Retro: Central Virginia Sunday, November 24, 1963

[bpatrick]

What was scheduled but didn't air on the Sunday the networks
were covering memorial services for JFK and also the murder of
Lee Harvey Oswald. From TV Guide, Central Virginia Edition:

WFMY Ch. 2 Greensboro, NC (CBS)

10 AM Lamp Unto My Feet ("Las Casas: The Conscience Of
Conquest," about the 16th-century monk who convinced
King Charles I of Spain to treat the conquered Mexicans
humanely. Last of four 15th-anniversary shows.)
10:30 Light Unto My Path\
11 AM Church Service
12 N Children's Chapel
12:15 Sunday Devotions
12:30 TBA
12:45 Pro Football Kickoff (films of NFL running backs who gained
1000 or more yards rushing in one season: Jim Brown,
Steve Van Buren, Tony Canadeo, Jim Taylor, Joe Perry)
1 PM NFL Football: Teams TBA (the NFL still hasn't lived down the
fact that its games went on as scheduled that Sunday, although
CBS obviously did not telecast any of them)
4 PM TBA
5 PM CBS Sports Spectacular (a week with a college football player:
Air Force Academy quarterback Terry Isaacson as he prepares
for a game against Maryland)
5:30 Amateur Hour (Ted Mack welcomes the Denhardt Dancers, Moline, IL;
the folksinging Trio, Chicago Heights, IL; gospel singers the Junior Echoes
of Eden, Gary, IN; tap dancer Roger Rollins, Allerton, IA; vocalist Lynn
Stanton, Evanston, IL; baton twirler Emily McClinton, organist Fred Petersen,
and clarinetist Jerry Connell, all of Chicago. Ted also announces the 1963
National Championship winner.)
6 PM Twentieth Century (first of two about assassination plots against Hitler, including
a 1939 attempt in Munich and a 1943 one in which Axel von dem Bussche planned
to blow himself up with Der Fuehrer)
6:30 Mister Ed
7 PM Lassie
7:30 My Favorite Martian
8 PM Ed Sullivan (Diahann Carroll, Bert Lahr, Rip Taylor, Topo Gigio, Stiller and Meara,
comedy instrumentalists the Vagabonds, Israeli singer Geula Gill, comic Alan Gale,
head-balancers the Two Carmenas)
9 PM Judy Garland (Jane Powell, Ray Bolger--Judy and Ray sing "We're Off To See The
Wizard" and "If I Only Had A Brain")
10 PM Candid Camera (Woody Allen provokes cabdrivers with his small tips and, in a bookstore,
tells mystery buffs who did it; Durward Kirby plays a Texan who challenges a stranger
to a game of checkers--with real people as the pieces.)
10:30 What's My Line?
11 PM News, Weather (John McMullen)
11:15 CBS News (Harry Reasoner)
11:30 Bourbon Street Beat

WSVA (WHSV) Ch. 3 Harrisonburg, VA (NBC/CBS/ABC)

8:50 News, Weather, Sports
9 AM Bob Poole's Gospel Favorites
10 AM Faith For Today
10:30 This Is The Life
11 AM Church Service
12 N Football Highlights (doesn't say from where, I'm guessing
the University of Virginia if they played on Saturday, which
I doubt)
12:30 British Calendar
12:45 Pro Football Kickoff
1 PM NFL Football
4 PM Preview: Winter Olympics (Czech brother-and-sister figure
skaters Otto and Maria Jalinek, 1962 World Pairs Figure Skating
champions, talk with Jim McKay and perform on the Rockefeller
Center ice rink, ABC, delay of at least a week from Sat 6:30 PM)
4:30 Sunday (Frank Blair, joined in progress)
5 PM Flintstones (ABC, delay from Thu 7:30 PM)
5:30 News, Weather, Sports
6 PM Travels Of Jaimie McPheeters (ABC, delay from 7:30 PM)
7 PM Lassie
7:30 Walt Disney's Wonderful World Of Color: "The Hound That Thought
He Was A Raccoon" (because he was lost in the woods and adopted
by a family of raccoons, COLOR)
8:30 Grindl (Imogene Coca)
9 PM Bonanza (COLOR)
10 PM The Best On Record (a salute to past Grammy winners; performers
include Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme, Peter Nero, Peter, Paul and
Mary, Tony Bennett, Henry Mancini, Vaughn Meader (whose "First
Family" monologue would have been totally inappropriate this night),
the New Christy Minstrels, Homer and Jethro, Connie Francis, Mahalia
Jackson)
11 PM CBS News
sign off 11:15 PM

WHIS (WVVA) Ch. 6 Bluefield, WV (NBC/ABC)

8 AM This Is The Life
8:30 Allen Revival Hour
9 AM Oral Roberts
9:30 Herald Of Truth
10 AM This Is The Answer
10:30 Faith For Today
11 AM Church Service
12 N Christopher Program
12:15 Sacred Heart
12:30 Concord College Presents
1 PM Spirituals (Viola Clark)
1:30 Homestead, U.S.A.
2 PM Ask The Pastors
2:30 Wild Kingdom (Marlin Perkins visits the Brazilian tropical
rain forests, NBC, delay from 5 PM)
3 PM Film Festival
3:30 AFL Football (I don't know if the AFL canceled its games
that Sunday, the scheduled game on ABC was Oakland-Denver)
6:15 All-Pro Scoreboard (time approximate)
6:30 Travels Of Jaimie McPheeters (says it's the same episode airing
in pattern at 7:30 on Ch. 13)
7:30 Walt Disney's Wonderful World Of Color (COLOR)
8:30 Grindl
9 PM Bonanza (COLOR)
10 PM The Best On Record
11 PM News (Mel Barnett)
11:10 Movie: "The Merry Monahans" (Donald O'Connor, from '44)

WDBJ Ch. 7 Roanoke, VA (CBS)

8 AM Cartoon Theater
8:30 Wonderful World (kids' show)
9:30 Off To Adventure (a missionary who translated the Bible into the
Cree language)
9:45 Christopher Program
10 AM Lamp Unto My Feet
10:30 Look Up And Live (James Broderick as a worker struggling with his
personal principles in the face of social pressures and a hostile
co-worker)
11 AM Camera Three
11:30 This Is The Life
12 N Insight
12:30 Football Highlights (again, not sure of the school or whether there
was even a game on Saturday)
12:45 Pro Football Kickoff
1 PM NFL Football
4 PM Virginia Tech Football Highlights (time approximate)
4:30 Bridge Party (semi-final playoff: Roanoke vs. Lynchburg)
5 PM CBS Sports Spectacular
5:30 Amateur Hour
6 PM Twentieth Century
6:30 Mister Ed
7 PM Lassie
7:30 My Favorite Martian
8 PM Ed Sullivan
9 PM Judy Garland
10 PM Candid Camera
10:30 What's My Line?
11 PM CBS News
11:15 Magic Moments In Sports
11:20 Movie: "Fort Apache" (John Wayne, Henry Fonda, Shirley
Temple, from '48, and not to be confused with "Fort Apache:
The Bronx")

WSLS Ch. 10 Roanoke, VA (NBC)

7:30 Bob Poole's Gospel Favorites
8:30 Oral Roberts
9 AM Gospel Singing Caravan
10 AM This Is The Life
10:30 Light Unto My Path
11 AM Church Service
12 N TV Chapel
12:30 Your Invitation To Life
1 PM Movie: TBA
3 PM NBC News Encore ("The Land," first broadcast in 1962,
examines how new technology has put new economic
pressures on farms and small towns; Chet Huntley narrates.
COLOR)
4 PM Sunday
5 PM Wild Kingdom (lions rolling barrels and jumping through hoops;
elephants balancing on balls, COLOR)
5:30 GE College Bowl (University of Massachusetts, Amherst vs. either
Wooster (OH) College or Ripon (WI) College, COLOR)
6 PM Meet The Press
6:30 Wyatt Earp
7 PM Bill Dana
7:30 Walt Disney's Wonderful World Of Color (COLOR)
8:30 Grindl
9 PM Bonanza (COLOR)
10 PM The Best On Record
11 PM News And Weather
11:05 Movie: "Fighting Father Dunne" (Pat O'Brien, from '48)

WSJS (WXII) Ch. 12 Winston-Salem, NC (NBC)

8:30 Bob Poole's Gospel Favorites
9:30 Spiritualaires
9:45 Sunday Sermon
10 AM Great Voices (program about literature)
10:30 Eternal Light (an incident in the life of labor leader Philip Murray;
one of the characters is named Dan Fielding, John Larroquette's
character on "Night Court," delay from 1:30 PM)
11 AM Church Service
12 N Big Picture
12:30 Industry On Parade
12:45 British Calendar
1 PM Championship Bridge
1:30 Film Feature
2 PM NBC Opera: "Labyrinth" by Gian Carlo Menotti, about a couple
lost in a large hotel while trying to find the key of life, COLOR
2:50 TBA
3 PM NBC News Encore (COLOR)
4 PM Sunday
5 PM Wild Kingdom (COLOR)
5:30 GE College Bowl (COLOR)
6 PM Meet The Press
6:30 Wake Forest Football Highlights (may not have been a game
Saturday)
7 PM Bill Dana
7:30 Walt Disney's Wonderful World Of Color (COLOR)
8:30 Grindl
9 PM Bonanza (COLOR)
10 PM The Best On Record
11 PM Award Theatre (watch for Herbert Anderson, aka Henry
Mitchell on "Dennis The Menace," in a story of an act
of heroism during a flight in 1958)

WLVA (WSET) Ch. 13 Lynchburg, VA (ABC)

12 N This Is The Life
12:30 Discovery '63 (Part 1 of a trip to London includes differences
in American and British English, the Club Row sidewalk market,
and the Guy Fawkes Day celebration.)
1 PM Directions '64 (a discussion of previously-aired dramas about
automation and featherbedding)
1:30 Issues And Answers (from Cairo: Gamal Abdel Nasser, president
of the United Arab Republic)
2 PM Living Word
2:30 Top Star Bowling
3 PM Facets Of The Arts
3:30 AFL Football: Oakland-Denver
6:15 All-Pro Scoreboard (time approximate)
6:30 Supercar
7 PM Assignment: Underwater
7:30 Travels Of Jaimie McPheeters
8:30 Arrest And Trial
10 PM Laughs For Sale (stopgap replacement for "100 Grand" hosted
by Hal March; aspiring comedy writers try to sell their material
to comedians; tonight: Jayne Meadows, Morey Amsterdam, and
Shecky Greene)
10:30 ABC News Reports
11 PM The D.A.'s Man

 

[Joseph_Gallant]

If my memory serves me correct, the American Football League did cancel games scheduled for November 24th, but the National Football League did not.

As a result, no NFL games were televised that day, although I had heard that some NFL games did air on local radio, but without commercials (although supposedly, there were a couple of cases where mentions of regular sponsors were made with messages such as "The makers of XYZ Cars wish to join the country in mourning and remembering President Kennedy..." instead of regular spots) and in some cases, interruptions/updates on the Oswald shooting.

 

[bpatrick]

I have heard a story that the Dallas Cowboys played the Cleveland Browns in Cleveland
that Sunday; the PA announcer had to introduce the Dallas team as "the Cowboys," since
the mention of the word "Dallas" caused an outpouring of boos among Cleveland fans.

Nonetheless, Pete Rozelle never lived down his decision to go ahead with NFL games that
Sunday; his explanation (or excuse, depending on how you come down on this) was that
JFK would have wanted the games to go on.

 

[Markd]

Also - Are you all so sure NO regular programming aired Sunday at ALL??? Today if that happened that would certainly be truw - but back then news was primitave. Stations did not have resources for 24 hour coverage. Also didn't all stations sign off overnights, some as early as Midnight - most about 2 AM and some maybe at 3 or 4 AM and not back on the air till the 6 AM hour and in the case of many ABC stations as late as 8 AM??? I would think TV stations still signed off locally on this weekend. Also I would think a few religious shows still went on Sunday mornings and some cartoons in the 7 and 8 AM slots at least. My guess is coverage was Friday from 1ish PM till each station signed off. Next morning stations signed on with whatever local stuff they had and when netork came on they might have gone with kids stuff for an hour or so at least --- At most they jumped to coverage at 7 or 8ish Saturday and had soem breaks for local stations to have local news and local response to what was happening. I would hae thought coverage continued till Saturday close to sign off times. Then Sunday moist affiliates had committements to sell time to churches and MY guess is that stuff probably aired till maybe 11 AM and then at 11 the coverage continued. Then Monday - the same thing till maybe evening. My guess is regular subdued programming resumed Monday night.

Hey this was 6 years before my time. Also there certainly was not up to the minute coverage the entire time. My guess is the wall to wall coverage was also taped and repeated at various points. Hey back then there was no CNN and newscasts were often taped and most portions still were on live shows. I would love to see logs from TV stations from that weekend

 

[anabate123]

Hey bpatrick, do you have any TV listings from the TV Guide Central Virginia editions from the late 90s? If so, just let me know, and I'ld love to see 'em posted. Here are the listings...

2 - WFMY Greensboro (CBS)
4 - WOAY Oak Hill (ABC)
5 - WRAL Raleigh (ABC)
6 - WVVA Bluefield (NBC)
7 - WDBJ Roanoke (CBS)
8 - WGHP High Point (Fox)
10 - WSLS Roanoke (NBC)
11 - WTVD Durham (ABC)
12 - WXII Winston-Salem (NBC)
13 - WSET Lynchburg (ABC)
15 - WBRA Roanoke (PBS)
21 - WJPR Lynchburg (Fox)
24 - WDRG Danville (WB, changed call letters to WDRL and switched to UPN in 1997)
27 - WFXR Roanoke (Fox)
47 - WSBN Norton (PBS)
52 - WMSY Marion (PBS)
59 - WVGV Lewisburg (WB, changed call letters to WVSX and switched to Fox in 1996)

 

[installLSC]

Nonetheless, Pete Rozelle never lived down his decision to go ahead with NFL games that
Sunday; his explanation (or excuse, depending on how you come down on this) was that
JFK would have wanted the games to go on.

Here's a good article on that Sunday; apparently Rozelle made his decision after talking with Presidential spokesman Pierre Salinger. Still doesn't excuse an awful decision.

 

[bpatrick]

I personally don't remember any regular programming at all that weekend, all the way through Monday night. NBC stayed on the air all night Sunday night as mourners were filing through the Capitol rotunda to view JFK's coffin. I especially remember about Sunday that only NBC had the shooting of Oswald live; CBS was finishing coverage of a memorial service in Washington (I don't know what ABC was doing, possibly covering the same service), but I do remember the slow-motion replay of the shooting on CBS shortly afterward; I also remember Howard K. Smith on ABC saying, "Now we'll never hear this man's (Oswald's) story. There's something wrong and we don't know what it is."

Aside from the Oswald coverage, the transfer of JFK's body from the East Room of the White House to the Capitol rotunda, and the memorial services, I seem to recall a lot of appropriate music by various symphonies.

I also remember that on Monday we had sets set up all over our school and we watched JFK's funeral everywhere we went, from the classroom to the lunchroom.