What's on TV? Sunday, March 4, 1956

We've returned to North Texas for this week's listings. In this current run of mid-'50s Dallas TV Guides, I don't think we've taken a look at Sundays, or if we have it's been quite a while. As might be expected for the time, Sunday mornings are heavy on religious broadcasting, and programming also starts much later in the morning than it does during the week.

One of our observant readers pointed out recently that back in the day, television signals between Dallas and Fort Worth weren't always reliable, which is why you'll occasionally see the same program on two different stations in what is ostensibly the same market. It's why both WBAP in Fort Worth and WFAA in Dallas have joint NBC/ABC affiliation, although WFAA has always been primarily with ABC, and WBAP with NBC. It also reminds us that 40 miles was a much longer distance back then than it is today.

	KRLD, Channel 4 (Dallas) (CBS)
	Morning
	08:30a	The Christophers
	09:00a	Lamp Unto My Feet
	09:30a	Loop Up and Live
	10:00a	Faith for Today
	10:30a	Camera Three
	11:00a	Church Service
	Afternoon
	12:00p	News (local)
	12:15p	Western Frolics
	01:00p	Wild Bill Hickok
	01:30p	Gene Autry
	02:00p	Face the Nation (guest Sen. William Knowland)
	02:30p	Magic in Fashions
	02:45p	Songs of Inspiration
	03:00p	Front Row Center
	04:00p	Omnibus
	05:30p	You Are There
	Evening
	06:00p	Lassie
	06:30p	Private Secretary
	07:00p	Ed Sullivan (guests James Cagney, Jack Lemmon, Gregory Peck, Susan Hayward, Burt Lancaster, Kim Novak, Fredric March, Walt Disney)
	08:00p	G.E. Theater
	08:30p	Alfred Hitchcock Presents
	09:00p	Appointment With Adventure
	09:30p	What’s My Line?
	10:00p	CBS Sunday News (Walter Cronkite)
	10:15p	Weather (local)
	10:25p	Movietime – “Ghost Story”
	11:45p	Search for Beauty

This is the first of three separate broadcasts of The Christophers in this issue. The Christophers, under founder Fr. James Keller, were known for a strong media presence, and their program is still produced today, although I'm not aware of any particular place where it's still shown. (Of course, I haven't paid much attention to local television lately, either.) If it airs in your area, let me know.

	WBAP, Channel 5 (Fort Worth) (NBC, ABC)
	Morning
	09:45a	Christian Science Program
	10:00a	The Christophers
	10:30a	Air Force Digest
	10:45a	Man to Man
	11:00a	Movie – To Be Announced
	Afternoon
	12:00p	Industry on Parade
	12:15p	Cartoon Capers
	12:30p	Movie Marquee – “Father Takes the Air”
	01:30p	Christian Questions
	02:00p	Movie – “Mystery Man”
	03:00p	Wide Wide World
	04:30p	Captain Gallant
	05:00p	Meet the Press
	05:30p	Roy Rogers
	Evening
	06:00p	You Asked For It
	06:30p	Famous Film Festival – “Caesar and Cleopatra” part 1
	08:00p	Original Amateur Hour
	09:00p	Loretta Young
	09:30p	Justice
	10:00p	News, Weather (local)
	10:30p	Les Paul-Mary Ford
	10:35p	Movie Marquee – “History is Made at Night”

I find it interesting that Famous Film Festival is showing the movie version of Shaw's "Caesar and Cleopatra," considering Producers' Showcase is airing a new version of it the following night. However, whereas that version stars Claire Bloom and Sir Cedric Hardwicke, the movie version we're seeing here, from 1945, has Vivien Leigh and Claude Rains. I'm shocked, shocked to find these two versions running on consecutive days.

	KCEN, Channel 6 (Temple) (NBC)
	Morning
	11:55a	Program Previews
	Afternoon
	12:00p	American Forum
	12:30p	Frontiers of Faith
	01:00p	What’s New in Homes
	01:30p	Video Workshop
	02:30p	Zoo Parade
	03:00p	Wide Wide World
	04:30p	This Is the Life
	05:00p	Meet the Press
	05:30p	Spotlight on Texas
	05:45p	Two on the Aisle
	Evening
	06:00p	It’s a Great Life
	06:30p	News, Weather (local)
	06:45p	News Review
	07:00p	Colgate Comedy Hour (hostess Gail Storm, guests Jonathan Winters, Pat Sheehan, Stan Freberg, Bert Lahr)
	08:00p	Star Playhouse
	08:30p	The Great Gildersleeve
	09:00p	Loretta Young
	09:30p	Justice
	10:00p	News, Weather (local)
	10:15p	Late Date Theater – “Dressed to Kill”

At 2:30pm it's Zoo Parade, which was Marlin Perkins' forerunner to Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom, which he starred in with Jim Fowler. At this point it's been on the air for six years, airing from the famed Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago. Marlin's colleague for this program is Jim Hurlbut, which tells me you apparently have to be named Jim to get an on-air job with Marlin.

	WFAA, Channel 8 (Dallas) (NBC, ABC)
	Morning
	09:15a	This is America
	09:30a	This Is the Life
	10:00a	Kaleidoscope
	10:15a	Man to Man
	10:30a	Frontiers of Faith
	11:00a	Church Service
	Afternoon
	12:00p	American Forum
	12:30p	Week’s Business Review
	12:45p	News
	01:00p	Million Dollar Movie – “The Miracle of the Bells”
	02:15p	Spotlight on Texas
	02:30p	Zoo Parade
	03:00p	Dr. Hudson’s Secret Journal
	03:30p	Hans Christian Andersen
	04:00p	Super Circus
	05:00p	Judge Roy Bean
	05:30p	Soldiers of Fortune
	Evening
	06:00p	It’s a Great Life
	06:30p	Frontier
	07:00p	Colgate Comedy Hour (hostess Gail Storm, guests Jonathan Winters, Pat Sheehan, Stan Freberg, Bert Lahr)
	08:00p	The Alcoa Hour
	09:00p	Science Fiction Theater
	09:30p	Headline
	10:00p	The Great Gildersleeve
	10:30p	Patti Page
	10:45p	Channel 8 Theater – “Three Faces West”

The "Million Dollar Movie" is a popular item in these parts; three different local channels have one. (Not including "Million Dollar Theater," which airs during the week on KWTX.) The usual modus operandi for the Million Dollar Movie, which began on WOR in New York in 1955, was to run the same movie in the same timeslot for an entire week. I see that this varies from station to station; KFJZ (which I've just learned to call WTVT), for example, airs one movie from Monday through Wednesday, and then introduces another one on Thursday and Friday. This kind of repeat programming predates HBO by, what, twenty years or so? 

	KWTX, Channel 10 (Waco) (CBS, ABC)
	Morning
	10:30a	Tips on Ten
	10:35a	The Pastor
	10:50a	Church Service
	11:30a	Film Featurette
	Afternoon
	12:00p	The Christophers
	12:30p	Oral Roberts
	01:00p	Chaplain of the Air
	01:15p	Living
	01:45p	Matinee 10 Theater – Bachelor’s Daughters”
	03:15p	Industry on Parade
	03:30p	Herring’s Hideaway
	04:00p	Omnibus
	05:30p	You Are There
	Evening
	06:00p	Amos ‘n’ Andy
	06:30p	Private Secretary
	07:00p	Ed Sullivan (guests James Cagney, Jack Lemmon, Gregory Peck, Susan Hayward, Burt Lancaster, Kim Novak, Fredric March, Walt Disney)
	08:00p	G.E. Theater
	08:30p	Patty Page
	08:45p	Statesmen Quartet
	09:00p	Science Fiction Theater
	09:30p	What’s My Line?
	10:00p	News, Weather, Sports (local)
	10:25p	Sports
	10:30p	Million Dollar Movie – “The Mask of Diijon”

It's too bad we aren't doing "Sullivan vs. The Palace" in the '50s; Ed's lineup tonight would have blown The Hollywood Palace away. Or if it didn't, I'd like to see what Palace had to offer. 

	KFJZ, Channel 11 (Fort Worth) (Ind.)
	Morning
	11:00a	Church Service
	Afternoon
	12:00p	This Is Your Music
	12:30p	Curtain Call
	01:00p	TCU Telerama
	01:30p	Sunday Matinee – “Spring in Park Lane”
	03:15p	Sports (local)
	03:30p	News Review, Weather (local)
	04:00p	Roy Rogers Theater – “Garden City Kid”
	05:00p	Range Rider
	05:30p	Ramar of the Jungle
	Evening
	06:00p	My Hero
	06:30p	Million Dollar Movie – “Don’t Trust Your Husband”
	08:00p	Mayor of the Town
	08:30p	Amos ‘n’ Andy
	09:00p	Confidential File
	09:30p	The Falcon
	10:00p	News, Weather (local)
	10:20p	Hollywood
	10:35p	Starlight Theater – “Captain Sirocco”

Then as now, Channel 11 is the independent channel in DFW. I suspect that before too many years are up, we won't be seeing Amos 'n' Andy in prime time anymore; when it aired in Minneapolis-St. Paul in the early '60s, it was almost always on late night. Just another example of how television's mores have changed over the years. TV