September 7, 2015

What's on TV? Wednesday, September 14, 1960

This week we're back in Dallas-Fort Worth.  I don't usually differentiate between the Dallas stations and the Fort Worth stations because the first inclination is to treat this as one big market, the same as I do when I'm talking about Minneapolis-St. Paul.  Of course, Dallas and Fort Worth aren't as close as the Twin Cities; it's a good half hour to 40 minutes travelling between the two, depending on where you're coming from and to.  But in the TV Guide, there's a clear delineation between the markets: KRLD, WFAA and KERA are listed under Dallas, whereas WBAP and KTVT are in Forth Worth.  I'm assuming that back in the days of rabbit ears and rooftop antennas, you could still get Dallas stations in Fort Worth and vice versa, but maybe I'm wrong.  Anyone from the area know?


KRLD, Channel 4 (CBS)

Morning

07:30a
Cartoons

08:00a
News (local)

08:15a
Captain Kangaroo

09:00a
Jack LaLanne

09:30a
Video Village

10:00a
I Love Lucy

10:30a
Clear Horizon

11:00a
Love of Life

11:30a
Search for Tomorrow

11:45a
The Guiding Light

Afternoon

12:00p
News (local) 

12:15p
Fashions in Faces

12:30p
As the World Turns

01:00p
Full Circle

01:30p
House Party

02:00p
The Millionaire

02:30p
The Verdict is Yours

03:00p
The Brighter Day

03:15p
The Secret Storm

03:30p
The Edge of Night

04:00p
Movie – “For the Love of Rusty”

05:15p
Party Time

Evening

06:00p
News (local)

06:10p
Weather (local)

06:15p
Douglas Edwards with the News

06:30p
The Aquanauts (debut)

07:30p
June Allyson

08:00p
The Millionaire

08:30p
I’ve Got a Secret

09:00p
Armstrong Circle Theater

10:00p
News (local)

10:15p
Weather (local)

10:20p
People and Places

10:30p
Movie – “An Act of Murder”

You'll recall that on Saturday I mentioned Douglas Edwards, CBS' evening news anchor, serving as one of the co-hosts of the Miss America Pageant.  Continuing in that vein, the host of Armstrong Circle Theater is Ron Cochran, soon to become the anchor of the ABC evening news.  Granted, Circle Theater was unusual among anthology series in that it was more of a docudrama, often telling stories that were either true or based on fact.  This week's story talks about the "racket" of college term papers for-hire.


WBAP, Channel 5 (NBC)

Morning

06:55a
Almanac Newsreel

07:00a
Today

09:00a
Dough Rei Mi

09:30a
Play Your Hunch

10:00a
The Price is Right (color)

10:30a
Concentration

11:00a
Truth or Consequences

11:30a
It Could Be You (color)

Afternoon

12:00p
News (local)

12:30p
Mr. District Attorney

01:00p
Jan Murray

01:30p
Loretta Young

02:00p
Young Dr. Malone

02:30p
From These Roots

03:00p
The Thin Man

03:30p
Yancy Derringer

04:00p
Movie – “The Spanish Main”

05:30p
Teen-Age Downbeat (color)

05:55p
Almanac Newsreel

Evening

06:00p
News, Weather (local) (color)

06:15p
Huntley-Brinkley Report

06:30p
Wagon Train

07:30p
The Price is Right (color)

08:00p
Happy

08:30p
Tate

09:00p
This Is Your Life (honoree Billy Barty)

09:30p
People Are Funny

10:00p
News (local)

10:15p
Weather (local)

10:25p
News (local)

10:30p
Sports (local)

10:35p
Jack Paar

12:00a
News (local)

12:05a
Almanac Newsreel

12:10a
Mr. District Attorney

I'm sure I don't need to tell you that the honorees on the live broadcast This Is Your Life were a surprise - they would never know what was happening until host Ralph Edwards showed up on the scene.  My suspicion is that since we know this week's honoree is Billy Barty, it's probably a rerun.


KCEN, Channel 6 (Temple) (NBC)

Morning

07:00a
Today

09:00a
Dough Rei Mi

09:30a
Play Your Hunch

10:00a
The Price is Right (color)

10:30a
Concentration

11:00a
Truth or Consequences

11:30a
It Could Be You (color)

Afternoon

12:00p
News and Weather (local)

12:10p
Farm Report

12:30p
The Life of Riley

01:00p
Jan Murray

01:30p
Loretta Young

02:00p
Young Dr. Malone

02:30p
From These Roots

03:00p
The Thin Man

03:30p
Yancy Derringer

04:00p
The People’s Choice

04:30p
Zeebo the Clown

05:00p
Popeye

05:30p
Wild Bill Hickok

Evening


06:00p
News (local)

06:05p
Weather (local)

06:10p
Sports (local)

06:15p
Huntley-Brinkley Report

06:30p
Wagon Train

07:30p
The Price is Right (color)

08:00p
Happy

08:30p
Tate

09:00p
This Is Your Life (honoree Billy Barty)

09:30p
People Are Funny

10:00p
Weather (local)

10:10p
News (local)

10:20p
Jack Paar

I haven't seen the series, but apparently one of the scariest characters on Nickelodeon's Are You Afraid of the Dark? was named Zeebo the Clown.  But long before cable TV, people in Waco were well familiar with a clown named Zeebo.  Ah, another great moment in the history of local kids' shows.


WFAA, Channel 8 (ABC)

Morning

07:30a
Felix the Cat

08:00a
Romper Room

08:30a
Movie – “Green for Danger”

10:00a
Julie Benell

11:00a
My Little Margie

11:30a
The Life of Riley

11:55a
News (local)

Afternoon

12:00p
The Restless Gun

12:30p
Queen for a Day

01:00p
About Faces

01:30p
Way of Life

02:00p
Day in Court

02:30p
Gale Storm

03:00p
Beat the Clock

03:30p
Who Do You Trust?

04:00p
American Bandstand

05:00p
Robin Hood

05:30p
My Friend Flicka

Evening


06:00p
News 

06:15p
Weather (local)

06:25p
Sports (local)

06:30p
Football Kickoff (special)

07:30p
Dallas After Dark (guests Dean Martin, Diana Dors, Charles Meeker) (special)

08:00p
Boxing (Hank vs. Smith)

08:45p
Locker Room

09:00p
Hawaiian Eye

10:00p
News (local)

10:15p
Weather (local)

10:20p
Sports (local)

10:30p
Ten-4

11:00p
Movie – “Letter from an Unknown Woman”

01:00a
News (local)

We've already mentioned Douglas Edwards and Ron Cochran, so why not another?  The Football Kickoff special at 6:30 is one of the odder celebrity collections, featuring "an array of college and marching songs with guest appearances by past and present gridiron greats and shots of football stars in action."  Where else can you find Jackie Robinson (who was a star at UCLA) sharing the stage with Merv Griffin, with the whole thing presided over by What's My Line? host and ABC news anchor John Daly?


KWTX, Channel 10 (Waco) (CBS, ABC)

Morning

08:00a
CBS Morning News (Richard C. Hottelet)

08:15a
Captain Kangaroo

09:00a
December Bride

09:30a
Video Village

10:00a
I Love Lucy

10:30a
Clear Horizon

11:00a
Better Living

11:30a
Search for Tomorrow

11:45a
The Guiding Light

Afternoon

12:00p
News (local)

01:00p
Full Circle

01:30p
House Party

02:00p
The Millionaire

02:30p
The Verdict is Yours

03:00p
The Brighter Day

03:15p
The Secret Storm

03:30p
The Edge of Night

04:00p
American Bandstand

05:30p
My Friend Flicka

Evening


06:00p
News (local)

06:10p
Weather (local)

06:15p
Douglas Edwards with the News

06:30p
The Aquanauts (debut)

07:30p
Johnny Ringo

08:00p
The Millionaire

08:30p
I’ve Got a Secret

09:00p
U.S. Marshal

09:30p
Sea Hunt

10:00p
News (local)

10:15p
Weather (local)

10:25p
Sports (local)

10:30p
Adventures in Paradise

11:30p
TV Theater

Most of KWTX's programming is from CBS, but they were able to work in an appearance by none other than our cover story of this week, Dick Clark's American Bandstand?  There were 60- and 90-minute versions of the show, and Channel 10 carried the full version, unlike Channel 8 above.


KTVT, Channel 11 (Ind.)

Morning

08:30a
Comedy Theater

09:00a
The Little Rascals

09:30a
Jack LaLanne

10:00a
Trouble with Father

10:30a
Movie – To Be Announced

Afternoon

12:00p
News, Weather and Market Reports

12:30p
Cartoon Carnival

01:00p
Movie – “The Barclays of Broadway”

03:00p
Susie

03:30p
I Married Joan

04:00p
Bugs Bunny

04:30p
Popeye

05:00p
The Three Stooges

Evening


06:00p
Roy Rogers

06:30p
News and Weather (local)

07:00p
People’s Court of Small Claims

07:30p
The Californians

08:00p
Whirlybirds

08:30p
U.S. Border Patrol

09:00p
U.S. Marshal

09:30p
Meet McGraw

10:00p
Mike Hammer

10:30p
News, Weather, Sports (local)

11:00p
Movie – “Passport to Treasure”

Talk about the difference in reality television - we're used to all these "judge" shows nowadays (Judge Judy, etc.), but in 1960 the best we can come up with is The People's Court of Small Claims.  A modest show for a modest time.


KERA, Channel 13 (Educ.)

Morning

09:15a
Pre-School Readiness

09:30a
Spanish: Grades 1-2-3

10:00a
Reading: Grades 1-2-3

Afternoon

01:15p
Spanish: Grades 4-5-6

02:00p
Science Lab: Grades 7-8

03:00p
Home and Family Life

05:45p
Compass Rose

Evening


06:00p
Finder

06:30p
Parents and Dr. Spock

07:00p
Driver Education

07:30p
Boston Symphony Orchestra

KERA is still the public broadcasting station in Dallas, and their 1960 schedule is about what you'd expect from an early '60s, pre-PBS educational channel: classroom during the day, informational and cultural shows in the evening. TV  

2 comments:

  1. Had to do a quick check of my reference books (I don't have the Chicago edition this week):

    During the summers of 1959 and 1960, ABC mounted a series called Music For A Summer Night.
    This show came about when ABC caught considerable PR flak from its cancellation of The Voice Of Firestone. The current show had the same producers, but was less classically oriented than the Firestone series.
    In both of its seasons, Merv Griffin was one of its more frequent performers, and its host was John Daly - who had served as Voice Of Firestone's on-camera host just prior to its cancellation.
    I'm reasonably sure that this Football Kickoff "special" was in fact a regular episode of Music For A Summer Night, which was wrapping up its run in its usual Wednesday time slot.

    Added note: a year or so later, ABC brought back Voice Of Firestone - without John Daly, who had left ABC after the 1960 election. (Probably just a coincidence ...)

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  2. Your comment in the intro about cities in close proximity to each other...

    Back in the late '60s, when I was but a lad, I found that it was possible to pull in broadcast signals from distant cities on channels that weren't assigned to Chicago's local stations.
    This was particularly true during the summer months, on clear nights (and sometimes days); the signal would sometimes wander in and out, and the picture would be snowy, but we on the Southwest Side of Chicago could occasionally pull in a fair picture from stations in Milwaukee, Rockford, sometimes South Bend (rare, but it happened), and on a really clear day, Grand Rapids/Kalamazoo, Michigan (the stations, WKZO in Kalamazoo (what a gal ...) and WZZM in Grand Rapids, were at pains to point that they served both cities).
    This was when TV Guide carried the Rockford listings in the Chicago edition; I learned that in the northwestern reaches of the Chicagoland Area, people could get usable (if not pristine) signals from both cities.
    Years later, I became friendly with Max Allan Collins, mystery writer of note, a lifelong resident of Muscatine, Iowa.
    Muscatine is just down the Mississippi River from the Quad Cities: Rock Island and Moline, Illinois, and Davenport and Bettendorf, Iowa. The advertising agencies, who determine such things, call all of these (Muscatine included) one "market", and have from the beginnings of broadcasting.
    My friend Max, who is around my age, tells me that the QC area didn't have an ABC station until he was in junior high school (that would be about the mid-'60s).
    Across the USA, there have been any number of markets that consisted of more than one city; Some others I've read about include Albany/Schenectady/Troy in upstate New York, Tampa/St. Petersburg Florida (aka the Suncoast), and a whole string of American cities close to the Canadian border that are cheek-by-jowl with each other: Buffalo NY/Toronto, Detroit MI/Windsor, Ontario, Fargo ND/Winnipeg, Seattle WA/Vancouver, several others.
    All of this knowledge dates from the '60s-'70s, before the rise of cable and satellite and digital; I don't really know how much of it is still applicable, if any of it is.

    I was aware that Dallas/Fort Worth calls itself the Metroplex; I'd imagine this was so for quite some time. Maybe not twin cities, but close enough for jazz.
    Others on this line can, and should, correct me if necessary.

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Thanks for writing! Drive safely!