one and done. And some old favorites are also moving on: The Garry Moore Show, Sing Along with Mitch, Route 66, The Eleventh Hour, 77 Sunset Strip, The Twilight Zone, and The Joey Bishop Show are among those bidding adieu.
Note how many of these shows—both those that were renewed and those cancelled—are available either on DVD or YouTube. When you throw in series such as Combat!, The Beverly Hillbillies, The Dick Van Dyke Show, Bonanza, Gunsmoke, Perry Mason, Dr. Kildare and others that have already made it through a few seasons, I wonder if this isn't one of the earliest TV season to be so well-preserved. Anyone who wanted to could probably spend months recreating exact lineups for each night of the week, and I think that's a pretty cool thing.
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You might remember a couple of weeks ago when we looked at the power of guest stars circa 1959, and the inducements used to bring them to the small screen. Such is still the case in 1964, if this week's Hollywood Teletype is any indication. For example, Burke's Law—a show that thrives on the cameo big-name star—is boasting the following for a single episode: Martha Hyer, Jeanne Crain, Hazel Court, Joanne Dru, and Susan Strasberg; another ABC series, The Greatest Show on Earth, not only has Jack Palance as star, but he'll be directing an upcoming episode with a trio of old-time stars: Buster Keaton, Joan Blondell, and Joe E. Brown.
Note, though, that there are still those who could be thought to prefer substance to sizzle: "CBS's plan to boost ratings of the six-year-old Rawhide with liberal use of big-name guest stars and 'anthology-type' scripts caused dissension among the brass. Executive producer Vincent Fennelly and associate producer Paul King resigned in protest."
Meanwhile, CBS News president Fred Friendly has told station managers that "he wants Edward R. Murrow, now recuperating from a lung operation in California, back on the CBS News team as soon as possible." Murrow has been serving as head of the United States Information Agency (USIA) since early 1961, but stepped down due to lung cancer, and that operation was to remove a lung. He never returns to CBS, and will be dead just over a year from now.
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One of golf's biggest tournaments winds to a conclusion this weekend, as CBS brings us coverage of the third (Saturday, 5:00 p.m. ET) and final (Sunday, 4:00 p.m.) rounds of the Masters, featuring a star-studded field including defending champion Jack Nicklaus, three-time winner Arnold Palmer, Gary Player, Billy Casper, Tony Lema, Julius Boros, and more. Did I say that Palmer was a three-time winner? Make that four, as Arnie marches to a six-stroke victory for his seventh, and last, major championship. Nicklaus finishes in a tie for second with future network golf commentator (and PGA champion) Dave Marr.
More sports: back in the day, the really big heavyweight title fights were seen not on home television, but on closed-circuit broadcasts carried in theaters, which meant that when the fight was eventually shown on home TV, it was an event. Such is the case on Wide World of Sports (Saturday, 5:00 p.m., ABC), when one of the most historic title fights, both athletically and culturally, is shown for the first time: the February 25 bout in which Cassius Clay takes the crown from Sonny Liston. Would boxing ever be the same again?
And now for regular programming, and Saturday evening Dennis Weaver makes his farewell as Chester Goode on Gunsmoke (10:00 p.m., CBS). "Bently" isn't really a "final episode" for Weaver; he's the star of the story, but isn't written out, per se. Ken Curtis had already appeared as Festus Hagen several times, beginning in 1962, so it's an easy transition for him to become Matt Dillon's right-hand man. That's Chester there on the left, with friend.Rounding out the weekend, on Sunday, NBC presents an encore broadcast of the Children's Theatre presentation of "Robin Hood" (6:00 p.m.), with Dan Ferrone as the wealth redistributor, and a couple of familiar faces in supporting roles: Lynda Day as Maid Marian, and Sorrell Booke as the Sheriff of Nottingham. You might think this unusual, seeing as how it was just shown a couple of months ago, on February 15, but such is the way of it in the pre-VCR world. Had this happened a decade or so ago, the show would have been live, and a repeat would have meant staging the whole show all over again, live, hopefully with the same cast and the same results. Who says technology can't make things easier?
Monday's star event is the Academy Awards (10:00 p.m., ABC), hosted by Jack Lemmon. I gave my opinions on the Oscars in detail a couple of weeks ago and so I won't add to it here; as for the winners, the British comedy Tom Jones takes home Best Picture and Best Director (Tony Richardson), while Sidney Poitier wins Best Actor for Lillies of the Field, and Patricia Neal takes home the Best Actress honors for Hud. Poitier's historic win is the highlight of the night, but in second is Sammy Davis Jr., who first is given the wrong envelope while presenting the award for Best Adapted Score (Sammy saves the moment with his comment, "Wait until the NAACP hears about this!"), and later brings down the house with a medley of Best Song losers (including an encore of "Blues in the Night"); at the end, the audience rewards Davis with a long ovation. "He's a genius," Lemmon says, and it's hard to disagree.
The other day I celebrated baseball's Opening Day by writing about the movie Rhubarb, and this Tuesday honors another Opening Day with another Ray Milland baseball movie: It Happens Every Spring (7:00 p.m., WJAR), the story of a chemistry professor who develops a formula that produces a real curve ball.
On Wednesday, the original Dr. Kildare of movies and the radio, Lew Ayres, guest stars on Kildare's great television rival, Ben Casey (9:00 p.m., ABC) as a businessman who may have only a few hours left to live. He should see Ben Gazzara's doctor—he gave his patient a couple of years. By the way, tempting as it is to think of Ayres' appearance as stunt casting, he was a terrific actor who always delivered a dignified performance.
That ad on the left for the debut of the new Ford Mustang doesn't give us much encouragement, does it? Despite that, Thursday's highlight is probably Clint Walker, making a rare television appearance (his first dramatic role in two years) as a mysterious hermit in Kraft Suspense Theatre's "Portrait of an Unknown Man" (10:00 p.m., NBC). A young(er) Robert Duvall is one of the guest stars. The Oscars don't have a corner on the awards market this week; Friday, Bob Hope hosts the fifth annual TV Guide Awards (8:30 p.m., NBC), and this is my kind of awards show. The first 45 minutes is all Hope's regular show (on tape), with guests Tony Randall, Martha Raye, and Jack Jones, and including Bob's monologue; the awards, which are presented in the show's final 15 minutes, are broadcast live, with Bob assisted by TV Guide publisher James Quirk in Hollywood, and assistant publisher Arthur Shulman in New York. There's no "Best" involved here, just "Favorite," based on fan votes. In case you're interested, Dr. Kildare wins favorite series, The Fugitive is favorite new series, Richard Chamberlain is favorite male performer, and Carol Burnett is favorite female performer.
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If I recall correctly—yes, here it is !—we looked at a TV Guide article a few years ago that reported on a pay-TV experiment taking place on a UHF station in Hartford. Well, this week we get to see it for ourselves on that very station, WHCT, channel 18. For the most part WHCT airs recent movies such as Two for the Seesaw, starring Robert Mitchum and Shirley MacLaine ($1.00); The Last Time I Saw Archie, with Mitchum and Jack Webb ($0.50); and Kings of the Sun, starring Yul Brynner and George Chakiris ($1.25). The price of each program, along with a code, are included in the description for each show.
It's not all movies, though; there's also a taped presentation of the play Spoon River for $2.00, and there are also non-pay program, like The Adventures of Charlie Chan. The most interesting free show of the week, however, might be Friday afternoon—the grand opening of New York's Shea Stadium, as the "New York Metropolitans" christen their gleaming new ballpark with a game against the Pittsburgh Pirates (1:45 p.m.). Now, I've occasionally seen the Mets referred to as the Metropolitans, given that it is its corporate name ("The New York Metropolitan Baseball Club, Inc."), and people have called them that, kind of as a reverse shorthand, but I don't know that I've ever seen it used in such formal circumstances as the pages of TV Guide. Oh, and did you know that the Mets' original colors were nearly pink and black? But that's a story for another time. TV
April 8, 2022
Around the dial
At Cult TV Blog, John has a
very interesting comment
in his review of the ITV Playhouse episode "Last Summer": "Writing these posts keeps reminding me that television was treated very much as if it was a new medium, even as late as the 1970s." I think that's very perceptive, as is his follow-up: "When I think of formats new to TV I'm ashamed to say that all I can think of is TV shopping, and reality TV. Strange it should have become so dominant when it's so derivative." By all means read about what John thinks of "Last Summer," but keep these thoughts in mind as well, and apply them to what is supposed to be a boom time of prestige TV.The Hitchcock Project continues at bare-bones e-zine, and this week Jack looks at " Mr. Blanchard's Secret ," a second-season episode written by Sarett Rudley. Not only does it show the dangers of having a vivid imagination, it's another example of how dramatically a plot can change in the process of being adapted from a short story to a teleplay—one of the aspects I most enjoy from these pieces.
Perhaps it's just me; Sunday evenings have always had a character different from the other six days of the week, and I assume that it has something to do with returning to school or work the next day. Sunday's also had a distinctive history of television shows over the years, both good and bad. This week at Comfort TV, David begins an ambitious project with a look at Sunday TV in the 1970s . I'm looking forward to the rest of the series!
Good news on the reading front! Martin Grams reports on a book coming out next year, Playhouse 90: A History of the Television Program, 1956-1960, which he's co-authoring with Bob Tevis. I'm looking forward to this; it's sure to be a valuable addition to the classic TV bookshelf.
The actress Barrie Youngfellow , a familiar face on television throughout the 1970s and '80s, died last week, aged 75. Terence recalls her career and credits at A Shroud of Thouughts.
Finally at Shadow & Substance, Paul takes a closer look at " A Most Non-Political Speec h" that Rod Serling wrote for the "Religious Witness for Human Dignity" civil rights rally held in Los Angeles in 1964. It's a powerful message from a man accustomed to speaking with gravitas. TV
April 6, 2022
What is baseball without a Rhubarb?
Tomorrow is Opening Day of the baseball season, delayed as it has been. Granted, I haven't watched a baseball game in years; I hate the modern game, its absurdly slow pace, and the emphasis on "three true things" (home run, strikeout, walk) at the expense of everything else. I dislike today's owners intensely, have no favorite teams, and recognize very few of today's players. Notwithstanding all that, I still have an affection for the history of baseball; I can get lost in old television and radio broadcasts, and I understand the excitement of Opening Day, even though I don't share it. In tribute to the day, I offer my favorite baseball movie, which I first saw many years ago on TCM: Rhubarb.
Based on the novel by H. Allen Smith (one of the finest humorists of his time), Rhubarb tells the story of an orange feral cat with a nasty disposition who's "adopted" by a wealthy businessman, T.J. Banner (Gene Lockhart, whom you might remember as the judge in Miracle on 34th Street). Banner, who's constantly surrounded by "yes" men, admires how the cat treats everyone with distain, rich and poor alike. This cat, he says, has spirit. He's a fighter, and if there's one thing T.J. Banner has always admired, it's a fighter. T.J.'s greedy daughter Myra thinks he's crazy, but his public relations man, Eric Yeager (Oscar-winner Ray Milland), affectionately tolerates the old man. It was Eric who was assigned to capture the cat from the golf course where he lived (stealing golf balls off the greens), and when Eric finally succeeds, he has the scratches to prove it.
Although Banner owns many successful businesses, his pride and joy is his baseball team, a bunch of losers named the Brooklyn Loons (read: Dodgers), managed by Len Sickles (William Frawley, Lockhart's political boss in Miracle on 34th Street). If only, Banner thinks, his team had the same fight his cat had, they might win for a change. After watching the cat trash his study, Banner decides to name him Rhubarb, after the term for a baseball imbroglio. (In one scene, trying to explain what the cat's name means, Eric explains: "Lady, you know what happens at a sale, when two women get hold of the same dress? THAT's a Rhubarb!")
After many years Banner dies and, to the amazement of his business associates and Myra (who has been fairly counting down the days to the old man's death), he leaves the balance of his estate, including the baseball team, to the only living thing that ever showed him trust and loyalty: Rhubarb. Realizing the limitations inherent in a cat running an empire, the will provides that Eric will act as Rhubarb's guardian. He's not sure at first, but when Myra attempts to murder Rhubarb, Eric remembers T.J.'s words that "if you're right, fight for it." Rhubarb's always been a fighter, which is what the old man loved about him, and Eric is determined to fight as well.
His biggest fight concerns the baseball team—the players, perhaps understandably, are reluctant to play for a cat, even if he does own the team. Fans around the league meow at them, and an umpire even leaves a bowl of milk at home plate before the start of the game. The players are threatening to sit out the season and Eric, along with his fiancée Polly (Jan Sterling), manager Sickles' daughter, realize something has to be done. Eric convinces them that the miracle Boston Braves of 1914—a team that rallied from last place on the 4th of July to win the World Series (a true story, by the way)—owed their success to a lucky orange cat that served as their mascot, they start to have second thoughts. When the Loons' hitters come through in the clutch after having petted Rhubarb, the superstitious players become convinced: with Rhubarb on their side, they can do no wrong.The Brooklyn team—now dubbed the "Rhubarbs" by the tabloids, with Rhubarb and Eric accompanying them to every game home and away—catches fire and wins the pennant. Now, they're prepared to face their archrivals, the New York club (read: Yankees) in the World Series. The entire city is electrified, and in the days leading up to the Series seemingly everyone in Brooklyn is placing bets on the Rhubarbs to win. The alarmed bookies calculate that if Brooklyn wins, there's no way they'll be able to cover their losses. Then one of them, with the Runyonesque name of Pencil Louie, strikes upon an idea: if something were to "happen" to the cat, it would almost certainly mean defeat for Brooklyn, and the bookies would save their skins.
Pencil Louie's first thought is simply to kill Rhubarb, but then he realizes there's money to be made - surely Myra would pay them to get rid of the cat. With Rhubarb thus out of the way, Myra gets her father's fortune, Brooklyn (and the people betting on them) loses, and the bookies get their necks out of the noose. In short order Rhubarb is catnapped, New York evens the series, and all of Brooklyn is in a panic. Eric and Polly launch a desperate search for the missing cat, even resorting to seeding the clouds with dry ice to cause a rainout that postpones Game 7 for another day.
In the end the good guys win, of course. Rhubarb is found, the bad guys are captured, and Brooklyn rallies to win the series. Eric and Polly marry, and Rhubarb is last seen with the female cat who's been sitting in the box behind Rhubarb with her lady owner throughout the season, trailing a litter of little kittens.
Rhubarb is a charming fantasy, featuring a top-notch performance by Milland (including a hilarious send-up of his drunk scene in The Lost Weekend), wild slapstick comedy, and Smith's satiric jabs at television and commercial sponsors (a pivotal moment in one game is interrupted for a "much more important" message from the ever-present Friendly Financial Company, whose commercials are a running joke during coverage of the games).
It tells of a time when baseball was an ingrained part of the American culture, when teams were part of the very fabric of the cities they played in (as the Dodgers were when they played in Brooklyn), and when the idea of a cat owner/mascot wasn't perhaps all that outrageous. And of course it's perfectly believable that baseball players, a superstitious lot since the game began, would become convinced that petting a cat before going to bat would bring them good luck.
Best of all is Rhubarb himself—one source says fourteen cats were used to portray him, with the prime cat being a tiger named Orangey. His transformation from feral loner to tycoon to good-luck charm is the stuff dreams are made of.
Smith's original book spawned two sequels, neither matching the charm and outrageousness of Rhubarb. As both novel and movie, it is the essential baseball story: the tale of a team and its lucky cat. Don't miss it the next time it shows up on TV. TV
April 4, 2022
What's on TV? Tuesday, April 4, 1967
I don't know who David Hedison's agent is, but whoever it is, he deserves a lot of credit. Hedison plays Captain Lee Crane in Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, but he's all over the dial this afternoon: at 1:30 p.m., as part of the panel on ABC's Dream Girl; at 2:30 p.m., taking on Lola Albright on NBC's You Don't Say!; then, at 4:00 p.m., as one of Mike Douglas's guests on WCCO. And this doesn't even include Voyage! A viewer could be forgiven for thinking he'd already seen that show. As I said, some agent. This week's listings are from the Minnesota State Edition.-2- KTCA (EDUC.) Morning 8:30 CLASSROOM—Education Afternoon 3:00 EFFICIENT READING 3:30 BRITISH CALENDAR 3:45 EARTH AND SPACE SCIENCE 5:00 KINDERGARTEN—Education 5:30 CITY OF TIME—Louis Orlin Evening 6:00 PROFILE—Discussion 6:30 YOUR RIGHT TO SAY IT 7:00 ANTIQUES—Education 7:30 CONTINENTAL COMMENT 8:00 WORD POWER—Brown 8:30 HAMLINE UNIVERSITY 9:00 CHILD PSYCHOLOGY 9:30 GREAT DECISIONS—1967 10:00 NOW SEE THIS 10:30 RELIGIOUS PERSPECTIVES
-3- KDAL (DULUTH) (CBS) Morning 7:35 FARM AND HOME 7:45 TREETOP HOUSE—Children 8:00 CAPTAIN KANGAROO—Children 9:00 CANDID CAMERA 9:30 BEVERLY HILLBILLIES—Comedy 10:00 ANDY GRIFITH—Comedy 10:30 DICK VAN DYKE—Comedy 11:00 LOVE OF LIFE 11:25 NEWS COLOR 11:30 SEARCH FOR TOMORROW—Serial COLOR 11:45 GUIDING LIGHT—Serial COLOR Afternoon 12:00 TOWN AND COUNTRY—Becker 12:30 AS THE WORLD TURNS—Serial COLOR 1:00 PASSWORD COLOR Celebrities: George Grizzard, Betty White 1:30 HOUSE PARTY COLOR 2:00 TO TELL THE TRUTH—Game COLOR 2:25 NEWS COLOR 2:30 EDGE OF NIGHT—Serial 3:00 SECRET STORM—Serial 3:30 MIKE DOUGLAS—Variety Co-host: Al Martino. Guests: Louis Nye, Brenda Lee, Jean Jacques Perrey and Gershon Kingsley, Nat Laffeld, Fran Elli 5:00 LEAVE IT TO BEAVER—Comedy 5:30 NEWS—Walter Cronkite COLOR Evening 6:00 NEWS 6:30 DAKTARI COLOR 7:30 RED SKELTON COLOR Guest: Tennessee Ernie Ford 8:30 PETTICOAT JUNCTION—Comedy COLOR 9:00 NATIONAL SCIENCE TEST SPECIAL COLOR 10:00 NEWS 10:15 MOVIE—Drama COLOR “Marie Antoinette” (French; 1964)
3 KGLO (MASON CITY) (CBS) Morning 7:30 NEWS—Joseph Benti COLOR 7:55 NEWS 8:00 CAPTAIN KANGAROO—Children 9:00 JOE EMERSON—Music 9:15 SPANISH—Education 9:30 BEVERLY HILLBILLIES—Comedy 10:00 ANDY GRIFITH—Comedy 10:30 DICK VAN DYKE—Comedy 11:00 LOVE OF LIFE 11:25 NEWS COLOR 11:30 SEARCH FOR TOMORROW—Serial COLOR 11:45 GUIDING LIGHT—Serial COLOR Afternoon 12:00 NEWS 12:30 AS THE WORLD TURNS—Serial COLOR 1:00 PASSWORD COLOR Celebrities: George Grizzard, Betty White 1:30 HOUSE PARTY COLOR 2:00 TO TELL THE TRUTH—Game COLOR 2:25 NEWS COLOR 2:30 EDGE OF NIGHT—Serial 3:00 SECRET STORM—Serial 3:30 CANDID CAMERA—Comedy 4:00 BART’S CLUBHOUSE 5:00 CANDID CAMERA—Comedy 5:30 NEWS—Walter Cronkite COLOR Evening 6:00 NEWS 6:30 DAKTARI COLOR 7:30 RED SKELTON COLOR Guest: Tennessee Ernie Ford 8:30 PETTICOAT JUNCTION—Comedy COLOR 9:00 NATIONAL SCIENCE TEST SPECIAL COLOR 10:00 NEWS 10:40 CLEAR LAKE SCHOOL DISTRICT—Mason City 10:55 ALFRED HITCHCOCK—Drama 11:55 NEWS
-4- WCCO (CBS) Morning 6:00 SUNRISE SEMESTER—Education 6:30 SIEGFRIED—Children 7:00 CLANCY & COMPANY COLOR 8:00 CAPTAIN KANGAROO—Children 9:00 DR. YOUNGDAHL COLOR 9:05 NEWS—Montgomery COLOR 9:10 HI NEIGHBOR—Women COLOR 9:30 BEVERLY HILLBILLIES—Comedy 10:00 ANDY GRIFITH—Comedy 10:30 DICK VAN DYKE—Comedy 11:00 LOVE OF LIFE 11:25 NEWS COLOR 11:30 SEARCH FOR TOMORROW—Serial COLOR 11:45 GUIDING LIGHT—Serial COLOR Afternoon 12:00 NEWS COLOR 12:20 SOMETHING SPECIAL COLOR 12:30 AS THE WORLD TURNS—Serial COLOR 1:00 PASSWORD COLOR Celebrities: George Grizzard, Betty White 1:30 HOUSE PARTY COLOR 2:00 TO TELL THE TRUTH—Game COLOR 2:25 NEWS COLOR 2:30 EDGE OF NIGHT—Serial 3:00 SECRET STORM—Serial 3:30 CANDID CAMERA—Comedy 4:00 MIKE DOUGLAS—Variety COLOR Co-host: Polly Bergen. Guests: Ralph Pope, Kreskin, Sandler and Young, David Hedison Postponed from an earlier date 5:30 NEWS—Walter Cronkite COLOR Evening 6:00 NEWS COLOR 6:30 DAKTARI COLOR 7:30 RED SKELTON COLOR Guest: Tennessee Ernie Ford 8:30 PETTICOAT JUNCTION—Comedy COLOR 9:00 NATIONAL SCIENCE TEST SPECIAL COLOR 10:00 NEWS COLOR 10:30 MARSHAL DILLON—Western 11:00 MOVIE—Melodrama “Castle of the Living Dead” (French; 1963) 12:45 MOVIE—Adventure Time approximate “Dangerous Hideaway” (1962)
-5- KSTP (NBC) Morning 6:00 CONTINENTAL CLASSROOM American government: “Government and Business” 6:30 CITY AND COUNTRY COLOR 7:00 TODAY Guests: Clark Kerr, Mary Black and Jean Lipman, Sandy Koufax and Curt Gowdy 9:00 SNAP JUDGMENT COLOR Guests: Gene Rayburn, Betsy Palmer 9:25 NEWS C 9:30 CONCENTRATION—Game COLOR 10:00 PAT BOONE COLOR Guest: Bob Newhart 10:30 HOLLYWOOD SQUARES—Game COLOR Celebrities: Robert Culp, Glenn Ford, Kathryn Hays, Barbara Eden, Eartha Kitt, Kaye Stevens 11:00 JEOPARDY—Game COLOR 11:30 EYE GUESS—Game COLOR 11:45 NEWS COLOR Afternoon 12:00 NEWS COLOR 12:15 DIALING FOR DOLLARS—Game COLOR 12:30 LET’S MAKE A DEAL—Game COLOR 12:55 NEWS COLOR 1:00 DAYS OF OUR LIVES—Serial COLOR 1:30 DOCTOR—Serial COLOR 2:00 ANOTHER WORLD—Serial COLOR 2:30 YOU DON’T SAY!—Game COLOR Celebrities: Lola Albright. David Hedison 3:00 MATCH GAME COLOR Guests: Liza Minnelli, Hugh O’Brian 3:25 NEWS COLOR 3:30 DIALING FOR DOLLARS—Game 4:30 OF LANDS AND SEAS COLOR 5:25 DOCTOR’S HOUSE CALL—James Rogers Fox 5:30 NEWS—Chet Huntley, David Brinkley COLOR Evening 6:00 NEWS COLOR 6:30 GIRL FROM U.N.C.L.E.—Adventure COLOR 7:30 OCCASIONAL WIFE COLOR 8:00 MOVIE—Drama “All the Way Home” (1963) 10:00 NEWS COLOR 10:30 JOHNNY CARSON—Variety COLOR Guest: Sandy Koufax 12:00 NEWS AND SPORTS COLOR 12:15 M SQUAD—Police
-6- WDSM (DULUTH) (NBC) Morning 7:00 TODAY Guests: Clark Kerr, Mary Black and Jean Lipman, Sandy Koufax and Curt Gowdy 9:00 JACK LA LANNE—Exercise 9:25 NEWS COLOR 9:30 CONCENTRATION—Game COLOR 10:00 PAT BOONE COLOR Guest: Bob Newhart 10:30 HOLLYWOOD SQUARES—Game COLOR Celebrities: Robert Culp, Glenn Ford, Kathryn Hays, Barbara Eden, Eartha Kitt, Kaye Stevens 11:00 JEOPARDY—Game COLOR 11:30 EYE GUESS—Game COLOR 11:45 NEWS COLOR Afternoon 12:00 VIRGINIA GRAHAM—Interviews 12:15 DIALING FOR DOLLARS—Game COLOR 12:30 LET’S MAKE A DEAL—Game COLOR 12:55 NEWS COLOR 1:00 DAYS OF OUR LIVES—Serial COLOR 1:30 DOCTOR—Serial COLOR 2:00 ANOTHER WORLD—Serial COLOR 2:30 YOU DON’T SAY!—Game COLOR Celebrities: Lola Albright. David Hedison 3:00 MATCH GAME COLOR Guests: Liza Minnelli, Hugh O’Brian 3:25 NEWS COLOR 3:30 SNAP JUDGMENT—Game 3:45 BOZO AND HIS PALS COLOR 5:00 YOU ASKED FOR IT—Smith 5:30 NEWS—Chet Huntley, David Brinkley COLOR Evening 6:00 NEWS, ROCKY TELLER COLOR 6:30 GIRL FROM U.N.C.L.E.—Adventure COLOR 7:30 OCCASIONAL WIFE COLOR 8:00 MOVIE—Drama “All the Way Home” (1963) 10:00 NEWS COLOR 10:30 JOHNNY CARSON—Variety COLOR Guest: Sandy Koufax
6 KMMT (AUSTIN) (ABC) Morning 9:30 DATELINE: HOLLYWOOD COLOR Guests: Suzy Parker, Nick Adams 9:55 CHILDREN’S DOCTOR 10:00 MARKET SWEEP 10:30 ONE IN A MILLION 11:00 EVERYBODY’S TALKING—Game 11:30 DONNA REED—Comedy Afternoon 12:00 FUGITIVE—Drama 1:00 NEWLYWED GAME COLOR 1:30 DREAM GIRL—Contest COLOR Celebrities: Shari Lewis, Noel Harrison, David Hedison, Guy Williams 1:55 NEWS COLOR 2:00 GENERAL HOSPITAL 2:30 DARK SHADOWS—Serial 3:00 DATING GAME COLOR 3:30 COMPASS—Travel 4:00 CHEYENNE—Western 5:00 NEWS—Peter Jennings COLOR 5:30 RIFLEMAN—Western Evening 6:00 YOU ASKED FOR IT—Smith 6:15 NEWS, SPORTS, WEATHER 6:30 COMBAT!—Drama COLOR 7:30 INVADERS—Adventure COLOR 8:30 PEYTON PLACE—Serial COLOR 9:00 FUGITIVE—Drama COLOR 10:00 NEWS 10:30 ROY ROGERS—Western
-7- KCMT (ALEXANDRIA) (NBC, ABC) Morning 7:00 TODAY Guests: Clark Kerr, Mary Black and Jean Lipman, Sandy Koufax and Curt Gowdy 9:00 SNAP JUDGMENT COLOR Guests: Gene Rayburn, Betsy Palmer 9:25 NEWS C 9:30 CONCENTRATION—Game COLOR 10:00 PAT BOONE COLOR Guest: Bob Newhart 10:30 HOLLYWOOD SQUARES—Game COLOR Celebrities: Robert Culp, Glenn Ford, Kathryn Hays, Barbara Eden, Eartha Kitt, Kaye Stevens 11:00 JEOPARDY—Game COLOR 11:30 EYE GUESS—Game COLOR 11:45 NEWS COLOR Afternoon 12:00 NEWS 12:20 TRADING POST 12:30 LET’S MAKE A DEAL—Game COLOR 12:55 NEWS COLOR 1:00 DAYS OF OUR LIVES—Serial COLOR 1:30 DOCTOR—Serial COLOR 2:00 ANOTHER WORLD—Serial COLOR 2:30 YOU DON’T SAY!—Game COLOR Celebrities: Lola Albright. David Hedison 3:00 MATCH GAME COLOR Guests: Liza Minnelli, Hugh O’Brian 3:25 NEWS COLOR 3:30 GENERAL HOSPITAL—Serial 4:00 EXTENSION NEWS, VIEWS 4:15 CARTOONS—Children 4:30 CASPER—Cartoons 5:00 GREEN HORNET—Adventure 5:30 NEWS—Chet Huntley, David Brinkley COLOR Evening 6:00 NEWS 6:30 GIRL FROM U.N.C.L.E.—Adventure COLOR 7:30 IT’S A SMALL WORLD COLOR 8:00 MOVIE—Drama “All the Way Home” (1963) 10:00 NEWS 10:30 JOHNNY CARSON—Variety COLOR Guest: Sandy Koufax
-8- WDSE (DULUTH) (EDUC.) Afternoon 5:00 KINDERGARTEN—Education 5:30 TURN OF THE CENTURY Evening 6:00 SPANISH—Education 6:30 WHAT’S NEW—Children 7:00 SEGOVIA MASTER CLASS 7:30 AGE OF KINGS—Shakespeare 9:00 CHILD PSYCHOLOGY 9:30 CRISIS OF MODERN MAN SPECIAL 10:00 N.E.T. JOURNAL—Documentary
-9- KMSP (ABC) Morning 7:30 MORNING SHOW—Jerry Smith 8:00 McKEEVER—Comedy 8:30 ROMPER ROOM—Children 9:30 JACK LA LANNE—Exercise COLOR 10:00 MARKET SWEEP 10:30 ONE IN A MILLION 11:00 EVERYBODY’S TALKING—Game 11:30 DONNA REED—Comedy Afternoon 12:00 FUGITIVE—Drama 1:00 NEWLYWED GAME COLOR 1:30 DREAM GIRL—Contest COLOR Celebrities: Shari Lewis, Noel Harrison, David Hedison, Guy Williams 1:55 NEWS COLOR 2:00 GENERAL HOSPITAL 2:30 DARK SHADOWS—Serial 3:00 DATING GAME COLOR 3:30 COMPASS—Travel 4:00 CHEYENNE—Western 5:00 NEWS—Peter Jennings COLOR 5:30 TIMMY AND LASSIE—Drama Evening 6:00 McHALE’S NAVY—Comedy 6:30 COMBAT!—Drama COLOR 7:30 INVADERS—Adventure COLOR 8:30 PEYTON PLACE—Serial COLOR 9:00 FUGITIVE—Drama COLOR 10:00 NEWS COLOR 10:30 MOVIE—Drama “Daisy Kenyon” (1947)
10 WDIO (DULUTH) (ABC) Morning 8:50 COLOR BAR COLOR 8:55 MR. MAGOO—Cartoons 9:00 ROMPER ROOM—Children 9:30 DATELINE: HOLLYWOOD COLOR Guests: Suzy Parker, Nick Adams 9:55 CHILDREN’S DOCTOR 10:00 MARKET SWEEP 10:30 ONE IN A MILLION 11:00 EVERYBODY’S TALKING—Game 11:30 DONNA REED—Comedy Afternoon 12:00 FUGITIVE—Drama 1:00 NEWLYWED GAME COLOR 1:30 DREAM GIRL—Contest COLOR Celebrities: Shari Lewis, Noel Harrison, David Hedison, Guy Williams 1:55 NEWS COLOR 2:00 GENERAL HOSPITAL 2:30 DARK SHADOWS—Serial 3:00 DATING GAME COLOR 3:30 COMPASS—Travel 4:00 CHEYENNE—Western 5:00 NEWS, SPORTS, WEATHER 5:30 NEWS—Peter Jennings COLOR Evening 6:00 TWILIGHT ZONE—Drama 6:30 COMBAT!—Drama COLOR 7:30 INVADERS—Adventure COLOR 8:30 PEYTON PLACE—Serial COLOR 9:00 FUGITIVE—Drama COLOR 10:00 NEWS 10:25 MOVIE—Mystery “Terror in the Haunted House” (1958)
10 KROC (ROCHESTER) (NBC) Morning 7:00 TODAY Guests: Clark Kerr, Mary Black and Jean Lipman, Sandy Koufax and Curt Gowdy 9:00 SNAP JUDGMENT COLOR Guests: Gene Rayburn, Betsy Palmer 9:25 NEWS COLOR 9:30 CONCENTRATION—Game COLOR 10:00 PAT BOONE COLOR Guest: Bob Newhart 10:30 HOLLYWOOD SQUARES—Game COLOR Celebrities: Robert Culp, Glenn Ford, Kathryn Hays, Barbara Eden, Eartha Kitt, Kaye Stevens 11:00 JEOPARDY—Game COLOR 11:30 EYE GUESS—Game COLOR 11:45 NEWS COLOR Afternoon 12:00 NEWS 12:20 MEMOS FROM MARY BEA 12:30 LET’S MAKE A DEAL—Game COLOR 12:55 NEWS COLOR 1:00 DAYS OF OUR LIVES—Serial COLOR 1:30 DOCTOR—Serial COLOR 2:00 ANOTHER WORLD—Serial COLOR 2:30 YOU DON’T SAY!—Game COLOR Celebrities: Lola Albright. David Hedison 3:00 MATCH GAME COLOR Guests: Liza Minnelli, Hugh O’Brian 3:25 NEWS COLOR 3:30 MISTER ED—Comedy 4:00 DOODLES THE CLOWN—Children 4:30 LEAVE IT TO BEAVER—Comedy 5:00 CISCO KID—Western COLOR 5:30 NEWS—Chet Huntley, David Brinkley COLOR Evening 6:00 NEWS 6:30 GIRL FROM U.N.C.L.E.—Adventure COLOR 7:30 OCCASIONAL WIFE COLOR 8:00 MOVIE—Drama “All the Way Home” (1963) 10:00 NEWS 10:30 JOHNNY CARSON—Variety COLOR Guest: Sandy Koufax
11 WTCN (IND.) Morning 8:55 NEWS—Gil Amundson 9:00 CARTOON CARNIVAL COLOR 9:30 GLORIA—Exercise COLOR 10:00 PDQ—Game COLOR Guests: Michael Callan, Patricia Herty, Peter Marshall 10:30 WHIRLYBIRDS—Adventure 11:45 NEWS—Gil Amundson Afternoon 12:00 LUNCH WITH CASEY—Children 1:00 MOVIE—Science Fiction “Rodan” (Japanese; 1957) 2:45 MEL’S NOTEBOOK—Interview 3:30 BAT MASTERSON—Western 4:00 POPEYE AND PETE—Children 4:30 CASEY AND ROUNDHOUSE 5:30 FLINTSTONES—Cartoon COLOR Evening 6:00 MUNSTERS—Comedy 6:30 RIFLEMAN—Western 7:00 PATTY DUKE—Comedy 7:30 PERRY MASON—Drama 8:30 WRESTLING—Minneapolis 9:30 NEWS, WEATHER, SPORTS 10:00 MOVIE—Musical COLOR “Lullaby of Broadway” (1951)
12 KEYC (MANKATO) (CBS) Morning 7:30 NEWS—Joseph Benti COLOR 7:55 FILM SHORT 8:00 CAPTAIN KANGAROO—Children 9:00 CANDID CAMERA 9:30 BEVERLY HILLBILLIES—Comedy 10:00 ANDY GRIFITH—Comedy 10:30 DICK VAN DYKE—Comedy 11:00 LOVE OF LIFE 11:25 NEWS COLOR 11:30 SEARCH FOR TOMORROW—Serial COLOR 11:45 GUIDING LIGHT—Serial COLOR Afternoon 12:00 NEWS 12:30 AS THE WORLD TURNS—Serial COLOR 1:00 PASSWORD COLOR Celebrities: George Grizzard, Betty White 1:30 HOUSE PARTY COLOR 2:00 TO TELL THE TRUTH—Game COLOR 2:25 NEWS COLOR 2:30 EDGE OF NIGHT—Serial 3:00 SECRET STORM—Serial 3:30 TAKE 12—Chuck Pasek 4:00 BART’S CLUBHOUSE 5:00 COMMUNITY CAMPUS 5:30 NEWS—Walter Cronkite COLOR Evening 6:00 NEWS 6:30 DAKTARI COLOR 7:30 RED SKELTON COLOR Guest: Tennessee Ernie Ford 8:30 PETTICOAT JUNCTION—Comedy COLOR 9:00 10:00 NATIONAL SCIENCE TEST SPECIAL COLOR NEWS 10:40 NEW IDEA JUBILEE DEBUT 11:10 ALFRED HITCHCOCK—Drama
TV
April 2, 2022
This week in TV Guide: April 1, 1967
A while back, I caught
The Sit-In
, the Peacock documentary covering the historic week in 1968 when Harry Belafonte served as Johnny Carson's guest host on The Tonight Show. It was pretty good, and it put it in a political and cultural context, something that many documentaries fail to do properly. (There were too many clips of contemporary celebrities nattering on, but that's the way of it nowadays, especially when so many of the original participants are no longer among the living.) The limited clips from the show were terrific, but what struck me most in watching this show was how so few "TV historians" were aware of this program. If you're a regular reader, you know I've been talking about this for years; I first mentioned the Belafonte week way back in 2009, and did another piece on it in 2017, based on an article in The Nation, of all places.
Godfrey Cambridge and Moms MableyDuring The Sit-In, there's mention of another landmark show, one that we see in this week's issue. It airs on Thursday, as a part of ABC's anthology/variety show Stage 67—"A Time for Laughter: A Look at Negro Humor in America," produced and hosted by Belefonte, and featuring Sidney Poitier, Godfrey Cambridge, Redd Foxx, Diahann Caroll, Richard Pryor, Dick Gregory, Moms Mabley and Pigmeat Markham. One sketch features Pryor as a nervous undertaker forced to deliver the eulogy when the clergyman doesn't show at the funeral, while another has Gregory as a civil-rights marcher discussing "Black Power." I suppose it might seem tame today when compared to what contemporary black comics discuss, but it probably says a lot more about the history of black humor and what it was like for blacks in America in the 1960s; it was, in all likelihood, unlike much that had been seen on television up to that time. While it won an Emmy nomination for best variety special, I wonder how many viewers saw it, considering it was up against Dean Martin (this week's guests: Phil Harris, Sally Ann Howes, Paul Winchell, comedian Bob Melvin and the singing Kessler Twins).The reaction to these programs from contemporary commentators is uniform: Why didn't anybody tell me about these? I can tell you how I found out about them: by reading old TV Guides. I'm not trying to make light of this; if they would that TV Guide as a serious original source of cultural history, they might know a lot more about what was going on back then and be a lot less surprised. They also might try getting out a little more; The Nation, hardly the place you'd think to go for television history, had articles on both programs, and there are other resources as well. Now, I'm sure that there are plenty of events that they're familiar with about which I have no clue whatsoever, so I don't want this to be a case of pointing fingers. But it really is remarkable how much you can learn about America from the pages of this little magazine, isn't it? Ah, if only more people knew about me.
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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: Scheduled guests: Metropolitan Opera baritone Robert Merrill; comedians Alan King and Henny Youngman; folk-rock singers Sonny and Cher; the comedy team of Wayne and Shuster; the Gospel Jazz Singers; the singing Kane Triplets and the Happy Jesters.
Palace: Host Bing Crosby welcomes Louis Armstrong, Nanette Fabray and Red Buttons. Also: the Goodtime Washboard Three, novelty musicians discovered by Bing; the Black Theatre of Prague, a Czech pantomime troupe; the tumbling Ghezzi Brothers; and magician Marvin Roy.
After all these years matching these two shows up week after week, I've come to the conclusion that the winning program tells you more about me than it does about the relative merits of either show. After all, you may think that the Supremes are the best thing around, and can't understand why I always pick Sammy Davis Jr. Well, neither show has such a lineup this week, but Palace has a mighty guest list with Bing and Louis, and comedy fans will probably like Nanette Fabray and Red Buttons. On the other hand, Ed has Robert Merrill, Alan King, and Henny Youngman, and that's a show I can like as well. As Soloman once displayed, the best way to settle this is right down the middle: the winner this week is a Push.
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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. Every once in a while, the lightbulb comes on over your head, and you suddenly understand why something is the way it is. Even if that something isn't a good something, there's still the thrill of discovery. That's how Cleveland Amory must have felt this week when he found out that the ABC sitcom Rango was scheduled without a pilot having been made. "This fact, among others, is obviously why it got on the air in the first place. It is our theory, however, that if the network executive who made that commitment saw the show now, he would go back and shoot only only a pilot but several people too.
Reading about a show isn't the same thing as having seen it, and I'll admit that while I've certainly read enough about Tim Conway's comedy Western to know something about it, I've never seen an episode—so I can't speak for the accuracy of Cleve's acerbic review. However, if reviews are really meant to educate the potential viewer, I think we might want to just mosey away from this one while we can. For starters, it's a carbon copy of several other series (including the "late but far superior Run, Buddy, Run), it also has "the additional indistinction of managing, within the confines of one half-hour, to combine the faults of half a hundred shows." The jokes are not only stale, they're so old that "by the time they're repeated as much as they are here, they're senior citizens."
For those of you wondering how Tim Conway fares, his character is neither directed or written well, and he overacts. Guy Marks, as his Indian sidekick Pink Cloud, is better, due to the "Amory Law of Levity"—since he has fewer lines, he's got to be funny once in a while. Norman Alden, as Rango's superior, deserves an award just for his ability to react to the lousy material he's surrounded by. And since there's only one real joke to the show—he's the nephew of the commandant of the Texas Rangers; thus, no matter how incompetent Rango is, he can't be fired—if you've seen one episode, as Amory points out, you've seen them all. Cleve concludes with a rumor that there are men who claim to have witnessed several episodes. "They are not many, though, and they are fading rapidly. We know—we've seen Rango four times."
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Plenty to see this week, starting on Saturday with the premier event on the Pro Bowlers Tour, the Firestone Tournament of Champions (2:30 p.m., ABC). Jim Stefanich defeats Don Johnson in a two-frame roll-off after they tie at 227, but the highlight of the broadcast is Jack Biondolillo rolling the first-ever nationally televised 300 game in the first round. I miss the days when pro bowling was a major sport; it was always a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon.
A variety of programs mark Sunday, from the NBA playoffs (the 76ers defeat the Celtics; 1:00 p.m., ABC) to hockey (Black Hawks vs. Rangers, 3:00 p.m., WTCN), to NBC Experiment in Television's closeup on "Theater of the Deaf," narrated by Nanette Fabray, herself hearing-impaired (3:00 p.m.) At 5:30 p.m., Secretary of State Dean Rusk faces a panel of international journalists on an hour-long NBC news special which looks a lot like Meet the Press. (It even has Edwin Newman and Lawrence Spivak!) The main topic, of course: Vietnam. In primetime, CBS presents a repeat showing of last May's acclaimed production of Death of a Salesman, starring Lee J. Cobb, Mildred Dunnock, George Segal and James Farentino (8:00 p.m.).
On Monday, it's a repeat of last December's Frank Sinatra: A Man and His Music—Part 2 (8:30 p.m., CBS), a follow-up to the 1965 Man and His Music special. Whereas that first special was just Frank and his songs, he's joined for this one by daughter Nancy, perhaps the ultimate expression of fatherly love. It's followed by the final episode of I've Got a Secret (9:30 p.m., CBS), which debuted in 1952. Lynn Redgrave is the guest for this last show; it should have included Garry Moore, who was host up until 1964.
The latest installment in CBS's series of "National Tests," which began in 1965 with the award-winning National Drivers Test*, and went on to include the National Citizenship Test and National Health Test, is the National Science Test (Tuesday, 9:00 p.m.), hosted by Harry Reasoner and Joseph Benti, with an appearance by Mr. Wizard himself, Don Herbert. There's a handy "Official Test Form" included in this week's issue so you can keep score at home; considering how everyone with at Twitter account is now a certified infectious disease expert, perhaps it's time this test was resurrected.*That 1965 broadcast was the highest-rated program of the week, by the way.
Wednesday's highlight is a reunion of the Your Show of Shows crew, as Sid Caesar welcomes Imogene Coca, Carl Reiner and Howard Morris to The Sid Caesar, Imogene Coca, Carl Reiner, Howard Morris Special (7:30 p.m., CBS). They're not the only ones in the reunion; most of the writing crew, including Mel Brooks and Larry Gelbart, are back as well. One of the highlights is a spoof of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, and I wonder if they ever thought they'd be doing anything like that on TV? Anyhow, you can check it out for yourself here . (Thanks again, YouTube.)
Also on Wednesday, an NBC News Inquiry hosted by Frank McGee takes a closer look at a NASA that's at a "Crossroads in Space." (9:00 p.m.) And crossroads is the case indeed; it's less than three months since the disastrous Apollo 1 fire that killed three American astronauts and threw the entire moon race into question, while the growing costs of the space program continue to rise.
I always enjoy running across episodes that appear to be ordinary at the time but wind up being a part of television history, and such is the case on Thursday with the much-loved Star Trek episode "The City on the Edge of Forever" (7:30 p.m., NBC), Harlan Ellison's legendary story of Kirk and Spock entering through a time portal to rescue McCoy, and running into an impossibly young Joan Collins in the process. What I wouldn't give to see this episode for the very first time, not knowing what to expect. (And if you're interested, reading Ellison's book on the making of this episode is a must.)
The 1967 baseball season begins on Monday, and ABC puts you in the mood on Friday with a "Portrait of Willie Mays" (9:00 p.m.), narrated by Chris Schenkel. Filmed during last season's pennant race, this look at the most charismatic baseball player of the time is, as I suppose it should be, a throwback to a more joyous era of the game; the first labor stoppage is still five years away, there are no endless playoffs, and the strongest words you hear from this star are, "Say Hey!"
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This week's starlet is our comely cover girl, 24-year-old Cheryl Miller (that's her on cover right, not to be confused with Judy the Chimp), one of the stars of CBS's series Daktari. She talks with Dwight. Whitney from Africa U.S.A., the setting at which Ivan Tors' latest animal drama is being filmed, and it's clear that Cheryl's what we would today call an animal whisperer. Or at least that's what I gather from her exchange with a 425-pould Bengal tiger called Sarang, whom she cuddles and caresses until the tiger begins licking at her throat. She's a girl of many traits: she sings, was on the track team in school, flies jets, rides horseback, skis, and climbs mountains. When she's not doing all of that, she's also making personal appearances; "If you need a Miss Christmas Seal or a marshal to decorate your parade, or a pretty-fundraiser for the Junior Foundation for the Blind, Cheryl is always available." At times, it almost seems as if she looks at acting as an afterthought. After Daktari ends in 1969, she continues to appear in television up until 1980. Today, the only Cheryl Miller most people probably know of is the former basketball player. Somehow, I'm not so sure this Cheryl Miller would mind.
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Finally, "Television Fights the War of Ideas," is one of the feature articles in the issue, written by Neil Hickey. When I first saw that headline, I figured Hickey might be talking about how TV fights to keep ideas off the air, but in reality, it's an examination of the United States Information Agency, the government's propaganda arm, and how it beams the American ideal into living rooms around the world. Because if I'd been right—if it had been TV vs. the war of ideas—then I think we can say, from today's perspective, that TV won, and ideas lost. TV
April 1, 2022
Around the dial
Xet's start this week at Soul Ride, where Gary reviews Impresario: The Life and Times of Ed Sullivan, by James McGuire. You'll recall that several years ago—in fact, now that I look at it, it was the second piece on this blog—I reviewed Gerald Nachman's Sullivan bio; I enjoyed it, but it could and should have been much better. If I ever want another crack at Sullivan's life, this is the book I'd check out. At The Horn Section, Hal's look at F Troop continues with " El Diablo ," a 1966 episode in which Larry Storch takes center stage as Corporal Agarn and his evil cousin, the notorious bandit El Diablo, who has a $10,000 price on his head. No matter what, this isn't going to turn out well.
Lately, I've been reading Rodney Marshall's Twitter posts on Randall and Hopkirk, Deceased, so naturally I was game for John's take on the series over at Cult TV Blog. He doesn't disappoint, with " The Best Years of Your Death ," featuring the late Peter Bowles.
At Television's New Frontier: the 1960s, the focus is on the 1962 episodes of The Flintstones . The cartoon's been on since September 1960, and it's not as fresh as it used to be. It also brings home the question of whether or not this adult cartoon was ever a kids' show.
Terence looks back on the career of Marvin J. Chomsky at A Shroud of Thoughts. Chomsky, who died earlier this week, aged 92, had a glittering resume of directorial work for television, including Roots, Holocaust, Mission: Impossible, Banacek, Mannix, The Wild, Wild West, and many, many more.
I recently saw a comment online from someone who thought it was wrong to consider Gilligan's Island a classic, because it wasn't very good. How can you say that, though, about a series that's had such a profound pop culture impact? At Drunk TV, Paul reviews another of the venerable show's spinoffs, the 1982-83 cartoon Gilligan's Planet. TV
March 30, 2022
Star power
Xarlier this month, someone on Facebook asked me about my
March 7, 1959
TV Guide writeup—in particular, about a teaser that ran across the top of the cover. What, he wondered, was the story "How Deals Are Made for Guest Stars" all about? I told him I'd be happy to oblige, and since writing is what I do here, let's see what that story is, indeed, all about.Television, as we know, has always been a cutthroat business, and in the early decades of the medium, one of the most ruthless aspects was the competition for big-name guest stars. Movie stars, especially those rarely seen on the tube, were always in big demand, and TV itself had been around long enough to create its own stars. For the sponsors eager for sales and the network executives eager for ratings, that star power—whether applied to a variety show, drama or sitcom—could be a bonanza!
But how to appeal to the star? Money isn't really an incentive, since the star's income probably puts him in the 90 percent tax bracket; who wants to work for so little in return? As for the exposure that a television appearance brings, he's well aware that too much of it takes the edge off his drawing power. The shows need him more than he needs the shows. Therefore, money alone is seldom the only factor in making a guest appearance. So what does one give the guest who has (almost) everything?
Well, in the case of Jane Powell, Steve Allen has been after her for a long time. But clever Jane waited until her appearance at the Hotel Plaza's Persian Room in New York before taking Steverino up on his offer. The result: increased publicity for her nightclub act, and one less trip required to New York. Coordinating such TV appearances with promoting upcoming movies is a major part of any star's strategy; Tony Curtis plugged his upcoming movie The Vikings with appearances on I've Got a Secret and The Perry Como Show in the same week, and the following week Kirk Douglas was on with Allen for the same movie.
This strategy isn't always sure-fire, though; Esther Williams was all set to plug her new line of swimming pools with an appearance on the Bob Crosby Show when the show's sponsor nixed the promo—whereupon Esther nixed the appearance.
Cross-familiar promotion is a good way to snag a star; Helen Hayes appeared on the Arthur Murray show to publicize her son James MacArthur's career by dancing with him during the show. (She also contributed her fee to the Mary MacArthur polio fund; charitable donations are also effective in attracting top talent.) James Mason appreciates having his wife Pamela and daughter appear with him; Jerry Lewis wants the opportunity to put in a word for Muscular Dystrophy, and Danny Thomas does the same for St. Jude; perhaps the biggest example of this was Arthur Murray offering Walter Winchell $50,000 for the Damon Runyon Cancer Fund (a fund which Winchell started) if he'd get Red Buttons and Jackie Gleason on his show. Winchell complied, but Gleason first insisted that another $50,000 donation be made to the Runyon Fund in his name alone.
Finally, there's what I might call the "Ralph Edwards" method, although the two aren't complete alike. In this scenario, the enterprising producer approaches a major star with an offer to appear on a testimonial show, honoring their many years of service to the entertainment industry. "We shall salute you. Not only that, but we'll give you $10,000 just for your trouble." The producer then uses the attraction of this famous star as bait to get the star's friends—only the big ones, like Sinatra, Peck and Bacall—to be part of a "party" for the star, only telling them after they've agreed that the "party" is actually taking place on a television show. But you'll pay them a token fee, even though you know they're really only there to honor the star. Of course it's a racket, but it's too late at this point to back out. The Edwards method worked with Ethel Barrymore and Ed Wynn on a pair of Texaco Command Appearance shows.
The article concludes with the dwindling list of really important stars who've yet to appear on television: Marilyn Monroe, Danny Kaye, Alec Guinness. But, if some executive out there is brushing up on Izaak Walton's The Compleat Angler, they might come up with the bait to attract them. It's an interesting article, and I'm glad I returned to it here, with an opportunity to go through it in more detail than if it had simply been part of the Saturday review. Today, of course, things have changed. It's prestige television that has the most to offer the movie star, and judging by the success that HBO, Paramount+, AMC and the like have had in attracting them to limited series, I'd say the practice is alive and well. TV
March 28, 2022
What's on TV? Wednesday, March 30, 1955
Naturally there's more on TV tonight than the Oscars, as you can see in this Chicagoland TV Guide. Disneyland (6:30 p.m., ABC) has a tour of two of its fabled lands, Fantasyland and Adventureland, including a conversation between Kirk Douglas and Peter Lorre about their movie 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. NBC warms the Oscar audience up with This Is Your Life; the honoree is never listed in the issue because the show is live, but tonight it happens to be three-time Oscar winner Walter Brennan, surprised
right there on the red carpet
! And if you're not in the mood for movie stars,
Willie Pep and Gil Cadelli
might be seeing them if there's a knockout on CBS's Pabst Blue Ribbon Bouts at 9:00 p.m. Not bad for a Wednesday night.-2- WBBM (CBS) MORNING 6:40 Today’s Thoughts 6:45 Farm Daily—Menard 7:00 Morning Show—Jack Paar 9:00 Garry Moore—Variety 9:30 Arthur Godfrey Time 10:30 Strike It Rich—Quiz 11:00 Valiant Lady—Serial 11:15 Love of Life—Serial 11:30 Search for Tomorrow 11:45 Guiding Light—Serial AFTERNOON 12:00 The Inner Flame—Serial 12:15 Road of Life—Serial 12:30 Welcome Travelers 1:00 Robert Q. Lewis—Variety COLOR 1:30 Linkletter’s House Party 2:00 The Big Payoff—Quiz 2:30 Bob Crosby—Music 3:00 Brighter Day 3:15 Secret Storm 3:30 On Your Account—Quiz 4:00 The Early Show—Drama “European Edition” 4:30 Shopping with Miss Lee 4:55 Weather—P.J. Hoff 5:00 Range Rider—Western 5:30 Gene Autry—Western EVENING 6:00 Sports—Bob Elson 6:15 News—Julian Bentley 6:30 News—Douglas Edwards 6:45 Perry Como—Music 7:00 GODFREY AND FRIENDS 8:00 THE MILLIONAIRE 8:30 I’VE GOT A SECRET—Panel 9:00 BOXING—San Francisco Willie Pep vs. Gil Gadilli 9:45 RED BARBER’S CORNER 10:00 NEWS AND WEATHER 10:15 IN TOWN TONIGHT 10:30 NEWS—John Harrington 10:45 KUP’S SHOW—Irv Kupcinet 11:00 KEN NORDINE SHOW 11:30 MOVIE—Mystery “Wanted for Murder” (English; 1946)
4 WTMJ (MILWAUKEE) (NBC) MORNING 6:45 Everett Mitchell—Talks 7:00 Today—Dave Garroway 9:00 Ding Dong School—Kids 9:30 Way of the World 9:45 Sheila Graham Guest: Ralph Edwards 10:00 Home—Women’s News 11:00 What’s New in the Kitchen 11:45 Let’s Look at the News AFTERNOON 12:00 Hot Shot Review—Music 12:30 Weather—Bill Carlsen COLOR 12:35 Bob Heiss—Interviews COLOR 1:30 Beulah Donohue—Women 2:00 Greatest Gift—Serial 2:15 Golden Windows—Serial 2:30 One Man’s Family 2:45 Miss Marlowe—Serial 3:00 Hawkins Falls—Serial 3:15 First Love—Serial 3:30 World of Mr. Sweeney 3:45 Modern Romances 4:00 Your Library Story 4:15 Let’s Experiment—Science 4:30 Howdy Doody—Puppets 5:00 Foreman Tom—Western 5:45 News—Bob Kelly 5:55 Weather—Bill Carlsen EVENING 6:00 Sports—Larry Clark 6:15 Malones and Marvin—Music 6:30 Eddie Fisher—Music 6:45 News—John C. Swayze 7:00 I MARRIED JOAN 7:30 MY LITTLE MARGIE 8:00 THEATER—Drama “The Southwest Corner” 9:00 THIS IS YOUR LIFE 9:30 ACADEMY AWARDS SPECIAL 11:00 Tonight—Variety Guest: Ben Belafonte 12:00 News at Midnight
-5- WNBQ (NBC) MORNING 7:00 Today—Dave Garroway 9:00 Ding Dong School—Kids 9:30 Way of the World 9:45 Sheila Graham Guest: Ralph Edwards 10:00 Home—Women’s News 11:00 Tennessee Ernie Ford 11:30 Feather Your Nest—Quiz AFTERNOON 12:00 Noontime Comics—Kids 12:30 Cartoonland—Ken Bowers 12:45 Bob & Kay with Doucette 1:30 Beulah Donohue—Women 2:00 Greatest Gift—Serial 2:15 Golden Windows—Serial 2:30 One Man’s Family 2:45 Miss Marlowe—Serial 3:00 Hawkins Falls—Serial 3:15 First Love—Serial 3:30 World of Mr. Sweeney 3:45 Modern Romances 4:00 Pinky Lee—kids 4:30 Howdy Doody—Puppets 5:00 Elmer the Elephant—Kids 5:30 Close Up—Music EVENING 6:00 Weather—Clint Youle 6:10 Sports—Joe Wilson 6:15 Dorsey Connors—Travel 6:20 Alex Dreier—Features 6:25 Tony Weitzel—Comments 6:30 Eddie Fisher—Music 6:45 News—John C. Swayze 7:00 I MARRIED JOAN 7:30 MY LITTLE MARGIE 8:00 THEATER—Drama “The Southwest Corner” 9:00 THIS IS YOUR LIFE 9:30 ACADEMY AWARDS SPECIAL 11:00 Tonight—Variety Guest: Ben Belafonte 12:00 MOVIE—Adventure “Sea Racketeers” (1937)
-7- WBKB (ABC) MORNING 8:00 Chicago Parade—Variety 9:00 Women and the World 9:30 Play House—Kids 10:00 Creative Cookery—Recipes 10:55 News—Ulmer Turner 11:00 Danny O’Neil Show 11:55 News—Ulmer Turner AFTERNOON 12:00 Happy Pirates—Kids’ Fun 12:55 News—Ulmer Turner 1:00 Midweek Cooking School 2:00 The Doctor Answers—Talk 2:15 TV Dental Clinic 2:30 Triple Features—Dramas 3:55 News—Ulmer Turner 4:00 Pied Piper—Art Horn 4:30 Time for Uncle Win 5:00 Laffin’ Theater—Kids 5:30 News—Austin Kiplinger 5:45 Robt. Merriman—Discussion 5:55 Weather—Wayne Grifin EVENING 6:00 Kukla, Fran and Ollie 6:15 News—John Daly 6:30 Disneyland 7:30 STU ERWIN—Comedy 8:00 MASQUERADE PARTY Panel: Buff Cobb, Bobby Sherwood, Ilka Chase, Ogden Nash. Peter Donald emcees. 8:30 WHO SAID THAT?—Panel Panelists: Peggy Ann Garner, Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt, Bob Considine, June Lockhart. John Daly emcees. 9:00 J.A. SPOTLIGHT—Variety 9:30 BIG PICTURE—Army Films 10:00 DOUBLE DATE—Film Dramas 11:00 This Is the Day 11:10 Tom Duggan—Comments 12:00 MOVIE—Double Feature (1) “The Tunnel” (2) “Child in the House”
-9- WGN (Du Mont) MORNING 9:45 Morning Movietime 10:00 Hi Ladies—Mike Douglas 10:55 News—Steve Fentress 11:00 The Romper Room—Kids 11:55 News—Steve Fentress AFTERNOON 12:00 Best of the West—Kids 12:55 News—Steve Fentress 1:00 All About Baby—Tips 1:15 Cameracade—Film Shorts 1:30 Learning Brings Adventure 2:00 Paul Dixon—Music 3:00 MOVIE—Mystery “Wife of General Ling” (English; 1938) 4:00 Bandstand Matinee—Music 4:55 News—Les Nichols 5:00 Bob Atcher Show—Western 5:30 Garfield Goose and Friend EVENING 6:00 Curbstone Cut-up—Simon 6:15 Sports Final—Vince Lloyd 6:30 News—Spencer Allen 6:45 Chicagoland Newsreel 7:00 WHAT’S THE STORY?—Panel 7:30 EISENHOWER PRESS CONF. Will run if film is available 8:00 CHICAGO SYMPHONY 9:00 TV SHOWCASE—Drama “Follow That Cab” 9:30 LIBERACE—Music 10:00 MOVIE—Drama “Night Won’t Talk” (Chgo. TV Debut) 11:30 News—Les Nichols 11:45 Weather—Carl Greyson 11:50 Ron Terry Show—Music
TV
March 26, 2022
This week in TV Guide: March 26, 1955
I know we've been spending quite a bit of time in the 1950s lately, but I'm going to stick with it for one more issue, because I'm a sucker for what the Academy Awards used to be.The Oscars are yet another topic you've heard me complain about ad infinitum, so if you're sick and tired of it, feel free to skip this portion and go to the next section. The reason I'm even bringing it up now is because the Oscars seem every year to move farther and farther away from what they used to be. I mean, ask yourself—how many of you are planning to watch tomorrow night's show? How many of you have been to more than two of the Best Picture nominees? How many of the acting nominees have you seen in more than one or two movies? How many of you have heard of all three of this year's hosts? How many of you consider the Dolby Theater glamourous?
Now, there are probably a few of you out there, cinephiles perhaps, who can give a positive answer to most of those questions. But here's my next question: how many of the people who watched the 1955 Academy Awards broadcast considered themselves cinephiles, and how many were simply fans of the movies?
Let's look at the list of nominees for Wednesday night's program (9:30 p.m. CT, NBC). First, there's the time itself—7:30 p.m. in Hollywood, which gives the whole thing the air of a movie premiere, with spotlights and screaming crowds flanking the red carpet as the stars stride into the Pantages Theater, one of Hollywood's storied locations. This year's ceremony begins at 5:00 p.m., which means the stars don't come out at night—they appear in the middle of the afternoon. Anyone can tell you that a full moon visible during the day isn't nearly as awe-inspiring as it is in the dark of night.Then you have the nominees, both the actors and the movies themselves: Humphrey Bogart, Marlon Brando, Bing Crosby, James Mason, Dorothy Dandridge, Judy Garland, Audrey Hepburn, Grace Kelly, Jane Wyman, Eva Marie Saint, Nina Foch, Claire Trevor, Lee J. Cobb, Karl Malden, Rod Steiger. You probably recognize most of these names, if not all of them. Even a lesser-known actor, such as Best Actor nominee Dan O'Herlihy, gains credence by his very inclusion with grand names. (The Oscars were always good at that, and finding those nominees is one way of introducing yourself to very good performances in very good movies.) And the movies themselves: The Caine Mutiny, The Country Girl, On the Waterfront, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, A Star is Born, Three Coins in the Fountain, The High and the Mighty. It's a great night for the movies—and maybe that's another thing: the Academy seems more interested today in films than in movies.
There's only one host in 1955, and there could only be one host: Bob Hope, Who else could it be? And he was charged with keeping the show moving; the listings give the running length at "About 2 hours." (The ad on the left even suggests 90 minutes!) The last time a normal ceremony was held, back in 2020, the running time was three hours and thirty-six minutes; previous ceremonies had been known to eclipse four hours, filled with clips that remind you how much better the movies used to be.
Don't misunderstand me: I love going to the movies, and there are still very good movies being made, movies that feature very good actors. Denzel Washington, for example, is an excellent actor, and I hope he wins tomorrow night. I'll admit that I've not seen a movie starring Nicole Kidman, but the same goes for her. (I read Billy Bathgate though, if that counts for anything.) Some of this year's nominated actors are probably better than some of the actors nominated in 1955. The point is, a great actor isn't necessarily a movie star. Right?
The Academy Awards are all about movies, and they're all about glamour. They're missing too much of the former, and too much of the latter, and that's why I miss what they used to be.
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Oh, one more thing about Wednesday's show—the nominated songs and their singers. Dean Martin sings "Three Coins in the Fountain" from the movie of the same name; Johnny Desmond does "The High and the Mighty" from that movie; Rosemary Clooney performs "The Man Who Got Away" from A Star is Born, Danny Thomas sings "Count Your Blessings" from White Christmas, and Tony Martin does "Hold My Hand" from Susan Slept Here. Not a bad lineup of songs or singers, is it?
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The weekend highlight is the color extravaganza Entertainment 1955 (Sunday, 6:30 p.m., NBC), a 90-minute spectacular to celebrate the dedication of NBC's new Burbank color studios (made so famous in later years by Johnny Carson). It's a showcase of how television can cover "the lively arts," with Helen Hayes presenting the Tony award for Best Play; Dinah Shore in the studio, singing "Whatever Lola Wants"; Leontyne Price recreating her recent NBC Opera Theatre appearance as Tosca; comedy from Buddy Hackett, Pat Carroll, and Tom Holmore; Sue Carson doing a nightclub act, and host Fred Allen performing some of radio's greatest moments. NBC executives Pat Weaver and Robert Sarnoff, make a special appearance.
Sunday's a pretty good night on the tube; on Toast of the Town, Ed Sullivan welcomes Rodgers and Hammerstein as they commemorate the 12th anniversary of their celebrated musical Oklahoma! (7:00 p.m., CBS) That's followed at 8:00 p.m. by General Electric Theater, as host Ronald Reagan introduces Henry Fonda as the young Emmett Kelly in "Clown," based on Kelly's autobiography.
Speaking of the circus, John Daly takes us behind the scenes at Madison Square Garden in New York City as Ringling Bros.—Barnum & Bailey prepares to kick off the 85th edition of "The Greatest Show on Earth." (Tuesday, 7:00 p.m., ABC) About half of the hour-long program focuses on the actual acts, while the other half consists of Daly's co-host, John Ringling North, leading viewers on a tour of what makes the Circus tick. The broadcast, which will utilize 12 live cameras at various points in the Garden, required the approval of Cecil B. DeMille, who, as a result of producing the Oscar-winning movie version The Greatest Show on Earth, had veto control over any television broadcast of the Circus. This year's broadcast is something of an experiment; if it proves to be an effective commercial for the Circus, the cameras will be back next year.Next on Tuesday's agenda is March of Medicine (8:30 p.m., ABC), a special that provides us with some historical perspective. Entitled "Ten Years After Hiroshima," it's a report on the effect of atomic radiation on the survivors after "the first atomic weapon ever used in war." There's also a look at the U.S. Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission, and the work being done by research labs in Boston and Chicago. To me, at least, this is a show that gives one pause; it's not even ten years since Hiroshima, and this isn't some distant memory—almost everyone reading this issue was alive when the bomb was dropped, and the research is based not on theoretical experiments, but on the actual survivors of the blast.
We'll round off the week with Person to Person (Friday, 9:30 p.m., CBS), and tonight Ed Murrow's lead guest is none other than Marlon Brando, who on Wednesday won Best Actor at the Oscars for his performance in On the Waterfront. Ed didn't know for certain that he'd have an Oscar winner as a guest, obviously, but I think he had a better than 20 percent chance of being right. According to the description, Brando plans to "show off his seashell and book collections and his observatory, from which he can see the Pacific, almost all of Los Angeles and the Sierra Nevadas." I can't remember if this show was live or not; I think not, but in any event I wonder if anything changed based on Brando's win.
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On the cover this week is one of television's favorite second bananas, Gale Gordon. To a later generation, he would be known as the long-suffering Mr. Mooney, one of the many roles he played as the longtime foil of Lucille Ball, but his appearance in this week's issue is as the long-suffering Mr. Conklin, the principal and foil to Eve Arden in both the radio and television versions of Our Miss Brooks.
In real life, Gordon is anything but the "bellowing" Conklin. He's a pipe-smoker, plumber, carpenter, fruit grower, oil painter, playwright, and gun collector; in addition, he's "one of the few actors in history to appear in a radio dramatic role without saying a word," having played the footsteps of the Unknown Soldier. Somehow, that seems perfect for a man who is about as unassuming as Hollywood stars get.
Gordon seems to have played just about everyone, mostly on radio (including Lucy's boss on My Favorite Husband), and has worked with just about everyone (including Mary Pickford and John Barrymore, who said he had the best diction of anyone "on the stage, radio or screen." He's played Mayor LaTrivia on Fibber McGee and Molly, Inspector Lestrade on Sherlock Holmes (with Basil Rathbone), and in a radio episode of Gangbusters, he played not only the killer, but the cop who arrested him, and the siren that belonged to the cop's car.
Gordon has a rich career, even appearing in Lucy's final TV series, Life With Lucy. You might even say that it was a career to shout about.
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Perhaps the most famous Miss America in history, Bess Myerson has parlayed her crown into regular appearances on television, and it's no wonder. A striking 5-foot-10 in her stocking feet*, Bess has "moved from bathing suits to mink," and it seems that she's thoroughly enjoying it. Last year, she pulled in $125,000 as "The Lady in Mink" on the giveaway show The Big Payoff, while also pitching products on three major networks, and finding a regular place on various panel shows (she would be a regular on I've Got a Secret from 1958 to 1967). *And, the article is quick to mention in the way of the times, her "classical dimensions" of 36-26-36.
It's a very interesting article, as much for what it doesn't say as for what it does. It's been ten years since she became the first (and, to date, only) Jewish Miss America, and while the article makes note on her musical performance at the pageant (an accomplished musician, she wowed the judges with excerpts from Grieg's Piano Concerto), there's no mention of how three of the pageant's five sponsors refused to have her represent their companies as Miss America. (Obviously, television sponsors were far less concerned about her religion.) Much is made of her marriage to Allan Wayne, which produced Barra; there's no indication of the domestic violence that would result in divorce in 1957.
And, of course, still ahead lies her time as head of New York City's Department of Consumer Affairs in 1969; her involvement in big-time Democratic politics, including Ed Koch's successful campaign for mayor, and her own unsuccessful run for the U.S. Senate in 1980; and her involvement in a scandal involving her relationship with a married man, her friendship with the judge hearing her paramour's divorce case (and employment of the judge's daughter), and subsequent trial for conspiracy, mail fraud, obstruction of justice, and using interstate facilities to violate state bribery laws (she was eventually acquitted). Ah well, he that is without sin. . .
As starlets go, Bess Myerson is already more successful than most—really, she's already a star—and anyone who's watched her in the old kinescopes of I've Got a Secret that used to run on GSN will remember her as charming, witty, urbane, and still beautiful. Whenever I see her in one of those old reruns, I still prefer to remember that, and ignore the messy stuff. I think she's entitled to that, don't you?
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And just a reminder that if you like what you've seen, there's plenty more where that came from.
TV
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