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The '''1961–62 United States network television schedule''' was for the period that began in September [[1961]] and ran through April [[1962]]. All times are Eastern and Pacific.
The '''1961–62 United States network television schedule''' was for the period that began in September [[1961]] and ran through April [[1962]].


The previous season had been excoriated by FCC chairman [[Newton Minow]] in May 1961. Minow had criticized poor programs and weak network schedules, calling television a "[[Wasteland Speech|vast wasteland]]" and calling on television executives to try harder to develop innovative and interesting television programs.<ref name="CP1982">{{cite book| last = Castleman| first = Harry| authorlink = | coauthors = Walter J. Podrazik| title = Watching TV: Four Decades of American Television| publisher = McGraw-Hill| date = 1982| location = New York| pages = 147-153| url = | doi = | id = | isbn = 0-07-010269-4}}</ref>
New fall series are highlighted in '''bold'''.


Television historians Castleman and Podrazik (1982) believe the 1961-1962 season marked a comeback for television, as the networks rearranged their schedules to accommodate the critics. They point out [[CBS]]'s high-quality legal drama ''[[The Defenders]]'', [[NBC]]'s medical drama ''[[Dr Kildare]]'', CBS's ''[[The Dick Van Dyke Show]]'', and [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]]'s medical drama ''[[Ben Casey]]'' as bright spots in the new TV schedule. Despite the praise for these four series, the authors also highlight several less worthy series which debuted during the 1961-1962 season: ''[[Room for One More]]'', ''[[Window on Main Street]]'', ''[[Hazel (TV series)|Hazel]]'' ("possibly the dumbest family in TV history"), and the truly terrible ''[[The Hathaways]]'' ("possibly the worst series ever to air on network TV").<ref name="CP1982"/>
The highest-rated show for the year is colored in <span style="background-color:lime">'''lime'''</span>. The top ten highest-rated shows are colored in <span style="background-color:yellow">'''yellow'''</span>. The top 20 highest-rated shows are colored in <span style="background-color:cyan">'''cyan'''</span>.

NBC lured Disney's popular anthology series from ABC; ''[[Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color]]'' premiered on September 24, 1961. The color programs were a change from the previous ABC programs, which had been seen in black and white.<ref name="CP1982"/>

NBC also added a movie night to its schedule; the network paid $25 million for the rights to broadcast 50 20th-Century Fox films on Saturday nights. In April 1962, ABC followed suit when it added its own Sunday night movie to its schedule.<ref name="CP1982"/>

All times are Eastern and Pacific. New fall series are highlighted in '''bold'''. The highest-rated show for the year is colored in <span style="background-color:gold">'''gold'''</span>. The second highest-rated show is colored in <span style="background-color:silver">'''silver'''</span>. The third highest-rated show is colored in <span style="background-color:goldenrod">'''bronze'''</span>.<ref name="BM2">Highest-rated series is based on the annual top-rated programs list compiled by [[Nielsen Media Research]] and reported in: Brooks, Tim & Marsh, Earle (2007). ''The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network TV Shows'' (9th ed.). New York: Ballantine. ISBN 978-0-345-49773-4.</ref>


== Sunday ==
== Sunday ==
Line 26: Line 32:
|-
|-
! [[CBS]]
! [[CBS]]
| bgcolor="cyan" | [[Lassie (1954 TV series)|Lassie]]
| [[Lassie (1954 TV series)|Lassie]]
| bgcolor="cyan" | [[Dennis the Menace (TV series)|Dennis the Menace]]
| [[Dennis the Menace (TV series)|Dennis the Menace]]
| bgcolor="cyan" colspan="2" | [[The Ed Sullivan Show]]
| colspan="2" | [[The Ed Sullivan Show]]
| [[General Electric Theater]]
| [[General Electric Theater]]
| [[The Jack Benny Program]]
| [[The Jack Benny Program]]
| bgcolor="yellow" | [[Candid Camera]]
| [[Candid Camera]]
| [[What's My Line?]]
| [[What's My Line?]]
|-
|-
Line 37: Line 43:
| '''[[The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show|The Bullwinkle Show]]'''
| '''[[The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show|The Bullwinkle Show]]'''
| colspan="2" | [[Walt Disney anthology television series|Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color]]*
| colspan="2" | [[Walt Disney anthology television series|Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color]]*
| bgcolor="cyan" | '''[[Car 54, Where Are You?]]'''
| '''[[Car 54, Where Are You?]]'''
| bgcolor="yellow" colspan="2" | [[Bonanza]]
| bgcolor="silver" colspan="2" | [[Bonanza]]
| colspan="2" | '''[[Du Pont|The Du Pont Show of the Week]]'''
| colspan="2" | '''[[Du Pont|The Du Pont Show of the Week]]'''
|}
|}
Line 62: Line 68:
| [[The Rifleman]]
| [[The Rifleman]]
| colspan="2" | [[Surfside 6]]
| colspan="2" | [[Surfside 6]]
| bgcolor="cyan" colspan="2" | '''[[Ben Casey]]'''
| colspan="2" | '''[[Ben Casey]]'''
|-
|-
! [[CBS]]
! [[CBS]]
Line 69: Line 75:
| [[Pete and Gladys]]
| [[Pete and Gladys]]
| '''[[Window on Main Street]]'''
| '''[[Window on Main Street]]'''
| bgcolor="yellow" | [[The Danny Thomas Show]]
| [[The Danny Thomas Show]]
| bgcolor="yellow" | [[The Andy Griffith Show]]
| [[The Andy Griffith Show]]
| [[Hennesey]]
| [[Hennesey]]
| [[I've Got a Secret]]
| [[I've Got a Secret]]
Line 83: Line 89:
|}
|}


*In some areas, [[CBS Evening News|Douglas Edwards with the News]] and [[The Huntley-Brinkley Report]] aired at 6:45 p.m.(et).
*In some areas, ''[[CBS Evening News|Douglas Edwards with the News]]'' and ''[[The Huntley-Brinkley Report]]'' aired at 6:45 p.m.(ET).


== Tuesday ==
== Tuesday ==
Line 104: Line 110:
| '''[[Calvin and the Colonel]]'''
| '''[[Calvin and the Colonel]]'''
| colspan="2" | '''[[The New Breed (TV series)|The New Breed]]'''
| colspan="2" | '''[[The New Breed (TV series)|The New Breed]]'''
| colspan="2" | [[Alcoa Premiere]]
| colspan="2" | '''[[Alcoa Premiere]]'''
|-
|-
! [[CBS]]
! [[CBS]]
| 7:00 Local / 7:15 [[CBS Evening News|Douglas Edwards with the News]]
| 7:00 Local / 7:15 [[CBS Evening News|Douglas Edwards with the News]]
| '''[[Gunsmoke|Marshal Dillon]]''' (Gunsmoke repeats)
| [[Gunsmoke|Marshal Dillon]] (Gunsmoke repeats)
| '''[[The Dick Van Dyke Show]]'''
| '''[[The Dick Van Dyke Show]]'''
| [[The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis]]
| [[The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis]]
| bgcolor="yellow" | [[The Red Skelton Show]]
| [[The Red Skelton Show]]
| '''[[Ichabod and Me]]'''
| '''[[Ichabod and Me]]'''
| bgcolor="cyan" colspan="2" | [[The Garry Moore Show]]
| colspan="2" | [[The Garry Moore Show]]
|-
|-
! [[NBC]]
! [[NBC]]
Line 119: Line 125:
| colspan="2" | [[Laramie (TV series)|Laramie]]
| colspan="2" | [[Laramie (TV series)|Laramie]]
| [[Alfred Hitchcock Presents]]
| [[Alfred Hitchcock Presents]]
| colspan="2" | [[The Dick Powell Show]]
| colspan="2" | '''[[The Dick Powell Show]]'''
| colspan="2" | [[Cain's Hundred]]
| colspan="2" | '''[[Cain's Hundred]]'''
|}
|}


Line 153: Line 159:
! [[NBC]]
! [[NBC]]
| 7:00 Local / 7:15 [[The Huntley-Brinkley Report]]
| 7:00 Local / 7:15 [[The Huntley-Brinkley Report]]
| bgcolor="lime" colspan="2" | [[Wagon Train]]
| bgcolor="gold" colspan="2" | [[Wagon Train]]
| '''[[The Joey Bishop Show (TV series)|The Joey Bishop Show]]'''
| '''[[The Joey Bishop Show (sitcom)|The Joey Bishop Show]]'''
| colspan="2" | [[Kraft Music Hall (TV series)|Perry Como's Kraft Music Hall]]
| colspan="2" | [[Kraft Music Hall (TV series)|Perry Como's Kraft Music Hall]]
| '''[[The Bob Newhart Show]]'''
| '''[[The Bob Newhart Show]]'''
Line 160: Line 166:
|}
|}


Note: [[Mrs. G. Goes to College]] moved to Thursday nights in January as [[Mrs. G. Goes to College|The Gertrude Berg Show]].
Note: ''[[Mrs. G. Goes to College]]'' moved to Thursday nights in January as ''The Gertrude Berg Show''.


== Thursday ==
== Thursday ==
Line 179: Line 185:
| [[The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet]]
| [[The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet]]
| [[The Donna Reed Show]]
| [[The Donna Reed Show]]
| bgcolor="cyan" | [[The Real McCoys]]
| [[The Real McCoys]]
| bgcolor="cyan" | [[My Three Sons]]
| [[My Three Sons]]
| '''[[Margie (TV series)|Margie]]''' /starting April 19 [[The Law and Mr. Jones]]
| '''[[Margie (TV series)|Margie]]''' /starting April 19 [[The Law and Mr. Jones]]
| colspan="2" | [[The Untouchables (1959 TV series)|The Untouchables]]
| colspan="2" | [[The Untouchables (1959 TV series)|The Untouchables]]
Line 194: Line 200:
| 7:00 Local / 7:15 [[The Huntley-Brinkley Report]]
| 7:00 Local / 7:15 [[The Huntley-Brinkley Report]]
| colspan="2" | [[Outlaws (1960 TV series)|Outlaws]]
| colspan="2" | [[Outlaws (1960 TV series)|Outlaws]]
| bgcolor="yellow" colspan="2" | '''[[Dr. Kildare]]'''
| colspan="2" | '''[[Dr. Kildare]]'''
| bgcolor="yellow" | '''[[Hazel (TV series)|Hazel]]'''
| '''[[Hazel (TV series)|Hazel]]'''
| bgcolor="cyan" colspan="2" | [[Mitch Miller|Sing Along with Mitch]]
| colspan="2" | [[Sing Along with Mitch]]
|}
|}


Line 222: Line 228:
! [[CBS]]
! [[CBS]]
| 7:00 Local / 7:15 [[CBS Evening News|Douglas Edwards with the News]]
| 7:00 Local / 7:15 [[CBS Evening News|Douglas Edwards with the News]]
| bgcolor="cyan" colspan="2" | [[Rawhide (TV series)|Rawhide]]
| colspan="2" | [[Rawhide (TV series)|Rawhide]]
| colspan="2" | [[Route 66 (TV series)|Route 66]]
| colspan="2" | [[Route 66 (TV series)|Route 66]]
| '''[[Father of the Bride]]'''
| '''[[Father of the Bride]]'''
Line 236: Line 242:
|}
|}


*formerly [[CBS News|Eyewitness To History]]
<nowiki>*</nowiki> formerly ''[[CBS News|Eyewitness To History]]''


== Saturday ==
== Saturday ==
Line 260: Line 266:
! [[CBS]]
! [[CBS]]
| Local
| Local
| bgcolor="yellow" colspan="2" | [[Perry Mason (TV series)|Perry Mason]]
| colspan="2" | [[Perry Mason (TV series)|Perry Mason]]
| colspan="2" | '''[[The Defenders (TV series)|The Defenders]]'''
| colspan="2" | '''[[The Defenders (TV series)|The Defenders]]'''
| [[Have Gun — Will Travel]]
| [[Have Gun — Will Travel]]
| bgcolor="yellow" colspan="2" | [[Gunsmoke]]
| bgcolor="goldenrod" colspan="2" | [[Gunsmoke]]
|-
|-
! [[NBC]]
! [[NBC]]
Line 271: Line 277:
| colspan="4" | '''[[NBC Saturday Night at the Movies]]'''
| colspan="4" | '''[[NBC Saturday Night at the Movies]]'''
|}
|}
'''[[Room for One More (TV series)|Room for One More]]''' aired on ABC from January to July 1962, 8-8:30 p.m. Beginning January 6th, [[Matty's Funday Funnies]] became '''[[Matty's Funday Funnies|Matty's Funnies With Beany & Cecil]]'''.
''[[Room for One More (TV series)|Room for One More]]'' aired on ABC from January to July 1962, 8-8:30 p.m.
Beginning January 6th, ''[[Matty's Funday Funnies]]'' became ''Matty's Funnies With Beany & Cecil''.


==References==
==References==
{{Reflist}}
* Castleman, H. & Podrazik, W. (1982). ''Watching TV: Four Decades of American Television''. New York: McGraw-Hill. 314 pp.
* Castleman, H. & Podrazik, W. (1982). ''Watching TV: Four Decades of American Television''. New York: McGraw-Hill. 314 pp.
* McNeil, Alex. ''Total Television''. Fourth edition. New York: Penguin Books. ISBN 0-14-024916-8.
* McNeil, Alex. ''Total Television''. Fourth edition. New York: Penguin Books. ISBN 0-14-024916-8.

Revision as of 02:17, 13 October 2009

The 1961–62 United States network television schedule was for the period that began in September 1961 and ran through April 1962.

The previous season had been excoriated by FCC chairman Newton Minow in May 1961. Minow had criticized poor programs and weak network schedules, calling television a "vast wasteland" and calling on television executives to try harder to develop innovative and interesting television programs.[1]

Television historians Castleman and Podrazik (1982) believe the 1961-1962 season marked a comeback for television, as the networks rearranged their schedules to accommodate the critics. They point out CBS's high-quality legal drama The Defenders, NBC's medical drama Dr Kildare, CBS's The Dick Van Dyke Show, and ABC's medical drama Ben Casey as bright spots in the new TV schedule. Despite the praise for these four series, the authors also highlight several less worthy series which debuted during the 1961-1962 season: Room for One More, Window on Main Street, Hazel ("possibly the dumbest family in TV history"), and the truly terrible The Hathaways ("possibly the worst series ever to air on network TV").[1]

NBC lured Disney's popular anthology series from ABC; Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color premiered on September 24, 1961. The color programs were a change from the previous ABC programs, which had been seen in black and white.[1]

NBC also added a movie night to its schedule; the network paid $25 million for the rights to broadcast 50 20th-Century Fox films on Saturday nights. In April 1962, ABC followed suit when it added its own Sunday night movie to its schedule.[1]

All times are Eastern and Pacific. New fall series are highlighted in bold. The highest-rated show for the year is colored in gold. The second highest-rated show is colored in silver. The third highest-rated show is colored in bronze.[2]

Sunday

PM 7:00 7:30 8:00 8:30 9:00 9:30 10:00 10:30
ABC 6:30 Maverick (partial repeats) Follow the Sun Lawman Bus Stop Adventures in Paradise
CBS Lassie Dennis the Menace The Ed Sullivan Show General Electric Theater The Jack Benny Program Candid Camera What's My Line?
NBC The Bullwinkle Show Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color* Car 54, Where Are You? Bonanza The Du Pont Show of the Week

Monday

PM 7:00 7:30 8:00 8:30 9:00 9:30 10:00 10:30
ABC Expedition! Cheyenne The Rifleman Surfside 6 Ben Casey
CBS 7:00 Local / 7:15 Douglas Edwards with the News* To Tell the Truth Pete and Gladys Window on Main Street The Danny Thomas Show The Andy Griffith Show Hennesey I've Got a Secret
NBC 7:00 Local / 7:15 The Huntley-Brinkley Report* Local National Velvet The Price Is Right 87th Precinct Thriller

Tuesday

PM 7:00 7:30 8:00 8:30 9:00 9:30 10:00 10:30
ABC Local The Bugs Bunny Show Bachelor Father Calvin and the Colonel The New Breed Alcoa Premiere
CBS 7:00 Local / 7:15 Douglas Edwards with the News Marshal Dillon (Gunsmoke repeats) The Dick Van Dyke Show The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis The Red Skelton Show Ichabod and Me The Garry Moore Show
NBC 7:00 Local / 7:15 The Huntley-Brinkley Report Laramie Alfred Hitchcock Presents The Dick Powell Show Cain's Hundred

Wednesday

PM 7:00 7:30 8:00 8:30 9:00 9:30 10:00 10:30
ABC Local The Steve Allen Show Top Cat Hawaiian Eye Naked City
CBS 7:00 Local / 7:15 Douglas Edwards with the News The Alvin Show Father Knows Best (repeats) Checkmate Mrs. G. Goes to College Armstrong Circle Theatre / The United States Steel Hour
NBC 7:00 Local / 7:15 The Huntley-Brinkley Report Wagon Train The Joey Bishop Show Perry Como's Kraft Music Hall The Bob Newhart Show David Brinkley’s Journal

Note: Mrs. G. Goes to College moved to Thursday nights in January as The Gertrude Berg Show.

Thursday

PM 7:00 7:30 8:00 8:30 9:00 9:30 10:00 10:30
ABC Local The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet The Donna Reed Show The Real McCoys My Three Sons Margie /starting April 19 The Law and Mr. Jones The Untouchables
CBS 7:00 Local / 7:15 Douglas Edwards with the News Frontier Circus The Bob Cummings Show The Investigators CBS Reports
NBC 7:00 Local / 7:15 The Huntley-Brinkley Report Outlaws Dr. Kildare Hazel Sing Along with Mitch

Friday

PM 7:00 7:30 8:00 8:30 9:00 9:30 10:00 10:30
ABC Local Straightaway The Hathaways The Flintstones 77 Sunset Strip Target: The Corruptors!
CBS 7:00 Local / 7:15 Douglas Edwards with the News Rawhide Route 66 Father of the Bride The Twilight Zone Eyewitness*
NBC 7:00 Local / 7:15 The Huntley-Brinkley Report International Showtime The Detectives Starring Robert Taylor The Bell Telephone Hour / The Dinah Shore Show Here and Now

* formerly Eyewitness To History

Saturday

PM 7:00 7:30 8:00 8:30 9:00 9:30 10:00 10:30
ABC Matty's Funday Funnies The Roaring 20s Leave It to Beaver The Lawrence Welk Show 10:00 The Fight of the Week / 10:45 Make That Spare
CBS Local Perry Mason The Defenders Have Gun — Will Travel Gunsmoke
NBC Local Tales of Wells Fargo The Tall Men NBC Saturday Night at the Movies

Room for One More aired on ABC from January to July 1962, 8-8:30 p.m.

Beginning January 6th, Matty's Funday Funnies became Matty's Funnies With Beany & Cecil.

References

  1. ^ a b c d Castleman, Harry (1982). Watching TV: Four Decades of American Television. New York: McGraw-Hill. pp. 147–153. ISBN 0-07-010269-4. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  2. ^ Highest-rated series is based on the annual top-rated programs list compiled by Nielsen Media Research and reported in: Brooks, Tim & Marsh, Earle (2007). The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network TV Shows (9th ed.). New York: Ballantine. ISBN 978-0-345-49773-4.
  • Castleman, H. & Podrazik, W. (1982). Watching TV: Four Decades of American Television. New York: McGraw-Hill. 314 pp.
  • McNeil, Alex. Total Television. Fourth edition. New York: Penguin Books. ISBN 0-14-024916-8.
  • Brooks, Tim & Marsh, Earle (1984). The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network TV Shows (3rd ed.). New York: Ballantine. ISBN 0-345-31864-1.
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