December 23, 2014

What's on TV? Wednesday, December 24, 1958

Well, Christmas Eve is finally here - at least in this issue of TV Guide - and let's see what people are watching when they're not getting together with family, opening presents, or going to church!



KTCA, Channel 2 (Educ.)

Afternoon

04:15p
A Speck of Progress (special)

04:30p
Adventures in Hand Arts

05:00p
Magic Doorways

05:15p
Triptych for Christmas Eve (special)

05:30p
Shepherds and the Magi (special)

Evening

06:00p
Graphic Arts

06:30p
Briefing Session

07:00p
Christmas in New England (special)

07:30p
Ten for Survival

08:00p
Private College Hour

08:30p
Private College Hour

09:00p
Minority Problems

09:30p
Holiday Readings (special)

10:00p
Linguistics 

10:30p
Christmas Paintings (special)

Adventures in Hand Arts - I know what you're thinking, and you should be ashamed of yourself.


KDAL, Channel 3 (Duluth) (CBS)

Morning

08:00a
Captain Kangaroo

08:45a
CBS News (Stuart Novins)

09:00a
For Love or Money

09:30a
Play Your Hunch

10:00a
Arthur Godfrey

10:30a
Top Dollar

11:00a
Love of Life

11:30a
Search for Tomorrow

11:45a
The Guiding Light

Afternoon

12:00p
CBS News (Walter Cronkite)

12:05p
Town and Country

12:30p
As the World Turns

01:00p
Jimmy Dean (guest Anita Bryant)

01:30p
House Party (guest Jim Backus)

02:00p
The Big Payoff

02:30p
The Verdict is Yours

03:00p
The Brighter Day

03:15p
The Secret Storm

03:30p
The Edge of Night

04:00p
TV Hour of Stars

05:00p
Bandstand

05:30p
Mickey Mouse Club

Evening

06:00p
News (local)

06:15p
CBS News (Douglas Edwards)

06:30p
This is Alice

07:00p
Pursuit

08:00p
The Millionaire

08:30p
I’ve Got a Secret

09:00p
Armstrong Circle Theater (special)

10:00p
News (local)

10:15p
St. Thomas Boys Choir (special)

10:30p
Church Service (Episcopal)

11:00p
Movie – “A Christmas Carol” (Owen)

11:30p
Christmas Eve Pageant (Catholic)

Reginald Owen's A Christmas Carol is, I think, a bit overdone in comparison to the better-known Sim and Scott versions.  A nice touch casting the Lockhart family as the Cratchit's, though.  Gene, who plays Bob Cratchit, is perhaps more famous in the pantheon of Christmas movies as the judge in Miracle on 34th Street.  One of the uncredited Cratchit daughters is June Lockhart, later of Lassie.



KGLO, Channel 3 (Mason City IA) (CBS)

Morning

08:00a
Captain Kangaroo

08:45a
CBS News (Stuart Novins)

09:00a
For Love or Money

09:30a
Play Your Hunch

10:00a
Arthur Godfrey

10:30a
Top Dollar

11:00a
Love of Life

11:30a
Search for Tomorrow

11:45a
The Guiding Light

Afternoon

12:00p
News (local)

12:30p
As the World Turns

01:00p
Jimmy Dean (guest Anita Bryant)

01:30p
House Party (guest Jim Backus)

02:00p
The Big Payoff

02:30p
The Verdict is Yours

03:00p
The Brighter Day

03:15p
The Secret Storm

03:30p
The Edge of Night

04:00p
Bob Cavanaugh

05:00p
Bart’s Clubhouse

05:45p
CBS News (Douglas Edwards)

Evening

06:00p
Farm Reporter

06:05p
Sports, News (local)

06:30p
Bart’s Clubhouse

07:00p
Boots and Saddles

07:30p
Silent Service

08:00p
The Millionaire

08:30p
I’ve Got a Secret

09:00p
Armstrong Circle Theater (special)

10:00p
News (local)

10:30p
Church Service (Episcopal)

11:30p
Christmas Eve Pageant (Catholic)

CBS traditionally carried Christmas Eve church services - I think they still do to this day.



WCCO, Channel 4 (CBS)

Morning

07:00a
Siegfried and His Flying Saucer

08:00a
Captain Kangaroo

08:45a
Reuben K. Youngdahl

08:55a
News (local)

09:00a
For Love or Money

09:30a
Play Your Hunch

10:00a
Arthur Godfrey

10:30a
Top Dollar

11:00a
Love of Life

11:30a
Search for Tomorrow

11:45a
The Guiding Light

Afternoon

12:00p
News (local)

12:15p
Take Five

12:20p
Weather (local)

12:30p
As the World Turns

01:00p
Jimmy Dean (guest Anita Bryant)

01:30p
House Party (guest Jim Backus)

02:00p
The Big Payoff

02:30p
The Verdict is Yours

03:00p
The Brighter Day

03:15p
The Secret Storm

03:30p
The Edge of Night

04:00p
Around the Town

04:30p
Axel and His Dog

05:00p
Woody Woodpecker

05:30p
Popeye Clubhouse

05:55p
News, Weather, Sports (local)

Evening

06:15p
CBS News (Douglas Edwards)

06:30p
Rescue 8

07:00p
Pursuit

08:00p
It’s Christmas Time

08:30p
I’ve Got a Secret

09:00p
Armstrong Circle Theater (special)

10:00p
News (local)

10:30p
Cedric Adams Playhouse

11:00p
Church Service (Episcopal)

11:30p
Christmas Eve Pageant (Catholic)

It's Christmas Time, which preempted The Millionaire on Channel 4, "shows the sights and sounds of a group of strolling carolers singing their way through town."  Nice.



KSTP, Channel 5 (NBC)

Morning

06:05a
David Stone

07:00a
Today

09:00a
Dough Re Mi

09:30a
Treasure Hunt

10:00a
The Price Is Right

10:30a
Concentration

11:00a
Tic Tac Dough

11:30a
It Could Be You

Afternoon

12:00p
News (local)

12:20p
Treasure Chest

01:00p
Truth or Consequences (color)

01:30p
Haggis Baggis (color)

02:00p
Today Is Ours

02:30p
From These Roots

03:00p
Queen for a Day

03:30p
County Fair

04:00p
My Little Margie

04:30p
Hawkeye

05:00p
Sherwood Forest

05:30p
NBC News (Huntley/Brinkley)

Evening

06:00p
News (local)

06:20p
You Should Know

06:30p
Wagon Train

07:30p
The Price is Right (color)

08:00p
Kraft Music Hall (Milton Berle, guests Janis Paige, Peter Lorre, the George Arnold Ice Revue) (color)

08:30p
Bat Masterson

09:00p
This is Your Life

09:30p
Flight

10:00p
News (local)

10:30p
Mr. District Attorney

11:00p
Church Service (Catholic)

Kraft Music Hall sure packs a lot into a half-hour, doesn't it?  Milton Berle's latest variety show isn't quite as manic, or as successful, as his Texaco Star Theater.



KDSM, Channel 6 (Duluth) (NBC)

Morning

07:00a
Today

09:00a
Dough Re Mi

09:30a
Treasure Hunt

10:00a
The Price Is Right

10:30a
Concentration

11:00a
Tic Tac Dough

11:30a
It Could Be You

Afternoon

12:00p
News (local)

12:05p
Movie – “Treasure Island”

02:00p
Today Is Ours

02:30p
From These Roots

03:00p
Queen for a Day

03:30p
County Fair

04:00p
Popeye

Evening

06:00p
News (local)

06:15p
NBC News (Huntley/Brinkley)

06:30p
Wagon Train

07:30p
The Price is Right (color)

08:00p
Kraft Music Hall (Milton Berle, guests Janis Paige, Peter Lorre, the George Arnold Ice Revue) (color)

08:30p
Bat Masterson

09:00p
Bishop Sheen (special)

09:30p
1958 News Review

10:00p
News (local)

10:15p
Silent Service

10:45p
Jack Paar (guest Jack Haskell)

11:00p
Church Service (Catholic)

The Bishop Sheen special at 9:00 is actually being telecast on ABC, where the good Bishop's long running Life is Worth Living ran until a couple of seasons ago.  It's a mark of Bishop Sheen's fame that Channel 6 carried it, given the lack of an ABC affiliate in the Duluth area.



KMMT, Channel 6 (Austin) (ABC)

Morning

10:30a
This is the Answer

11:00a
Music Bingo

11:30a
Peter Lind Hayes (guest Don Cherry)

Afternoon

12:30p
Mother’s Day

01:00p
Liberace (guest Joan O’Brien)

01:30p
News, Weather

01:40p
Matinee with Marge

02:00p
Day In Court

02:30p
David Niven

03:00p
Beat the Clock

03:30p
Who Do You Trust?

04:00p
American Bandstand (guest The Three G’s)

05:30p
Mickey Mouse Club

Evening


06:00p
News (local)

06:15p
ABC News (Don Goddard)

06:30p
Lawrence Welk

07:30p
Ozzie and Harriet

08:00p
The Donna Reed Show

08:30p
Day in Court

09:00p
Bishop Sheen (special)

09:30p
1958 News Review

10:00p
News (local)

10:15p
ABC News (John Daly)

10:30p
TV Hour of Stars

KMMT is one of the few stations in my TV Guide collection to carry ABC's late-night newscast, anchored by John Daly.  For all the talk over the years about broadcasting the evening news later at night, this is the only time a network ever tried it. (Nightline was never intended to replace World News Tonight.)



WKBT, Channel 8 (LaCrosse) (CBS)

Morning

10:00a
Arthur Godfrey

10:30a
Top Dollar

11:00a
Love of Life

11:30a
Search for Tomorrow

11:45a
Film Short

Afternoon

12:00p
Adventures in Hand Arts

12:30p
Ranch Party

01:00p
Jimmy Dean (guest Anita Bryant)

01:30p
House Party (guest Jim Backus)

02:00p
The Big Payoff

02:30p
The Verdict is Yours

03:00p
The Brighter Day

03:15p
The Secret Storm

03:30p
The Edge of Night

04:00p
Royal Playhouse

04:30p
Film Feature

05:00p
The Big Picture (Army)

05:30p
Texas Rangers

Evening

06:00p
Farm Digest

06:05p
Sports, News (local)

06:30p
The Gray Ghost

07:00p
Zorro

07:30p
Ozzie and Harriet

08:00p
The Millionaire

08:30p
Sea Hunt

09:00p
Bishop Sheen (special)

09:30p
Christmas Music (special)

10:00p
News (local)

10:20p
Perry Mason

11:20p
To Be Announced

11:30p
Christmas Eve Pageant (Catholic)

Adventures in Hand Arts again?  This must have been a popular show.


KMSP, Channel 9 (Ind.)

Afternoon

01:55p
Chapel of the Air

02:00p
Movie – “Cry, the Beloved Country”

03:30p
Bingo

04:30p
TV Hour of Stars

05:30p
Our Miss Brooks

Evening

06:00p
Looney Tuners Club

06:30p
The Three Musketeers

07:00p
Medic

07:30p
Movie – “The Secret of Dr. Kildaire”

09:00p
Movie – “The Capture”

10:30p
News (local)

10:45p
Sports (local)

10:50p
Open House

11:55p
News (local)

Again, it's amazing that a commercial broadcast station wouldn't sign on until nearly 2:00 in the afternoon.  Cry, the Beloved Country - based on the acclaimed novel by Alan Paton - is a pretty new movie to be showing on television, though - it was made in 1952.



KROC, Channel 10 (Rochester) (NBC)

Morning

07:00a
Today

09:00a
Dough Re Mi

09:30a
Treasure Hunt

10:00a
The Price Is Right

10:30a
Concentration

11:00a
Tic Tac Dough

11:30a
It Could Be You

Afternoon

12:00p
News (local)

12:15p
Channel 10 Calling

12:30p
Film Shorts – “Picturesque Denmark,” “Christmas in Sweden”

01:00p
Truth or Consequences (color)

01:30p
Haggis Baggis (color)

02:00p
Today Is Ours

02:30p
From These Roots

03:00p
Queen for a Day

03:30p
County Fair

04:00p
What’s New?

04:30p
Adventures in Hand Arts

05:00p
Casey Jones

05:30p
Jeff’s Collie

Evening

06:00p
News (local)

06:15p
NBC News (Huntley/Brinkley)

06:30p
Wagon Train

07:30p
The Price is Right (color)

08:00p
Kraft Music Hall (Milton Berle, guests Janis Paige, Peter Lorre, the George Arnold Ice Revue) (color)

08:30p
Bat Masterson

09:00p
New York Confidential

09:30p
Tugboat Annie

10:00p
News (local)

10:30p
Jack Paar (guest Jack Haskell)

11:00p
Church Service (Catholic)

All right, what is it with Adventures in Hand Arts?  Maybe all those people with dirty minds were right?



WTCN, Channel 11 (ABC)

Morning

09:00a
Film Short

09:20a
News (local)

09:30a
Romper Room (Miss Kay)

10:20a
Top Plays

10:55a
Mark Stevens

11:00a
Music Bingo

11:30a
Peter Lind Hayes (guest Don Cherry)

Afternoon

12:30p
Mother’s Day

01:00p
Liberace (guest Joan O’Brien)

01:30p
Mark Stevens

01:35a
Burns and Allen

02:00p
Day In Court

02:30p
Amos ‘n’ Andy

02:55p
Mark Stevens

03:00p
Beat the Clock

03:30p
Who Do You Trust?

04:00p
American Bandstand (guest The Three G’s)

05:30p
Mickey Mouse Club

Evening

06:00p
News (local)

06:30p
Lawrence Welk

07:30p
Ozzie and Harriet

08:00p
The Donna Reed Show

08:30p
If You Had a Million

09:00p
Bishop Sheen (special)

09:30p
News (local)

09:45p
Movie – “Christmas Eve”

Lawrence Welk's Christmas special is available here.



KEAU, Channel 13 (Eau Claire) (NBC)

Morning

07:00a
Today

09:00a
Dough Re Mi

09:30a
Treasure Hunt

10:00a
The Price Is Right

10:30a
Concentration

11:00a
Tic Tac Dough

11:30a
It Could Be You

Afternoon

12:00p
Extention Division

12:15p
The Christophers

12:45p
Markets, News

01:00p
Truth or Consequences (color)

01:30p
Haggis Baggis (color)

02:00p
Today Is Ours

02:30p
From These Roots

03:00p
Queen for a Day

03:30p
County Fair

04:00p
Building America

04:30p
Cartoons

05:00p
Teen Record Show

05:30p
Cartoons

05:45p
Captain Sunlight

Evening

06:00p
Film Short

06:10p
News, Weather (local)

06:30p
Wagon Train

07:30p
The Price is Right (color)

08:00p
Kraft Music Hall (Milton Berle, guests Janis Paige, Peter Lorre, the George Arnold Ice Revue) (color)

08:30p
Bat Masterson

09:00p
Highway Patrol

09:30p
Schlitz Playhouse

10:30p
Garry Moore (guests Martha Raye, Julius LaRosa)

No, Garry Moore never did have a late-night show.  This would have been a rebroadcast from the CBS telecast on Tuesday night - speaking, once again, to how popular Moore was. TV  

6 comments:

  1. The Donna Reed Show that aired this day was the same Christmas episode which Me-TV aired during its Christmas Conundrum and will air during the show's 6 AM CT timeslot on Christmas Day, featuring Buster Keaton as the hospital janitor who plays Santa for kids left in the Children's Ward over Christmas.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I might have to record that one, Jon. Who possibly could have imagined, even 10 or 15 years ago, that we'd be able to reconstruct so much of the programming from a given day in a TV Guide? It's so cool. Merry Christmas to you!

      Delete
  2. Some notes from Chicago:

    - 1958 marked one of ABC's early attempts at daytime programming; Peter Lind Hayes's daily hour, Liberace in a half-hour attempt to tone down his flamboyant persona ( which he abandoned soon enough), Day In Court (courtroom drama I mentioned here a while back), Beat The Clock and Who Do You Trust?, both moved from CBS primetime (Johnny Carson had just taken over Trust), and a short-lived show called Mother's Day, whose host was making one of his earliest network appearances: Dick Van Dyke.

    - Lawrence Welk's Wednesday show was simulcast in stereo by ABC Radio's Chicago outlet, WLS-AM (they didn't go to full-time Rock-n-Roll until a couple of years after this).
    Oh, and if you followed the link, you'll note that the official title was The Plymouth Show, after its sponsor. Welk also had a Saturday show on ABC, The Dodge Dancing Party - that's right, two completely different hour-long shows each week. That was ABC in the '50s - if you had a solid sponsor (in this case, two divisions of Chrysler), you got as much time as you wanted.

    - Wagon Train's guest star this week was Patty McCormack, who was still coming off her monster success (sorry) in the play and movie The Bad Seed.
    She's still around today, playing salty old ladies in various present-day series (she's about 70 now *sigh*); I mention this as a bow to my friend Max Allan Collins, who's employed her to great effect in his independent movies Mommy and Mommy's Day (available on DVD - you ought to see these).

    - On The Millionaire, I just noticed that Paul Frees has an on-camera role in the episode. This would be before it became generally known that Frees was the voice of John Beresford Tipton every week.

    - ABC tried a late-night newscast again in 1962 - The ABC News Final, which they kept going for two years before giving up again in '64. One reason was lack of affiliate support (which is probably why you've never heard of it).

    Because I fear hitting the Character Wall again, I'll retire for the nonce and look for some more stuff you might like.

    Merry Christmas until then.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Love the information as always, Mike - sometimes more than my own posts! Yes, I suspect that Lawrence Welk could have had the entire ABC primetime schedule if he had enough sponsorship! Thanks for all the comments through the year, and Merry Christmas!

      Delete
  3. "it's amazing that a commercial broadcast station wouldn't sign on until nearly 2:00 in the afternoon."

    Was a very common occurrence on Christmas Day in Australia for capital city and regional stations, even as late as the 1980s before 24/7 transmission became commonplace.

    On Christmas Day 1974, Melbourne channel GTV9 did not sign on until 4.00pm but this was to allow station technicians to do upgrade works to their transmitter in preparation for full-time colour which was to launch in March 1975. Because viewing numbers are usually low on Christmas Day it was hoped that the extended outage wouldn't bother too many viewers.

    Merry Christmas Mitchell to you and your readers

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Interesting info on the stations there - I always learn a lot from your comments! You know, I think some of the cable networks here that put on the "Yule Log" (don't know if you have it on TV there; it's a looped clip of a roaring fireplace with Christmas music being played in the background) have it right. That's the only television a lot of us need. Thanks for the wishes, and Merry Christmas to you as well, my friend!

      Delete

Thanks for writing! Drive safely!