What's on TV? Saturday, April 25, 1953

I'm going to do a little cutting-and-pasting to give you a visual of something you'd never see in a TV Guide of the 1990s: the listings for an entire day of television, contained in four columns. Of course, this is what happens when you only have four stations, and the earliest program starts at 9:30 in the morning. Chicago may be a toddlin' town; that must mean even the TV people need to sleep in on Saturdays.

	4 WBBM (CBS)
	10:00	THERE’S ONE IN EVERY FAMILY
	10:30	ROD BROWN OF THE ROCKET RANGERS—Drama
	11:00	BIG TOP—Circus Fun
	12:00	OPERATION NEW HORIZONS
	12:30	“FUGITIVE VALLEY” MOVIE
	2:00	NEW WESTERN THEATER—Film
	2:30	MOVIE—Title to be announced
	4:00	CLASSIC THEATER—Music “Marechiaro,” part 1
	5:00	FARMTOWN U.S.A.—Talks
	5:30	WEEKEND NEWS—Report
	5:45	FILM
	6:00	STORK CLUB—Interviews
	6:30	BEAT THE CLOCK—Games
	7:00	JACKIE GLEASON SHOW
	8:00	PLAY OF THE WEEK—Drama “Drawing Room A”
	8:30	MEET MILLIE—Comedy Skit
	9:00	QUIZ KIDS—Joe Kelly, Emcee
	9:30	IT’S NEWS TO ME—Panel Quiz
	10:00	“SWAMP FIRE” MOVIE
	11:10	LATE WORLD NEWS
	11:25	HUTCHINSON WAX
	11:35	“MEDAL FOR THE GENERAL” MOVIE

I like how Meet Millie is referred to as a "comedy skit." It was, in our terms, a situation comedy. I think of a skit as being more what you'd see on The Jackie Gleason Show at 7:00 p.m. Different strokes for different folks, I guess.

	5 WNBQ (NBC)
	12:00	“BAD MAN FROM BIG BEND” MOVIE
	2:00	NATURE OF THINGS—Science
	2:15	MEET THE VEEP—Discussion
	2:30	AMERICAN INVENTORY “How To Get Rich”
	3:00	TOP STAKES RACES Wood Memorial
	3:30	NBC TELEVISION OPERA “Der Rosenkavalier,” part 1
	5:00	RELIGIOUS PUPPET FILM
	5:00	HOBBY TIME—Bill Healion
	5:30	JET PILOT—Aviation Show
	6:00	MR. WIZARD—Science Study
	6:30	ETHEL & ALBERT—Comedy
	7:00	MY HERO—Situation Comedy
	7:30	ORIGINAL AMATEUR HOUR
	8:00	YOUR SHOW OF SHOWS
	9:30	YOUR HIT PARADE—Musical
	10:00	“NEW ORLEANS” MOVIE
	11:30	FACES IN THE WINDOW

Der Rosenkavalier is one of the very few—perhaps the only?—operas to be presented over two parts on NBC Opera Theatre. It's one of Richard Strauss' longer operas, but even at that I'm a little surprised that they decided to stretch it out over two weeks rather than make some of the major cuts they've been known to do. Here's part one on YouTube as it was broadcast; part two is available as well.

	7 WBKB (ABC)
	9:30	“FIGHTING MUSTANG”
	10:00	SPACE PATROL—Adventure
	10:30	SKY KING—Western Story
	11:00	BEULAH SHOW—Comedy
	11:30	“WAGON TRAIL” MOVIE
	12:00	“WOLF CALL” MOVIE
	1:00	“TROUBLE AT MELODY MESA” MOVIE
	2:00	“WATER RUSTLERS” MOVIE
	3:00	“BRAND OF THE DEVIL” MOVIE
	4:00	“DEVIL RIDERS” MOVIE
	5:00	SATURDAY LAUGH TIME—Film
	5:30	ROOTIE KAZOOTIE—Puppets
	6:00	PAUL WHITEMAN’S TEEN CLUB
	6:30	WHAT’S THE ANSWER?—Quiz
	7:00	“DUDES ARE PRETTY PEOPLE” MOVIE
	8:00	BOXING BOUTS Tommy Harrison vs Wes Bascom
	9:00	HEART OF THE CITY—Drama
	9:30	“KNIGHT WITHOUT ARMOR” MOVIE
	11:00	SOMETHING NEW
	11:15	“MAGIC BOW” MOVIE
	12:30	COMEDY CAMEO—Film Short “The Adventurer”

I don't want to touch that 7:00 p.m. movie with a ten-foot pole.

	9 WGN (DUMONT)
	10:00	KIDS’ CAMERA CORNER—Film
	10:30	KIDS & COMPANY—Variety
	11:00	TERRY AND THE PIRATES
	11:30	MORNING MOVIE TIME—Film “Reckless Buckaroo”
	1:00	BATTING PRACTICE—Creighton
	1:10	LEAD OFF MAN—Vince Lloyd
	1:25	BASEBALL—Cubs vs St. Louis
	3:30	TENTH INNING—Interviews
	4:00	CAMERA CARAVAN—Film
	4:45	“GHOST OF HIDDEN VALLEY” MOVIE
	6:00	“VIGILANTES ARE COMING” MOVIE
	6:30	HOMES FOR BETTER LIVING
	6:45	TALENT TIME—Variety
	7:00	PATHWAYS OF THE WORLD
	7:15	CHRISTOPHER FILM SHORT
	7:30	THIS IS THE LIFE—Drama
	8:00	YOUR SENATOR’S REPORT
	8:15	PATHWAYS OF THE WORLD
	8:30	WRESTLING FROM MARIGOLD
	11:00	“THE COBRA STRIKES” MOVIE
	12:30	NEWS—Up-To-The-Minute Data

One of the great things about the internet is that you can find out things you never thought you'd want to know. For instance, until I started working on this piece, I had no idea I'd want to find out the score of the Cubs-Cardinals game that was played today. The Cubs won 10-6 before 13,435 at Wrigley. The game was played in less than two and-a-half hours; today, that same game would probably take at least another hour. Progress isn't everything. TV