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Retro: Boston - Monday, November 26, 1956

Source - TV Guide, New England Edition

2 – WGBH Boston (Educational)
05:15p Let’s Have a Story
05:30p There Go the Boats
06:00p Musical Forms – Subject: The Rondo
06:30p News
06:45p Backgrounds
07:00p Bulletin Board
07:15p Transatlantic Views
07:30p French Course
08:00p Primitive Technology
09:00p Books and Ideas
09:30p Images – art; subject: Paris

4 – WBZ Boston (NBC)
06:45a Daily Almanac
07:00a Today
08:55a Trouble With Father
09:25a Susie
09:55a News, Weather
10:00a Ding Dong School
10:30a The Price is Right (DEBUT) – Bill Cullen emcees this new audience-participation show. Four contestants are given the chance to bid for a piece of merchandise. The contestant whose final bid comes nearest to the retail price of the item wins it as a prize.
11:00a Home – Arlene Francis and Hugh Downs describe life in West Germany
12:00p News, Weather
12:15p Big Brother – Bob Emery
01:00p Movie “Bonnie Prince Charlie” 1949
02:30p Tennessee Ernie Ford
03:00p Matinee Theater “Cease from Anger” (color)
04:00p Queen for a Day
04:45p Popeye
05:00p Movie “Background to Danger” 1943
06:45p Wyatt Earp “Bat Masterson Wins His Star” ABC (delayed from Tuesday @ 8:30p)
07:15p News
07:30p Jungle Drums
07:45p Huntley-Brinkley Report
08:00p Sir Lancelot “Roman Wall”
08:30p Stanley – Stanley decides to change his personality after complaints from his girlfriend (played by Carol Burnett) and his boss
09:00p Can Do (DEBUT) – Robert Alda emcees this new audience-participation show, which will feature contestants and stunts with prizes up to $50,000. As a special feature in addition to regular contestants, celebrities will be called to take part.
09:30p Robert Montgomery Presents “Plainfield Teachers College” with Jerry Lester (color)
10:30p Man Called X
11:00p News
11:10p Masquerade Party ABC (delayed from Saturday @ 10p)
11:40p Tonight – Ernie Kovacs
12:30a Movie “This Was Paris” 1942

6 – WCSH Portland (NBC)
06:55a Farm Market News
07:00a Today
09:00a Kaleidoscope – women
09:30a Romper Room
10:00a Ding Dong School
10:30a The Price is Right (DEBUT)
11:00a Home
12:00p Tic Tac Dough
12:30p It Could Be You
01:00p Downeast Datelines
01:30p My Little Margie
02:00p Homemaking
02:30p Tennessee Ernie Ford
03:00p Matinee Theater “Cease from Anger” (color)
04:00p Queen for a Day
04:45p Modern Romances
05:00p I Married Joan
05:30p Fun House
06:00p Wild Bill Hickok
06:30p News
07:00p Youth Cavalcade
07:30p Nat “King” Cole
07:45p Huntley-Brinkley Report
08:00p Sir Lancelot “Roman Wall”
08:30p Stanley
09:00p Can Do (DEBUT)
09:30p Robert Montgomery Presents “Plainfield Teachers College” with Jerry Lester (color)
10:30p Du Pont Theater “Woman’s Work” ABC (delayed from Tuesday @ 9:30p)
11:00p News
11:15p Cartoon Theater

7 – WNAC Boston (CBS/ABC)
07:00a Good Morning CBS
08:00a Captain Kangaroo CBS
09:00a Morning Star Time
09:55a Les Paul and Mary Ford
10:00a Garry Moore CBS
10:30a Arthur Godfrey – Arthur, Janette Davis, the McGuire Sisters, Carmel Quinn, the Toppers, singers Len Dresslar and Tony Lovello and Tony Marvin are all down Florida for a two-week vacation. The show comes from Miami Beach CBS
11:30a Strike it Rich CBS
12:00p Valiant Lady CBS
12:15p Love of Life CBS
12:30p Search for Tomorrow CBS
12:45p The Guiding Light CBS
01:00p Dear Homemaker – Louise Morgan
01:30p As the World Turns CBS
02:00p Heart of the City – drama
02:30p House Party CBS
03:00p Big Payoff CBS
03:30p Bob Crosby – music CBS
04:00p Brighter Day CBS
04:15p The Secret Storm CBS
04:30p My Little Margie
05:00p Mickey Mouse Club ABC
06:00p Foreign Legionnaire
06:30p Rosemary Clooney
07:00p News, Weather
07:15p Patti Page – songs
07:30p Robin Hood “The Haunted Mill” CBS
08:00p Burns and Allen “Von Zell’s Raises” CBS
08:30p Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts – from Miami Beach CBS
09:00p I Love Lucy “Desert Island” CBS
09:30p December Bride “The Jockey” CBS
10:00p Studio One “The Landlady’s Daughter” CBS
11:00p News
11:05p Dangerous Assignment “The Bhandara Story”
11:35p Les Paul and Mary Ford
11:40p Movie “Black Beauty” 1946
12:55a Stars in the Night “Trouble With Youth”

8 – WNHC New Haven (ABC/CBS)
06:45a Sacred Heart
07:00a Cartoons
07:30a Film Short
08:00a Happy the Clown
08:30a Star and the Story
09:00a This Our Faith
09:30a University of the Air
10:00a My Little Margie
10:30a Movie “After Tonight”
11:55a Religious Programming
12:00p News – Thompson
12:15p Love of Life CBS
12:30p Search for Tomorrow CBS
12:45p The Guiding Light CBS
01:00p Movie “Jigsaw” 1949
02:30p House Party CBS
03:00p Live Copy – women
03:45p Cartoons
04:00p Bandstand – music
05:00p Mickey Mouse Club ABC
06:00p Stage 8 “Tomorrow Is the Avenger”
06:30p Sports, Weather
06:45p Douglas Edwards with the News CBS
07:00p Sheriff of Cochise
07:30p Bold Journey “Conquest of Mount McKinley” ABC
08:00p The Danny Thomas Show “Talented Kid” ABC
08:30p The Voice of Firestone – Nadine Connor, soprano and Eugene Conley, tenor ABC
09:00p I Love Lucy “Desert Island” CBS
09:30p Lawrence Welk’s Top Tunes and New Talent – Simon and Sullivan, accordion duo and the Four Keynotes, all-girl quartet ABC
10:30p Oh! Susanna (“The Gale Storm Show”) CBS (delayed from Saturday @9p)
11:00p News
11:15p Movie “Captain Black Jack” 1952

8 – WMTW Poland Springs (ABC/CBS)
12:10p News
12:15p Love of Life CBS
12:30p To Be Announced
01:00p CBS News – Walter Cronkite CBS
01:10p Stand Up and Be Counted – advice CBS
01:30p Rhythm Ranch – music
02:00p Our Miss Brooks CBS
02:30p Cooking Can be Fun
03:00p Afternoon Film Festival “Penny Princess” 1953 ABC
04:30p Commodore Bob – kids
05:00p Mickey Mouse Club ABC
06:00p News, Weather
06:15p Movie “The Black Pirate” 1939
07:15p Douglas Edwards with the News CBS
07:30p Bold Journey “Conquest of Mount McKinley” ABC
08:00p Crossroads “Thanksgiving Prayer”
08:30p The Voice of Firestone – Nadine Connor, soprano and Eugene Conley, tenor ABC
09:00p Bishop Sheen – religion ABC
09:30p Lawrence Welk’s Top Tunes and New Talent – Simon and Sullivan, accordion duo and the Four Keynotes, all-girl quartet ABC
10:30p Boxing from St. Nicholas Arena; Chris Schenkel reports (could this be DuMont?)
11:15p News, Sports and Weather

9 – WMUR Manchester (ABC/CBS)
02:30p Romper Room
03:00p Afternoon Film Festival “Penny Princess” 1953 ABC
04:30p Film Drama – western
05:00p Cartoons
05:30p News
05:35p Guest House – Kearney
06:30p News
06:45p Sports, Weather
07:00p Tempo Time – Squilace
07:15p John Daly and the News ABC
07:30p Bold Journey “Conquest of Mount McKinley” ABC
08:00p The Danny Thomas Show “Talented Kid” ABC
08:30p The Voice of Firestone – Nadine Connor, soprano and Eugene Conley, tenor ABC
09:00p Bishop Sheen – religion ABC
09:30p Lawrence Welk’s Top Tunes and New Talent – Simon and Sullivan, accordion duo and the Four Keynotes, all-girl quartet ABC
10:30p Boxing from St. Nicholas Arena; Chris Schenkel reports (could this be DuMont?)
11:15p News, Sports and Weather
11:35p Movie “Stepchild” 1947

10 – WJAR Providence (NBC/ABC)
06:50a N.E. Farm Report
07:00a Today NBC
09:00a Movie “Docks of New York” 1945
10:00a Ding Dong School NBC
10:30a Operation Schoolhouse
11:00a Home NBC
12:00p My Little Margie
12:30p It Could Be You NBC
01:00p Movie “Lady from Lisbon” 1944
02:20p Catholic Chapel – religion
02:30p Tennessee Ernie Ford NBC
03:00p Matinee Theater “Cease from Anger” (color) NBC
04:00p Queen for a Day NBC
04:45p Modern Romances NBC
05:00p Cartoons
05:25p Les Paul and Mary Ford
05:30p Laurel and Hardy
05:50p Safari
06:00p Superman “Flight to the North”
06:30p Looney Tunes
06:40p Les Paul and Mary Ford
06:45p News, Sports, Weather
07:00p Broken Arrow “Hermano’
07:30p Nat “King” Cole NBC
07:45p Huntley-Brinkley Report NBC
08:00p Sir Lancelot “Roman Wall” NBC
08:30p Stanley NBC
09:00p Can Do (DEBUT) NBC
09:30p Robert Montgomery Presents “Plainfield Teachers College” with Jerry Lester (color) NBC
10:30p Badge 714
11:00p News
11:15p Les Paul and Mary Ford
11:20p Movie “Margin for Error” 1943

12 – WPRO Providence (CBS/ABC)
07:00a Good Morning
08:00a Captain Kangaroo CBS
09:00a Romper Room
09:45a News – Virginia Stuart
10:00a Garry Moore CBS
10:30a Arthur Godfrey CBS
11:30a Strike it Rich CBS
12:00p Valiant Lady CBS
12:15p Love of Life CBS
12:30p Search for Tomorrow CBS
12:45p The Guiding Light CBS
01:00p Susie
01:30p As the World Turns CBS
02:00p Trouble with Father
02:30p House Party CBS
03:00p Big Payoff CBS
03:30p Bob Crosby CBS
04:00p Brighter Day CBS
04:15p The Secret Storm CBS
04:30p The Edge of Night CBS
05:00p Mickey Mouse Club ABC
06:00p Salty Brine’s Shack
06:30p News, Sports, Weather
06:45p Douglas Edwards with the News CBS
07:00p Stage 7 “Harrigan’s Ghost”
07:30p Robin Hood “The Haunted Mill” CBS
08:00p Burns and Allen “Von Zell’s Raises” CBS
08:30p Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts CBS
09:00p I Love Lucy “Desert Island” CBS
09:30p December Bride “The Jockey” CBS
10:00p Studio One “The Landlady’s Daughter” CBS
11:00p News
11:15p Racket Squad “The Long Shot”

13 – WGAN Portland (CBS/ABC)
07:00a Good Morning CBS
08:00a Captain Kangaroo CBS
09:00a Fun to Reduce
09:15a Points and Pointers
09:30a Star Performance – drama
10:00a Visitor – Drama (Garry Moore airs T/Th/F; Homer Belle (serial) airs W)
10:30a Arthur Godfrey (airs M/W/F; Film Short airs T/Th) CBS
11:30a Strike it Rich CBS
12:00p Valiant Lady CBS
12:15p Love of Life CBS
12:30p Search for Tomorrow CBS
12:45p The Guiding Light CBS
01:00p CBS News – Walter Cronkite CBS
01:10p Stand Up and Be Counted CBS
01:30p As the World Turns CBS
02:00p Our Miss Brooks CBS
02:30p House Party CBS
03:00p Big Payoff CBS
03:30p Bob Crosby CBS
04:00p Brighter Day CBS
04:15p The Secret Storm CBS
04:30p The Edge of Night CBS
05:00p Adventureland
06:30p News, Sports, Weather
06:45p Douglas Edwards with the News CBS
07:00p Dr. Christian
07:30p Robin Hood “The Haunted Mill” CBS
08:00p Burns and Allen “Von Zell’s Raises” CBS
08:30p Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts CBS
09:00p I Love Lucy “Desert Island” CBS
09:30p December Bride “The Jockey” CBS
10:00p Studio One “The Landlady’s Daughter” CBS
11:00p News
11:15p Movie “The Strange Woman” 1946

18 – WHCT Hartford (CBS)
06:55a News, Weather
07:00a Good Morning
08:00a Captain Kangaroo
09:00a Trouble with Father
09:30a Connecticut Living
10:00a Garry Moore
10:30a Arthur Godfrey
11:30a Strike it Rich
12:00p Valiant Lady
12:15p Cartoons
01:00p CBS News – Walter Cronkite
01:10p Stand Up and Be Counted
01:30p As the World Turns
02:00p Our Miss Brooks
02:30p Cartoons
03:00p Big Payoff
03:30p Bob Crosby
04:00p Brighter Day
04:15p The Secret Storm
04:30p The Edge of Night
05:00p Flippy the Clown
05:45p News, Weather
06:00p Movie “Three Steps North” 1951
07:15p Douglas Edwards with the News
07:30p Dateline Europe
08:00p Burns and Allen “Von Zell’s Raises”
08:30p Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts
09:00p Premier Theater (a CBS O&O not showing "I Love Lucy"?)
09:30p December Bride “The Jockey”
10:00p Studio One “The Landlady’s Daughter”
11:00p News
11:15p Movie “Beyond Prison Gates” 1939

22 – WWLP Springfield (NBC/ABC)
07:00a Today NBC
09:00a Romper Room
10:00a Ding Dong School NBC
10:30a The Price is Right (DEBUT) NBC
11:00a Home NBC
12:00p Tic Tac Dough NBC
12:30p It Could Be You NBC
01:00p At Home with Kitty
02:00p My Little Margie
02:30p Tennessee Ernie Ford NBC
03:00p Matinee Theater “Cease from Anger” (color) NBC
04:00p Queen for a Day NBC
04:45p Modern Romances NBC
05:00p Folk Music – Rod Barkley
06:00p Junior Weathercasters
06:05p Frontier Doctor
06:35p Sports
06:45p News
07:00p Weather – John Quill
07:05p Spotlight on Music
07:15p Highlights – Tom Colton
07:30p Nat “King” Cole NBC
07:45p Huntley-Brinkley Report NBC
08:00p This is Your Life NBC (delayed from Wednesday @ 10p)
08:30p The Voice of Firestone – Nadine Connor, soprano and Eugene Conley, tenor ABC
09:00p Hiram Holiday NBC (delayed from Wednesday @ 8p)
09:30p Robert Montgomery Presents “Plainfield Teachers College” with Jerry Lester (color) NBC
10:30p Science Fiction Theater “The World Below”
11:00p News
11:15p Ted Lockwood – music
11:30p Tonight – Ernie Kovacs NBC

30 – WKNB Hartford (NBC)
06:55a Farm Report
07:00a Today
09:00a Digest – women
10:00a Ding Dong School
10:30a The Price is Right (DEBUT)
11:00a Home
12:00p Tic Tac Dough
12:30p It Could Be You
01:00p Guest Corner – interview
01:30p Movie “The Daring Adventurer”
02:30p Tennessee Ernie Ford
03:00p Matinee Theater “Cease from Anger” (color)
04:00p Queen for a Day
04:45p Modern Romances
05:00p I Married Joan
05:30p Susie
06:00p Movie “Confidence Girl” 1952
07:15p News, Weather
07:30p Nat “King” Cole
07:45p Huntley-Brinkley Report
08:00p Sir Lancelot “Roman Wall”
08:30p Stanley
09:00p Can Do (DEBUT)
09:30p Robert Montgomery Presents “Plainfield Teachers College” with Jerry Lester (color)
10:30p Crunch and Des “A Matter of Faith” (syndicated series that starred Forrest Tucker)
11:00p News
11:15p Les Paul and Mary Ford
11:20p Strange Experiences
11:30p Tonight – Ernie Kovacs

55 – WHYN Springfield (CBS)
10:45a News, Music
11:00a Life with Elizabeth
11:30a Strike it Rich
12:00p Movie – To Be Announced
01:30p Arthur Godfrey (delayed from 10:30a)
02:30p House Party
03:00p Big Payoff
03:30p Through the Window
03:45p Valiant Lady (delayed from 12p)
04:00p Out West – Randy King
05:30p Little Rascals
06:00p Movie – to be announced
07:10p Weather
07:15p Douglas Edwards with the News
07:30p Sheriff of Cochise “Closed for Repairs”
08:00p Burns and Allen “Von Zell’s Raises”
08:30p Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts
09:00p Ford Theater (delayed from Wednesday @ 9:30p)
09:30p December Bride “The Jockey”
10:00p Studio One “The Landlady’s Daughter”
11:00p I Led Three Lives
 
Some thoughts...

--There are so few TV stations on the air in 1956 that one TV Guide covers most of New England, only skipping Burlington (part of Montreal edition) and Bangor (Did Maine have its own edition at this point or were there so few TVs in Bangor that it didn't pay?).
--Channel 5 in Boston, Channel 6 in New Bedford-Providence and Channel 3 in Hartford aren't on the air yet. Boston, Providence and Hartford still only had two commercial TV stations. Portland had three if you count WMTW 8 Poland Spring, although 8 and 13 sometimes ran the same CBS show if neither station opted for whatever ABC was offering.
--There's no Dumont station in New England. Were they gone by this point or did they simply have no New England affiliate? I thought WMUR 9 Manchester was affiliated with all four networks at the beginning?
--Notice Channel 55 runs Life with Elizabeth in the morning? Amazing that Betty White starred in that show in the 50s and is still on NBC today with Off Their Rockers.
--Arthur Godfrey is taking his show to Miami for a two-week vacation. Can you imagine the expense of doing that? Of course, there was no videotape in those days, no chance to run two weeks of "Best of Godfrey."
--Funny to see Price Is Right debuting on this date. It's still on the air to this day, despite several changes in network (now CBS), length (now 60 min.) and format (no more guest panel). And today's host, Drew Carey, wouldn't be born for another few years.
--The NBC stations in Portland and Providence DON'T run the Tonight Show? Geez, if NBC offers you a live late night talk/variety show, go with it! WCSH 6 ends the night with Cartoon Theater instead of Tonight? And WJAR 10 runs a movie? Why not run those things at 1am and carry Tonight?
 
MCarney said:
8 – WMTW Poland Springs (ABC/CBS)
10:30p Boxing from St. Nicholas Arena; Chris Schenkel reports (could this be DuMont?)

9 – WMUR Manchester (ABC/CBS)
10:30p Boxing from St. Nicholas Arena; Chris Schenkel reports (could this be DuMont?)

Not officially. The Dumont network shut down on 8/6/56, with Boxing from St. Nicholas Arena continuing as a local program on WABD New York for another year or so. They must have syndicated it to a few other stations and may have announced that it was a Dumont presentation, but the network itself had already died.

I wonder if it was also shown on sister-station WTTG Washington after the network shut down.
 
Re: the "Tonight" show - it wasn't shown on WBZ or WJAR for several years. (A lot of affiliates dropped it during the "Tonight! America After Dark" era in 1957.) WHDH picked up the show from their sign-on in November 1957 until September 1966, and WPRO carried it in Providence until Memorial Day 1960. WBZ usually aired Westinghouse syndicated programming (Steve Allen, Merv Griffin, "P.M. East") during those years.

As for Godfrey, it's hard for us to conceptualize how much he ruled the airwaves back in the 50's. (The only present personality who comes even close would be Oprah Winfrey, and even that's not the same.) My mother tells me stories about her grandmother, an Italian immigrant who couldn't speak much English, being transfixed by Godfrey's shows. So if he wanted to go to Miami Beach for two weeks, by golly CBS brought the whole show down there! And the sponsors were on board with it.
 
Steve Allen was the original host of "The Tonight Show", beginning in July of 1953 (when the show was only locally telecast on NBC's flagship station in New York; going network on September 27th, 1954) through January of 1957.

However, in June of 1956, NBC gave Allen a weekly prime-time comedy/variety show on Sunday nights (head-to-head against "The Ed Sullivan Show" on CBS). When that happened, Allen continued to host "Tonight" on Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays, but gave up the Monday and Tuesday editions.

After some weeks of guest hosts on Mondays and Tuesdays, Ernie Kovacs (with his own regulars) became the regular Monday/Tuesday host in the Fall of 1956.

The following January, NBC ordered Allen off of "Tonight" to concentrate full-time on the Sunday-night show. In what might have been a boneheaded move, the network also dumped Kovacs (I wonder how the history of late-night TV would have been like if Kovacs had become the full-time, five-nights-a-week host of "Tonight" in early 1957), replacing both Allen and Kovacs with something called "Tonight!: America After Dark", which according to critics of the era (I'm too young to have seen it and I haven't ever found any clips of it on You Tube) was the worst late-night show in TV history up to that time, a status it probably still "enjoys".
 
>>>replacing both Allen and Kovacs with something called "Tonight!: America After Dark", which according to critics of the era (I'm too young to have seen it and I haven't ever found any clips of it on You Tube) was the worst late-night show in TV history up to that time, a status it probably still "enjoys".<<<

So the whole replacing Leno with Conan at 11:30, then putting Leno on 5 nights a week at 10pm, then replacing Conan with Leno at 11:30 is not unique. NBC tampered with a winning formula with America After Dark.

Who knows why Steve Allen couldn't compete with Ed Sullivan in a Sunday night variety show? Did Sullivan have better guests? Did Americans prefer Sullivan's dead-pan introductions to Allen, who probably felt he had to sing, play the piano and banter with his guests? And I'm sure it would have been an interesting chapter of Tonight Show history if Kovacs had gotten the show five-nights-a-week when Allen left to concentrate on the Sunday night show.
 
Gregg asked: said:
Who knows why Steve Allen couldn't compete with Ed Sullivan in a Sunday night variety show? Did Sullivan have better guests? Did Americans prefer Sullivan's dead-pan introductions to Allen, who probably felt he had to sing, play the piano and banter with his guests?

Actually, Steve Allen's Sunday-night show competed against Ed Sullivan for three full years and although seldom beating Sullivan in the ratings, it was a strong second in that timeslot for most of that period.

It was moved to Mondays for it's final (1959/60) season.
 
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