March 23, 2015

What's on TV? Saturday, March 21, 1959


We're in new territory today! In case you didn't see Saturday's piece, this week's listing is from the Western Washington edition.  Not much different except for the time (Pacific time mimics Eastern during prime time), but we do get to see a couple of Canadian stations - now you can see what the CBC has on!  Without further ado, let's go to the grid!


CBUT, Channel 2 (Vancouver) (CBC)

Morning


Afternoon


03:00p
Frontiers of Space

03:30p
Movie – “King of the Cowboys”

04:30p
Zorro

05:00p
Rin Tin Tin

05:30p
Ivanhoe

Evening


06:00p
Hockey Night in Canada (Bruins vs. Canadiens)

07:30p
Mr. Fixit

07:45p
CBC News

08:00p
Perry Como (guests Nanette Fabray, Billy Rose, the Everly Brothers) (color)

09:00p
Foreign Legion

09:30p
Saturday Date

10:00p
Frontiers of Space

10:30p
The Naked City

11:00p
News

11:15p
Juliette

11:35p
Wrestling

Our first look at programming from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, and for the most part it's just like American television - Perry Como works everywhere, doesn't he?   The 11:35 wrestling program comes from Toronto; many times I can remember seeing hockey games from Maple Leaf Gardens with advertisements for coming wrestling events.


KOMO, Channel 4 (NBC)

Morning


08:15a
Farm News

08:30a
Captain Puget

09:00a
Ruff and Ready

09:30a
Fury

10:00a
Howdy Doody

10:30a
Circus Boy

11:00a
Mr. Wizard

11:30a
Kingdom of the Sea (color)

Afternoon


12:00p
Movie – “We Go Fast”

01:00p
College Basketball – NIT Final (special)

03:00p
Camera 4

04:00p
True Story

04:30p
Detective’s Diary

05:00p
What’s New in Schools

05:30p
Americans at Work

05:45p
Congress Reports

Evening


06:00p
Air Force Story

06:30p
Championship Bowling

07:30p
People Are Funny

08:00p
Perry Como (guests Nanette Fabray, Billy Rose, the Everly Brothers) (color)

09:00p
Black Saddle

09:30p
Cimarron City

10:30p
Major Studio Preview – “Fighting Chance”

I think I've mentioned this before, but if not, I'll go ahead and say it again - through the mid '60s, the NIT basketball tournament was on a par with the NCAA - in fact, while the NCAA tournament was syndicated, the NIT had a national TV contract with NBC, and later CBS.  It doesn't say this game is live, so I'm assuming it might have been tape-delayed from earlier in the day; the live broadcast must have been sometime in the morning Seattle time.


KING, Channel 5 (ABC)

Morning


08:00a
Cartoon Festival

08:30a
Telaventure Tales

09:00a
Community Workshop

10:00a
The World Around Us

11:00a
Dr. Hanley

11:15a
Uncle Al

Afternoon


12:00p
Movie – “For the Service”

01:00p
Seattle Bandstand

03:00p
Movie – “I’ll Wait for You”

04:30p
Susie

05:00p
Kit Carson

05:30p
Crime Doesn’t Pay

Evening


06:00p
Wild Bill Hickok

06:30p
Jubilee U.S.A. (guest Jimmy Wakely)

07:30p
Dick Clark (guests Tommy Leonetti, Annette Funicello, Jackie Wilson, Frankie Ford, Link Wray)

08:00p
Divorce Court

09:00p
Lawrence Welk (aka Dodge Dancing Party)

10:00p
Sea Hunt

10:30p
News (local)

10:35p
Command Theater – “A Night to Remember”

If you like music, ABC is the network for you on Saturdays.  Something for everyone - country music on Jubilee U.S.A., Dick Clark's show for the kids, and Lawrence Welk for grandma and grandpa.  Not a bad lineup, if you like that kind of thing.


CHEK, Channel 6 (Victoria, BC) (Ind.)

Afternoon


02:15p
Movie – “The Long Wait”

03:50p
Adventure Theater

04:30p
Zorro

05:00p
Rin Tin Tin

05:30p
Ivanhoe

Evening


06:00p
Hockey Night in Canada (Bruins vs. Canadiens)

07:30p
Ernie Ford

08:00p
Perry Como (guests Nanette Fabray, Billy Rose, the Everly Brothers) (color)

09:00p
Rescue 8

09:30p
Saturday Date

10:00p
Frontiers of Space

10:30p
The Naked City

11:00p
News

11:15p
Juliette

11:35p
Pacific Theater - “Johnny Comes Flying Home”

Although CHEK is listed as an independent station, it broadcasts a good deal of CBC programming, including the 6pm hockey game.  It's listing in the TV Guide reads "Ice Hockey," but it's almost certainly Hockey Night in Canada, the CBC's legendary Saturday night telecast.  (It's now produced by Sportsnet and licensed out to CBC.)  One tipoff is that the broadcast only runs for 90 minutes; back in the day, presumably to protect the live gate, only the second and third periods were televised live, with highlights of the first period shown during the first intermission.  Oh, and if you're curious about The Naked City at 10:30pm, I know that for most of its run it was simply Naked City - the article "The" was part of the original movie, and extended to the show's first, half-hour, season.


KIRO, Channel 7 (CBS)

Morning


08:45a
Through the Porthole

09:00a
Captain Kangaroo

10:00a
Mighty Mouse

10:30a
Farmer Alfalfa

11:00a
Robin Hood

11:30a
Heckle and Jeckle

Afternoon


12:00p
Laurel and Hardy

12:30p
What People Think

01:00p
This Is Your Town

01:15p
Country Style, U.S.A.

01:30p
Pro Hockey Contest (Red Sullivan vs. Norm Ullman)

01:45p
Ice Hockey (Rangers vs. Red Wings)

04:15p
Gardener’s Guide

04:30p
The Lone Ranger

05:00p
Steve Donovan

05:30p
Ramar

Evening


06:00p
News (local)

06:30p
Perry Mason

07:30p
Wanted: Dead or Alive

08:00p
Gale Storm

08:30p
Have Gun – Will Travel

09:00p
Gunsmoke

09:30p
Dial 999

10:00p
Premiere Playhouse – “Without Reservations”

As opposed to the HNIC broadcast on CBC, CBS' NHL broadcast at 1:45 looks to be the entire game, as it has a running time of two and a half hours.  It's preceded by, I presume, some kind of skills contest between two NHL players - this one, between Red Sullivan and Norm Ullman, is billed as the last show of the series.  


KTNT, Channel 11 (Ind.)

Morning


11:25a
News, Weather (local)

11:30a
The Big Picture (Army)

Afternoon


12:00p
Cartoon Carnival

01:00p
Movie – “Belle Starr’s Daughter”

02:15p
These Are Yours

03:00p
Movie – “Secret Agent of Japan”

04:30p
Cartoon Carnival

05:00p
Movie – “British Intelligence”

Evening


06:00p
Dan Smoot Commentary

06:15p
Time Out For Sports

06:30p
Casey Jones

07:00p
Rendezvous

07:30p
Premiere Movie – “Wake Up and Dream”

09:00p
Night Court

09:30p
Charlie Chan

10:00p
If You Had a Million (aka The Millionaire)

10:30p
Nightmare – “Chinatown Squad”

11:30p
Late Show – “Calling Philo Vance”

The Big Picture seems to be everywhere - it was a very popular filmed program, produced by the United States Army, that ran for years, first on ABC and then in syndication.  I recall it even being shown on the educational station in the Twin Cities.


KVOS, Channel 12 (Bellingham, WA) (CBS)

Morning


09:00a
Captain Kangaroo

10:00a
Mighty Mouse

10:30a
Popeye Theater

11:00a
Robin Hood

11:30a
Heckle and Jeckle

Afternoon


12:00p
Passport to Everywhere

12:30p
Farm Report

01:00p
The Big Picture (Army)

01:45p
Pro Hockey Contest (Red Sullivan vs. Norm Ullman)

02:00p
Ice Hockey (Rangers vs. Red Wings)

04:15p
Industry on Parade

04:30p
The Lone Ranger

05:00p
Popeye Theater

05:30p
Around the World Press Conference

Evening


06:00p
Our Miss Brooks

06:30p
Science Fiction Theater

07:00p
Waterfront

07:30p
Wanted: Dead or Alive

08:00p
Walter Winchell File

08:30p
Have Gun – Will Travel

09:00p
Gunsmoke

09:30p
Glencannon

10:00p
Alfred Hitchcock Hour

10:30p
News (local)

10:45p
Star Cinema Time – “The Blue Veil”

One of the things I noticed about this particular week of listings is how many of the local movie programs have titles - Star Cinema Time, or Owl Theater (below), or Nightmare.  Good stuff - I wonder if they had movie hosts as well?  Back in Minneapolis we had something called Critics' Award Theater, which was sponsored by the Taconite industry on Minnesota's Iron Range.  In return for a short film extolling the virtues of Taconite, the movie would then be shown without commercial interruption.


KTVW, Channel 13 (Ind.)

Afternoon


04:00p
The Big Picture (Army)

04:30p
Cartoons

05:00p
The Scarlet Pimpernel

05:30p
Joe Palooka

Evening


06:00p
Douglas Fairbanks

06:30p
Errol Flynn

07:00p
Willy

07:30p
Mr. and Mrs. North

08:00p
Early Feature – “Hotel Reserve”

10:00p
Billy Graham

12:30a
Owl Theater – “Destination Murder”

See, there's The Big Picture again.  A very brief schedule, with Billy Graham's crusade dominating the late night schedule.  He's currently in Australia, and in the days when Billy Graham was on ABC, his crusades (some of which would run for weeks in a single city), would be on every Saturday night. I presume he varied his sermon each week. TV  

3 comments:

  1. I didn't think the CBC transmitted any color programming until the mid 1960's.

    Thus, Perry Como may have been seen in black-and-white on the CBC while in color on NBC.

    And, I suspect that the 8 P.M. Pacific broadcast was a tape of the show seen live on the East Coast three hours earlier (I didn't think Como went to tape until after his show moved to Wednesdays)

    ReplyDelete
  2. If it wasn't for half the people in the USA, the other half would be all of them.
    Col. Lemuel Q. Stoopnagle

    - On this particular Saturday, the local ABC station in Chicago (ch7) and the NBC station in Rockford (ch39) were carrying the Illinois State High School Basketball Tournament in the afternoon and later in prime time.

    The ch7 pre-emptions in Chicago were, in order, Lawrence Welk, Sammy Kaye (ABC network), and Colonel Humphrey Flack (syndicated - ABC stations had local shows in that time). Shock Theatre (with Marvin, the Svengoolie of the '50s) and Charlie Chan (the TV version with J. Carrol Naish) were delayed until after the end of the game.
    In Rockford, ch39 pre-empted, in order, Perry Como, Black Saddle, Cimarron City, The D.A.'s Man (all NBC network shows), and delayed locally syndicated Mike Hammer (Darren McGavin version) and a late movie, "It Happened One Night" (insert your own joke here).

    - There was a time, the early '70s, when I was able to follow Canadian TV in a very limited way; I think I mentioned this in a comment a while back.
    I'm guessing that this week predates the formation of CTV, the commercial independent TV network, which fought long for parity with the government-controlled CBC (by the"70s, they were about even - this was pre-cable).

    - I suppose I should have mentioned this in the previous posting, but when you were reading the article by Margaret Mead, did you happen to notice the article that immediately followed it, on pages 20-22?
    Talk about irony ...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You are right Mike this is pre-CTV, which wouldn't start up until 1960. Before then, all stations in Canada had to affiliate with the CBC. By the way, the CBC would air a lot of American shows until the 90s (the money short CBC couldn't afford bidding wars with private networks).

      Delete

Thanks for writing! Drive safely!