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"Bewitched" in Birmingham

B

bpatrick

On WBRC-TV's Wikipedia site, it says that the station didn't
pick up "Bewitched" until 1967. The explanation given was
that the "mixed marriage" of a witch and a mortal might give
blacks and whites the idea of intermarriage.

In fact, while going through some '60s schedules in the Birmingham
News, I discovered that Channel 6 was running "Bewitched" in 1965,
and in pattern on Thursdays at 8 (CT). There was, in fact, a picture
of Elizabeth Montgomery as the paper was touting "Bewitched" as one
of the week's viewing highlights.

WBRC apparently had no problem with the show in later years; not
only did it carry the first-run episodes to the end in 1972, it carried
the daytime reruns on ABC, and continued to rerun it when it went
into syndication (it also had "I Dream Of Jeannie," which might have
caused a stir about a genie and a mortal, except that Jeannie and
Major Nelson married toward the end of that show's run, when racial
tensions had cooled somewhat and the big issue, and not only in Birmingham,
was busing to achieve racial equality in the public schools).
 
bpatrick said:
On WBRC-TV's Wikipedia site, it says that the station didn't
pick up "Bewitched" until 1967. The explanation given was
that the "mixed marriage" of a witch and a mortal might give
blacks and whites the idea of intermarriage.

In fact, while going through some '60s schedules in the Birmingham
News, I discovered that Channel 6 was running "Bewitched" in 1965,
and in pattern on Thursdays at 8 (CT). There was, in fact, a picture
of Elizabeth Montgomery as the paper was touting "Bewitched" as one
of the week's viewing highlights.

WBRC apparently had no problem with the show in later years; not
only did it carry the first-run episodes to the end in 1972, it carried
the daytime reruns on ABC, and continued to rerun it when it went
into syndication (it also had "I Dream Of Jeannie," which might have
caused a stir about a genie and a mortal, except that Jeannie and
Major Nelson married toward the end of that show's run, when racial
tensions had cooled somewhat and the big issue, and not only in Birmingham,
was busing to achieve racial equality in the public schools).
Click to expand...

Thank you!!! Sometimes that "Bewitched" question pops in my mind, but usually it did when I was unable to pull up listings from the Tuscaloosa or Gadsden papers on Google. Glad to have it confirmed as urban legend.

Channel 6, we all agree, had its peculiarities back in the day, but preempting "Bewitched" based on that 'reason' takes more stretching of the imagination than I'm capable.

--Russell
 
Actually, there was a time during the late 60's or early 70's when Channel 6 delayed "Bewitched" until Saturday at 5:30 or maybe 6:00. I'm not sure why the exact reason was, but in its stead, Channel 6 carried reruns of "The Rifleman" on Thursday night. Ergo, I watched whatever was on Channel 13 or 42.
 
Well, let's see .... current network sitcom, or moldy oldies of "The Rifleman" or "Gunsmoke"? Hmmmmm .....

This is Channel 6 we're talking about. They never met a western they did not like. ;-)

--Russell
 
Can someone tell more about Channel 6? I recall reading about a Southern station that would preempt any network content involving blacks with a "Technical Difficulties" slide. Was this the same station?
 
Re reruns on Channel 6, they could find some of the oldest, moldiest things (mostly,
but not exclusively, Westerns) to run. I remember in 1972 they had "Third Man" with
Michael Rennie and Jonathan Harris from about 1960, a few years before Harris got
famous as Dr. Zachary Smith on "Lost In Space." I don't know of another station carrying
that show at the time. They also liked to carry "The Westerners," a compilation of "The
Westerner," "Johnny Ringo," and "Law Of The Plainsman"; yet another that was still running
on Channel 6 when most markets had stopped airing it was "The Texan." Indeed, until the
primetime access rule forbade Birmingham stations to air reruns in the 6-7 PM (CT) slot,
Channel 6 had a different Western every night at 6. But in the fall of '72, forced to put a
first-run show into the slot, it went with "To Tell The Truth," which quickly became the number-one
show in the market (Channel 13 had local news and Channel 42 had "Truth Or Consequences" at 6).
For the record, at the time Channel 42 was the only station that also stripped 6:30, airing "What's
My Line?" at that time.

But Channel 6's love of Westerns didn't end. In fact, in 1977-78 it was delaying "Three's Company"
and "Soap" in order to carry "Gunsmoke" on Tuesdays at 8.
 
And there was the year that Channel 6 delayed Charlie's Angels from Wednesday night until Sunday afternoons. Was that '76-'77? I think they ran Gunsmoke on Wednesday nights then.
 
that sounds exactly like a wiki prankster making an entry


rwells2265 said:
Thank you!!! Sometimes that "Bewitched" question pops in my mind, but usually it did when I was unable to pull up listings from the Tuscaloosa or Gadsden papers on Google. Glad to have it confirmed as urban legend.

Channel 6, we all agree, had its peculiarities back in the day, but preempting "Bewitched" based on that 'reason' takes more stretching of the imagination than I'm capable.

--Russell
Click to expand...
 
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