November 22: This Day in TV History

[Tim from Springfield IL]

This question surfaced before on this board, with no definitive answer. My assumption is that when normal programming returned, ATWT probably started over from the top the same episode that was interrupted on the 22nd. The only thing possibly invalidating that theory is that soaps generally were structured in a strict M-F cycle, with Friday's episode often ending on a peak of drama or even a mild cliffhanger. There might have been some hasty rewrites to shuffle or alter scenes to insure that the whole "rhythm" of the show got back in sync.

I don't know if we'll know the answer for sure, IMO--I would not be surprised if the recording of the 11/26/63 ATWT episode has since long been destroyed (but who knows, I may be wrong).

It's also amazing to think that had it not been for the tragedy in Dallas, the Nov. 22 episode would have likely met the same fate and we would not have heard the immortal quote, "And I gave it a great deal of thought, Grandpa . . ."

 

[CdSull502]

I'm still curious to know what network stations in the Mountain and Pacific time zones programmed after the networks ceased their coverage at 1AM Eastern, 10 Pacific on 11/22-23/63. Does anyone from that part of the world have a recollection?

 

[BobbyNBC10]

I'm still curious to know what network stations in the Mountain and Pacific time zones programmed after the networks ceased their coverage at 1AM Eastern, 10 Pacific on 11/22-23/63. Does anyone from that part of the world have a recollection?

My best guess is it would have been determined locally in the Mountain and Pacific Zones with coverage from a local prespective of the JFK assassination and reaction.

 

[bpatrick]

Initially, I was also surprised that there was a mid-break in this half-hour soap, but
then I remembered most soaps at that time were, or had previously been, only fifteen
minutes, with a local station break likely after each, and CBS kept the affiliate time
intact when ATWT went to a half-hour.

Actually, ATWT debuted as a 30-minute soap, it never aired as a 15-minute program. But yes, prior to the premiere of ATWT and Edge of Night on the same day (4-2-1956), all soaps on TV started out in a 15-minute length. (Also... daytime would see it's last 15-minute soaps in the late 1960s when Search for Tomorrow and (The) Guiding Light each would expand from 15 to 30.)

The first existing 15-minute soap to go to 30 minutes was Love Of Life, in 1958.

 

[Ultimajock]

I'm still curious to know what network stations in the Mountain and Pacific time zones programmed after the networks ceased their coverage at 1AM Eastern, 10 Pacific on 11/22-23/63. Does anyone from that part of the world have a recollection?

My best guess is it would have been determined locally in the Mountain and Pacific Zones with coverage from a local prespective of the JFK assassination and reaction.

...I just got a copy of a story from the Arizona Daily Star relating to this question, as well as listings for November 22nd and 23rd; I'll probably post them to the board sometime tomorrow...

 

[oldiesfan6479]

I just got a copy of a story from the Arizona Daily Star relating to this question, as well as listings for November 22nd and 23rd;
I'll probably post them to the board sometime tomorrow...

Tucson listings for 11/22 are footnoted in the Phoenix schedules for that day here:

http://boards.radio-info.com/smf/index.php?topic=140282.0

Note they do not detail local programming, just network shows, so a complete Tucson
for 11/22 (and 11/23) would be welcomed...at least by me.

 

[davalvideo]

The earlier post indicating that Dan Rather and Eddie Barker of KRLD-TV were talking and that Rather heard Barker say JFK was dead and then repeated that to New York is simply not true. Barker himself, in his autobiography, says that Rather was wrong bexcause he, Barker, was on the air the entire time and never spoke to anyone on the telephone. If you watch the KRLD tapes, you'll see that from about 12:45 to 1:35, Barker never stops talking. Rather says they did in his 1977 audiobiography, but Barker told him only a few years back that that was wrong. Rather's reply was "I'm glad we finally got that cleared up." Also, the video recordings of "AS the World Turns" from November 22, 1963 still exist, both at the CBS News Archives and at the Sixth Floor Museum on the KRLD tapes.

 

[bpatrick]

I didn't know that; I was going by Rather's account in "The
Camera Never Blinks". So just how did the CBS person misinterpret
Rather's statement, with Allan Jackson announcing JFK's death several
minutes before Cronkite?

 

[oldiesfan6479]

OK, how many of us went to YouTube, called up part one of ATWT from 11/22/63,
cued it up, and rolled it right at 1:30:00 PM ET? The "bulletin" slide interrupt came
at about 1:39:58, but Walter still had to close the announce booth door and did not
commence speaking for a couple seconds, so the bulletin really was at 1:40 PM.

BTW, did Niagara Spray Starch ever get a make good for the several audio glitches
during its spot in the first network break?

Of course then switching over to the part two piece got the timing out-of-synch a bit
from real clock time, but that 5 kHz Telco audio is a real piece of history in itself.

 

[davalvideo]

On CBS Radio, Alan Jackson went with the announcement of JFK's death after New York editors spoke with Rather...that's true. But Rather did not speak with Eddie Barker at the Trade Mart. He got his information from speaking to both a doctor at Parkland Hospital and one of the priests who administered the last rights. Both said that JFK was dead. When Rather told New York this, CBS Radio decided to go with it. Cronkite passed the information along, saying that Rather confirmed that Kennedy was dead, but the official confirmation on CBS came when Cronkite read the report of Mac Kilduff's announcement AT 2:38PM. CBS Radio beat CBS-TV by a good 20 minutes easily.