January 1, 2018

What's on TV? Wednesday, January 4, 1961

Happy New Year, everyone! I realize many, if not most of you, are reading this on a date other than January 1, but whenever it is that you're reading this, here's hoping nothing but the best for you in 2018.

As far as this week's listings are concerned, it's the fourth day of 1961, and there are plenty of items of interest to be found. The listings are from the Minneapolis-St. Paul Edition - have fun!


 2  KTCA (EDUC.)

MORNING


    7:00
YA HABLAMOS ESPANOL

    9:30
ART – Education

  10:00
UNITED NATIONS REVIEW

  10:15
YA HABLAMOS ESPANOL

  10:30
SCIENCE – Education

  11:00
YA HABLAMOS ESPANOL

AFTERNOON


    1:15
SINGING TOGETHER – Snyder

    1:50
KOM, LACH UND LERNE

    2:05
EXPLORING SCIENCE – Nelson

    2:30
DISCOVERY III – Mary Grimes

    3:00
AMERICAN MIND

    3:30
MUSIC FOR YOUNG PEOPLE

    4:00
SPANISH – Education

EVENING


    6:15
SING HI, SING LO – Bash Kennett

    6:30
ST. PAUL PUBLIC SCHOOLS

    7:00
TO BE ANNOUNCED

    7:30
INQUIRY – Discussion

    8:00
RUSSIAN AREA STUDY

    8:30
FACES OF PERFECTION

    9:00
FOLIO – Variety

  10:00
ART – Education

  10:30
BACKGROUND – News Analysis

  10:40
COMMAND IN BATTLE - Memoirs


Command in Battle is described as "Memoirs," and I don't think I've ever seen that in the TV listings before. It's a British-made series, and as it turns out the memoirs in question are those of the famed Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery - who, depending on the source, was either a great general, a pompous ass, or both.


 4  WCCO (CBS)

MORNING


    7:00
FLYING SAUCER – Siegfried

    8:00
NEWS – Richard C. Hottelet

    8:15
CAPTAIN KANGAROO – Children

    9:00
NEWS – Dean Montgomery

    9:10
DR. REUBEN K. YOUNGDAHL

    9:20
WHAT’S NEW? – Arle Haeberle

    9:30
VIDEO VILLAGE – Monty Hall

  10:00
I LOVE LUCY – Comedy

  10:30
CLEAR HORIZON – Serial

  11:00
LOVE OF LIFE – Serial

  11:30
SEARCH FOR TOMORROW – Serial

  11:45
GUIDING LIGHT – Serial

AFTERNOON


  12:00
NEWS – Dave Moore

  12:15
SOMETHING SPECIAL – Merriman

  12:20
WEATHER – Bud Kraehling

  12:30
INAUGURATION CEREMONIES – Gov. Elmer Andersen

    1:30
HOUSE PARTY – Art Linkletter

    2:00
MILLIONAIRE – Drama

    2:30
VERDICT IS YOURS – Drama

    3:00
BRIGHTER DAY – Serial

    3:15
SECRET STORM – Serial

    3:30
EDGE OF NIGHT – Serial

    4:00
AROUND THE TOWN – Haeberle

    4:30
AXEL AND DOG – Clellan Card

    4:50
BOZO THE CLOWN – Children

    5:00
QUICK DRAW McGRAW – Cartoons

    5:30
CLANCY THE COP – Children

    5:55
SPORTS – Rollie Johnson

EVENING


    6:00
NEWS – Dean Montgomery

    6:10
WEATHER – Don O’Brien

    6:15
NEWS – Douglas Edwards

    6:30
AQUANAUTS – Adventure

    7:30
WANTED – DEAD OR ALIVE

    8:00
MY SISTER EILEEN – Comedy

    8:30
I’VE GOT A SECRET – Panel

    9:00
CIRCLE THEATER – Drama

  10:00
NEWS – Dave Moore

  10:15
WEATHER – Bud Kraehling

  10:20
SPORTS – Dick Enroth

  10:30
FOUR JUST MEN – Drama

  11:00
WEATHER – Don O’Brien

  11:05
MOVIE – Adventure
“Long John Silver” (Australian; 1954)

I've mentioned before that there apparently used to be a tradition that drama series would offer something lighthearted during the Christmas season, or at least get away from episodes in which people were getting killed. I assume that it's in this spirit that we watch this week's episode of Wanted - Dead or Alive, in which Josh (Steve McQueen) is hired by a man to track down his wife's pet ewe.



 5  KSTP (NBC)

MORNING



    6:00
CONTINENTAL CLASSROOM   COLOR 
Chemistry


    6:30
CONTINENTAL CLASSROOM   COLOR 
Modern Algebra


    7:00
DAVE GARROWAY – Variety
Guest: Lucille Ball


    9:00
SAY WHEN – Game


    9:30
PLAY YOUR HUNCH – Merv Griffin   COLOR 


  10:00
PRICE IS RIGHT – Cullen   COLOR 


  10:30
CONCENTRATION – Contest


  11:00
TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES


  11:30
IT COULD BE YOU   COLOR 


  11:55
NEWS – Ray Scherer

AFTERNOON



  12:00
NEWS – John MacDougall


  12:15
WEATHER – Johnny Morris


  12:20
TREASURE CHEST – Variety


    1:00
JAN MURRAY – Contest   COLOR 


    1:30
LORETTA YOUNG – Drama


    2:00
YOUNG DR MALONE – Serial


    2:30
FROM THESE ROOTS – Serial


    3:00
MAKE ROOM FOR DADDY


    3:30
HERE’S HOLLYWOOD – Interviews
Guests: Gene Barry, Dimitri Tiomkin


    4:00
MY LITTLE MARGIE – Comedy


    4:30
T.N. TATTERS – Children


    5:15
TOPPER – Comedy


    5:45
NEWS – Huntley, Brinkley

EVENING



    6:00
NEWS – Bob Ryan


    6:15
WEATHER – Johnny Morris


    6:30
WAGON TRAIN – Western


    7:30
PRICE IS RIGHT – Cullen   COLOR 


    8:00
PERRY COMO – Variety   COLOR 
Guests: Alan King, Bobby Rydell, Elizabeth Seal


    9:00
PETER LOVES MARY – Comedy


    9:30
LOCK UP – Police


  10:00
NEWS – John MacDougall


  10:15
WEATHER – Johnny Morris


  10:20
SPORTS – Dick Nesbitt


  10:30
JACK PAAR – Variety   COLOR 


  12:00
NEWS – Roger Krupp

Interesting how certain programs are described. I've never seen Concentration called a "Contest." I wonder what differentiates it from Who Do You Trust on ABC, which is described as a "Quiz." In any event, by 1965, they're described as "Game."



 9  KMSP (Ind.)

MORNING



    9:50
CHAPEL OF THE AIR – Religion


    9:55
NEWSBEAT – Tony Parker


  10:00
JACK LA LANNE – Exercises


  10:30
WHAT ABOUT LINDA? – Variety   SPECIAL 
Guests: Louis Armstrong, the Kingston Trio, John Raitt, Debbie Reynolds, the Crosby Brothers, Lee Marvin, Kenneth Tobey


  11:30
I MARRIED JOAN – Comedy

AFTERNOON



  12:00
KARTOONTIME – Children


  12:30
INAUGURATION CEREMONIES – Gov. Elmer Andersen


    1:30
CHUCK CARSON – Variety


    2:00
MOVIE – Musical
“The Countess of Monte Cristo” (1948)


    4:00
HOW TO MARRY A MILLIONAIRE – Comedy


    4:30
MR. ADAMS AND EVE – Comedy


    5:00
SUSIE – Comedy


    5:30
OUR MISS BROOKS – Comedy

EVENING



    6:00
LOONEY TUNERS CLUB - Children


    7:00
RACKET SQUAD – Police


    7:30
HARBOR COMMAND – Police


    8:00
CODE THREE – Police


    8:30
ROUGH RIDERS – Western


    9:00
MOVIE – Drama
“Four Men and a Prayer” (1938)


  10:35
NEWS – Paul Sevareid


  10:50
SPORTS – Tony Parker


  10:55
WEATHER – Jere Smith


  11:00
MOVIE – Prison Drama
“Within These Walls” (1945)

The variety program What About Linda? is on behalf of the March of Dimes, and features Linda Breese, the 1961 poster child for the drive, who suffered from Spina Bifida. Here she is with President Kennedy.




11 WTCN (ABC)

MORNING



    7:40
IN THE PUBLIC INTEREST


    7:55
FARM NEWS


    8:00
GOOD MORNING MINNESOTA!


    8:30
CARTOONS – Children


    9:00
ROMPER ROOM – Miss Betty


    9:45
SHAPE UP – Louraine Larson


  10:15
PEOPLE AND PLACES - Lindman


  10:30
LIFE OF RILEY – Comedy


  11:00
MORNING COURT – Drama


  11:30
LOVE THAT BOB! – Comedy

AFTERNOON



  12:00
TEXAN – Western


  12:30
INAUGURATION CEREMONIES – Gov. Elmer Andersen


    1:30
PAUL COATES – Interview


    2:00
DAY IN COURT – Drama


    2:30
ROAD TO REALITY – Drama


    3:00
QUEEN FOR A DAY - Bailey


    3:30
WHO DO YOU TRUST – Quiz


    4:00
AMERICAN BANDSTAND – Clark


    5:00
CASEY JONES WITH POPEYE


    5:30
LONE RANGER – Western

EVENING



    6:00
VIKINGS – Adventure


    6:30
HONG KONG – Adventure


    7:30
OZZIE AND HARRIET – Comedy


    8:00
HAWAIIAN EYE – Mystery


    9:00
NAKED CITY – Police


  10:00
NEWS – Chick McCuen


  10:15
WEATHER – Stuart A. Lindman


  10:20
SPORTS – Buetel, Horner


  10:30
JOHNNY MIDNIGHT – Mystery


  11:00
MOVIE – Musical Comedy
Theater 11:  “Best Foot Forward” (1943)


  12:30
NEWS – Jerry Rosholt

Right now I'm watching two of Warner Brothers' "assembly line" detective shows, 77 Sunset Strip and Bourbon Street Beat, with a third, Surfside 6 on the shelf waiting for an opportunity to break in. That leaves only Hawaiian Eye, tonight at 8:00, to complete the set. TV  

4 comments:

  1. Paul Sevareid, KMSP's anchorman, was Eric's brother. He would die in 1971 (his obit can be found online at the New York Times). These listings were exactly one year before I was born. I see another "contest" under Jan Murray. "The Jan Murray Show" was one of Murray's post-Treasure Hunt games and about the only game show to have the host's name in it.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Here and/or There:

    - Noting that Channel 11, the ABC station in MStP, isn't carrying the ABC network news.
    This would be just after John Daly quit ABC News in protest of their decision to abbreviate their Election Night coverage.
    This in its turn forced ABC to reboot its news operation in toto, bringing in Elmer Lower from CBS to run the place, and starting to raid the other nets for talent.
    It was not long into the New Year that Howard K. Smith jumped to ABC, with the promise that he would have free rein to say whatever he wanted to on air (just to be sure, Smith brought in his own sponsor).

    - In 1960-61, there were still a few first-run syndicated series being sold to local stations.
    Channel 11 has one such show: Johnny Midnight, starring Edmond O'Brien as a Broadway actor who owns his own theater, but sidelines as a private detective.
    The series was created for O'Brien by his brother, screenwriter Liam O'Brien; it's in my DVD wall, and take my word, it isn't bad at all (it's from Revue, which is what Universal TV was calling itself back then).

    - Still on first-run syndication:
    9:30 on Wednesday was given by NBC to its local stations; Channel 5 is showing Lockup, a lawyer show with Macdonald Carey.
    Here in Chicago, our Channel 5 used that spot on this Wednesday night yo launch a new sitcom, which had been turned down by all three nets, who were convinced that it would never work.
    Within a few months, CBS had changed its corporate mind, and Mister Ed was picked up for its second season - in almost-prime time (late Sunday afternoons, but it counted).

    - Side Note to the above:
    The previous Saturday, Bonanza had an episode wherein Ben Cartwright had to shoot down a belligerent drunk in a bar brawl, and then had to contend with that man's vengeful son.
    Perfect holiday fare, I guess ...
    The drunk was played by Allan Lane, who had been cowboy star Rocky Lane not long before.
    This would have been one of Mr. Lane's last on-camera appearances before he got the job as Mister Ed's voice - the job he couldn't tell anyone about.

    - In my Chicago edition, Concentation is carried by three NBC affiliates, and is identified as - nothing. There wasn't enough room left on the type line.
    As to the difference between a 'game' and a 'contest' - there isn't any.

    It was a tear or so later that the Dick Tracy cartoon series was launched, and many TV GUIDE editions IDed it as 'Police'.
    A week or so later, it became 'Cartoon', and nobody noticed.
    About a year after that, the TVG typographers combined 'Police', 'Mystery', 'Adventure', and a couple of others into the single label 'Crime Drama', for all the effect that that had.

    - I see that Channel 4 preempted As The World Turns to carry the Governor's inauguration.
    Since this was when ATWT was a live broadcast, would you happen to know whether Channel 4 carried a kinescope of the show later at night (what's known in the trade as a 'make-good')?
    Most likely they didn't (the advent of videotape made that easier), but it never hurts to ask ...

    ... and a Happy New Year to you too ...

    ReplyDelete
  3. Actually, Howard K. Smith remained with CBS until the fall of 1961, after the internal uproar over his 'editorializing' on the CBS Reports documentary, "Who Speaks for Birmingham?", didn't subside and Smith refused to back down to Blair Clark, the CBS news director and William Paley, CBS chairman. He joined ABC in January 1962, with his first on air appearance coming on February 14th, 1962.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thanx to Scott for his correction.
    My point (I think) was that Howard K. Smith became available at the exact right time for ABC, who needed a Big Name Journo to give the Third Net some instant credibility after John Daly's departure.

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for writing! Drive safely!