August 8, 2016

What's on TV? Saturday, August 8, 1959

Back we are in Dallas-Fort Worth, and since we've seen so many regular weekdays in the late '50s, I thought it might be nice to take a look at the weekend. Hence, here's the first day of the week, according to TV Guide, and the best day of the week, according to me!


KRLD, Channel 4 (Dallas) (CBS)

Morning

07:45p
Cartoons

08:15a
Farm and Garden

08:30a
Captain Kangaroo

09:30a
Mighty Mouse

10:00a
Heckle and Jeckle

10:30a
The Adventures of Robin Hood

11:00a
Baseball (Old Timers Day, followed by Athletics vs. Yankees)

Afternoon

03:15p
Sports (Bill Mercer)

03:30p
Waterfront

04:00p
Gourmet (return)

04:30p
The Lone Ranger

05:00p
Wrestling

Evening


06:00p
News (Reid Collins)

06:15p
Weather (Jack Harrison)

06:25p
Police Report

06:30p
The Reckoning

07:30p
Wanted: Dead or Alive

08:00p
Brenner

08:30p
Have Gun – Will Travel

09:00p
Gunsmoke

09:30p
Death Valley Days

10:00p
News (local)

10:15p
Weather (local)

10:20p
People and Places

10:30p
City Detective

11:00p
Movie – “Fugitive from a Prison Camp”

On Gunsmoke, "Marshal Dillon decides to turn in his badge after he is forced to shoot some men down in the name of the law." That might not sound like the Marshal Dillon we all know and love, at least played by James Arness, but having listened to many episodes of the radio series where Matt was played by William Conrad, I can absolutely imagine this. There was much more of the world-weariness to Conrad's version; at this early point in the TV series, that might have passed down to Arness.


WBAP, Channel 5 (Fort Worth) (NBC)

Morning

08:00a
Off to Adventure

08:15a
Cartoons

08:30a
Hawkeye

09:00a
Howdy Doody (color)

09:30a
Ruff and Reddy (color)

10:00a
Fury

10:30a
Circus Boy

11:00a
True Story

11:30a
Cartoons 

11:45p
Baseball (Tigers vs. Red Sox)

Afternoon

02:30p
Pleasure Island

03:00p
Steve Donovan

03:30p
Christian Questions

04:00p
Detective’s Diary

04:30p
Horse Racing (Sapling Stakes) (special)

05:00p
Movie – “Too Many Girls”

Evening


06:30p
People Are Funny

07:00p
Perry Presents (guests Tony Bennett, Jaye P. Morgan, the Modernaires) 
(color)

08:00p
Black Saddle

08:30p
Cimarron City

09:30p
The D.A.’s Man

10:00p
News (local)

10:15p
Weather (local)

10:25p
News (local)

10:30p
Movie – “Higher and Higher”

If you're of a certain age, you're going to remember Jaye P. Morgan not as a singer, but as one of the degenerate panelists on The Gong Show. Ah, those were the days.


KCEN, Channel 6 (Temple) (NBC)

Morning

09:00a
Howdy Doody (color)

09:30a
Ruff and Reddy (color)

10:00a
Fury

10:30a
Circus Boy

11:00a
True Story

11:30a
Air Force Digest

11:45a
Baseball (Tigers vs. Red Sox)

Afternoon

02:30p
Film Short

03:00p
Watch Mr. Wizard

03:30p
Zero 1960!

04:00p
Detective’s Diary

04:30p
Horse Racing (Sapling Stakes) (special)

05:00p
The Big Picture (Army)

05:30p
Sports (Dub King)

Evening


06:00p
Hawkeye

06:30p
People Are Funny

07:00p
Perry Presents (guests Tony Bennett, Jaye P. Morgan, the Modernaires) 
(color)

08:00p
Black Saddle

08:30p
Cimarron City

09:30p
The D.A.’s Man

10:00p
Weather (local)

10:10p
News (local)

10:25p
Sports (local)

10:30p
Movie – “Woman in Distress”

Black Saddle, on at 8 p.m., is a Western starring Peter Breck, with a pre-Gilligan Russell Johnson as Marshal Gib Scott. It must have been nice for Johnson, playing a character with an actual name.


WFAA, Channel 8 (Dallas) (ABC)

Morning

07:30p
Agriculture on Parade 

07:45a
Through the Porthole

08:00a
Movie – “Sitting Pretty”

09:30a
Movie Double Feature – “Gunmen of Abilene”, “Old Overland Trail”

11:30a
Cartoons

Afternoon

12:00p
Uncle Al

01:00p
Foreign Legionnaire

01:30p
Count of Monte Cristo

02:00p
Movie – “Wicked City”

03:00p
Mr. District Attorney

03:30p
African Patrol

04:00p
Science Fiction Theater

04:30p
Dallas Bandstand

05:30p
Frontier

Evening


06:00p
Danger is My Business

06:30p
Dick Clark (guests Freddy Cannon, Lu Ann Sims, Sam Turner, Thomas 
Wayne)

07:00p
Jubilee U.S.A. (guest host Carl Smith, guests Bob Darch, Judy Kay)

08:00p
Dodge Dancing Party

09:00p
Target

09:30p
Citizen Soldier

10:00p
News (local)

10:10p
Weather (George Milner)

10:15p
Sports (Wes Wise)

10:30p
Movie Double Feature – “The Golden Mistress”, “Overland Pacific”

Description of the movie Wicked City, showing at 2 p.m.: "A Canadian merchant seaman tries to strangle the faithless girl he loves." It's a French movie, which I suppose explains a lot - the French have a strange way of showing love, don't they?


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

Morning

08:30a
Captain Kangaroo

09:30a
Mighty Mouse

10:00a
Heckle and Jeckle

10:30a
The Adventures of Robin Hood

11:00a
Baseball (Old Timers Day, followed by Athletics vs. Yankees)

Afternoon

03:15p
Horse Racing (Whitney Stakes)

03:30p
Life With Elizabeth

04:00p
Cartoon Theater

04:30p
The Lone Ranger

05:00p
Flash Gordon

05:30p
The Big Picture (Army)

Evening


06:00p
Saturday Playhouse

06:30p
The Reckoning

07:30p
Wanted: Dead or Alive

08:00p
Dodge Dancing Party

09:00p
Gunsmoke

09:30p
Have Gun – Will Travel

10:00p
News (local)

10:20p
Weather (local)

10:25p
Sports (local)

10:30p
Movie – “The Sea Shall Not Have Them”

I want to call your attention here to the Whitney Stakes horse race, scheduled for 3:15 p.m. We've probably all had some experience or other where our DVR has been foiled because a program ran longer than expected, or the schedule was changed on us without advance knowledge. If such things existed back in 1959, imagine trying to plan your schedule around this: "The starting time of this telecast is indefinite. It will be presented at this time [5:00 p.m.] unless this afternoon's CBS baseball telecast ends before 3:15. If the game is over before 3:15, the race will be telecast at that time. In this event, "Flash Gordon" will be seen at this time."

Got all that?


KFJZ, Channel 11 (Fort Worth) (Ind.)

Morning

11:30a
Science Closeup

Afternoon


12:00p
Movie – “Carson City Kid”

01:00p
Movie – “The Magnificent Dope”

02:30p
Abbott and Costello

03:00p
Dial 999

03:30p
Movie – “Laura”

05:00p
Adventure Theater

Evening


06:00p
Popeye

06:15p
Movie – “Voodoo Man”

07:30p
Movie – “Shockproof”

09:00p
Juke Box Jury

10:00p
Movie Double Feature – “Shark River”, “As You Desire Me”

Seeing the listing for Abbott and Costello at 2:30 reminds me that on Sunday night, "The late Lou Costello" stars in CBS' presentation of G.E. Theater. The comedian had died only a few months earlier, in March 1959. Talk about the end of an era. TV  

6 comments:

  1. From the Chicago Tribune Archives, the ceremonial first pitch at the 1959 Old-Timers Day was thrown by none other than... Herbert Hoover.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Is that THE "Laura" on Channel 11?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Just for Phunne, here are the Chicago stations for this day:

    WBBM-TV, channel 2 (CBS):
    7:25 am: Thought For Today
    7:30: Popeye Theater
    8:00: The Friendship Show, with Lee Phillip talking to little kids who'd been rousted out of bed at the crack of dawn (on Saturday yet) to be on TV.
    8:30: Captain Kangaroo
    9:30: Mighty Mouse, followed at 10 by Heckle And Jeckle - the Terrytoons hour.
    10:30: Robin Hood, the Brit show from a few years back.
    11:00: Cartoon Time - local, more Popeye cartoons.
    11:30: Playhouse, old syndie drama.
    NOTE: Major League Baseball blacked out its network broadcasts in big league cities; The CBS and NBC Games of The Week didn't air in Chicago.
    12 noon: Movie, "Almost A Bride" with Shirley Temple as Corliss Archer (1949).
    1:30: Playhouse, see 11:30 above; different show.
    2:00: Common Ground, local news panel.
    2:30: Out Of This World, science show with Dr. Dan Q. Posin, the Victor Borge of science.
    3:00: Wrestling, live from CBS's big studio just off Michigan Avenue.
    NOTE: Channel 2 didn't carry the two horse races either.
    4:00: The Lone Ranger.
    4:30: Movie, "You Were Never Lovelier" with Fred Astaire.
    6:00: CBS News Special, the regular Saturday newscast with Fahey Flynn.
    6:30: Reckoning, dramas repurposed from Climax and Studio One the year before.
    7:30: Wanted - Dead Or Alive
    8:00: Brenner
    8:30: Have Gun - Will Travel
    9:00: Gunsmoke
    9:30: Markham
    10:00: Movie, "The Affairs Of Susan" with Joan Fontaine.
    12:05 am: At Random, open-ended panel with Irv Kupcinet; to signoff.

    WNBQ, channel 5 (NBC):
    7:25 am: Today's Meditation
    7:30: Active Education
    8:00: Farm And Garden
    9:00: Howdy Doody
    9:30: Ruff And Reddy
    10:00: Fury
    10:30: Circus Boy
    11:00: True Story
    11:30: Detective's Diary
    NOTE: see channel 2 above.
    12:00: 77th Bengal Lancers, syndie rerun.
    12:30: Local news
    1:00: Movie, "The Steel Lady" with Tab Hunter (1953)
    2:30: Movie, "The Black Pirates" with Lon Chaney Jr (1955)
    4:00: Rocky Jones, Space Ranger (space ranger ... space ranger ... space ranger ...)
    4:30: The Sapling Stakes
    5:00: Brave Eagle
    5:30: Roy Rogers
    6:00: Boots And Saddles
    6:30: People Are Funny; Art Linkletter invents computer dating.
    7:00: Perry Presents; Tony Bennett and Jaye Morgan were the hosts, not the guests.
    8:00: Black Saddle
    8:30: Cimarron City
    9:30: The DA's Man
    10:00: Badge 714; syndie Dragnet rerun (the parent show was still on the network)
    10:30: Movie, "The Green Man" with Alastair Sim
    12 midnight: The 77th Bengal Lancers (different episode from this afternoon's)
    12:30: Mystery Is My Business; the syndie Ellery Queen from a few years back, with Hugh Marlowe as EQ; to signoff.

    Continued in next post.

    ReplyDelete
  4. From Last Time:

    WBKB, channel 7 (ABC):

    9:00: The Christophers
    9:30: The Saturday Show, two hours of B-westerns and cliffhangers
    11:30: Travel with Wayne Griffin
    12 noon: Uncle Al, Cincinnati-based kid show picked up by ABC for network use this summer
    1:00: Double feature movie: "The Falcon Strikes Back" with Tom Conway (1943) and "Danger Woman" with Brenda Joyce
    3:00: Jim Lounsbery's Record Hop.
    The listing says this is three hours, but that may a misprint.
    6:00: Ramar Of The Jungle
    6:30: Dick Clark's Saturday Night Beech-Nut Show (It's FlavorIFIC!)
    7:00: Jubilee USA
    8:00: Lawrence Welk's Dodge Dancing Party
    9:00: Stories Of The Century
    9:30: Colonel Flack
    10:00: Bullfights: Pro or Con
    Scheduled for an hour, but might run longer (see below for further explanation)
    11:00: Shock Theater, "The Cat Creeps" (1946)
    12:30: Shocktail Party, comedy followup to Shock Theater
    1:00: New Adventures Of Charlie Chan (J. Carrol Naish version), to signoff

    WGN-TV, channel 9:
    8:00: Kartoon Klub
    8:30: Bugs Bunny And Friends
    9:00: Terrytoons
    9:30: Stu Erwin Show
    10:00: "Hands Across The Border" with Roy Rogers
    11:00: "Ridin' On A Rainbow" with Gene Autry
    12:00: My Little Margie
    12:30: Batting Practice
    12:40: Lead-Off Man
    12:55: Cubs vs. Pirates at Wrigley Field
    3:45: Tenth Inning
    4:00: Spin Time with Jack Hilton
    5:30: Eddie Cantor Comedy Theater
    6:00: Jeff's Collie
    6:30: Newsreel Cavalcade
    7:00: Polka Party
    7:30: Dial 999 (Brit cop show)
    8:00: Danger Is My Business
    8:30: West Point
    9:00: Mr. And Mrs. North
    9:30: I Married Joan
    10:00: Divorce Court
    11:00: Movie, "The Last Chance" British war movie; to signoff

    The bullfight debate:
    Channel 7 had announced that they'd gotten the rights to bullfight telecasts from Mexico, but local animal lovers kicked up a fuss.
    Hence the debate.
    I don't know how long the broadcast lasted, but channel 7 ultimately passed on the bullfights.

    Any Questions?

    ReplyDelete
  5. CBS certainly got a lot of mileage out of "Brenner"; that series first ran in the Summer of 1959, and was repeated several time over the next few Summers.

    In fact, a bunch of new episodes were filmed in 1964 and aired that Summer (and maybe repeated for a couple of Summers after that).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I've written about this elsewhere ...

      Brenner's production took place entirely in '59-'60.
      The "new" episodes that got on in '64 were leftovers that hadn't been shown during the original run; they were thrown in to patch up a schedule hole, but Brenner was over with by then.

      Delete

Thanks for writing! Drive safely!