February 1, 2016

What's on TV? Saturday, January 27, 1962

Saturdays almost always have interesting listings. It's the first listing you see in each week's issue, you're greeted mostly by cartoons and Westerns, and the programming is different from every other day of the week (the same can be said for Sundays, as we saw yesterday). We're back in the DFW Metroplex for this week, so let's see what makes this day stand out.


KFDX, Channel 3 (Wichita Falls) (NBC)

Morning

07:30a
Farm Hour

08:30a
Pip the Piper (color)

09:00a
Shari Lewis (color)

09:30a
King Leonardo and His Short Subjects (color)

10:00a
Fury

10:30a
Make Room for Daddy

11:00a
Update

11:30a
Watch Mr. Wizard

Afternoon

12:00p
Movie – “The Broken Star”

01:30p
Pro Basketball – Syracuse at Chicago

03:30p
Ask Washington

04:00p
All-Star Golf (Art Wall vs. Bob Rosburg) (color)

05:00p
Championship Bowling (Bob Kwolek vs. Hank Lauman)

Evening


06:00p
NBC News (Sander Vanocur)

06:15p
Mr. Magoo

06:30p
Tales of Wells Fargo (color)

07:30p
The Tall Man

08:00p
Saturday Night at the Movies – “Cheaper by the Dozen” (color)

10:00p
News and Weather (local)

10:15p
Movie – “The Master Race”

KFDX has a lineup that's as close as we've come to the kind of Saturday/Sunday sports marathon we see today. Basketball, golf and bowling - I could have settled for an afternoon like that.


KRLD, Channel 4 (CBS)

Morning

07:00a
Movie – “Wildcat of Tucson”

08:00a
Captain Kangaroo

09:00a
Video Village

09:30a
Mighty Mouse

10:00a
Allakazam

10:30a
Roy Rogers

11:00a
Sky King

11:30a
My Friend Flicka

Afternoon

12:00p
Spotlite on Dallas

12:15p
Changing Times

12:30p
Chef for a Day

01:00p
Dr. Albert Burke

01:30p
Film Feature

02:00p
Accent

02:30p
Movie – “Iron Man”

03:45p
Farm and Garden

04:00p
Film Feature

04:30p
Gourmet

05:00p
Wrestling

Evening


06:00p
News (Warren Faulks)

06:15p
Police Report

06:20p
Weather (Jack Harrison)

06:30p
Perry Mason

07:30p
The Defenders

08:30p
Have Gun – Will Travel

09:00p
Gunsmoke

10:00p
Death Valley Days

10:30p
News and Weather (local)

10:50p
Newsreel

11:00p
Movie – “Tales of Manhattan”

If you look through the listings for all the stations, you'll see a theme to the Saturday morning movies. Yes, they're all Westerns, but there's something else about them, starting with Channel 4. Can you spot what it is? Keep reading for the answer.


WBAP, Channel 5 (NBC)

Morning

07:00a
Movie – “Marshal of Mesa City”

08:00a
Clutch Cargo (color)

08:30a
Pip the Piper (color)

09:00a
Shari Lewis (color)

09:30a
King Leonardo and His Short Subjects (color)

10:00a
Fury

10:30a
Make Room for Daddy

11:00a
Update

11:30a
Watch Mr. Wizard

Afternoon

12:00p
Fam Page (color)

12:30p
Planning for Tomorrow (color)

01:00p
Telesports Digest

01:30p
Pro Basketball – Syracuse at Chicago

03:30p
Ask Washington

04:00p
All-Star Golf (Art Wall vs. Bob Rosburg) (color)

05:00p
Movie – “Lady Scarface”

Evening


06:00p
NBC News (Sander Vanocur)

06:15p
News, Weather (local) (color)

06:30p
Tales of Wells Fargo (color)

07:30p
The Tall Man

08:00p
Saturday Night at the Movies – “Cheaper by the Dozen” (color)

10:00p
News (local)

10:15p
Weather, News (local) (color)

10:30p
Bob Newhart (guests The Brothers Four)

11:00p
Suspicion

The Bob Newhart show you see at 10:30 is a variety program; as was the case with his later show The Entertainers, it took awhile before the networks figured out how to use his quirky sense of humor. Variety shows weren't it. Sitcoms - now that's another matter.


KSYD, Channel 6 (Wichita Falls) (CBS)

Morning

07:00a
Cartoons

08:00a
Captain Kangaroo

09:00a
Video Village

09:30a
Mighty Mouse

10:00a
Allakazam

10:30a
Roy Rogers

11:00a
Sky King

11:30a
My Friend Flicka

Afternoon

12:00p
CBS News (Robert Trout)

12:30p
Movie Double Feature – “Yank on the Burma Road”, “Apache Trail”

04:30p
Championship Wrestling

05:30p
Pioneers

Evening


06:00p
Father Knows Best

06:30p
Perry Mason

07:30p
The Defenders

08:30p
Have Gun – Will Travel

09:00p
Gunsmoke

10:00p
The Twilight Zone

10:30p
Movie – “Johnny Eager”

Perry Mason and The Defenders - back-to-back courtroom shows, but that's about where the similarities end. KSYD has no local news today; you won't see that very often nowadays.


KSWO, Channel 7 (Wichita Falls) (ABC)

Afternoon

12:00p
The Texan

12:30p
Movie Double Feature – “Dakota Lil”, “Tonight’s the Night”

03:30p
Pro Bowlers Tour

05:00p
The Three Stooges

05:30p
Cartoons

Evening


06:00p
Matty’s Funday Funnies

06:30p
Calvin and the Colonel (return)

07:00p
Room For One More (debut)

07:30p
Leave it to Beaver

08:00p
Lawrence Welk

09:00p
Fight of the Week (Luis Rodriguez vs. Federico Thompson)

09:45p
Make That Spare

10:00p
Movie – “Security Risk”

KSWO doesn't come on until noon, but still manages a pretty good schedule. Calvin and the Colonel, returning to the schedule tonight, is basically an animated version of Amos 'n' Andy, including the two mainstay voices from the radio version, Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll. It's followed by the debut of Room For One More, a sitcom starring Andrew Duggan (nobody's idea of a sitcom star) and featured Jack Albertson as one of the neighbors. It lasted 26 episodes.


WFAA, Channel 8 (ABC)

Morning

07:30a
Movie – “Sundown in Santa Fe”

08:30a
Felix the Cat

09:00a
Range Rider

09:30a
Deputy Dawg

10:00a
Cartoons

10:30a
Annie Oakley

11:00a
Movie – “Rough Riders of Durango”

Afternoon

12:00p
The Texan

12:30p
Hopalong Cassidy

01:00p
R.C.M.P.

01:30p
Burns and Allen

02:00p
Movie – “The Sea Hornet”

03:30p
Pro Bowlers Tour

05:00p
Lock Up

05:30p
Matty’s Funday Funnies

Evening


06:00p
Expedition!

06:30p
Calvin and the Colonel (return)

07:00p
Room For One More (debut)

07:30p
Leave it to Beaver

08:00p
Lawrence Welk

09:00p
Fight of the Week (Luis Rodriguez vs. Federico Thompson)

09:45p
Make That Spare

10:00p
News and Weather (local)

10:20p
Sports (Wes Wise)

10:30p
Movie – “The Actress”

12:00a
Movie – “Santa Fe Passage”

The answer to today's question: almost all the movies on Saturday morning contain place names. I mean, look at it - Tucson, Mesa City, Dakota, the Burma Road, Santa Fe, Durango. And they're pretty much all Westerns. Somehow I doubt the local stations planned it that way.


KTVT, Channel 11 (Ind.)

Afternoon

12:00p
University of Texas

12:30p
The Future We Face

01:00p
Movie – “The Champ”

02:25p
Meet Your Teacher

02:30p
Movie – “The Golden Arrow”

03:55p
Weather (Howard McNeil)

04:00p
Movie – “Tear Gas Squad”

05:00p
Championship Bowling

Evening


06:00p
Movie – “Heidi”

07:25p
Weather (Howard McNeil)

07:30p
Trackdown

08:00p
Mike Hammer

08:30p
Seven League Boots

09:00p
Kingdom of the Sea

09:30p
Meet McGraw

10:00p
News (local)

10:30p
Movie – “Petticoat Fever”

12:00a
News (local)

In case you were wondering, the conclusion of "Heidi" will not be interrupted by a football game.


KXII, Channel 12 (Dennison) (NBC, CBS)

Morning

09:00a
Shari Lewis (color)

09:30a
King Leonardo and His Short Subjects (color)

10:00a
Fury

10:30a
Make Room for Daddy

11:00a
Update

11:30a
Watch Mr. Wizard

Afternoon

12:00p
To Be Announced

01:30p
Pro Basketball – Syracuse at Chicago

03:30p
Ask Washington

04:00p
All-Star Golf (Art Wall vs. Bob Rosburg) (color)

05:00p
Quest for Adventure

05:30p
Herald of Truth

Evening


06:00p
NBC News (Sander Vanocur)

06:15p
Club House

06:30p
Tales of Wells Fargo (color)

07:30p
The Tall Man

08:00p
Saturday Night at the Movies – “Cheaper by the Dozen” (color)

10:00p
News and Weather (local)

10:25p
Sports (Lee Lynch)

10:30p
Wrestling

I'm looking particularly at that morning lineup, and it has a surprising lack of animation. With the exception of King Leonardo, in fact, everything is live action. You see that more often back in this era; looking at KSYD and KRLD, you'll see the same thing. In fact, none of the stations have more than two cartoons. TV  

2 comments:

  1. Delayed Broadcast Time:
    - Bob Newhart's network timeslot this season was Wednesday at 9pm CST, followed at 9:30 by David Brinkley's Journal.
    My guess here would be that Dallas's Channel 5 was carrying an hour show on Wednesday, thus delaying Newhart and (possibly) Brinkley to other nights.
    By the way, this particular Newhart show will be seen in Rockford IL, Monday night at 6:30 on Channel 39.
    On Wednesday nights, Ch39 carries ABC's Naked City (Ch13, the CBS/ABC station, is carrying The U.S. Steel Hour/Armstrong Circle Theater).
    The story goes that one reason for the dropping of Newhart's show after only one season (in which it won both an Emmy and a Peabody Award) was the difficulty NBC had getting stations to clear the day-and-date broadcast.

    - Meanwhile, in Wichita Falls, The Twilight Zone, which aired on the rest of the CBS network on Friday, is a day late.

    Elsewhere:
    - Room For One More is a strange case.
    As was the case with so many Warner Bros. series, this was based on an old WB movie, which starred Cary Grant and his then-wife Betsy Drake.
    The long-standing sweetheart deal between ABC and WB was still in force;
    RFOM was supposed to go on in the fall of '61, but was delayed for unknown reasons - which means it was probably no more than a placeholder anyway.

    - Sidebar:
    On Thursday night, The Untouchables features a young actress named Dyan Cannon - who, years later, became Mrs. Cary Grant (Coincidence? you decide).
    Meanwhile, on Friday, 77 Sunset Strip features a young actress named Diane Cannon - apparently filmed before the Untouchables episode (yes, it's the same actress; she decided to change the spelling for personal reasons).

    -

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Here she is singing on THE DANNY KAYE SHOW three years later...she presumably was playing the female lead in the touring company of HOW TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS WITHOUT REALLY TRYING

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33k-N-PFp4M

      Delete

Thanks for writing! Drive safely!