KGLO, Channel 3 (Mason City, IA) (CBS)
|
||
Morning
|
||
10:10a
|
This I Believe
|
|
10:15a
|
What’s Your Troubles
|
|
10:30a
|
Strike it Rich
|
|
11:00a
|
Valliant Lady
|
|
11:15a
|
Love of Life
|
|
11:30a
|
Search for Tomorrow
|
|
11:45a
|
The Guiding Light
|
|
Afternoon
|
||
12:00p
|
Weather, News,
Markets
|
|
12:30p
|
As the World Turns
|
|
01:00p
|
Our Miss Brooks
|
|
01:30p
|
At Home with Jay Martens
|
|
02:00p
|
The Big Payoff
|
|
02:30p
|
Your Red Cross
|
|
03:00p
|
The Brighter Day
|
|
03:15p
|
The Secret Storm
|
|
03:30p
|
The Edge of Night
|
|
04:00p
|
Super Valu Show
|
|
05:00p
|
Mighty Mouse Playhouse
|
|
05:30p
|
Leo and Pioneers
|
|
05:45p
|
Douglas Edwards With the News
|
|
Evening
|
||
06:00p
|
Farm Digest
|
|
06:05p
|
News (local)
|
|
06:15p
|
Almanac
|
|
06:30p
|
Beat the Clock
|
|
07:00p
|
West Point
|
|
07:30p
|
Zane Grey Theater
|
|
08:00p
|
Mr. Adams and Eve
|
|
08:30p
|
Public Defender
|
|
09:00p
|
The Lineup
|
|
09:30p
|
Person to Person (Glenn Ford and Eleanor Powell, Abbe Lane
and Xavier Cugat)
|
|
10:00p
|
Weather, News,
Sports
|
|
10:30p
|
Movie – “Countess
of Monte Cristo”
|
|
You can see from the start that the 15 minute program is still popular, particularly with soap operas. This isn't new; we'll still see a couple of the 15 minute soaps well into the '60s. What I find interesting is how quickly the standard time transitions from 30 minutes to one hour.
WCCO, Channel 4 (CBS)
|
||
Morning
|
||
06:40a
|
Tele-Farmer
|
|
07:00a
|
Good Morning!
|
|
08:00a
|
Captain Kangaroo
|
|
09:00a
|
Garry Moore
|
|
10:30a
|
Strike it Rich
|
|
11:00a
|
Valliant Lady
|
|
11:15a
|
Love of Life
|
|
11:30a
|
Search for Tomorrow
|
|
11:45a
|
The Guiding Light
|
|
Afternoon
|
||
12:00p
|
News (local)
|
|
12:15p
|
Take Five
|
|
12:20p
|
Weather (Bud
Kraehling)
|
|
12:30p
|
As the World Turns
|
|
01:00p
|
Our Miss Brooks
|
|
01:30p
|
House Party
|
|
02:00p
|
The Big Payoff
|
|
02:30p
|
Bob Crosby (color)
|
|
03:00p
|
The Brighter Day
|
|
03:15p
|
The Secret Storm
|
|
03:30p
|
The Edge of Night
|
|
04:00p
|
Around the Town
|
|
04:30p
|
Axel and His Dog
|
|
05:00p
|
Johnny .44
|
|
05:55p
|
Weather (local)
|
|
Evening
|
||
06:00p
|
News (local)
|
|
06:10p
|
Sports (Rollie
Johnson)
|
|
06:15p
|
Douglas Edwards With the News
|
|
06:30p
|
Beat the Clock
|
|
07:00p
|
West Point
|
|
07:30p
|
Zane Grey Theater
|
|
08:00p
|
Mr. Adams and Eve
|
|
08:30p
|
Schlitz Playhouse
|
|
09:00p
|
The Lineup
|
|
09:30p
|
Person to Person (Glenn Ford and Eleanor Powell, Abbe Lane
and Xavier Cugat)
|
|
10:00p
|
Do You Trust Your Wife?
|
|
10:30p
|
News (Rollie
Johnson)
|
|
10:40p
|
Weather (Bud
Kraehling)
|
|
10:45p
|
Movie – “Cowboy
and the Blonde”
|
|
For those of you familiar with television in Minneapolis-St. Paul, you know that WCCO has always prided itself on being the news station in the market, and indeed for the most part they have been, with brief exceptions when KSTP and KARE took the lead in the ratings race. (I don't know how it is now, having been out of the market for four years and with Don Shelby having retired, but if you were to tell me 'CCO was still on top, I wouldn't be surprised.) It is, therefore, interesting to see that in 1957 Channel 4 didn't do their late news at 10pm, but at 10:30, preferring various half-hour dramas and quiz shows instead. But as I've said in the past, schedules weren't nearly as cast in stone back then as they would be a few years later.
KSTP, Channel 5 (NBC)
|
||
Morning
|
||
06:30a
|
Chuck Carson
|
|
07:00a
|
Today (guest James Michener)
|
|
09:00a
|
Home
|
|
10:00a
|
The Price is Right
|
|
10:30a
|
Truth or Consequences
|
|
11:00a
|
Tic Tac Dough
|
|
11:30a
|
It Could Be You
|
|
Afternoon
|
||
12:00p
|
News (local)
|
|
12:15p
|
Weather (Johnny
Morris)
|
|
12:20p
|
Main Street
|
|
01:00p
|
Treasure Chest
|
|
01:30p
|
Tennessee Ernie Ford
|
|
02:00p
|
Matinee Theater (color)
|
|
03:00p
|
Queen for a Day
|
|
03:45p
|
Modern Romances
|
|
04:00p
|
It’s a Great Life
|
|
04:30p
|
Susie
|
|
05:00p
|
Side Show
|
|
05:30p
|
Captain Daryl
|
|
05:55p
|
Weather
|
|
Evening
|
||
06:00p
|
News (local)
|
|
06:15p
|
You Should Know
|
|
06:30p
|
Xavier Cugat (color)
|
|
06:45p
|
The Huntley-Brinkley Report
|
|
07:00p
|
Blondie
|
|
07:30p
|
Dr. Hudson’s Journal
|
|
08:00p
|
On Trial
|
|
08:30p
|
The Big Story
|
|
09:00p
|
Boxing – Baby Vasquez vs. Paolo Rosi
|
|
09:45p
|
Sports (color)
|
|
10:00p
|
News (local)
|
|
10:15p
|
Weather (Johnny
Morris)
|
|
10:20p
|
Sports (local)
|
|
10:30p
|
City Detective
|
|
11:00p
|
Tonight! America After Dark
|
|
It was in July of 1957 that Jack Paar took over Tonight, and during the period between Steve Allen's departure as Tonight's first host and Paar's arrival, the program was called Tonight! America After Dark, and was hosted by Jack Lescoulie, Dave Garroway's longtime sidekick on Today. This version of Tonight was, in fact, more like Today than what we'd come to think of as a late-night talk show, and any number of sources will tell you that it was a bomb. Paar's arrival, even moreso than Allen's, marks the start of the contemporary talk show, although Paar himself would probably blanch at what it's become today. By the way, get off my lawn.
KMMT, Channel 6 (Austin, MN) (ABC)
|
||
Afternoon
|
||
02:00p
|
Afternoon Film Festival – “Miranda”
|
|
03:30p
|
Pendulum
|
|
04:00p
|
News (local)
|
|
04:10p
|
Movie – “Thunder
Rock”
|
|
05:50p
|
Sports (Dick
Mahar)
|
|
Evening
|
||
06:00p
|
Weather
(Stydnicki)
|
|
06:05p
|
News (local)
|
|
06:15p
|
John Daly and the News
|
|
06:30p
|
Rin Tin Tin
|
|
07:00p
|
Jim Bowie
|
|
07:30p
|
Crossroads
|
|
08:00p
|
This is the Life
|
|
08:30p
|
The Vice
|
|
09:00p
|
Ray Anthony
|
|
10:00p
|
News (local)
|
|
10:15p
|
Weather (local)
|
|
10:20p
|
Sports (local)
|
|
10:30p
|
Movie – “Secret
Valley”
|
|
Good to see John Daly and the News in the lineup - ABC was a perennially weak sister when it came to network news (or most anything else, for that matter), and as you browse through TV Guides of the era, this is the newscast that's most likely to be missing.
KWWL, Channel 7 (Waterloo, IA) (NBC, ABC)
|
||
Morning
|
||
07:00a
|
Today (guest James Michener)
|
|
09:00a
|
Home
|
|
10:00a
|
The Price is Right
|
|
10:30a
|
Truth or Consequences
|
|
11:00a
|
Tic Tac Dough
|
|
11:30a
|
It Could Be You
|
|
Afternoon
|
||
12:00p
|
Movie – “Hammer
the Toff”
|
|
01:30p
|
Tennessee Ernie Ford
|
|
02:00p
|
Matinee Theater (color)
|
|
03:00p
|
Queen for a Day
|
|
03:45p
|
Modern Romances
|
|
04:30p
|
Double Feature –
Gene Autry, “Smitherines”
|
|
Evening
|
||
06:00p
|
News, Weather,
Sports (local)
|
|
06:30p
|
Passerby
|
|
06:45p
|
The Huntley-Brinkley Report
|
|
07:00p
|
Blondie
|
|
07:30p
|
Annie Oakley
|
|
08:00p
|
On Trial
|
|
08:30p
|
TBA
|
|
09:00p
|
Boxing – Baby Vasquez vs. Paolo Rosi
|
|
09:45p
|
Sports (color)
|
|
10:00p
|
News (local)
|
|
10:15p
|
Weather (local)
|
|
10:20p
|
Sports (local)
|
|
10:30p
|
China Smith
|
|
11:00p
|
Tonight! America After Dark
|
|
12:00a
|
News (Tom
Miller)
|
|
No surprise that NBC stations are the ones with the most color programming. But then I seem to point that out all the time, don't I?
WKBT, Channel 8 (LaCrosse, WI) (all Networks)
|
||
Afternoon
|
||
12:00p
|
News (local)
|
|
12:10p
|
Stand Up and Be Counted
|
|
12:30p
|
Strike it Rich
|
|
01:00p
|
Our Miss Brooks
|
|
01:30p
|
Tennessee Ernie Ford
|
|
02:00p
|
The Big Payoff
|
|
02:30p
|
Industry on Parade
|
|
03:00p
|
The Brighter Day
|
|
03:15p
|
The Secret Storm
|
|
03:30p
|
The Edge of Night
|
|
04:15p
|
Susie
|
|
04:45p
|
Musical
Interlude
|
|
05:00p
|
Renfrew of the Mounted
|
|
05:30p
|
Wild Bill Hickok
|
|
Evening
|
||
06:00p
|
Farm Digest
|
|
06:05p
|
Sports (Edward
Hutchings)
|
|
06:15p
|
News
|
|
06:25p
|
Weather (Chuck
Waters)
|
|
06:30p
|
Disneyland
|
|
07:30p
|
Zane Grey Theater
|
|
08:00p
|
West Point
|
|
08:30p
|
Schlitz Playhouse
|
|
09:00p
|
The Lineup
|
|
09:30p
|
Man Called X
|
|
10:00p
|
Weather, News,
Sports
|
|
10:20p
|
Movie – “City of
Chance”
|
|
This is a first - a station whose affiliation is simply listed as "all networks." And indeed - Disneyland (6:30pm) comes from ABC, The Lineup (Dragnet's great rival, as we find out in an article from this issue) is a CBS series (as are most of the afternoon soaps) and Tennessee Ernie Ford's daytime show is from NBC. First glance, however, suggests that CBS might have been the prime affiliation, and indeed that's what it is to this day.
KMGM, Channel 9 (Ind.)
|
||
Afternoon
|
||
05:00p
|
Movie – Western
|
|
Evening
|
||
06:00p
|
Adventure Time
|
|
06:30p
|
My Little Margie
|
|
07:00p
|
Movie – “A Night
at the Opera”
|
|
08:30p
|
Mr. and Mrs. North
|
|
09:00p
|
MGM Time – “Keep Your Powder Dry”
|
|
10:45p
|
Movie – “Man
With My Face”
|
|
Channel 9 has had a checkered affiliation history, going from DuMont to an independent to ABC to independent to Fox to UPN and back to Fox. The station's call letters are named after its minority owner of the time, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. When they purchased the station, they disbanded its news division and let go of its news director, a Minnesotan named Harry Reasoner.
KROC, Channel 10 (Rochester, MN) (NBC,
ABC)
|
||
Morning
|
||
07:00a
|
Today (guest James Michener)
|
|
09:00a
|
Home
|
|
10:00a
|
The Price is Right
|
|
10:30a
|
Truth or Consequences
|
|
11:00a
|
Tic Tac Dough
|
|
11:30a
|
It Could Be You
|
|
Afternoon
|
||
12:00p
|
News (local)
|
|
12:15p
|
Channel Ten Calling
|
|
12:30p
|
Movie –
“Plainsman and the Lady”
|
|
02:00p
|
Matinee Theater (color)
|
|
03:00p
|
Queen for a Day
|
|
03:45p
|
Modern Romances
|
|
04:00p
|
It’s a Great Life
|
|
04:30p
|
Fury
|
|
05:00p
|
Movie – “Trigger
Trail”
|
|
Evening
|
||
06:00p
|
Sports (Bernie
Lusk)
|
|
06:10p
|
Weather (local)
|
|
06:15p
|
News
|
|
06:30p
|
Foreign Legionnaire
|
|
07:00p
|
Soldiers of Fortune
|
|
07:30p
|
Blondie
|
|
08:00p
|
Inner Sanctum
|
|
08:30p
|
Captured
|
|
09:00p
|
Boxing – Baby Vasquez vs. Paolo Rosi
|
|
09:45p
|
Sports (color)
|
|
10:00p
|
News (local)
|
|
10:15p
|
Weather (local)
|
|
10:20p
|
Sports (local)
|
|
10:35p
|
Movie – “That
Brennan Girl”
|
|
I mentioned earlier that Tonight! America After Dark was a bomb, and many NBC affiliates refused to carry it. I don't know if KROC ever did, but by now they don't. Probably more profitable and better ratings by running local movies anyway.
WTCN, Channel 11 (ABC)
|
||
Morning
|
||
08:50a
|
Kash Box
|
|
09:00a
|
Tel-a-Story Playhouse
|
|
09:30a
|
J.P. Patches
|
|
10:00a
|
Romper Room
|
|
11:00a
|
TV Theater
|
|
11:30a
|
Cash and Carry
|
|
11:55a
|
News (Paul
Sevareid)
|
|
Afternoon
|
||
12:00p
|
Casey Jones
|
|
12:30p
|
Midday Matinee – “Thunder Rock”
|
|
01:55p
|
News (Paul
Sevareid)
|
|
02:00p
|
Afternoon Film Festival – “Miranda”
|
|
03:30p
|
The Trouble With Father
|
|
04:00p
|
Cartoon Carnival
|
|
05:00p
|
Mickey Mouse Club
|
|
Evening
|
||
06:00p
|
News (local)
|
|
06:10p
|
Weather (local)
|
|
06:15p
|
John Daly and the News
|
|
06:30p
|
Rin Tin Tin
|
|
07:00p
|
Jim Bowie
|
|
07:30p
|
Crossroads
|
|
08:00p
|
Treasure Hunt
|
|
08:30p
|
The Vice
|
|
09:00p
|
Ray Anthony
|
|
10:00p
|
Early Movie – “Bushwackers”
|
|
11:30p
|
News (Frank
Seifert)
|
|
J.P. Patches was a popular kids' host in the Twin Cities before moving on to Seattle, where he became a legend. His real name was Chris Wedes. I knew a relative of his, who was also named Chris Wedes. Actually, it was his wife I knew better - I worked with her for several years. Her name was Kris Anderson until she married, and then it became Kris Wedes. Of course.
WEAU, Channel 13 (Eau Claire, WI) (NBC,
ABC)
|
||
Morning
|
||
07:00a
|
Today (guest James Michener)
|
|
09:00a
|
Home
|
|
10:00a
|
The Price is Right
|
|
10:30a
|
Truth or Consequences
|
|
11:00a
|
Tic Tac Dough
|
|
11:30a
|
It Could Be You
|
|
Afternoon
|
||
12:00p
|
Cartoons
|
|
12:30p
|
Movie – To Be
Announced
|
|
02:00p
|
Matinee Theater (color)
|
|
03:00p
|
Queen for a Day
|
|
03:45p
|
Modern Romances
|
|
04:00p
|
It’s a Great Life
|
|
04:30p
|
Passerby
|
|
04:50p
|
Story Time
|
|
05:00p
|
School Reporter
|
|
05:25p
|
Superman
|
|
05:55p
|
Crusader Rabbit
|
|
Evening
|
||
06:00p
|
Music and News
|
|
06:30p
|
Film Feature
|
|
06:40p
|
Weather
(Swenson)
|
|
06:45p
|
News
|
|
07:00p
|
Disneyland
|
|
08:00p
|
Dr. Christian
|
|
08:30p
|
Blondie
|
|
09:00p
|
Boxing – Baby Vasquez vs. Paolo Rosi
|
|
09:45p
|
Sports (color)
|
|
10:00p
|
News, Weather,
Sports (local)
|
|
10:30p
|
Uncovered
|
|
11:00p
|
Movie – To Be
Announced
|
|
Even a movie that's to be announced has to be better than Tonight! America After Dark. Right? TV
"Afternoon Film Festival", consisting mainly of British movies produced and/or distributed by J. Arthur Rank Ltd., vanished from ABC on August 2nd.
ReplyDeleteThe following Monday (the 5th), it would be replaced by a low-budget music program geared towards teenagers coming home from school featuring that newfangled rock-and-roll music and which had been a local hit in Philadelphia before "going network".
That show was "American Bandstand", which quickly became the most popular daytime program on network TV.
By March of 1957, I suspect the networks began using videotape for delayed-broadcast purposes.
ReplyDeleteThus, Will Rogers Jr.'s "Good Morning" at 7 A.M. CST and "Captain Kangaroo" at 8 CST on CBS were both likely tapes of episodes broadcast live an hour earlier on the East Coast.
And I would think that by the spring of 1957 in the Central time zone, the second hour of "Today" was shown live on NBC stations in that region with the first hour (seen live on the East Coast from 7 to 8 A.M. EST) being shown on tape at 8 CST.
Odds and ends:
ReplyDelete- The Vise (note spelling), on ABC on Friday night, has a strange history.
Initially, this was a British-produced anthology of suspense stories, in the wake of Alfred Hitchcock Presents.
After about half a season, this format was dropped, and by 1957, The Vise turned into a "reboot" of the old Mark Saber detective show from several years earlier.
Only this time, Saber was a private eye operating in London (the production stayed in GB).
The star was Donald Gray, who had lost an arm in war service; this was written into the character, and the one-armed op enjoyed some popularity on both sides of the pond for several seasons.
- Some while back, I mentioned another ABC Friday show, Crossroads. This was another anthology, concerned with the experiences of clergymen of many faiths.
I mentioned at the time that Crossroads employed an advisory board, consisting of a priest, a minister, and a rabbi (although as recall, Catholic priests got most of the star parts; Protestants were second, rabbis were third and paid $2.40 *rimshot*)
This drew a comment here, which I meant to respond to at the time, but I didn't get around to it.
I wish to do so now:
Yes, the priest, the minister, and the rabbi did indeed walk into a bar.
And the bartender said, "What is this, a joke?"
- Noting that Person To Person has Ed Murrow visiting two "happy Hollywood couples", both of whose marriages came to acrimonious ends (see my comment about Tattletales a few weeks back).
Many of those who seek to canonize Murrow as a patron saint of journalism like to disparage Person To Person as something beneath him, which he only did as a favor to friends.
In reading contemporary accounts, I've found that Ed Murrow actively enjoyed his celebrity status; he was a regular patron of Toots Shor's saloon, as were just about everybody else on Broadcasting Row in New York.
I suppose it bothered the old London crew to go with Murrow to a place whose owner greeted everybody with "How are ya, ya crumb bum?"
It was, as they say, A Different Time ...
I wonder if they were the same religious folks who approved all the scripts involving Lucy Ricardo's pregnancy (and, incidentally, agreed they could not comprehend why CBS wouldn't allow the use of the word "pregnant"
DeleteAnd when Dinah Shore wasn't singing about them...Chevrolet sponsored CROSSROADS
Interesting that Bob Crosby's CBS afternoon show was broadcast in color...perhaps that was done to please and possibly attract his brother Harry Lilas--a.k.a. Bing.
ReplyDelete