May 15, 2023

What's on TV? Wednesday, May 20, 1953




We've traveled all the way back to the seventh national edition of TV Guide, a point at which most editions, such as this one from Chicagoland, maintained much of their local content. You can also see how the magazine is going to evolve over the first few years; there are no TV-shaped channel bullets for channel numbers, for instance, and the day isn't split into the familiar Morning-Afternoon-Evening thirds. And Chicago's television scene will be evolving as well; in this issue, WBBM, the CBS affiliate, is channel 4, but in less than two months, it'll change to channel 2, where it remains to this day. Let's see what they have on, as well as the other three stations available in the Windy City.

 
4 WBBM (CBS)
 
     6:45
Town And Farm—Discussion
 
     7:00
Today—News and Comments
 
     9:00
Arthur Godfrey Time—Musical
 
   10:00
News At Ten—Information
 
   10:05
There’s One In Every Family
 
   10:30
Strike It Rich—Warren Hull
Guest: Jan Miner
 
   11:00
Bride & Groom—TV Wedding
 
   11:15
Love Of Life—Serial Story
       
   11:30
Search For Tomorrow—Drama
 
   11:45
Guiding Light—Serial Story
 
   12:00
Luncheon With Billy—Musical
 
   12:25
Lee Phillip Show—Tips
 
   12:30
Garry Moore Show—Comedy
 
     1:00
Double Or Nothing
 
     1:30
Art Linkletter’s House Party
 
     2:00
Big Payoff—Quiz For Men
 
     2:30
Action In The Afternoon
 
     3:00
Shopping With O’Riley
 
     3:15
“Turn Of The Tide”—MOVIE
 
     4:30
Garfield Goose And Friend
 
     5:00
Western Movie Time—Film
 
     5:30
Silhouettes Of The West—Film
 
     5:55
Chicago Weather—Frank Reynolds
 
     6:00
Sports & Comments—Elson
 
     6:15
News With Fahey Flynn
 
     6:30
CBS News—Douglas Edwards
 
     6:45
Perry Como Show—Musical
 
     7:00
ARTHUR GODFREY & FRIENDS
Guest emcee: Ed Sullivan
 
     8:00
STRIKE IT RICH—Quiz Contest
 
     8:30
MAN AGAINST CRIME—Drama
 
     9:00
BLUE RIBBON BOUTS—Boxing
Norman Hayes vs. Jesse Turner
 
     9:45
SPORTS SPOT—Review
 
   10:00
FAHEY FLYNN—News Data
 
   10:10
MEET MISS LEE—Weather
 
   10:15
HARRINGTON ON SPORTS
 
   10:25
MUSIC COUNTER—Top Tunes
 
   10:30
HARRINGTON AND THE NEWS
 
   10:45
OUR SONG—Favorite Tunes
 
   11:00
KUP’S TV COLUMN—Chats
 
   11:15
11:15 EDITION—Fahey Flynn
 
   11:30
MURDER BEFORE MIDNIGHT
“Revolt Of The Zombies”
 
   12:00
“LOVE ON THE DOLE”—MOVIE
 
     1:00
LATE WORLD NEWS—Data
 
 
 
5 WNBQ (NBC)
 
     9:00
Ding Dong School—For Kids
 
     9:30
Animal Playtime—Kid’s Show
 
   10:00
Ask Washington—News Panel
 
   10:30
Mrs. U.S.A.—Film Short
 
   11:00
Creative Cookery—Recipes
 
   12:00
Noontime Comics—John Coons
 
   12:30
Bob & Kay Show—Interviews
 
     1:00
“He Couldn’t Take It”—MOVIE
 
     2:00
Break The Bank—Quiz Show
 
     2:30
Welcome Travelers—Chats
 
     3:00
Kate Smith Hour—Musical
 
     4:00
Hawkins Falls—Small Town Tale
 
     4:15
Gabby Hayes Show—Tall Tales
 
     4:30
Howdy Doody Show—Puppets
 
     5:00
Elmer, The Elephant—Movie
 
     5:30
Kids Karnival Kwiz—Games
 
     5:50
Clifton Utley And The News
 
     6:00
Joe Wilson’s Sports Corner
 
     6:15
Town Crier—Tony Weitzel
 
     6:30
Eddie Fisher Show—Musical
Guest host: Gordon MacRae
 
     6:45
News Caravan—John Swayze
 
     7:00
I MARRIED JOAN—Comedy
 
     7:30
MUSIC HALL—Tune Time
Hostess: Patti Page. Guests: Mary Ellen Terry, Vaughn Monroe, Richard Haymen, the Whiffenpoofs
 
     8:00
KRAFT THEATER—Drama
“One Left Over”
 
     9:00
THIS IS YOUR LIFE—Tale
 
     9:30
CITY DESK—Discussion
 
   10:00
WEATHERMAN—Clint Youle
 
   10:10
DORSEY CONNORS—Ideas
 
   10:15
CLIFTON UTLEY & THE NEWS
 
   10:30
LET’S LOOK AT SPORTS
 
   10:45
HERBIE MINTZ SHOW—Musical
 
   11:00
“DANGER FLIGHT”—MOVIE
 
 
 
7 WBKB (ABC)
 
     9:30
Cartoons—For The Kids
 
     9:45
Beulah Karney Presents—Tips
 
   10:30
Let’s Exercise With Ed Allen
 
   10:50
Your Weather—Wayne Griffin
 
   10:55
Ulmer Turner—News Report
 
   11:00
Breakfast With Danny O’Neil
 
   11:55
Ulmer Turner—News Report
 
   12:00
Happy Pirates—Fun For Kids
 
   12:30
Time For Fun—Nick Francis
 
   12:55
Ulmer Turner—News Report
 
     1:00
All About Baby—Discussion
 
     1:15
“Ghost Town”—MOVIE
 
     2:25
Ulmer Turner—News Report
 
     2:30
“Sing As You Swing”—MOVIE
 
     3:55
Ulmer Turner—News Report
 
     4:00
Lucky 7 Ranch—Western Film
“Romance River”
 
     4:45
Rootie Kazootie—Puppet Fun
 
     5:00
Laugh Time—Film Shorts
 
     5:30
Adv. Time With Bob Atcher
 
     6:00
Austin Kiplinger & The News
 
     6:10
Sports Highlights—Jack Drees
 
     6:25
Your Weather—Wayne Griffin
 
     6:30
Date With Judy—Comedy
 
     7:00
LAUREL & HARDY TIME
 
     7:30
STU ERWIN SHOW—Comedy
 
     8:00
CARUSO SHOW—Musical
 
     8:30
WRESTLONG FROM RAINBO
 
   10:00
FOREIGH INTRIGUE—Drama
(Tentative)
 
   10:30
THIS IS CHARLES LAUGHTON
 
   10:45
COMEDY CAMEO—Film Short
 
   11:00
ULMER TURNER—News
 
   11:10
“BUSH CHRISTMAS”—MOVIE
 
   12:15
“HEADLINE WOMAN”—MOVIE
 
 
 
9 WGN (Independent)
 
     9:00
Your Figure Ladies—Fogarty
 
     9:30
Clete Roberts World Report
 
     9:45
Steve Fentress & News
 
   10:00
A To Z Of Cookery—Recipes
 
   11:00
“Terrors On Horseback”--MOVIE
 
   11:45
Earl Nightingale Program
 
   12:00
Hi Ladies—Jack Payne
 
   12:45
Baseball With The Girls
 
     1:00
Batting Practice—H. Creighton
 
     1:10
Lead Off Man—Vince Lloyd
 
     1:30
Baseball—Cubs vs. New York
 
     3:45
Tenth Inning—Interviews
 
     4:00
“Wagon Wheels Westward”—MOVIE
 
     5:00
Time For Beany—Puppet Fun
 
     5:15
Talent Time—Linn Burton
 
     5:30
Robert F. Hurleigh—News
 
     5:45
Sports Review—Brickhouse
 
     5:55
Chicago Weather—Frank Reynolds
 
     6:00
Captain Video—Adventures
 
     6:30
Spencer Allen And The News
 
     6:45
Chicagoland Newsreel—Data
 
     7:00
“MEET THE MISSUS”—MOVIE
 
     8:00
FRONT PAGE DETECTIVE
 
     8:30
THROUGH THE CAMERA EYE
 
     9:00
OLD AMERICAN BARN DANCE
 
     9:30
LIBERACE SHOW—Musical
 
   10:00
“GHOSTS ON THE LOOSE”—MOVIE
 
   11:30
NEWS—Les Nichols Comments
 
   11:45
“FLYING SERPENT”—MOVIE

  TV  

4 comments:

  1. The reason for WBBM's channel switch is to prevent interference with Milwaukee's ch. 4 WTMJ.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. At the time, WTMJ-TV was on channel 3, and was preparing to switch to channel 4.

      Channel 3 would later be assigned to Madison, WI, being home to WISC-TV since signing on there as its CBS affiliate in June 1956--just days after WMTV (which had the CBS affiliation briefly, in addition to the NBC affiliation which it still hath) signed on on channel 15; WKOW-TV, which was Madison's first TV station (on channel 27) in 1952, became ABC affiliate by default after initially being affiliate with all three networks.

      Delete
  2. It's interesting to look at WGN's lineup. Not many TV shows had been produced by 1953, so they couldn't fill the schedule with reruns....

    ReplyDelete
  3. 60 years later, Lee Philipp's name is still seen every weekday on WBBM.

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for writing! Drive safely!