This week in TV Guide: September 3, 1955

Long before Star Trek was a twinkle in the sky, or in the eye of anyone with the possible exception of Gene Roddenberry, there was a letter-writing campaign in support of a show that was scheduled to go off the air. It was a show praised for its "honest and appealing" portrayals, for stories that weren't afraid to break the mould of prevailing fare, for its likeable characters. It had a loyal and devoted following of viewers, but not, unfortunately, enough to warrant the sponsor's interest in a second season. And when news of its cancellation was made public, the network was inundated with complaints from literally "thousands of irate viewers." In the face of such a public outcry, the show was revived, on a different network and with a different sponsor, for another season. Welcome to the world of Father Knows Best.

It may be hard to believe that such a fate once awaited a series that has since gone on to attain iconic status within the classic TV world, but when Father aired on CBS during the 1954-55 season, it averaged a 20.5 rating, as opposed to the show whose timeslot it will be assuming this season, NBC's My Little Margie, which came in at 27.3. The new sponsor, unnamed in the article but in reality the Scott Paper Company, is said to have been aware that it was trading a more popular show for a less popular one, but was heavily influenced by the viewer response, as well as a feeling that CBS had scheduled the program in a bad timeslot.

  Jane Wyatt and Robert Young read some letters

And what were some of those letters? A Cincinnati housewife wrote, "If the sponsors cannot tell when they have a good show, why should I believe they know what they are talking about when it comes to their products?" Zing! From a woman in Chicago: "Perhaps you do not realize the pleasure this intriguing show brings to people who remember their own youthful family life with nostalgia. Please keep it." And this from John Crosby, one of the nation's preeminent television critics: "Unless somebody does something about it. Father Knows Best will be dropped off the air . . . This would be a crying scandal because Father Knows Best is one of the most honest and appealing and thoroughly delightful situation comedies on TV."  

Well, a lot of someones did do something about it, which led in turn to someone else, a sponsor, doing something else about it, and as a result, this counter-cultural program is returning for a second season. Wait; what's that about counter-cultural? Well, ask star Robert Young what makes Father different from other family sitcoms: "We didn’t want a father who was always blowing his top, or a mother who dominated her husband, or kids who were so smart that they made their folks look like morons. And we particularly didn’t want Pop to fall off a ladder or down a flight of stairs every week. How many fathers do you know—living, I mean—who could stand that, week after week?" It's an attitude echoed by the many viewers who saw the show as "one of TV’s few situation comedies that don’t cast Pop as a dim-wit.," that "represents American family life as it really is and not as some TV scriptwriter thinks it is—or should be." It's fashionable to look at the sitcoms of the 1950s and '60s and scoff at them as portraying families that were too good to be true, living in an America that never was. Perhaps they'd feel differently if they looked back at those very families that watched Father Knows Best, recognized in it the world they lived in, and thought it was a show worth saving.

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On the cover this week is 29-year-old comedian Johnny Carson, seen with Jody, the first of his four wives. He's called the "young man with a grin," and undoubtedly, he's hoping that his career will have more longevity than his marriages. And interestingly, the comedian to whom he draws the most comparisons is George Gobel, for more reasons than the fact that Carson is the first comedian since Gobel to host his variety show from Hollywood. "We’re both low-pressure; we both underplay. Gobel is the hottest thing in the field right now, so naturally, anyone coming along with even an approximation of his style is going to be compared to him." 

One of Johnny's greatest champions has been Jack Benny, who was impressed with Carson from the first moment that Johnny firmly stepped into the spotlight to substitute for an ailing Red Skelton. ("All the way into the studio,” Carson says, “I kept trying to remember sure-fire gags. It was all so fast, I really didn’t have time to get into a nervous tizzy.") After the show, Benny insisted to anyone who would listen to him that "The kid is great," and urged CBS to find a format for him. "No wonder they can’t sell him," Benny complained, "he’s too good, too intelligent—they’re all looking for pie throwers." Finally, the network, with two sponsors in hand, launched Carson with his own variety show on June 30. 

The keys to Carson's future success seem clearly seen in retrospect. The unidentified author of the profile cites Carson's flair for "the quieter kind of comedy," and describes him as "both a listener and a worker," two of the characteristics that would serve Carson so well later on when hosting The Tonight Show. "Besides shouldering the burden of being a young comedian tossed into the network whirlpool, he plays an important part in the writing and casting of the show, chores which are generally full-time jobs in themselves." He uses wife Jody on the show on "an irregularly regular basis" (much like his marital history); she was, in fact, the only female member of the cast with any staying power until singer Jill Corey was booked for an eight-week run. 

Hosting his own variety show from Hollywood is a long way from Nebraska, where Carson was born and raised. After moving to Hollywood in 1950, he spent a year as a staff announcer at KNXT, the CBS affiliate, and hosted a local show, Carson's Cellar, which was "reasonably successful." He moved from there to a summer show, Earn Your Vacation, and started writing monologues for Red Skelton. When Skelton was injured during a rehearsal (smacking his head against a non-breakaway wall an hour before airtime for his live show), he "hollered for Carson, and Carson came running." Although The Johnny Carson Show lasts only one season, it's enough to attract the attention of ABC, which makes him the host of Who Do You Trust?, with sidekick Ed McMahon. It's there that Johnny really displays the quick wit and interview skills that will put him in such good standing when NBC calls for Tonight. And the rest—well, you know how that goes.

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It's always nice to read about the stars before they became stars, isn't it? Likewise, it's fun to capture iconic programs, like Father Knows Best, before they became legends. Let's see what we can run across in this week's batch.

On Saturday night, The Jimmy Durante Show (8:30 p.m. CT, NBC) presents what could be called an ironic storyline: Jimmy, having discovered that the bank is about to repossess his nightclub because he's behind on the payments, "acquires the answers to be used on a quiz show and contrives to be a contestant in order to raise some money." They're not suggesting, by any chance, that those quiz shows might be rigged, are they? How else would he get the answers ahead of time?

Miss America 1955, Lee Ann Meriwether relinquishes her crown next Saturday, but in the meantime, she's been preparing for life after the beauty-contest circuit. Last December, she made her TV acting debut on the anthology series TV Playhouse, and this Sunday she stars on that series' "The Miss America Story" (8:00 p.m., NBC). It's neither biographical nor a documentary, just a drama about "the experiences of a beauty-contest winner" being portrayed by a fledgling actress who just happens to be the reigning Miss America. During the past year, Meriwether has earned $60,000 from TV commercials and providing commentary on fashion shows, and she plans to continue her career in television after she's no longer "Miss America." "Dave Garroway has been dangling a Today job in front of her," which she thinks would be great, "But golly, how would I get my Master's degree?" She must figure it out, because she goes on to that two-year stint as one of the Today Girls, followed by an acting career that lasts until 2000 and includes, well, just about everything. A worthy Miss America indeed.

On Monday, which also happens to be Labor Day, former president Harry Truman addresses the AFL-CIO Labor Day celebration at Cadillac Square in Detroit. (1:00 p.m., CBS and NBC). It's also nearing the end of Arthur Godfrey's summer vacation; in the meantime, Peter Lind Hayes fills for Godfrey on Arthur Godfrey Time (9:30 a.m., CBS), while Jack Paar pinch-hits for the Old Redhead on Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts (7:30 p.m., CBS). Garry Moore also has the day off, with Walter O'Keefe filling in on The Garry Moore Show (9:00 a.m., CBS), and Ernie Kovacs begins his second week substituting for Steve Allen on The Tonight Show (11;00 p.m., NBC). Tony Martin has no such luck; his evening Tony Martin Show returns for another season (6:30 p.m., NBC), taking up the first 15 minutes of the half-hour block that includes NBC's evening news. 

Tuesday leads off with The World at Home (9:45 a.m., NBC), with Arlene Francis and Hugh Downs interviewing the most decorated soldier of World War II, actor Audie Murphy.* In prinetime, it's the debut of television's first "adult" Western, The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp (7:30 p.m., ABC), starring Hugh O'Brian as the legendary lawman. In one of the early examples of linear storytelling on television, the series opens with "Mr. Earp Becomes a Marshal," as Earp launches his storied career by becoming marshal in Ellsworth, Kansas. 

*The program, which airs for 15 minutes prior to the start of Arlene's Home series, has some interesting guests this week; on Wednesday, it's NAACP attorney Thurgood Marshall, who was the attorney in the Brown v. Board case that ended school segregation, and would go on to become a justice of the Supreme Court.

Wednesday's Disneyland (6:30 p.m., ABC) takes a trip to Tomorrowland, where Wernher von Braun is one of the scientists discussing the challenges ahead for putting a "Man in Space," and what man's first spaceflight will look like. That's followed by Pall Mall Playhouse (7:30 p.m., ABC), with John Newland—whom we'll know better from hosting One Step Beyond—starring as a tenderfoot finding out that life in the West isn't what he expected. And at 8:30 p.m., I've Got a Secret (CBS) gives us a second look this week at Audie Murphy, who has a secret for the panel. Don McNeill sits in for Garry Moore, who returns to IGAS as well as his own show next week. 

Thursday afternoon's Early Show presents "Tomorrow's Man" (4:00 p.m., CBS), with Pat O'Brien as a football coach* who must decide whether to win a game, or teach his son (John Derek) a lesson. I've got an idea: why not teach him how to win? Problem solved! Later, it's a rare comedy on Climax! (7:30 p.m., CBS), but for good reason: the star of "Public Pigeon No. 1" is Red Skelton, who plays a sucker hired by conmen to sell stock in a phony uranium company. That's followed at 8:30 p.m. by Four Star Playhouse, and this week the star is Charles Boyer as a mysterious stranger who arrives at the front door of a young woman whose husband has just escaped from prison; Beverly Garland co-stars. 

*Not Knute Rockne, presumably.

On Friday the dramatic anthology series Star Stage premieres with "The Toy Lady" (8:30 p.m., NBC), starring Silvia Sidney and Lorne Greene (I wonder whatever happened to him?). Later, on Edward R. Murrow's Person to Person, Ed's guests are Ethel Merman, appearing with her husband and two children from their home in Denver. Later on, it's the deferred premiere on WTMJ of Science Fiction Theater (10:30 p.m.). The syndicated series actually debuted in April, but it's debuting here as part of WTMJ's fall schedule. (And by the way, it's actually spelled Theatre.

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Curious as to what's popular on TV in Chicagoland? Well, wonder no more; American Research Bureau, which used to provide the ratings for the networks, is out with their Top Ten list for July, and, to nobody's surprise, The $64,000 Question sits on top of the heap, well ahead of Ed Sullivan's Toast of the Town. CBS and NBC dominate the ratings, with ABC's U.S. Steel Hour the highest-rated show on the lowest-rated network. 

The $64,000 Question is also the nation's number one show, based on the Trendex ratings, followed by I've Got a Secret, Toast of the Town, Two for the Money, and G.E. Theater. By the way, according to the Teletype, Toast of the Town has a change upcoming; starting with the new season, it will henceforth be called The Ed Sullivan Show. Elsewhere, if you're wondering why Audie Murphy's been so active on TV this week, it's probably because he's promoting his new movie, To Hell and Back. And Jim Backus is on the lookout for one of those sound-proof booths like the kind you see on Question, "For my mother-in-law."

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Tom D'Andrea and Hal March: discharged

This week, Bob Stahl reviews a sitcom I hadn't previously been aware of (not that there aren't a lot of those), The Soldiers, starring Tom D'Andrea and Hal March. In much the same way as Saturday Night Live spun off long-running skits like "Wayne's World" and "The Coneheads" into big-screen movies, The Soldiers is a spin-off from a routine that D'Andrea and March used to do on The Colgate Comedy Hour. And just to show you that tart commentary didn't begin with our hero, Cleveland Amory, this is how Stahl describes the transition to television: "Apparently encouraged by an overwhelming lack of critical acclaim, they have expanded the idea into a half-hour series that NBC gambled on this summer as a Saturday night replacement." 

The pair play peacetime GI sad-sacks who are perpetually getting into trouble with the brass, as well as anyone else who comes near. As Stahl points out, there's nothing inherently wrong with Army comedy; "No Time for Sergeants," with Andy Griffith, was a big hit on Broadway, television, and the movies; and Phil Silvers will do pretty well, starting this fall, with Bilko. However, that's where the comparison ends, as "D’Andrea and March play such stupid dolts that there’s little humor left." Well, not everyone gets everything right; although the series bites the dust after just ten episodes, Tom D'Andrea will continue with his movie and television career, while Hal March will make an honest living as host of The $64,000 Question.

Stahl's second review is of another summer replacement series, Windows, a half-hour anthology that subs for Person to Person. The premise involves the camera peering through a window, setting the stage for the story of the people seen through that window. This is another of those series with which I wasn't previously familiar, and it gives off more than a little bit of the Twilight Zone vibe, beginning with the initial episode, in which all the children of a neighborhood disappear at the same time. That one, according to Stahl, came up a cropper after a terrific premise, but a later story "of a girl locked in an apartment from which there was no escape, this being her estranged husband’s way of driving her out of her mind," hit the sweet spot. It also took a crack at a pair of Ray Bradbury stories, "The World Out There" and "Arcade." It was, Stahl says, "an excellent example of how TV can dress up an otherwise routine series of dramatic shows with a single gimmick."

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MST3K alert: Jungle Goddess (1948) Two pilots go into the depths of the African jungle to search for a missing heiress. George Reeves, Ralph Byrd, Wanda McKay. (Wednesday, midnight, WNBQ in Chicago) Even the Man of Steel can't save this one, in which two ugly Americans travel to darkest Africa with the motto, "If it moves, shoot it." It's saved on MST3K, however (if that's the word), by part one of the Bela Lugosi serial, "The Phantom Creeps." TV

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Around the dial

We'll begin the week with some blatant self-promotion on my part, and why not, when I've got a lot to promote? 

From last week, here's the latest edition of the American TV History series with Dan Schneider, in which we discuss TV of the 1990s. A good show, if I do say so myself. Meanwhile, here are my most recent podcast appearances promoting Darkness in Primetime: first, a delightful conversation with Jeff Dwoskin at Classic Conversations, followed by a wonderful chat with Steve Beverly and his TV Classics. Both great guys, and I had a terrific time. Finally, my latest two-minute (or so) video runs a little over that, as I talk about one of the more mysterious programs chronicled in Darkness in Primetime, the 1967 drama "The Investigation." tps://ko-fi.com/mitchellhadley And if that doesn't give you motivation to buy the book, I'll just keep working at it! Now to our regular programming.

In the year 1976, ABC is riding the wave to the top of the television ratings, as we can see in David's continuing journey through 1970s TV at Comfort TV. It's Thursday night, and a lineup with Kotter, Barney Miller, and The Streets of San Francisco is going to be hard to beat. See what CBS has to offer. Oh, and NBC is an afterthought.

McHale's Navy without McHale? You read that right; it's the 1965 movie McHale's Navy Joins the Air Force, and at Silver Scenes, the Metzingers tell how this movie works in spite of the fact it's missing the title character.

At Cult TV Blog, John introduces us to the 1972 children's series The Intruder, and the episode that kicks it off, "The Stranger," a startling story of identity that carries through the entire series. It's one of those "adult" children's shows, which means anyone can enjoy it.

We're back with The A-Team at A View from the Junkyard, and this week Roger casts his eyes on the episode "When You Comin' Back, Range Rider," a double-length episode that features chase scenes, plenty of flashbacks, a new threat, and a good time had by all.

At TV Obscurities, Robert celebrates the life of David Ketchum, actor and screenwriter, who appeared on Get Smart, Camp Runamuck, and I'm Dickens, He's Fenster, and died earlier this month at the age of 97. Be sure to follow the link to Robert's article on Runamuck. 

Also on the list of obituaries is Frank Price, who had a long career in television as a producer before going on to head up Columbia Pictures; he died this week, age 95. Terence has the story of his long list of credits at A Shroud of Thoughts.

One of the treats on MST3K is when the gang riffs on educational shorts, many of which are truly horrific. But if you want to see them intact and without commentary, Paul has the answer at Drunk TV, as he looks at the Classic Educational Shorts Collection, Volume 5. TV

If you enjoy the content here and want to support my broader creative work, please consider making a donation at my Ko-fi page. Any amount you contribute helps me continue writing, researching, and sharing these articles and projects. Thank you!

TV Jibe: Truth in advertising

TV

If you enjoy the content here and want to support my broader creative work, please consider making a donation at my Ko-fi page. Any amount you contribute helps me continue writing, researching, and sharing these articles and projects. Thank you!

What's on TV? Thursday, August 29, 1963

You'll notice that ABC's afternoon schedule includes three programs geared toward the younger audience: American Bandstand, Discovery, and American Newsstand. Of the three, perhaps the least-familiar is American Newsstand, the network's afternoon effort to produce "news with an accent on youth." It was a ten-minute broadcast that ran five days a week, and attempted to capitalize on the audience from the preceding programs to build a news market that the perennial third-place network felt was underdeveloped. The newscast began in 1961 and ran through the 1962-63 season; when Bandstand became a Saturday program, Newsstand went off the air. As you can see from this broadcast, the news was surprisingly substantive, considering what news coverage in general has become. Our listings this week come from the Eastern New England edition.

This week in TV Guide: August 24, 1963

We have, I think, a tendency to look at the early 1960s as a kind of remnant of the Golden Age of Television, a carryover from the days of great drama and cultural programming, minus the anthologies. I'm probably as guilty of this as anyone, because I really do have a fondness for this period in television history. But are we guilty of a kind of revisionist history?

This week, we see another edition of an occasional feature in TV Guide, in which noted personalities in entertainment, the arts, and news express their opinions on the state of television. The questions posed to them: has TV programming improved over the last five years; what type of program would you like to see; and what is TV's greatest need. The results are, to say the least, mixed. Dr. Margaret Mead, the anthropologist, feels that the medium has definitely declined over the half-decade: "Intervals of program material are getting shorter and shorter, with an increasingly disintegrative effect on the mind." (I wonder what she'd think of today's short attention spans?) The playwright Paddy Chayefsky agrees: "The people who do the programming apparently lack ingenuity, talent, discretion, taste, efficiency, and simple business sense." (But what do you really think?) Former light heavyweight boxing champion and actor Archie Moore provides a thoughtful answer: "It has improved in some ways (for the sponsor); has gained tremendous audience. Programming has not improved much—too much killing. It is the devil's workshop for an idle mind, especially juvenile." 

Not everyone is quite as down on the tube; Carol Burnett, for instance, says it "definitely" has improved, but then goes on to specify how she thinks TV is better: "Frankness in 'discussion shows,'" and how "newscasts are more interesting (due to the high quality of newscasters." Author Harry Golden sees improvement in "news and public-service features." Jack Lemmon has a similar opinion, saying that television has improved "only in news and sports coverage, isolated 'specials,' and the birth of educational TV." Filmed shows, he says, suffer from "trying to please the biggest percentage of audience possible. In other words, trying to appeal to the lowest common denominator." Dave Brubeck feels that it has improved "especially in area of news documentaries," but at the same time it's "regressed in live dramas." Painter Thomas Hart Benton seconds the opinion on the educational side: "Knowledge-content programs seem to have improved somewhat."   

When asked what shows television needs more of, almost everyone agrees that drama needs to come to the forefront. Benton wants "More plays in which language is an important factor and ideas have a place." Lemmon, Brubeck, and Burnett all cite the need for live plays and anthology shows such as Studio One and Playhouse 90. Chayefsky, not surprisingly, is the most tart on this score: "I should like to see unabashed satires, biting and protesting drama, some feeling that Americans have more vigor than television thinks they have." Mead wants to see television utilize its skill to present "programs that can be done only on TV (not on film), and joins Golden, Burnett, Lemmon, and Secretary of State Dean Rusk in calling for more news, public affairs, and documentary programming, along with shows that allow a frank and open exchange of ideas. Brubeck (not surprisingly) and Moore would like to see more arts and music programs. 

What does TV need? Almost everyone agrees on what it doesn't need: commercials. Thomas Hart Benton says that "The main irritant in all programming is interruptions by advertising. Advertising should be before or after programs. Present practice is intolerable." (Hear, hear!) Actors like Burnett and Lemmon want less sponsor interference in program content, which Burnett believes leads to a situation where "networks are less likely to gamble on 'untried people.' Experiments! How else can it grow?" Dave Brubeck, like Paddy Chayefsky, believes that the public is "far more intelligent than TV programs would indicate." Archie Moore would like more prime-time programming for children, and Dean Rusk believes that television's greatest capacity is its positive contribution to democracy; its greatest need is "to continue and to improve upon its record of public service in this field." 

As is invariably the case, everyone views things through their own lens, reflecting their own preferences and biases. Creative people want more creative programming, public servants want more public affairs shows, actors want more live TV, dramatists want more drama. Nobody seems terribly thrilled with the state of the medium today; even their positive comments are hedged or qualified. And almost everyone believes that the programmers underestimate the native intelligence and desire of the public, even though the ratings rarely bear this out. Paddy Chayefsky, as befits one of the premier writers of the age, perhaps sums things up nicely. When asked what television's greatest need is, his simple reply is, "talent [and] self-respect." I wonder what they would think of television today?

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This Wednesday sees one of the seminal moments in 20th Century American history, the civil rights March on Washington. It's best-known for the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s stirring "I Have a Dream" speech, and for the equally stirring scene of Americans both black and white, rich and poor, famous and anonymous, marching on the Nation's capital. 

The event's official name is the "March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom," sponsored by the six major civil rights groups in the United States, and an estimated quarter of a million participants are expected to gather around the Washington Monument to begin the march, which will conclude with speeches from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. Besides King, political, religious, and business leaders are also scheduled to speak, including Roy Wilkins, John Lewis, and labor leader Walter Reuther. There are rumors that President Kennedy himself might address the marchers, but that has not been confirmed at press time. (He doesn't.)

CBS and NBC plan extensive coverage of the march, with live cut-ins when events warrant. NBC's Frank McGee will have two half-hour reports, at 2:00 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. ET, plus a 45-minute wrap-up at 11:15 p.m., or after the late local news. CBS's morning program Calendar will be reporting live from Washington at 10:00 a.m., and Walter Cronkite will be back at 7:30 p.m. for a special one-hour report. Evening news programs—which, you'll remember, are still only 15 minutes long at this point—will obviously provide headline coverage. 

Notable for its absence is ABC, the perennially third-place network. I would be very surprised if they didn't do some kind of reporting during the day, besides their evening news report. But if you're interested, YouTube has some of that NBC News coverage, likely Frank McGee's afternoon report, as it happened.

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Speaking of drama, one of the great ongoing dramas on television right now isn't on a dramatic show at all, but on The Judy Garland Show. Specifically, it concerns the behind-the-scenes drama, as the show, which doesn't even premiere for another month, has already suffered its first casualties, with producer George Schlatter and three of his writers getting the sack. The network's comment: while it was "delighted" with the five episodes Schlatter had in the can, there were "differences of opinion as to the course of future production." Irreconcilable differences, as we might say in the domestic arena. 

As Henry Harding points out, none of this turmoil counts as a surprise; "the I-told-you-so set in New York and Hollywood had been prophesying for months that CBS would have its hands full keeping the unpredictable star happy." However, the available evidence suggests that in this case, Judy was "an innocent bystander" to the conflict between Schaltter and the network. Insiders accuse Schlatter of having "wanted every show to be a blockbuster and, according to one insider, had let things 'get out of hand physically and financially.' CBS thought Schlatter was trying to do the impossible and was concerned about the drain on the network's exchequer." As I recall—I'm not looking it up right now—this coincides with Garland's own feeling about the show, which she envisioned as a weekly concert more than a traditional variety show. 

At any rate, the change—the first of many which will occur during the troubled single-season series—will go into effect immediately, with associate producer and scenic designer Gary Smith taking over the helm. And the Schlatter era is just so much drama over the rainbow.

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If you're my age, or perhaps slightly younger, you'll remember Jules Bergman as one of the most authoritative of television's space-age reporters. Few would question his credentials, his knowledge of space, or his ambition. There's even a file photo at ABC picturing Bergman in a space suit, standing on a simulated lunar surface, with the caption, "Jules Bergman, ABC, the Moon." But there are some who, perhaps ironically, see his space beat as only appropriate for a man whose competitive drive seems as big as the universe itself.

"Julie is the finest TV space reporter around town, certainly the best qualified," one competitor said. "But he's got the most gigantic ego I've ever seen. He's always bragging about how great ABC News is and saying how poorly CBS and NBC handle their jobs." Last year, he got into a fist fight with CBS News producer Bob Wussler after the two had exchanged words*; both men now say that the matter is long forgotten. 

*I'm betting Wussler was not overheard saying, "To the Moon, Bergman!" as he threw his punch.

Bergman says many of the complaints are due to professional competitiveness; "When it comes to getting a story, they are all real tigers, just like me. You can't help stepping on some toes in the helter-skelter of trying to get on the air first with your facts." That's backed up by his former boss, John Daly, for whom Bergman worked while Daly was head of ABC News. "He had a tremendous amount of drive and ambition," Daly says. Recalling how, after Bergman had won a fellowship at the Columbia School of Journalism, he had not only convinced Daly to give me a leave of absense, but to pay the difference between his ABC salary and his fellowship income, Daly says, "He had the get-up-and-go to get the fellowship. Once he got it, he came to me and painted vividly the advantages ABC News would enjoy in having a science expert on staff."

More recently, Bergman worked for James Hagerty, who succeeded Daly as ABC News boss after serving as Eisenhower's press secretary. It was Hagerty who put Bergman on the science beat; "I was surprised, too, to discover that Jules knew as much about our Government's space program as I did—and I learned about it, after all, at the White House. I wanted a man whose sole news beat was to be the whole wide range of science, so I appointed Jules our science editor." Bergman remains the only science editor on network television.

His expertise has been on display many times, including Scott Carpenter's Aurora 7 flight last year, when it appeared that the capsule—and Carpenter—might be lost. "I told our viewers that it was impossible that radar had lost him even though he was out of voice contact. It turned out I was right." That confidence, again. Having been fascinated with manned spaceflight for my entire life, and having watched so many of those Gemini and Apollo missions on TV, I can say that, along with Frank McGee and Bill Ryan on NBC, and Walter Cronkite and Wally Schirra on CBS, I'll always think of Jules Bergman whenever I look back on that remarkable time in history.

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Saturday's episode of Gunsmoke (10:00 p.m., CBS) is a truly notable one: in "Us Hagens," Matt, searching for Black Jack Haggen, accused of murdering nephew Fergus Haggen, is assisted by Fergus's twin brother, scruffy hillbilly Festus. That's right, the first appearance of Festus, played by Ken Curtis, who would go on to become one of the most-loved members of the Gunsmoke clan. His appearances on the show will be occasional until 1964, when he takes Dennis Weaver's place as Dillon's deputy. Black Jack, incidentally, is played by Denver Pyle, who was once considered for the role of Matt Dillon when the television version of Gunsmoke was being planned.

Sunday's DuPont Show of the Week (10:00 p.m., NBC) is an intriguing one: "The Interrogator," which takes place on the British colony of Cyprus, where a police inspector, played by John Mills, stands accused of murdering a terrorist prisoner under his custody. With only one day to prove his innocence before being exiled to England, the inspector decides to interrogate other members of the terrorist group. Robert Loggia, Ina Balin, Murray Matheson, and Gene Wilder co-star 

Phil Silvers, whom we all know and love as Sgt. Ernie Bilko, is reunited with Bilko creator Nat Hiken for Monday night's Comedy Hour Special, "The Ballad of Louis the Louse" (9:00 p.m., CBS). It's a role tailor-made for Silvers, who plays the late Louis Cramfield, loan shark and louse, whose death sparks no tears except for a newspaperman who eulogizes Louis as "the Saint of Broadway." Silvers is joined in the cast by Betsy Palmer, Eddie Albert, and Pert Kelton. Hiken, in addition to directing, wrote the book and lyrics for the musical; the music was composed by Gordon Jenkins. 

Apropos of Jules Bergman, a special on Tuesday night, apparently syndicated but appearing on two of the four ABC affiliates in this Eastern New England edition, is Focus on America (10:30 p.m.), featuring Dr. Wernher von Braun, head of the U.S. space program. Von Braun gives some quite interesting opinions on the "space race," including one that must have been a bit controversial for the time, that "the objective of space exploration should be the discovery of knowledge," and that the country "should forget about 'beating the Russians.'" Now, that happens to be a viewpoint I agree with, but I wonder how others felt about it, considering that much of the motivation for the financial layout required to put a man on the moon came from the race to beat the Russkies. Too bad we can't ask Jules Bergman about it.

Wednesday's programming highlight is "Like a Diamond in the Sky," a haunting episode of the excellent psychiatric drama The Eleventh Hour (10:00 p.m., NBC), in which Julie London plays glamorous singer Joan Ashmond, who's committed suicide; Dr. Graham (Jack Ging) is assigned to perform a "psychological post-mortem." The episode first aired on February 13, 1963; no wonder the description in the listings says it will likely remind viewers of Marilyn Monroe's death, which had occurred only six months prior to that broadcast.

On Thursday, NBC's Project 20 takes a look at "The Story of Will Rogers" (10:00 p.m.), an hour-long profile of the beloved humorist narrated by a man who knew a thing or two about humor himself, Bob Hope. Project 20, which you sometimes see styled Project XX, was one of those series that well-served the desire that many of our experts up in the lede expressed for more informative and educational shows that were also entertaining. 

Friday begins with the final episode of CBS's morning public affairs program Calendar, hosted by Harry Reasoner and Mary Fickett. (10:00 a.m.) You don't read much about Calendar in the history books when it comes to morning programming, which is too bad, because although I've never seen it, it's always sounded like an interesting show. What's replacing it? The CBS Morning News with Mike Wallace, which will eventually move to an earlier timeslot, and has morphed into CBS Mornings, which in my opinion is a far lesser program. Skipping from morning to late-night, a couple of local movies attract the attention: Paths of Glory (11;15 p.m., WBZ), one of the greatest anti-war movies of all time, starring Kirk Douglas, Ralph Meeker, and Adolphe Menjou; and a movie that we usually see more often around the Yule, The Man Who Came to Dinner (11:20 p.m., WMTW), one of the greatest anti-sentimentality Christmas movies of all time, starring Monty Woolley, Bette Davis, Ann Sheridan, and a scene-stealing appearance by Jimmy Durante.

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No MST3K movie this week, but something almost as good: an article on Judee Morton. Fans of MST3K remember her from the immortal The Slime People, but this week she's the woman who looked too young. Although she's 24, with a college degree from UCLA, she's always being cast as teens (including in the aforementioned Slime People, and for good reason: she looks like a teen. During her first television appearance, on My Three Sons, she had to convince the production manager that she didn't need a work permit, something that's required of anyone under 18, and that in fact her "work permit" was a B.A. degree from UCLA.

While she never becomes a major star, Judee compiles an impressive list of credits, mostly in guest appearances on television; there's a time in the late 1960s and early '70s when she seems to appear on almost every show on TV. Her last appearance is on House in 2009, after which she worked as a practicing psychotherapist. Her interview on the bonus track of MST3K's Slime People DVD is charming, and she's still around, at 85. And probably wishing, as we all do, that she still looked like a teenager. TV

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Around the dial

This week begins at the Broadcast Archives where we get another poignant display of a time when technology was viewed in a more benign light than today: the 1964 World's Fair pavilion, where RCA has color television on display.

The bad news: Jack's regular Hitchcock Project is now concluding at bare•bones e-zine, with a wrapup where you can find links to all the posts, covering every episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents and The Alfred Hitchcock Hour! The good news: next year the book comes out! I've already got something to look forward to!

Here's something else to look forward to, if you're a fan of The Dick Van Dyke Show: at Comfort TV, David gives us ten reasons to love the episode "Bupkis," which is seldom mentioned as a fan favorite, but after reading this, see if he won't change your mind.

At Cult TV Blog, Jack takes us to the anthology series Six Plays by Alan Bennett, and "One Fine Day," starring Irish comedian Dave Allen, in a rare dramatic role, as a commercial estate agent faced with a breaking point in his life, who finds a unique way of coping.

Talk about an identity crisis: this week at RealWeegieMidget, Gill (and her Darlin Husband) offer us a double dose of Patrick Duffy in "Shoot-Out at Land’s End," an episode from The Man From Atlantis that involves said man and his doppelganger. Unless we find out it was all a dream. . . 

Forced labor, smuggled across the border from Mexico (with all its ethical implications), is more than just ripped from today's headlines; it's the theme of this week's A-Team episode, "Bad Time on the Border," which Roger reviews at The View from the Junkyard.

At A Shroud of Thoughts, Terence takes us back to happier times with a look at some vintage fall television promos. There are many of these on YouTube, dating back to the 1960s, and some of us remember highlights from those years, such as NBC Week. Good times.

Finally, it just wouldn't be a normal day here at It's About TV without some kind of self-promotion, so here's the link to the latest episode of American TV with Mitchell Hadley, in which Dan Schneider and I discuss American television in the 1990s. Ring any bells with you? TV

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An Important Message About How You Can Support My Work

Xs many of you know, for nearly fifteen years I’ve shared my thoughts on classic television here at It’s About TV! You're probably also aware that I am an independent author—sometimes called an indie author—who publishes without a traditional publisher. This means I handle every part of the publishing process myself, from editing to design and marketing.

While some indie authors find financial success, many spend more on publishing their books than they earn back. It is both a career and a labor that requires ongoing time, effort, and expense.

This site is not primarily about promoting books—it is a project I maintain because I value the work and the community. However, it does involve costs like hosting fees, domain expenses, and the time I dedicate to writing and managing the site.

I invite you to support my current and future creative work by making a voluntary contribution through Ko-fi, a platform that makes tipping simple and secure. Your support will help cover the costs of hosting fees, domain costs, publishing expenses, and the many hours spent writing, researching, and managing these various projects.

I have always maintained a commitment that I will not monetize the content of this blog itself, a principle I continue to uphold. Contributions made here are entirely separate from your access to the blog and instead help support the broader scope of creative work beyond what you read here.

Whether you come here for the blog or follow my other work, your support is sincerely appreciated and makes a real difference. Thank you!  TV


If you enjoy the content here and want to support my broader creative work, please consider making a donation at my Ko-fi page. Any amount you contribute helps me continue writing, researching, and sharing these articles and projects. Thank you!

What's on TV? Saturday, August 19, 1972

In a week dominated by the Republican Convention, I thought it only fair to give you a look at one of the four days of the week with somewhat regular programming. Not for the last time, we look at the CBS lineup and remember that people used to stay at home watching television on Saturdays, or watching it with their friends. We're also  reminded that a lot of those Saturday morning cartoons of the early 1970s were pretty awful, but that there were still a few classic ones around. We're in the Twin Cities this week, with a note that the PBS stations, KTCA and KTCI, don't broadcast on Saturdays in the Summer.

This week in TV Guide: August 19, 1972

When last we visited Miami Beach, the Sun and Fun Capital of the World, it was for the most entertaining stretch of television since Jackie Gleason and the June Taylor Dancers were in town. I speak, of course, of last month's Democratic National Convention, otherwise known as the Circular Firing Squad, otherwise known as the convention where their nominee for president gave his acceptance speech at 3:00 a.m. Eastern time. "They blew that terribly," Walter Cronkite tells Richard K. Doan and Neil Hickey in this week's story previewing this week's Republican Convention, to be held in the same city. "I think it must have hurt them a great deal."

The Republicans take their turn in Miami Beach determined not to repeat the Democrats' mistakes of 1968 and 1972. Their solution: what may be the first purely made-for-TV convention. One Republican strategist puts it succinctly: "It's be short and sweet and to the point. And it'll be a whole new kind of TV show, different even from our own conventions of the past." After all, they only have two things to accomplish: "to nominate Richard Nixon in prime time, and to get those delegates in bed each night before midnight." As David Brinkley says, "This one will be even more difficult for us than the Democrats' because there will be fewer surprises, less suspense, and less to talk about." 

The differences will be noticeable even before the gavel drops; unlike most modern-day conventions, this one is scheduled for three days rather than four. The convention floor itself will be less cramped, with the Republicans having only 1,348 delegates as opposed to 3,016 for the Democrats. The platform and credentials procedures are scheduled for afternoon sessions, rather than in prime time. To liven things up, three giant video screens have been installed around the convention hall to provide slide shows and films for viewers, including three short films by documentarian David L. Wolper. And because ABC is once again forsaking gavel-to-gavel coverage, major speeches won't be scheduled until after 9:30 p.m., to make sure they appear on all three networks. Says Fred Rheinstein, who oversees the party's television and radio arrangements, "If the convention has a good look and is visually effective and interesting without seeming manipulated—which it will not be—then I've succeeded."

   

The convention itself kicks off Monday night with a speech by temporary convention chairman, Ronald Reagan, thought to be a kind of consolation prize since he was obviously finished as a presidential hopeful; followed by a speech from GOP Chairman Bob Dole (who was old even then). Tuesday night Nixon's name is placed in nomination by another old adversary, New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller. And then on Wednesday night Vice President Spiro Agnew delivers his acceptance speech, leading into Nixon's own speech. Everything ends by 11:00 p.m., or close to it, and everyone goes home happy. In November, Nixon wins 49 out of 50 states, garnering nearly 61 percent of the popular vote. Less than two years later, he'll be out of politics. Such are the vagaries of politics, after all.

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I should have warned you that this was going to be a political issue; in the first of three parts, Edith Efron takes a look at the state of blacks in broadcasting. Namely, why are there so few, and what's being done about it. 

Considering we're only going to get one-third of the story this week, a top-level overview is probably the best way to take it. Examination of the problem begins with the Congressional Black Causus; their investigation sugggests that the black community is "grossly excluded, distorted, mishandled and exploited by the white-controlled news media," and that "black people are systematically excluded from employment at most levels in newspapers, radio and television stations, though token nubers are to be found." Furthermore, the white media have "failed miserably" at honest reporting in the day-to-day news from the black community. In other words, Efron summarizes, "the hiring-promotion-and firing proces is racist, and that news coverage is racist."

Somewhat interestingly, Efron decides to investigate rather than simply take the words of black groups that the discrimination is intentional and racially motivated. The people she talks to at the station level, mostly heads of network-owned and operated stations, offer various perspectives on increasing black representation in the newsroom. Robert Hocking, at WCBS, says that it's difficult to train people in these "complex jobs"; thus, they tend to rely on those who've already received training. They're also moving to increase hiring in the sales area, since "most stations get management people through sales." Across the board, they agree that although the numbers are still low, major strides are being made.

Howard University professor Samuel Yette, the "self-appointed" spokesman for the black journalists, contends that the increase in hiring is largely "pacification, not unlike other pacification measures aimed at blacks during the last decade." To which a white editor replies, "Do you realize what he's saying? He's saying we're racists if we don't hire blacks—and that we're racists if we do hire blacks." One top decision-maker explains the complexities involved. The bottom line is "protecting the station license," and everything is measured against that. If you hire too many blacks, you face the public calling you "the black station." If you hire too many inexperienced blacks, "the work begins to sink." If you put too many in the sales department, "those people in the ad agencies [may] take their business elsewhere." Most important for the credibility of the station, "How many blacks without real managerial experience can you put in decision-making jobs before they bankrupt you." At the same time, he acknowledges a double-standard. "Our staff is loaded with white mediocrities. Every staff is loaded with white mediocrities. But we're used to white mediocrity. When it's a black mediocrity, it feels as if somebody forced him down your craw. I grant you, it's racism."

The bottom line, Efron says in the conclusion to part one of the story, is that Yette's analysis, "couched in 'master-slave' language, is seeing the situation from the 'outside.'" Station managers and executives look at the same problem from the "inside." What does it add up to? Black unpreparedness due to historical racism is a reality; but contemporary efforts to fix the situation are also a reality; but continuing racism in the industry is also a reality. Which is the dominant one? What they all agree on is that there is a problem. 

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Surely there must be something available for anyone not in the political frame of mind. And even with the Convention taking up three nights, there's a little something for everyone.

Football season will be here before you know it, and on Saturday, NBC airs a prime-time pre-season matchup between the Raiders and Rams from Los Angeles. (8:00 p.m.) For those of you trying to keep track of these things, this pits a team that would move from Oakland to Los Angeles and then back to Oakland and finally to Las Vegas, against a team that had moved to Los Angeles from Cleveland and would eventually move to St. Louis, and then back to Los Angeles. At one point both teams played in Los Angeles at the same time. After all that, who cares who wins?

Sunday includes what's sure to be a controversial episode of William F. Buckley Jr.'s Firing Line (PBS, 7:00 p.m.), as Buckley welcomes the controversil psychologist ◄ B.F. Skinner, discussing his book Beyond Freedom and Dignity. (You can see it here.) Among other things, Skinner advocaters that "man be controlled and conditioned to serve group interests." I'm not entirely sure about this, but I think Skinner might have wound up as head of the Centers for Disease Control; he certainly sounds like it. Either that, or he's a distant relative of Anthony Fauci. And speaking of programs with a modern theme, Darren McGavin stars as the defendant on "The Lawyers" segement of The Bold Ones (9:00 p.m., NBC). He admits causing $50,000 worth of damage to a private investigating firm: but it turns out the firm had complied a secret dossier on him that cost him his job, his marriage, and his reputation. The script, which won an Emmy following the original broadcast, was entered in the Congressional Record. Today, the firm that compiled the dossier would probably get a government contract. (According to IMDb, the information they gathered was erroneous, which guarantees they'd get the contract.)

With convention coverage starting on Monday, our pickings are going to begin getting a little slim, unless you're a political junkie as I was when I was that age. Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In (6:30 p.m., NBC) has an all-sports rerun, featuring Rams quarterback Roman Gabriel, whom you might have seen in the game Saturday, and cameos from Vida Blue, Andy Granatelli, Sugar Ray Robinson, Bill Russell, Doug Sanders, Vin Scully and Willie Shoemaker. Nice show. For those of a musical vein, the 1971 Montreaux Jazz Festival is featured on PBS (7:00 p.m.), and ABC—making good use of their extra 90 minutes before joining the convention in progress—repeats the pilot for the upcoming series The Rookies (7:00 p.m.), with Darren McGavin as Sergeant Ryker, a role that will be played in the fall by Gerald S. O'Loughlin, and Jennifer Billingsley as Danko, who will be played by Kate Jackson in the series.

It's the annual NBC telecast of the Ice Follies on Tuesday (6:30 p.m.), and this year Snoopy and his creator, Charles M. Schulz, are the headliners. On a repeat of The Mod Squad (6:30 p.m., ABC) has Andy Griffith as a man facing death threats after his testimony puts away a killer. And on Marcus Welby, M.D. (7:30 p.m., ABC), Gary Collins plays a hard-nosed father whose tough discipline is making things worse for his son; I'd bet on Dr. Welby against any bully. The GOP Convention wraps up on Wednesday, as does Steve Allen's stint as guest host (along with wife Jayne Meadows) on The Dick Cavett Show (11:30 p.m., ABC). Different time, same situation: Joey Bishop is guest host on The Tonight Show (10:30 p.m., NBC). Unlike the Democratic Convention, which saw sessions running until 6:00 a.m., the talk shows are in no danger of being pre-empted by the GOP. 

Thursday is a night of specials on ABC, topped off by a series' "best show of the season." It starts at 7:00 p.m. with Kid Power, a prime-time preview of a new Rankin-Bass Saturday morning animated series that begins next month. It's based on the "Wee Pals" comic strip, focusing on a multicultural group of youngsters sharing thougths on "prejudice, teamwork and responsiblity." A total of 17 episodes are made. That's followed at 7:30 by a "fast-paced" concert starring Three Dog Night with special guest Roberta Flack, and it had better be fast-paced since they're going to fit six songs into a half-hour (minus commercials). But I know; songs were shorter back then, and why not? At 8:00, it's a cinéma-vérité look at Julie Andrews, who just happens to have an ABC variety series starting next month, directed by Blake Edwards, who just happens to be married to Julie. And at 9:00, Owen Marshall, Counselor at Law presents "Victim in Shadow," a charged episode dealing with rape. Stefanie Powers is the victim, and Rick Nelson is the rapist.

The Summer Olympics start tomorrow in Munich with the Opening Ceremonies, and on Friday (7:00 p.m.) ABC presents a two-hour preview of what is already being referred to as the "Peaceful Olympics," meant to erase the bad memories of Hitler and the 1936 Berlin games. The network is planning a record 61½ hours of coverage (which is a drop in the bucket compared to what NBC does today, but times were different back then), and tonight's special gives us a look at the favorites, along with some memorable moments from the past. Next week's TV Guide will have an extensive look at the Games, but it's worth a look at an excerpt from that article, describing the atmosphere likely to prevail:

The atmosphere surrounding the Games should be thick with Bavarian Gemutlichkeit [friendliness]. A German Olympic official has promised, "We know only too well that crimes have been committed in the German name, and how many people have suffered . . . These Olympics will be what they are supposed to be: the great meeting of the youth of the world; of the new, hopefully enlightened generation; and thus a small contribution to world peace."

Ironic, isn't it?

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The last word, though, belongs to our cover star, Chad Everett. Everett was riding high on the success of Medical Center in 1972, and Jeanie Kasindorf's profile highlights some of Everett's, shall we say, controversial viewpoints, such as referring to his wife as "the most beautiful animal I own." (Did I mention already that this was a heavily political issue?) That remark, on the Dick Cavett show, caused guest Lily Tomlin to walk off, and for that reason alone we probably ought to thank Everett for performing a public service.

Everett was something of a chauvinist, albeit a benign one, who professed that he'd never heard of Gloria Steinem. But his comments suggest something more: an insight into the the very nature of gender roles, and the cultural controversy that exists today about the definition of masculinity and what it means to be a man in the 21st Century: "Please, women, don't take all of my roles as a protector away. Let me open doors and take care of you. If you want to come out and compete in the business world, I'm still gonna give you my seat on the bus."

(I'll interject here a juxtaposition with another article in this week's issue, a profile of soap opera star Marie Masters, who plays Susan Stewart on As the World Turns. In Ross Drake's story, she talks about the need for "a more balanced relationship" between men and women. "There is no reason why a man should be a prince, while everybod else in his home is a slave." Maybe this just interests me, but when Kasindorf asks Everett about John Lennon and Yoko Ono calling women "slaves," Everett—who "bristles" at Lennon and Ono's description—indirectly responds to Masters as well: "It's ridiculous. A woman shares in the income of her man by giving a cleaning service. It's honorable work. Wives aren't slaves or prisoners." As I say, maybe I'm the only one interested in this, but it's almost as if these two articles were posited against each other. Coincidental, I suppose. And this is probably the longest parenthetical digression I've ever engaged in.)

Everett, a political conservative (in case you hadn't guessed), sees Communism trying to "destroy morals and break down the family unit." And also makes what I find a curious comment, and I find myself wondering if it had anything to do with him being involved in a medical show, since I don't think this was something on the radar of the average American in 1972: "For us, day care centers and test tube babies are things that are unthinkable. I know I would rather not have children if the only type of woman who was available to me was one who wanted to get pregnant, transfer her embryo to another woman's body, then receive the baby back from the hospital and stick it in a child care center." 

You might wonder how his wife, the actress Shelby Grant, felt about all this. Well, she differed from him on some points, but on the whole her thoughts align with his. "Chad's never changed a diaper, and a lot of women don't like that attitude. But I don't think, as long as he's making the money, he should have to. I've seen a lot of pussyfoot men at the laundromat and the supermarket each week. In our house Chad doesn't waer my clothes and I don't wear his." (Masters thinks that it's "unfair" for any woman who can't afford a housekeeper to have to do all the work herself. But I'm digressing again.) And when she died in 2011, she and Chad had been married for 45 years. Not bad for a piece of property. TV