May 20, 2019

What's on TV? Thursday, May 22, 1969

I never cease to be fascinated by these New York City TV Guides, even when—as is the case today—there's nothing particularly important or distinctive being broadcast. For someone who grew up in the Midwest, far from the Center of the Universe, it's easy to be impressed by the names on the local news: Jim Hartz, who would succeed Frank McGee as host of Today; Dr. Frank Field, the meteorologist who always updated NBC's viewers on the latest hurricane; Kyle Rote, sports anchor and former star for the New York football Giants; Bob McAllister, who would go on to host Wonderama. And then there are variety shows, hosted by stars like Donald O'Connor and Allen Ludden, that we never got to see in the Twin Cities. Even today, looking at these listings, you get a feeling that you've reached the Big Time—something that you never quite felt here. Perhaps that's why Mary Tyler Moore meant so much to us.


 2  WCBS (CBS)

Morning

    6:30
BLACK HERITAGE—History  COLOR 

    7:00
NEWS—Joe Benti  COLOR 

    8:00
CAPTAIN KANGAROO  COLOR 

    9:00
LEAVE IT TO BEAVER—Comedy

    9:30
DONNA REED—Comedy

  10:00
LUCILLE BALL—Comedy  COLOR 

  10:30
BEVERLY HILLBILLIES  COLOR 

  11:00
ANDY GRIFFITH—Comedy  COLOR 

  11:30
DICK VAN DYKE—Comedy

Afternoon

  12:00
LOVE OF LIFE  COLOR 

  12:25
NEWS—Edwards  COLOR 

  12:30
SEARCH FOR TOMORROW—Serial  COLOR 

    1:00
GALLOPING GOURMET  COLOR 

    1:30
AS THE WORLD TURNS—Serial  COLOR 

    2:00
LOVE IS A MANY-SPLENDORED THING—Serial  COLOR 

    2:30
GUIDING LIGHT  COLOR 

    3:00
SECRET STORM  COLOR 

    3:30
EDGE OF NIGHT  COLOR 

    4:00
LINKLETTER SHOW  COLOR 
Guest: Charles Metz

    4:30
MIKE DOUGLAS—Variety  COLOR 
Guests: Eli Wallach, Anne Jackson, Josephine Premice

Evening

    6:00
NEWS—Jim Jensen  COLOR 

    7:00
NEWS—Walter Cronkite  COLOR 

    7:30
ANIMAL WORLD—Wildlife  COLOR 

    8:00
JONATHAN WINTERS  COLOR 
Guests: Tom and Dick Smothers, Paul Lynde, Marvin Gaye, Mickie Finn revue
[Last show of the series. Next week: reruns of “The Prisoner”]

    9:00
MOVIE—Drama  COLOR 
“In the Cool of the Day” (1963)

  10:45
TO BE ANNOUNCED

  11:00
NEWS—Bob Young  COLOR 

  11:30
MOVIE—Drama
“The Mob” (1951)

    1:15
NEWS  COLOR 

    1:20
MOVIE—Adventure  COLOR 
“Beyond Mombasa” (English; 1956)

    3:10
MOVIE—Adventure
“The Secret Ways” (1961)



 3  WTIC (HARTFORD) (CBS)

Morning

    6:00
BLACK HERITAGE—History  COLOR 

    6:30
ON THE AGENDA  COLOR 

    7:00
NEWS—Joe Benti  COLOR 

    8:00
CAPTAIN KANGAROO  COLOR 

    9:00
HAP RICHARDS  COLOR 

    9:15
HUCKLEBERRY HOUND  COLOR 

    9:30
MAKE ROOM FOR DADDY

  10:00
LUCILLE BALL—Comedy  COLOR 

  10:30
DONALD O’CONNOR—Variety  COLOR 
Guests: William Shatner, Cesar Danova, Genevieve Bujold, Lew Parker, Betty Kean, Brian Foley

Afternoon

  12:00
LOVE OF LIFE  COLOR 

  12:25
NEWS—Edwards  COLOR 

  12:30
SEARCH FOR TOMORROW—Serial  COLOR 

    1:00
GIRL TALK  COLOR 
Guests: Jacqueline Bertrand, Dr. Herbert Otto

    1:30
AS THE WORLD TURNS—Serial  COLOR 

    2:00
LOVE IS A MANY-SPLENDORED THING—Serial  COLOR 

    2:30
GUIDING LIGHT  COLOR 

    3:00
SECRET STORM  COLOR 

    4:00
RANGER STATION  COLOR 

    4:30
HAZEL—Comedy  COLOR 

    5:00
PERRY MASON—Mystery

Evening

    6:00
WEATHER  COLOR 

    6:05
SPORTS—Ehrlich  COLOR 

    6:15
NEWS  COLOR 

    6:30
NEWS—Walter Cronkite  COLOR 

    7:00
MOVIE—Drama  COLOR 
“The Proud Rebel” (1958)

    9:00
MOVIE—Drama  COLOR 
“In the Cool of the Day” (1963)

  10:45
TO BE ANNOUNCED

  11:00
NEWS—Bill Hanson  COLOR 

  11:15
WEATHER  COLOR 

  11:20
SPORTS—Webster  COLOR 

  11:25
MOVIE—Double Feature
1. “The Bad Seed” (Drama; 1956)
2. “Washington Story” (Drama; 1952)



 4  WNBC (NBC)

Morning

    6:30
EDUCATION EXCHANGE  COLOR 

    7:00
TODAY

    9:00
FOR WOMEN ONLY  COLOR 

    9:30
JOAN RIVERS  COLOR 
Guest: Rodney Dangerfield

  10:00
IT TAKES TWO—Game  COLOR 
Guests: Jack Carter, Marty Ingles, Mark Slade, and their spouses

  10:25
NEWS—Dickerson  COLOR 

  10:30
CONCENTRATION  COLOR 

  11:00
PERSONALITY—Game  COLOR 
Celebrities: George Jessel, Joan Rivers, Jacqueline Susann, Sally Ann Howes

  11:30
HOLLYWOOD SQUARES  COLOR 
Guests: Jack Cassidy, Shirley Jones, Gypsy Rose Lee, Kay Medford, Jan Murray, Wally Cox, Paul Lynde, Rose Marie, Charley Weaver

Afternoon

  12:00
JEOPARDY—Game  COLOR 

  12:30
EYE GUESS—Game  COLOR 

  12:55
NEWS—Newman  COLOR 

    1:00
PDQ—Game  COLOR 
Guests: Ken Berry, Jackie Joseph, Dick Patterson

    1:30
HIDDEN FACES  COLOR 

    2:00
DAYS OF OUR LIVES—Serial  COLOR 

    2:30
DOCTORS—Serial  COLOR 

    3:00
ANOTHER WORLD  COLOR 

    3:30
YOU DON’T SAY!—Game  COLOR 
Guests: Gail Fisher, Buddy Greco

    4:00
MATCH GAME  COLOR 
Guests: James Brown, Rita Moreno

    4:25
NEWS—Kalber  COLOR 

    4:30
MOVIE—Comedy
“Spare the Rod” (English; 1961)

Evening

    6:00
NEWS—Lew Wood  COLOR 

    6:30
MY FAVORITE MARTIAN  COLOR 

    7:00
NEWS—Chet Huntley, David Brinkley  COLOR 

    7:30
DANIEL BOONE—Adventure  COLOR 

    8:30
IRONSIDE—Crime Drama  COLOR 

    9:30
DRAGNET—Crime Drama  COLOR 

  10:00
DEAN MARTIN  COLOR 
Guests: Lena Horne, George Gobel, Skiles and Henderson, the Golddiggers

  11:00
NEWS—Jim Hartz  COLOR 

  11:10
WEATHER—Frank Field  COLOR 

  11:15
NEWS—Jim Hartz  COLOR 

  11:25
SPORTS—Kyle Rote  COLOR 

  11:30
JOHNNY CARSON  COLOR 

    1:00
NEWS—Bob Teague  COLOR 

    1:15
MOVIE—Drama  COLOR 
“Saadia” (1954)



 5  WNEW (IND.)

Morning

    7:30
YOGA FOR HEALTH

    8:00
ALVIN—Children  COLOR 

    8:30
BOB McALLISTER  COLOR 

    9:30
MARINE BOY—Children  COLOR 

  10:00
MOVIE—Comedy
“Hard Boiled Mahoney” (1947)

  11:00
MY LITTLE MARGIE—Comedy

  11:30
MOVIE—Western
“Along the Great Divide” (1951)

Afternoon

    1:30
MOVIE—Drama
“The Mortal Storm” (1940)

    3:30
MERV GRIFFIN—Variety  COLOR 
Guests: Robert Merrill, Kenneth Tynan, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Ronnie Dyson

    5:00
CRUSADER RABBIT  COLOR 

    5:30
FLINTSTONES  COLOR 

Evening

    6:00
McHALE’S NAVY—Comedy

    7:00
I LOVE LUCY—Comedy

    7:30
TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES—Game  COLOR 

    8:00
PAY CARDS!—Game  COLOR 
Guest: Doc Severinson

    8:30
ALLEN LUDDEN—Variety  COLOR 
Guests: Tom Kennedy, Hendra and Ullett, Thelma Houston, Back Porch Majority

  10:00
NEWS—Bill Jorgensen  COLOR 

  11:00
MOVIE—Comedy
“Duck Soup” (1933)

  12:30
DONALD O’CONNOR—Variety  COLOR 
Time approximate. Guests: Tom Vaughn, Rod McKuen, Lou Mosconi, Gunilla Hutton, Sidney Miller

    2:00
NEWS



 7  WABC (ABC)

Morning

    7:00
MORNING SHOW  COLOR 

    8:30
GIRL TALK  COLOR 
Guests: Jacqueline Bertrand, Dr. Herbert Otto

    9:00
ANNIVERSARY GAME  COLOR 

    9:30
BEAT THE ODDS  COLOR 

  10:00
MOVIE—Drama
“As the Sea Rages” (West German-Yugoslavian-American; 1959)

Afternoon

  12:00
BEWITCHED—Comedy

  12:30
FUNNY YOU SHOULD ASK  COLOR 
Guests: Marty Allen, Stu Gilliam, Lee Grant, Meredith MacRae, Jan Murray

  12:55
CHILDREN’S DOCTOR  COLOR 

    1:00
DREAM HOUSE  COLOR 

    1:30
LET’S MAKE A DEAL  COLOR 

    2:00
NEWLYWED GAME  COLOR 

    2:30
DATING GAME  COLOR 

    3:00
GENERAL HOSPITAL—Serial  COLOR 

    3:30
ONE LIFE TO LIVE  COLOR 

    4:00
DARK SHADOWS  COLOR 

    4:30
MOVIE—Drama
“Underworld, U.S.A.” (1960)

Evening

    6:30
NEWS—Roger Grimsby  COLOR 

    7:00
NEWS—Frank Reynolds  COLOR 

    7:30
FLYING NUN—Comedy  COLOR 

    8:00
THAT GIRL—Comedy  COLOR 

    8:30
BEWITCHED—Comedy  COLOR 

    9:00
TOM JONES  COLOR 
Guests: George Burns, John Davidson, Sally Ann Howes, the Dave Clark Five

  10:00
SUSPENSE THEATRE—Drama  COLOR 

  11:00
NEWS—Roger Grimsby  COLOR 

  11:30
JOEY BISHOP  COLOR 
Guest: Burt Lancaster

    1:00
MOVIE—Drama
“Operation Warhead” (English; 1961)



 8  WNHC (NEW HAVEN) (ABC)

Morning

    6:10
NEWS

    6:15
DAVEY AND GOLIATH  COLOR 

    6:30
WAY OUT  COLOR 

    7:00
MR. GOOBER  COLOR 

    9:00
STEVE ALLEN—Variety  COLOR 
Guests: Abbe Lane, Louis Nye, Caroline Richter, Ike Cole and his trio

  10:30
MERV GRIFFIN  COLOR 

  11:30
JOAN RIVERS  COLOR 
Guests: Dick Shawn, Sidney Drazen

Afternoon

  12:00
BEWITCHED—Comedy

  12:30
FUNNY YOU SHOULD ASK  COLOR 
Guests: Marty Allen, Stu Gilliam, Lee Grant, Meredith MacRae, Jan Murray

  12:55
CHILDREN’S DOCTOR  COLOR 

    1:00
DREAM HOUSE  COLOR 

    1:30
LET’S MAKE A DEAL  COLOR 

    2:00
NEWLYWED GAME  COLOR 

    2:30
DATING GAME  COLOR 

    3:00
GENERAL HOSPITAL—Serial  COLOR 

    3:30
ONE LIFE TO LIVE  COLOR 

    4:00
MIKE DOUGLAS—Variety  COLOR 
Guests: Troy Donahue, Martha Raye

    5:30
I LOVE LUCY—Comedy

Evening

    6:00
NEWS—Bob Norman  COLOR 

    6:10
WEATHER—Carroll  COLOR 

    6:15
NEWS—Bob Norman  COLOR 

    6:20
SPORTS—Galiette  COLOR 

    6:30
NEWS—Frank Reynolds  COLOR 

    7:00
TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES—Game  COLOR 

    7:30
FLYING NUN—Comedy  COLOR 

    8:00
THAT GIRL—Comedy  COLOR 

    8:30
BEWITCHED—Comedy  COLOR 

    9:00
TOM JONES  COLOR 
Guests: George Burns, John Davidson, Sally Ann Howes, the Dave Clark Five

  10:00
OUTCASTS—Western  COLOR 

  11:00
NEWS—Thompson  COLOR 

  11:10
WEATHER—Bob Jones  COLOR 

  11:15
NEWS—Thompson  COLOR 

  11:20
SPORTS--Galiette  COLOR 

  11:30
JOEY BISHOP  COLOR 
Guest: Burt Lancaster

    1:00
NEWS



 9  WOR (IND.)

Morning

    7:55
NEWS AND WEATHER

    8:00
BONNIE PRUDDEN  COLOR 

    8:30
CARTOONS  COLOR 

    9:00
ROMPER ROOM  COLOR 

  10:00
BOZO’S CIRCUS  COLOR 

  11:00
JOURNEY TO ADVENTURE  COLOR 

  11:30
STOCK MARKET  COLOR 

Afternoon

    3:00
FIRESIDE THEATER—Drama

    3:30
LORETTA YOUNG—Drama

    4:00
MOVIE—Adventure  COLOR 
“The Defeat of Hannibal” (Italian; 1960)

Evening

    6:00
GILLIGAN’S ISLAND—Comedy

    6:30
I SPY—Drama  COLOR 

    7:30
DIVORCE COURT—Drama  COLOR 

    8:00
BASEBALL  COLOR 
New York Mets at Atlanta Braves

  11:00
MOVIE—Drama
“Edge of the City” (1957)

    1:00
JOE FRANKLIN  COLOR 
Guest: Roderick Thorpe

    2:00
NEWS



11 WPIX (IND.)

Morning

    7:20
NEWS  COLOR 

    7:30
TV HIGH SCHOOL

    8:00
BIOGRAPHY—Documentary

    8:30
WINKY DINK/HERCULES—Children  COLOR 

    9:00
KRAZY KAT—Children  COLOR 

    9:30
JACK LA LANNE  COLOR 

  10:00
DAVID WADE—Cooking  COLOR 

  10:30
STEVE ALLEN—Variety  COLOR 
Guests: Jane Russell, Avery Schreiber, Ken Greenwald, Larry Hefner

  11:50
NEWS  COLOR 

Afternoon

  12:00
UNDERDOG—Children  COLOR 

  12:30
ROCKY—Children  COLOR 

    1:00
LITTLE RASCALS  COLOR 

    1:30
MOVIE—Adventure
“The Scarlet Spear” (1954)

    3:00
CAPTAIN SCARLET  COLOR 

    3:30
SPEED RACER  COLOR 

    4:00
ABBOTT AND COSTELLO

    4:30
THREE STOOGES  COLOR 

    5:00
SUPERMAN—Adventure  COLOR 

    5:30
MUNSTERS—Comedy

Evening

    6:00
F TROOP—Comedy  COLOR 

    6:30
VOYAGE—Adventure  COLOR 

    7:30
HONEYMOONERS—Comedy

    8:00
PATTY DUKE—Comedy

    8:30
POLITICAL DEBATE  SPECIAL   COLOR 
Republican Mayoral Debate

    9:30
PASSWORD—Game  COLOR 
Guests: Amanda Blake, Ray Bolger

  10:00
DR. KILDARE—Drama

  11:00
NEWS—Lee Nelson  COLOR 

  11:35
MOVIE—Comedy
“Man in the Moon” (English; 1956)

    1:05
NEWS—Lee Nelson  COLOR 



13 WNDT (NET)

Morning

    8:55
CLASSROOM

Afternoon

  12:00
CLASSROOM—Education

    4:30
LITTLE ADAM  COLOR 

    4:45
FRIENDLY GIANT—Children

    5:00
MISTEROGERS—Children

    5:30
WHAT’S NEW—Children

Evening

    6:00
TV HIGH SCHOOL

    6:30
THIS WEEK IN EDUCATION

    7:00
NEW JERSEY SPEAKS

    7:30
TO BE ANNOUNCED

    8:00
NEWS IN PERSPECTIVE  COLOR 

    9:00
SOUL!—Variety  COLOR 
Guests: Clarence Carter, Dee Dee Sharp

  10:00
NEWSFRONT—Mitchell Krauss



31 WNYC (IND.)

Morning

  10:00
SIGHT AND SOUND—Music  COLOR 

  10:30
FILM  COLOR 

  11:00
INTERNATIONAL INTERVIEW  COLOR 

  11:30
TRAVELOGS  COLOR 

Afternoon

  12:30
MUSIC RECITAL  COLOR 

    1:30
INTERLUDE

    3:00
FILMS  COLOR 

    4:00
AROUND THE CLOCK  COLOR 

    4:30
BIG PICTURE—Army  COLOR 

    5:00
FILM

    5:30
CONSULTATION—Medicine

Evening

    6:00
IT’S FUN TO READ—Discussion

    6:30
NEWS—Paul Manacher  COLOR 

    6:45
FILM  COLOR 

    7:00
STAFF LETTER—Documentary

    7:30
ON THE JOB—Fire Department

    8:00
FILMS

    8:30
ONE TO ONE—Art

    9:00
MAN AND THE UNIVERSE

    9:30
NEWS—Herbert Boland  COLOR 

    9:45
ITALIAN PANORAMA

  10:00
GERMAN—Lessons




47 WNJU (NEWARK) (IND.)

Afternoon

    5:00
NEWS IN SPANISH

    5:10
MOVIE—Western
“Camino Sangreinto” (1943)

Evening

    6:30
OUR LADY OF FATIMA—Serial

    7:00
MARIA—Serial  COLOR 

    8:00
MYRTA SILVA  COLOR 

    9:30
SPANISH DRAMA

  10:00
NEWS—Kevin Corrigan  COLOR 

  10:15
VARIETY SHOW  COLOR 

  11:15
COUNTRY GIRL—Serial

  11:45
HAWKEYE—Western

  12:15
NEWS—Arturo Rodriguez

  TV  

6 comments:

  1. A bit, and perhaps a piece or two:

    Noting that there's a mayoral election in New York City this year (1969), and the primary season is going full tilt.
    This was the year that John Lindsay, the Republican/Liberal incumbent, lost the GOP primary to a far more conservative rival, whose name I've momentarily forgotten (darndarndarndarndarn).
    Mayor Lindsay retained the endorsement of the Liberal Party (which normally backed the Democratic candidate), and ultimately won in the general election by carrying Manhattan and Queens by wide margins.
    This in its turn led to Lindsay moving to the Democratic Party, where his Rockefellerism didn't exactly help him; his '72 Presidential run didn't take for a number of reasons.
    Details can be found in various places on the 'Net.

    Here in Chicago, we didn't get the Allen Ludden and Donald O'Connor shows either; Chicago just wasn't on the bicycle routes, I guess.
    Looking at the guests on these shows:
    Allen Ludden had a British comedy team, Tony Hendra and Nic Ullett, who were part of the Oxbridge group.
    Both men became better known for other things: Hendra as a founding writer on the National Lampoon, and Ullett as a reliable character actor on soaps (which by that time were the only dramatic shows still being done in NYC).

    Meanwhile, one of Donald O'Connor's guests is Father Tom Vaughn, an Anglican priest who sidelined as a jazz pianist (did rather well at it as I recall).

    By the way -
    - you were aware that Mary Tyler Moore was a native of Brooklyn NY … weren't you?
    No?
    Oh well …

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. By the way, you were aware that Mary Tyler Moore's television show was set in Minneapolis...weren't you?

      Delete
  2. Unless there's some other James Brown I'm forgetting, certainly the James Brown playing with Rita Moreno on Match Game was Jim Brown the football-star-turned-actor, and not Soul Brother Number One. Although it would be must-see TV if it was.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No kidding! Although I have to admit I've never thought of Jim Brown in terms of game shows either. I mean, what's he going to do if Rita Moreno defeats him - throw her off the set? :)

      Delete
  3. I suspect the "To Be Announced" at 10:45 P.M. on CBS was being reserved for a fifteen-minute report on the Apollo 10 mission.

    I thought that was the day the lunar module was tested in orbit around the moon, so it's possible that Walter Cronkite went on the air to recap that and the rest of the day's doings in space.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Actually, Bob McAllister at that point was already hosting "Wonderama" on Sundays. "The Bob McAllister Show" was a weekday venture.

    WOR's 4 P.M. movie was apparently an early incarnation of "Movie 9," which would be more famously used from Jan. 1, 1973 until 1984 when it was retitled "9 in the Afternoon." The more famous opening (with Otto Cesana's "Hi!" as the theme) dates to the 1973 relaunch, and the way it was made predated by a few months WOR's "Fright Night" open.

    WPIX's late night movie show at this juncture was called "Tonight at the Movies." It would formally be renamed "The Channel 11 Film Festival" on Oct. 5, 1970.

    And as for the news shenanigans of '68 that put WPIX under the microscope to a license challenge that lasted through the next decade (and led the station to go through many contortions to save their skin, such as airing "Sesame Street" in the mornings during 1969-70): Wasn't that what was satirized by Chevy Chase in editions of "Weekend Update" in the first season of "SNL" where, on so-called "remote reports" about the Patty Hearst trial, the "reporter" heard through the same type of pinched audio sound heard on many remote reports in those days (always under a different name), turned out to be Chevy himself, crouched in a corner as seen in the last second of such reports - and with a sheepish look on his face after he was revealed? (And ditto for so-called "Artist's Renderings," in one edition of which ran a clip from the 1934 cartoon "Betty Boop's Trial.")

    WABC's afternoon movie skein was already "The 4:30 Movie" by this point. Mornings was "Prize Movie," hosted by Gloria DeHaven; her side of the studio was across from where "Eyewitness News," which began Nov. 11, 1968, was situated. She began with them on Jan. 27, 1969, and would be let go in early 1971 after cigarette advertising was banned from the airwaves (after which WABC retooled that show as a hostless "Morning Movie"). Their "Prize Movie" has to qualify as the shortest-lived among all the ABC stations that ran that franchise; the longest, on WXYZ Detroit, was hosted by Rita Bell from 1959 until the mid-1970's. Others included Chicago [WBKB/WLS, hosted by Ione (Rolnick) from 1968-75), Los Angeles (which at one point was hosted by Jackie Joseph of original "Little Shop of Horrors" fame) and San Francisco (which had several hosts including Connie Haines, Pat Montandon and Pippa White). The late-night after Joey Bishop was still going by "The Best of Broadway" moniker at this point.

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for writing! Drive safely!