Retro: Eastern Virginia Sunday, June 9, 1968

[bpatrick]

From the next-to-last Eastern Virginia Edition of TV Guide
I would see before I started buying them on Ebay; a week
hence I would be living in Greenville, SC.

WTAR (WTKR) Ch. 3 Norfolk (CBS)

8 AM Breakthru
8:30 This Is The Life
9 AM Tom And Jerry
9:30 Underdog
10 AM Lamp Unto My Feet
10:30 House Of Worship (pre-empts "Look Up And Live")
11 AM Camera Three
11:30 Face The Nation (guest is Vice President Hubert Humphrey,
now the front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination
after the assassination of RFK)
12 N Big Picture
12:30 77 Sunset Strip
1:30 Movie: "The Gene Krupa Story"
3:15 Sports (local, with Ch. 3 sports director Ed Hughes)
3:30 NASL Soccer: Manchester City vs. Clippers in an exhibition game
in Oakland (does anybody know if the Clippers were the Oakland
or Bay Area team?)
5:30 Amateur Hour (singers Ronald Potvin, the Mylers, and the Chord
Swipers; singer-banjo player Frank Scinta; dancer Max Cowen;
trumpeter Albert Schlisserman; April Rider, dog act; time approximate)
6 PM 21st Century ("From Cradle To Classroom" concludes with a look at
intensive educational programs for children under four.)
6:30 News, Weather, Sports
7 PM Lassie
7:30 Gentle Ben
8 PM Ed Sullivan (Ed's 20th-anniversary show with Pearl Bailey, Jackie
Mason, Soupy Sales, Charlie Manna, Earl Wilson Jr., the singing
Kane Triplets, and congratulatory messages from a host of stars)
9 PM Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour (Carol Burnett, the Baja Marimba Band)
10 PM Mission: Impossible
11 PM News, Weather, Sports
11:15 CBS News (Harry Reasoner)
11:30 Movie: "Pia Of Ptolomy"

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

8 AM Rex Humbard
9 AM Gospel Hour (don't know if this is Jerry Falwell's "Old Time
Gospel Hour")
9:30 Gospel Singing Jubilee (the Speer Family, the Florida Boys,
the Goodman Family)
10:30 Gospel Time With The Ross Family
11 AM Church Service: Greene Memorial Methodist Church, Roanoke
12 N Bugs Bunny (ABC, delay from 10:30 AM, not listed in color)
12:30 Discovery '68: "Hawaii--Land Of Volcanoes" (ABC, delay from 11:30 AM,
not listed in color)
1 PM Insight
1:30 Issues And Answers (ABC)
2 PM Craig Breedlove (profile of the driver of the jet-like car the Spirit
of America--this was supposed to have been a delay from Sat 4
PM on ABC but I suspect it was rescheduled due to coverage of
RFK's funeral and burial the previous day)
3 PM Felony Squad (ABC, delay from Mon 9 PM)
3:30 NASL Soccer: Clippers-Manchester City (CBS)
5:30 Frank McGee Report (world news and a report on Ohio's prison reform
program, NBC, time approximate)
6 PM GE College Bowl (Arkansas State vs. the winner of Brandeis University-
Wayne (MI) State University, final show of the season, NBC)
6:30 Flipper (NBC)
7 PM Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea (ABC)
8 PM The FBI (ABC)
9 PM ABC Movie: "Flame Over India"
11:30 ABC News (Keith McBee)
sign off 11:45 PM

WTVR Ch. 6 Richmond (CBS)

8 AM Pentecostal Quartet
8:15 Reverend Synan
8:30 Tom And Jerry (delay from 9 AM)
9 AM Dr. Paul Uhrig
9:15 Living Word
9:30 Underdog
10 AM Lamp Unto My Feet
10:30 Look Up And Live
11 AM Camera Three
11:30 Face The Nation
12 N Viewpoint
12:30 Amateur Hour (singers Patricia Clune, Hugh Powell,
Carolyn Starry, and the New Generation; drummer
Billy Stella; Robert Palmer and Poco Spurs, trick
horse act; baton twirler Natalie Brown, delay from
5:30 PM)
1 PM Young People's Concert (Leonard Bernstein and the
New York Philharmonic present an all-Beethoven
concert, don't know how much delay)
2 PM Outdoorsman (Joe Foss hunts wild goats on Catalina
Island)
2:30 Movie: "The Kettles On Old McDonald's Farm" (watch for
Parker Fennelly, voice of Pepperidge Farm in the '60s,
in this one from '57)
4 PM Movie: "The Grass Is Greener"
6 PM 21st Century
6:30 Death Valley Days
7 PM Lassie
7:30 Gentle Ben
8 PM Ed Sullivan
9 PM Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour
10 PM Mission: Impossible
11 PM CBS News
11:15 News, Weather, Sports
11:30 Movie: "Ten Tall Men"

WXEX (WRIC) Ch. 8 Petersburg-Richmond (ABC)

7 AM Faith For Today
7:30 This Is The Life
8 AM Gospel Singing Jubilee
9 AM Allen Revival Hour
9:30 Milton The Monster
10 AM Linus The Lionhearted
10:30 Bugs Bunny
11 AM Bullwinkle
11:30 Discovery '68
12 N Championship Bowling
1 PM Film Short
1:15 Film Short (first is in color, this one's in b&w)
1:30 Issues And Answers
2 PM Have Gun, Will Travel
2:30 Wide World Of Sports (Champions Track Meet
from San Diego, demolition derby, don't know how
much delay--Ch. 8 may have been airing a golf
tournament the day this aired in pattern--but is
listed in b&w)
4 PM The Actor (Alec Guinness narrates a special filmed
in London, in which notable English actors offer
impressions about their work.)
5 PM Peter Gunn
5:30 Porter Wagoner (guest: Del Reeves)
6 PM Country Music Jubilee
7 PM Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea
8 PM The FBI
9 PM ABC Movie: "Flame Over India"
11:30 ABC News
11:45 Movie: "Wolf Larsen" (watch for Peter Graves in this
one from '58)

WAVY Ch. 10 Norfolk (NBC)

7:30 Sacred Heart
7:45 Christopher Program
8 AM Sportsmanlike Driving
8:30 Glory Road
9 AM Faith For Today
9:30 Herald Of Truth
10 AM This Is The Answer
10:30 Light Unto My Path
11 AM Church Service
11:30 Live And Learn
12 N Topic
12:30 Insight (watch for Jack Klugman, Werner Klemperer,
and Dick "Mr. Whipple" Wilson in the story of a man
imprisoned by the Nazis who gives his life to save
another man)
1 PM Meet The Press (Gov. Nelson Rockefeller, Republican
candidate for President--who would lose his bid to
Richard Nixon)
1:30 Catholic Hour ("The Changing Church," Part 6 of 6,
dealing primarily with the Church's interaction with
lay society)
2 PM Burke's Law
3 PM Greatest Show On Earth
4 PM Film Feature
5 PM The War This Week
5:30 Frank McGee Report
6 PM GE College Bowl
6:30 Flipper
7 PM Wild Kingdom
7:30 Walt Disney's Wonderful World Of Color (new Disneyland
attractions: Pirates of the Caribbean, an updated Tomorrowland,
nighttime activities at the park)
8:30 Mothers-In-Law (guest Larry Storch is holding the Hubbards and
Buells hostage after a bank robbery)
9 PM Bonanza
10 PM High Chaparral
11 PM News, Weather, Sports
11:30 Sunday Tonight Show (Alan King, Della Reese, the Rhodes
Brothers)
1 AM News

WRVA (WWBT) Ch. 12 Richmond (NBC)

6:30 The Answer
7 AM Gospel Hour
8 AM Rex Humbard
9 AM Gospel Hour
9:30 Light Unto My Path
10 AM Revival Fires
10:30 Insight
11 AM Church Service
12 N Roller Derby
1 PM Meet The Press
1:30 Catholic Hour
2 PM 12 Star Report
2:30 Film: 1967 auto races
3:30 Open For Business
4 PM Flipper (delay from 6:30 PM)
4:30 Movie: "Son Of Hercules In The Land Of
Fire"
6 PM GE College Bowl
6:30 Hazel
7 PM Wild Kingdom
7:30 Walt Disney's Wonderful World Of Color
8:30 Mothers-In-Law
9 PM Bonanza
10 PM High Chaparral
11 PM News, Weather, Sports
11:30 Sunday Tonight Show

WVEC Ch. 13 Norfolk (ABC)

7 AM Christopher Program
7:30 Milton The Monster (delay from 9:30 AM)
8 AM Gospel Hour
8:30 Movie: "Born For Trouble"
10 AM Linus The Lionhearted
10:30 Bugs Bunny
11 AM Bullwinkle
11:30 Discovery '68
12 N Roller Derby (an institution in Hampton Roads--
I remember once when the Bay Area Bombers
came to Norfolk, Joanie Weston singlehandedly
sold out the arena)
1 PM Conversation (Frank Donaldson, Ch. 13 news anchor
not related to Sam Donaldson)
1:30 Issues And Answers
2 PM Sea Hunt
2:30 Movie: "Riders To The Stars"
4 PM Bronco
5 PM Movie: "Paris Does Strange Things"
7 PM Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea
8 PM The FBI
9 PM ABC Movie: "Flame Over India"
11:30 ABC News
11:45 News (Howard Huntley, AFAIK no relation to Chet--
NOTE: Chs. 3 (Harrisonburg), 8, and 13 had not
begun carrying local programs in color, except for
"Bungles And His Friends" on Ch. 13. Chs. 8 and 13
would switch to color in the fall; Ch. 3 would be several
more years.)
11:55 Movie: "The Iron Mistress"

WHRO Ch. 15 Norfolk and WCVE Ch. 23 Richmond (NET)
are off air on Sunday.

 

[Gregg]

It's interesting to look at affilates' Sunday morning line ups. They sign on so late in many cases. Didn't any of them think of running cartoons for kids? At least ABC did 90 minutes of cartoons on the network, I guess as an alternative to CBS and NBC's serious programming. And I see WTVR Richmond ran a 30 min. Underdog in the middle of their Sunday morning religion shows. At least in a big city like NY or LA, the independent stations ran kids shows on weekend mornings.

And nobody but nobody thought about morning news programs. Now, of course, the three major networks have their own morning news shows and most affiliates also do weekend morning news.

I guess stations still had trouble in 1968 filling up the time. Most of the CBS stations ran CBS's non-revenue Sunday morning ethics and religion programs: Look Up and Live, Lamp Unto My Feet and Camera Three. I don't think CBS twisted any arms to get these shows on. After all, CBS didn't make any money on them either. But it was a loss leader for the network, showing they had a commitment to religion Sunday mornings as they raked in the dollars in prime time. Affiliates simply ran these soft-sell religion shows to fill time. Same thing with Insight and This Is The Life, two syndicated drama programs with religious lessons to be learned. And Davey & Golieth, a puppet show we all watched as kids also with a religious theme. No money changed hands. The station got a free show and the religious group got its message out by providing an entertaining program.

You can see a few stations were starting to mix paid religion programs in with the free ones. Rex Humbard is on several stations listed here. Jerry Falwell and Oral Roberts were also either started or soon to start by then. Instead of a subtle message mixed in with a drama or puppet show, they did fire and brimstone preaching, begged for money and were willing to pay the stations for the time. I'd like to know if the stations by now were charging local churches for running their Sunday morning services or masses? Or did the church pay the crew but the station gave them the time for free?


Gregg
[email protected]

 

[Marckd]

Actually CBS also ran an hour of Sunday Morning Cartoons - reruns of recently canceled Saturday Morning Cartoons from the late 60's until 1982 and Captain Kangaroo from 1982 to 1984. This hour was run on all the O & O stations. Very few affiliates ran that hour from CBS Sunday Mornings. Tom & Jerry and Underdog in 1969 were both CBS Network offerings. But this hour was also widley preempted.

 

[azumanga]

I guess stations still had trouble in 1968 filling up the time. Most of the CBS stations ran CBS's non-revenue Sunday morning ethics and religion programs: Look Up and Live, Lamp Unto My Feet and Camera Three. I don't think CBS twisted any arms to get these shows on. After all, CBS didn't make any money on them either. But it was a loss leader for the network, showing they had a commitment to religion Sunday mornings as they raked in the dollars in prime time. Affiliates simply ran these soft-sell religion shows to fill time.

Also at the time, TV stations were required to carry a certain number of hours of public affairs programming a week, and these shows helped fill that quota.

Of course, by the 1970s, more and more stations bumped these shows in favor of local religious shows, or even a movie or syndicated reruns, leading to CBS to drop these shows in favor of the long-running "Sunday Morning" in 1979. CBS, however, also had a replacement religious series, "For Our Times", which ran through the mid-1980s, though that program did not have much clearance as "Sunday Morning".