February 27, 2017

What's on TV? Thursday, February 29, 1968

To commemorate my return to the Twin Cities, I'm offering exclusively local observations about this week's programming. Some of it surprised even me. It goes to show why, even though I enjoy reading issues from other areas of the country, nothing beats the local TV Guide. Those historical roots run deep.


KTCA, Channel 2 (NET)

Morning


08:55a
Classroom

09:00a
Film Short

09:35a
Classroom

11:40a
Film Short

Afternoon


12:00p
Film Feature

12:30p
Classroom

03:00p
Managers in Action

03:30p
Teaching English

04:00p
Your Dollar’s Worth (color)

05:00p
Kindergarten

05:30p
Folk Guitar

Evening


06:00p
Great Decisions – 1968

06:30p
Industrial Management

07:00p
St. Paul School News

07:30p
The French Chef

08:00p
Town Meeting

08:30p
Private College Concerts

09:00p
American Cities

09:30p
Town and Country

10:00p
Folio

10:30p
Profile

The host of Folio was Warren Frost, father of Mark Frost, who died earlier this month. The elder Frost had an extensive theater background in the Twin Cities, and so it’s no surprise that he’d turn up on a local program. You probably remember him best for his appearances as Dr. Will Hayward in one of his son’s projects, Twin Peaks.


WCCO, Channel 4 (CBS)

Morning


06:00a
Sunrise Semester

06:30a
Siegfried and His Flying Saucer (color)

07:00a
Clancy & Carmen (color)

07:30a
Clancy & Willie (color)

08:00a
Captain Kangaroo (color)

09:00a
Dr. Reuben K. Youngdahl (color)

09:05a
Merv Griffin (guests Henry Morgan, Rocky Graziano, Maureen Arthur) (color)

10:00a
Andy of Mayberry

10:30a
Dick Van Dyke

11:00a
Love of Life (color)

11:25a
CBS News (Joseph Benti) (color)

11:30a
Search for Tomorrow (color)

11:45a
The Guiding Light (color)

Afternoon


12:00p
News (Dean Montgomery) (color)

12:20p
Something Special (color)

12:30p
As the World Turns (color)

01:00p
Love is a Many Splendored Thing (color)

01:30p
House Party (guest Charles Vick) (color)

02:00p
To Tell the Truth (color)

02:25p
CBS News (Douglas Edwards) (color)

02:30p
The Edge of Night (color)

03:00p
The Secret Storm (color)

03:30p
The Beverly Hillbillies (color)

04:00p
Mike Douglas (co-host Bess Myerson, guests Chris and Peter Allen, Fannie Flagg, Harold Betters) (color)

05:30p
CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite (color)

Evening


06:00p
News (Dave Moore) (color)

06:15p
Weather (Bud Kraehling) (color)

06:20p
Sports (Hal Scott) (color)

06:30p
Cimarron Strip (color)

08:00p
CBS Thursday Night Movie – “Spencer’s Mountain” (color)

10:00p
The Scene Tonight (color)

10:45p
Movie – “Mysterious Island” (color)

The Scene Tonight, which I’ve mentioned before, had only been on the air a month or so, and I think the ads for the program weren’t quite sure what to do with it yet; they bill it as the “News Scene Tonight,” which I don’t think it was ever actually called. I suppose they were concerned people wouldn’t know what it was unless it had the word “news” in it.


KSTP, Channel 5 (NBC)

Morning


06:15a
David Stone (color)

06:30a
City and Country (color)

06:55a
Doctor’s House Call (color)

07:00a
Today (guests Maureen Stapleton, John Sparrow) (color)

09:00a
Snap Judgment (guests Robert Horton, Dina Merrill) (color)

09:25a
NBC News (Nancy Dickerson) (color)

09:30a
Concentration (color)

10:00a
Personality (celebrities Gig Young, Bill Cullen, Totie Fields, Zsa Zsa Gabor) (color)

10:30a
The Hollywood Squares (guests Jim Backus, Glenn Ford, Michael Landon, Jack Palance, Janis Page, Shelley Winters, Charley Weaver, Wally Cox, Abby Dalton) (color)

11:00a
Jeopardy (color)

11:30a
Eye Guess (color)  

11:55a
NBC News (Edwin Newman) (color)

Afternoon


12:00p
News (Gene Berry) (color)

12:10p
Weather (Pete Evensen) (color)

12:15p
Dialing for Dollars (color)

12:30p
Let’s Make a Deal (color)

01:00p
Days of Our Lives (color)

01:30p
The Doctors (color)

02:00p
Another World (color)

02:30p
You Don’t Say! (guests Robert Lansing, Barbara Feldon) (color)

03:00p
The Match Game (guests Soupy Sales, Dr. Joyce Brothers) (color)

03:25p
NBC News (Floyd Kalber) (color)

03:30p
Dialing for Dollars (color)

04:30p
Of Lands and Seas (color)

05:25p
News (Gene Berry)

05:30p
The Huntley-Brinkley Report (color)

Evening


06:00p
News (Bob Ryan) (color)

06:15p
Weather (Johnny Morris) (color)

06:20p
Sports (Al Tighe) (color)

06:30p
Daniel Boone (color)

07:30p
Ironside (color)

08:30p
Dragnet ‘68 (color)

09:00p
Dean Martin (guests Jonathan Winters, Arthur Godfrey, Tony Sandler and Ralph Young, Greco and Willard) (color)

10:00p
News (John MacDougall) (color)

10:15p
Weather (Johnny Morris) (color)

10:20p
Sports (Al Tighe) (color)

10:30p
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (guests Vincent Price, Joey Heatherton) (color)

12:00a
The Ski Scene (color)

12:15a
Science Fiction Theater (color)

Johnny Morris, Channel 5’s weatherman, was the host of The Ski Scene until 1971, when he was succeeded by the station’s new weatherman, Barry ZeVan. It’s ZeVan’s version that I remember from growing up, although I remember him more for the weather, especially his “peek-a-boo” style of presentation in which he’d pop in and out of the frame, looking at the viewers, with the maps in the background. I suppose everyone does that now. 


KMSP, Channel 9 (ABC)

Morning


07:30a
Morning Show (color)

08:00a
Donna Reed

08:30a
National Velvet

09:00a
Romper Room (color)

09:30a
Gypsy Rose Lee (guests Ronnie Schell Willie Resturm) (color)

10:00a
Temptation (color)

10:25a
ABC News (Marlene Sanders) (color)

10:30a
How’s Your Mother-in-Law? (color)

11:00a
Bewitched

11:30a
Treasure Isle (color)

Afternoon


12:00p
The Fugitive

01:00p
The Newlywed Game (color)

01:30p
The Baby Game (color)

01:55p
The Children’s Doctor (color)

02:00p
General Hospital (color)

02:30p
Dark Shadows (color)

03:00p
The Dating Game (color)

03:30p
Movie – “The Lion and the Horse”

04:55p
News (Jerry Smith)

05:00p
ABC Evening News with Bob Young (color)

05:30p
McHale’s Navy

Evening


06:00p
Truth or Consequences (color)

06:30p
Batman (color)

07:00p
The Flying Nun (color)

07:30p
Bewitched (color)

08:00p
Carol Channing and 101 Men (special) (color)

09:00p
The Hollywood Palace (host Milton Berle, guests Louis Armstrong, Phyllis Diller, Enzo Stuarti, Elaine Dunn, the Lettermen, Irving Benson, the Bottoms-Up Revue) (color)

10:00p
News (Bill Fahan, Jim Steer) (color)

10:25p
Sports (Tony Parker) (color)

10:30p
Joey Bishop (guests Bobby Rydell, Lulu, Gaylord and Holliday)  (color)

12:00a
Naked City

The 10:00 p.m. newscast, with Bill Fahan and Jim Steer, ran from 1964 to 1969 and was the first in the Twin Cities to feature co-anchors. To show you how nondescript the Channel 9 news was back in those days, I don't remember a thing about it.


WTCN, Channel 11 (Ind.)

Morning


08:40a
News (Gil Amundson)

08:45a
The King and Odie

09:00a
Sea Hunt

09:30a
Ed Allen (color)

10:00a
Woody Woodbury (guests Doug McClure, Phil Foster, Allen Ludden) (color)

11:30a
News (Gil Amundson, Warren Martin)

11:55a
Hank’s Cooking Tips

Afternoon


12:00p
Lunch with Casey

01:00p
Matinee Movie – “He Laughed Last”

02:30p
Mel’s Notebook

03:00p
Virginia Graham (guests Joanna Pettet, Joanna Simon, Paula Stewart) (color)

03:30p
Patty Duke

04:00p
Popeye and Pete

04:30p
Casey and Roundhouse

05:00p
The Flintstones

05:30p
Gilligan’s Island (color)

Evening


06:00p
The Twilight Zone

06:30p
Burke’s Law

07:30p
Perry Mason

08:30p
Alfred Hitchcock Presents

09:00p
Wonderful World of Movies – “The Tarnished Angels”

11:00p
News (Stuart A. Lindman)

11:15p
Weather (Rodger Kent)

11:20p
Sports (Frank Beutel)

11:30p
Bat Masterson

Mel Jass, host of the Matinee Movie (and also the Wonderful World of Movies), was the pitchman extraordinare. My mother never particularly liked him; she thought there was something smarmy about him, and I suppose there was, to the extent that there is about all pitchmen. Jass was an absolute legend in Twin Cities television; you can read more about him here. TV  

2 comments:

  1. I hadn't read about Warren Frost's passing before. I've never seen TWIN PEAKS, but I remember Mr. Frost both from SEINFELD, where he played George's fiance's father, and MATLOCK, where he played Ben's annoying friend, Billy. He was a funny sort of annoying in both roles. It's neat that he hosted a local show in your area.

    ReplyDelete
  2. When did Bob Ryan leave KSTP. He was there the previous June as he anchored the news the night after the F5 tornado in Tracy MN. Here is a clip from that newscast.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7sjuqiq1T2g&t=48s

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for writing! Drive safely!