Phoenix Network Affils--Thu Oct 22, 1959

[oldiesfan6479]

ABC/CBS/NBC affils only (no indie, non-comm not yet on air)

Source: Arizona Republic microfilm
Time Zone MST (DST still in effect--stations received EST/CST delayed feeds)

KTVK 3 Phoenix/ABC (now indie)
AM
10:30 Ding Dong School
11:00 Restless Gun
11:30 Love That Bob
PM
12:00 Music Bingo
12:30 Our Miss Brooks
01:00 Day In Court
01:30 Gale Storm
02:00 Beat The Clock
02:30 Who Do You Trust?
03:00 American Bandstand
04:30 Phoenix Marquee
05:30 My Friend Flicka
06:00 Local News
06:30 Gale Storm
07:00 Pat Boone Chevy Showroom
07:30 Real McCoys
08:00 Donna Reed
08:30 Untouchables
09:30 Take A Good Look/Ernie Kovacs (premiere)
--Note that Boone aired "live" from network's EST/CST feed at 7, but Kovacs
must have been tape delayed(?) by KTVK. Unsure why Kovacs didn't air "live"
at 8:30, and the Untouchables (on 16mm film) at 9. I'm not sure if KTVK even
had any VTRs in house by 1959.
10:00 Behind Closed Doors
10:30 Movie
AM
12:00 Ranch Party

KOOL-TV 10 Phoenix/CBS (now KSAZ-TV/Fox)
AM
06:40 Farm & Ranch Report
06:45 ASU Spanish Lessons
07:15 Captain Kangaroo
08:00 Morning Playhouse
08:30 On The Go
09:00 I Love Lucy
09:30 December Bride
10:00 Love Of Life
10:30 Search For Tomorrow
10:45 Guiding Light
11:00 CBS News
11:05 Mr. & Mrs. North
11:30 As The World Turns
PM
12:00 For Better Or Worse
12:30 House Party
01:00 Millionaire
01:30 Verdict Is Yours
02:00 Brighter Day
02:15 Secret Storm
02:30 Edge Of Night
03:00 Burns & Allen
03:30 Robin Hood
04:00 Autry/Rogers Stampede
05:15 CBS News/Douglas Edwards
05:30 To Tell The Truth
06:00 Local News
06:30 Annie Oakley
07:00 Betty Hutton (network 8:00 ET)
07:30 Big Party (alt. with Playhouse 90)
09:00 Johnny Ringo (network 8:30 ET)
09:30 Zane Grey Theatre (network 9:00 ET)
10:00 Local News
10:30 Movie

KVAR 12 Mesa/NBC (later KTAR-TV, now KPNX)
AM
06:00 Continental Classroom
07:00 Today
08:00 Dough Re Mi
08:30 Treasure Hunt
09:00 Price Is Right
09:30 Concentration
10:00 Tic Tac Dough
10:30 It Could Be You
11:00 Romper Room
PM
12:00 Queen For A Day
12:30 Thin Man
01:00 Young Dr. Malone
01:30 From These Roots
02:00 House On High Street
02:30 Split Personality
03:00 Favorite Stories
03:30 Easy Does It (local kid show)
04:30 Uncle Phil's Gang
05:00 Local News
05:15 NBC News/Huntley-Brinkley
05:30 Law Of The Plainsman
06:00 All Star Sports
06:30 Staccato
07:00 Bachelor Father
07:30 Ford Show/Ernie Ford
08:00 You Bet Your Life
08:30 Lawless Years
09:00 Mike Hammer
09:30 Badge 714
10:00 Weather
10:05 Jack Paar (JIP)
11:00 Movie

 

[bpatrick]

You mentioned the premiere of "Take A Good Look," and it made me
think. Although the show works today as a showcase for Kovacs'
comedy, viewers in 1959 were constantly frustrated by the obtuse
clues to the identities of the guests (who had been in then-recent
news events, although on one show I've seen the panel almost immediately
identified Miss America 1959, Mary Ann Mobley). People were known to
write to Kovacs or to ABC, asking that the clues be made more obvious so
that they could play along; Kovacs used to say that he didn't do the show for the viewers but for
himself. Nevertheless, the show lasted two seasons and pleased its sponsor,
Dutch Masters cigars, since the cigar-chomping Kovacs was a perfect spokesperson.

I've often wondered if ABC scheduled the show at 10:30 (ET) in order to pick up
Groucho's audience (he was on from 10-10:30 on NBC), and if NBC put "The Lawless
Years," set in the 1920s, at the same time to pick up the audience from ABC's "The Untouchables,"
which was set in the same era and ended at 10:30.

 

[Stanislav]

You mentioned the premiere of "Take A Good Look," and it made me
think. Although the show works today as a showcase for Kovacs'
comedy, viewers in 1959 were constantly frustrated by the obtuse
clues to the identities of the guests (who had been in then-recent
news events, although on one show I've seen the panel almost immediately
identified Miss America 1959, Mary Ann Mobley). People were known to
write to Kovacs or to ABC, asking that the clues be made more obvious so
that they could play along; Kovacs used to say that he didn't do the show for the viewers but for
himself. Nevertheless, the show lasted two seasons and pleased its sponsor,
Dutch Masters cigars, since the cigar-chomping Kovacs was a perfect spokesperson.

The gane show framework of the show was totally irrelevant to Kovacs -- he would (and did) use any show as a platform for his quirky comedy bits. (Remember that one of the first programs he was assigned as a neophyte TV personality in Philly was, of all things, a cooking show, which ended up being about 10% cooking and 90% clowning.) If he'd somehow landed a public affairs show or travelogue or nature show, he would have brought along his troupe and subverted it in like manner.

Because Kovacs' unconventional brand of comedy didn't connect well with 1950's viewers' tastes and expectations, he never had a highly-rated or long-lasting show, and was grateful for any opportunity. He was also trying to carve out a movie career by the time of TAGL, so anything that would keep his mustachioed mug in the public eye was good publicity. And the fact that the IRS was garnisheeing 90% of his income meant that he couldn't be choosy and turn down any paying gigs.

The panelists were often as befuddled by the "game's" rules and format as the viewers. Recall Hans Conried's famous quip that when Zsa Zsa Gabor guested, "she became so confused that she forgot to get married."