March 30, 2019

Wait a minute, where did TV Guide go?


As I mentioned yesterday, you'll have to wait until Monday for our latest installment of "This Week in TV Guide," but I think you'll find it worth the wait. In the meantime, you didn't think I'd leave you alone and lost, did you?

The video below comes from another great YouTube channel, that of RwDt09. (One of these days, I'm going to have to start putting these on the sidebar.) The title is pretty self-explanatory: "21 New Shows of Fall TV 1955." Watch, then we'll discuss.


Aside from the sheer pleasure of watching, let's think about the shows that were new in 1955: Alfred Hitchcock Presents. The Honeymooners. Gunsmoke. Cheyenne. Wyatt Earp. Phil Silvers. Perry Como. (Not to mention The Big Surprise, a game show hosted by Mike Wallace. Mike Wallace!) Now, you know me well enough by now that I'm not given to grand pronouncements, so I'm not going to say that this must have been the greatest freshman class of television shows in history. Rather, I'll challenge you: name the season that was better. Your turn. TV  
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6 comments:

  1. HalMarch 30, 2019 at 11:30 AM

    That is hard to beat.

    One candidate I'll throw out there:

    1957-58: HAVE GUN, WILL TRAVEL; MAVERICK; LEAVE IT TO BEAVER; WAGON TRAIN; THE REAL McCOYS; PERRY MASON; M SQUAD.



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  2. Mark OliverMarch 30, 2019 at 3:10 PM

    Not sure if I can see it was better, but 1965 was the premiere season for three of my favorite 1960s classics - Get Smart, Green Acres and Lost In Space. Also, Batman kind of counts because it debuted in January 1966.

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  3. JonMarch 30, 2019 at 4:28 PM

    I haven't heard of a lot of these shows, but I don't disagree that 1955-56 was 1 of the best years for classic tv. 1964-65 had a lot of great (or at least popular) shows too, like BEWITCHED, THE MUNSTERS, THE ADDAMS FAMILY, and GILLIGAN'S ISLAND.

    I've seen bits of SGT. PRESTON on FETV. Richard Simmons (the actor not the diet/exercise guru) also made appearances later on classis shows like LEAVE IT TO BEAVER and THE BRADY BUNCH.

    Ida Lupino was 1 of the earliest women to direct a substantial number of tv shows, including THE TWILIGHT ZONE (where she also starred in an earlier episode) and THRILLER.

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  4. HalMarch 31, 2019 at 6:21 PM

    A great season, but I think 1957-58 would be a strong contender:

    PERRY MASON, LEAVE IT TO BEAVER, MAVERICK, HAVE GUN WILL TRAVEL, WAGON TRAIN, THE REAL McCOYS, M SQUAD

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  5. The Lakes Region of New HampshireMarch 31, 2019 at 10:54 PM

    Wasn't the Phil Silver Show originally title "Sgt. Bilko"? Did that show premier in 1955? Or was the show just retitled?

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    Replies
    1. Mike DoranApril 15, 2019 at 8:45 PM

      Belatedly:

      The title was The Phil Silvers Show.
      The subtitle was You'll Never Get Rich.
      The series was never called "Sgt. Bilko" - EVER.

      Just so you know …

      Delete

Thanks for writing! Drive safely!

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