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Retro: "Nawthun Al-bammer," Friday, February 23, 1968 (daytime)

Well, sorry, folks, about the delay in the second and third installments of my Christmas gift. The holidays are times of relaxation and whatnot for yours truly, and work becomes a four-letter word often. Anyways, you get my point.

We go back 45 years to another geographically huge Southern edition of TVG, Northern Alabama. Enjoy as you recover from all your hangovers.



TV Guide, Northern Alabama edition--cover, Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., William Reynolds ("The FBI")

NOTE: Channels in parentheses were originally designated by black bullets; those in brackets by white.

Birmingham, Alabama:
[6] WBRC (ABC; now FOX affiliate on digital 50; PSIP 6)
[10] WBIQ (NET)--translator of Alabama Educational (Public) Television (now PBS affiliate on digital 10; PSIP same)
[13] WAPI ("cherry-picked" both CBS and NBC; now WVTM, sole NBC affiliate, on digital 13; PSIP same)
[42] WBMG (took WAPI rejects; now WIAT, sole CBS affiliate, on digital 30; PSIP 42)

Cheaha State Park, Alabama:
[7] WCIQ (NET)--translator of Alabama Educational (Public) Television (now PBS affiliate on digital 7; PSIP same)

Florence, Alabama:
(15) WOWL (NBC primary, CBS secondary; now WHDF, CW affiliate serving entire Huntsville-Decatur-Florence market, on digital 14; PSIP 15)

Tuscaloosa, Alabama:
[33] WCFT (same network programming as WBMG above; now ABC affiliate on digital 33; PSIP same)

Decatur, Alabama:
(23) WMSL (NBC; now WAFF, NBC affiliate located in Huntsville, on digital 48; PSIP same)

Huntsville, Alabama:
(19) WHNT (CBS; now digital 19; PSIP same)
(25) WHIQ (NET)--translator of Alabama Educational (Public) Television (now PBS affiliate on digital 24; PSIP 25)
(31) WAAY (NBC; now ABC affiliate on digital 32; PSIP 31)

Nashville, Tennessee:
(4) WSM (NBC; now WSMV on digital 10; PSIP 4)
(5) WLAC (CBS; now WTVF on digital 25; PSIP 5)
(8) WSIX (ABC; now WKRN on digital 27; PSIP 2)

Columbus, Mississippi:
[4] WCBI (CBS primary, ABC secondary; now sole CBS affiliate on digital 35; PSIP 4)


MORNING
4:30
[6] World Around Us

5:00
[6] Church in the Home

5:30
[6] Devotional--local

5:35
[6] Market Report--agricultural, probably, not stock (though perhaps both)

5:45
(5) Farm News--local

5:50
[6] Country Boy Eddie--local country music show

6:00
(4) Bobby Lord--Grand Ole Opry star hosts hour of live country music and variety
(5) Country Junction--probably the same as WSM above, with more of a local rather than "big-time" flavor
(8) Family Theater
[13] Film Feature
(19) Crossroads 19--local; possibly country music show

6:30
(8) Rifleman
[13] Stoneman Family--syndicated country music show
(15) Singing Apples--gospel music family act
(19) CBS Morning News--Joseph Benti, anchor
(31) Cartoons

6:55
[4] WCBI News (b&w)
[13] WAPI News (color)
(15) WOWL News (b&w)
(19) WHNT News (b&w)

7:00
(4) [13] (15) (23) (31) Today--Hugh Downs and Barbara Walters on location in Portugal (WAPI carried first hour only)
[6] Morning Show--WBRC institution with Tom York and a lady sidekick
(8) Bozo--me thinks Jim Kent played the beloved clown in Nashville (Tim Hollis' book Hi, There, Boys and Girls! says for certain--this poster has not read it yet)

7:05
[4] CBS Morning News

7:15
(19) Mornin' Folks--as in "Good Morning, Folks"--Grady Reeves, host

7:30
[4] WCBI Weather
(19) Kiddie Korner--described as "cartoons," but there may have been a live in-studio host also

7:35
[4] Morning Show--described as "variety," probably country music-based

7:45
(5) WLAC News (color)

7:55
(19) WHNT Weather

8:00
[4] (5) (19) [42] Captain Kangaroo
[13] Romper Room--"Miss Jane," according to Hollis' Birmingham Broadcasting book

8:25
[6] Children's Doctor (ABC tape delay from previous day or week)

8:30
[6] Love of Life (CBS daytime show that both WAPI and WBMG turned down)
[7] [10] (25) Arithmetic I (Alabama ETV in-school programs were listed--this is fairly unusual)
[13] Popeye--with "Cousin Cliff" Holman, who had in-studio audience of kiddies and did magical tricks

8:45
[7] [10] (25) Math VI

8:55
[6] WBRC News--Harry Mabry (color)

9:00
[4] (19) [42] Candid Camera--probably CBS daytime rerun
(4) [13] (15) (23) Snap Judgment--Goodson-Todman game hosted by Ed McMahon
(5) Mike Douglas--strangely appropriate for Nashville: his guests included country stars Buck Owens and Skeeter Davis (60-minute version)
[6] Dating Game (ABC tape delay)
(8) Romper Room
(31) Coffee Break--local women's show, hosted by Maury Farrell

9:05
[7] [10] (25) Arithmetic I

9:20
[7] [10] (25) Science VIII

9:25
(4) [13] (15) (23) (31) NBC News--Nancy Dickerson (she was one of only a few female newscasters in that day and time)

9:30
[4] (19) [42] Beverly Hillbillies--CBS daytime rerun
(4) [13] (15) (23) (31) Concentration--"Can of sardines does not match. The board goes back."
[6] Secret Storm (another CBS reject from the "cherry-picking" arrangement between WAPI and WBMG--the pits were apparently too big--!!!)

9:50
[7] [10] (25) Joy in Reading (bet the kids didn't think so; they would've been more interested in something like "The Joy of Recess"--!!!!)

9:55
(8) Children's Doctor

10:00
[4] (5) (19) [42] Andy Griffith--Andy and Aunt Bee try to console a heartbroken young lady
(4) [13] (15) (23) (31) Personality--Larry Blyden made his game-show debut on this light-weight Bob Stewart entry, basically a celeb gabfest
[6] Fugitive (ABC tape delay, apparently from previous week)
(8) Pick-a-Show--described as game show; perhaps syndicated?

10:15
[7] [10] (25) World Geography

10:25
(8) ABC News--Marlene Sanders (like Dickerson, she too)

10:30
[4] (5) (19) [42] Dick Van Dyke--CBS daytime rerun
(4) [13] (15) (23) (31) Hollywood Squares--not sure if Paul Lynde had begun appearing all the time by this point
(8) How's Your Mother-in-Law?--one of Chuck Barris' most egregious flops; host Wink Martindale quipped that the show had been cancelled "after 13 minutes" of the first airing, ensuring a short run

10:45
[7] [10] (25) Elementary Art

11:00
[4] (5) (19) Love of Life
(4) [13] (15) (23) (31) Jeopardy--original Art Fleming version, for you young whippersnappers out there (Alex Trebek was still hosting the It's Academic Canadian rip-off Reach for the Top in 1968)
[6] (8) Bewitched--ABC daytime rerun
[42] Star Performance--dunno about this one, described as "drama"

11:15
[7] [10] (25) American Literature

11:25
[4] (5) (19) CBS News--Joseph Benti

11:30
[4] (5) [13] (19) Search for Tomorrow--in September, this and "Guiding Light" at 11:45, the final two remaining 15-minute soaps, would finally expand to the 30-minute norm
(4) (15) (23) (31) [42] Eye Guess--Bill Cullen in what was probably the easiest-going game show on daytime then (almost never a serious moment sometimes, judging from the rare kinescopes still extant)
[6] Mike Douglas--Bobby Darin among the guests (60-minute version)
(8) Treasure Isle--one of the first elaborately designed game shows; taped at a lagoon in Florida and hosted by erstwhile TV voiceover artist John Bartholomew Tucker

11:45
[4] (5) [13] (19) Guiding Light
[7] [10] (25) Arithmetic III

11:55
(4) (15) (23) (31) [42] NBC News--Edwin Newman

AFTERNOON
12:00
[4] WCBI News (b&w)
(4) Noon Show--local variety show hosted by WSM newsman Jud Collins; unlike seemingly all other Nashville-based productions, this featured big-band music instead of country (thus aiming it primarily at a city audience)
(5) WLAC News (color)
[7] [10] (25) Sing Hi--Sing Lo (whatever ...)
(8) Fugitive--ABC daytime rerun, believe it or not
[13] WAPI News (color)
(15) Midday Devotion--local church broadcast (probably Baptist)
(19) WHNT News--Dave Daughtry, anchor (b&w)
(23) Town and Country--local women's show, hosted by LeClaire Dewey
(31) Newlywed Game (ABC tape delay; WAAY had until very recently been an ABC affil)
[33] Around Town--local women's/variety show
[42] Man and the Challenge--rerun of one-season NBC sci-fi show from the 1959-60 season

12:05
(5) Singing Convention--local Southern Gospel music show

12:10
(19) Farm Market Report--local

12:15
[4] Bulletin--local public affairs
[7] [10] (25) Music Time I
[13] Mid-Day--local women's show hosted by WAPI "weather girl" Rosemary Lucas
(15) Televisit with the Bible--local Churches of Christ religious program
(19) Woman's Page--local; hosted by Barbara Commisso
(23) WMSL News--Jerry Binkley, anchor (b&w)

12:25
[4] Chiropractics
(19) WHNT Weather

12:30
[4] (5) [13] (15) (19) As the World Turns--daytime's top-rated show then
[6] Treasure Isle (ABC tape delay)
(23) (31) [33] [42] Let's Make a Deal--who woulda thought, 45 years later, this show would still be kicking around American TV? Not if you believed the TV critics, who almost to a man panned this daytime carnival

12:45
[7] [10] (25) Let's Learn More (so said the teacher ... !!!)

1:00
[4] (5) [13] (19) Love Is a Many Splendored Thing--never as successful as the 1955 Bill Holden flick, this sudser ran until 1973
(4) (15) (23) (31) [33] [42] Days of Our Lives--"Like the sands through the hourglass ..."
[6] (8) Newlywed Game

1:15
[7] [10] (25) Music Time II

1:30
[4] (5) [13] (19) House Party--Art Linkletter's guest: singer Anna Maria Alberghetti
(4) (25) (23) (31) [33] [42] Doctors--Colgate-Palmolive's main attempt to make a dent in the near monopoly held by Procter and Gamble on the daytime serial trade; C-P never became a major player, though
[6] (8) Baby Game--yes, it was exactly as the title said; married couples bet on how well their little tikes performed certain stunts (e.g., crawling toward a finish line); contrary to rumor, this was NOT a Chuck Barris knock-off of "Newlywed Game" (now, we wonder if one of the games involved whose brat's diaper was the stinkiest--!!!!!!!)

1:45
[7] [10] (25) Handwriting--nope, there wasn't an electronic pen available for the on-screen teacher to evaluate the pupils' performance; that might have been an inspiration for interactivity research, who knows?

1:55
[6] WBRC News--Harry Mabry (color)
(8) Mid-South Happening--local (perhaps WSIX News)

2:00
[4] (5) (19) [33] [42] To Tell the Truth--despite prime-time cancellation the previous year, Bud Collyer and the usual suspects of Peggy Cass, Kitty Carlisle, and either Orson Bean or Tom Poston soldiered on looking for the real so-and-sos (this was recorded at the old CBS NYC facility on West 54th Street; a decade later, it would become the infamous Studio 54 club)
(4) [13] (15) (23) (31) Another World--"Join us each weekday at this time for the continuing story of ..."
[6] (8) General Hospital--in 2013, show will commemorate its 50th anniversary (in April)

2:15
[7] [10] (25) U.S. Diplomatic History--get a load of the host/teacher's name: "John Pancake" (boy, didn't the kids love that--!!!!!)

2:25
[4] (5) (19) [33] [42] CBS News--Douglas Edwards

2:30
[4] (5) (19) [33] [42] Edge of Night--part traditional soap, part Perry Mason
(4) [13] (15) (23) (31) You Don't Say!
[6] (8) Dark Shadows--ABC didn't make a particularly good decision to move this cult show to this timeslot in Spring 1967; would return to 3 p.m. Central, its original home, in the Summer

2:45
[7] [10] (25) Sing Hi--Sing Lo (last in-school program for the day)

3:00
[4] (5) (19) Secret Storm
(4) [13] (15) (23) (31) Match Game
[6] Young People's Word--local newscast for kids, hosted by WBRC fixture Pat Gray, who was then the station's "weather girl"
[7] [10] (25) Concert Hall--no information given about performance or performers; possibly local production
(8) Dating Game--ABC bumped "Dark Shadows" in order to give this a shot at the teenage audience; turns out, their mothers were more interested, despite the contestants being closer in age to them
[33] Loretta Young--the heroine plays a woman trying to keep her late father's farm from foreclosure
[42] Topper--1950s sitcom rerun

3:05
[6] Huck and Yogi--that's Huckleberry Hound, of course (probably other Hanna-Barbera cartoons in the mix, since WBRC owner Taft Broadcasting by then owned H-B also)

3:25
(4) (15) (23) (31) NBC News--Floyd Kalber (broadcast from Chicago, where Kalber helmed NBC O&O WMAQ's nightly newscast)
[13] Movie--"Bullet for a Badman," 1964 (Audie Murphy and Darren McGavin flick)

3:30
[4] Dark Shadows (ABC tape delay)
(4) Flintstones
(5) Gilligan's Island
[6] Movie--"The Undead," 1957
[7] [10] (25) Today's Home--"Large Home Equipment"
(8) Hazel--early '60s sitcom rerun
(15) Fugitive (ABC tape delay)
(19) Cartoon Carnival--unknown if there was still local host
(23) Film Feature--no title given
(31) Funtime--local children's show
[33] Movie--"The Crime Against Joe," 1956
[42] Science Fiction Theater--syndicated rerun of 1950s anthology series

4:00
[4] George of the Jungle (ABC Saturday morning cartoon tape delay; WCBI ran others at this time slot on the other weekdays in "checkerboard" pattern)
(4) Let's Make a Deal (NBC tape delay)
(5) Movie--"Return of the Fly," 1959
[7] [10] (25) Education Report
(8) Mister Ed--"The Lie Detector"
(19) Dennis the Menace--rerun of 1959-63 CBS sitcom
(23) Benny Carle--local children's show; Carle got his start in his hometown of Birmingham on WAPI and WBRC before coming to North Alabama in the mid-Sixties
[42] Rocky and His Friends--of the Jay Ward persuasion, that is

4:20
(31) Science Fiction Theater--presumably different episode from WBMG at 3:30 p.m.

4:30
[4] Fun Time--local children's show hosted by Robert "Uncle Bunky" Williams (for background, see this article: http://packet-media.com/2012/03/08/robert-uncle-bunky-williams/)
(4) Ralph Emery--phenomenally popular country music DJ (on legendary sister clear-channel AM station) hosts afternoon version of Bobby Lord's morning show (a/k/a "16th Avenue South")
[7] [10] (25) Tip-Off--about basketball, but unsure if local or NET
(8) Truth or Consequences--syndicated Bob Barker version; noted as the first successful first-run syndie game (years before PTAR caused the boom in them in 1971)
(15) Captain Jack--local children's show; probably hosted by Jack Worley, a WOWL fixture then
(19) Mister Ed
[42] Dennis the Menace

4:50
(31) Route 66--Luther Adler played a recently-sprung mobster trying to make it in free society again while dodging his old enemies

5:00
[4] Dating Game (ABC tape delay)
[6] I Love Lucy--Edward Everett Horton guest-starred
[7] [10] (25) What's New--NET kids' show oriented toward nature, science and history; went by the wayside when "Sesame Street" and other mod-type shows on PBS got going in the early Seventies
(8) WSIX News (color)
[13] WAPI News (color)
(19) Rifleman
[42] Sergeant Jack--former WSGN radio DJ Neal Miller portrayed a sheriff's deputy on this kids' show, one of the last to start up on TV anywhere (ran until 1976 on weekdays; Dick Tracy and UPA cartoons were featured)

5:15
(23) Film Short--title not given

5:25
(4) WSM Weather
(5) WLAC Weather

5:30
[4] (5) (19) [33] [42] CBS Evening News--Harry Reasoner (apparently Cronkite on vacation or assignment)
(4) [13] Huntley-Brinkley Report
[6] WBRC World News (sort of a newsreel, with anchor Joe Langston narrating; color)
[7] [10] (25) Improve Your Reading--one tip: watch less TV (!!!!!)
(8) ABC News--Bob Young (didn't last the year; in May, Frank Reynolds took over)
(15) WOWL News (b&w)
(23) WMSL News (b&w)

5:45
[6] Alabama Newsreel--WBRC coverage of local news, with probably Harry Mabry anchoring (color)
(23) Grace Baptist Church--local church broadcast

5:50
(31) WAAY News (b&w)


Due to space limitations per post, evening listings to follow.
 
Mike Stroud said:
Birmingham, Alabama:
[42] WBMG (took WAPI rejects; now WIAT, sole CBS affiliate, on digital 30; PSIP 42)

Tuscaloosa, Alabama:
[33] WCFT (same network programming as WBMG above; now ABC affiliate on digital 33; PSIP same)

Huntsville, Alabama:
(19) WHNT (CBS; now digital 19; PSIP same)

Nashville, Tennessee:
(5) WLAC (CBS; now WTVF on digital 25; PSIP 5)

Columbus, Mississippi:
[4] WCBI (CBS primary, ABC secondary; now sole CBS affiliate on digital 35; PSIP 4)


5:30
[4] (5) (19) [33] [42] CBS Evening News--Harry Reasoner (apparently Cronkite on vacation or assignment)
...indeed, Walter was on assignment that week -- it was when he travelled back to South Vietnam to see how the war against Vietnam was really going. On the CBS News Special: Report from Vietnam ~ Who, What, When, Where, Why?, aired the following Tuesday night, Cronkite closed the broadcast with the words, "To say that we are closer to victory today is to believe, in the face of the evidence, the optimists who have been wrong in the past. To suggest we are on the edge of defeat is to yield to unreasonable pessimism. To say that we are mired in stalemate seems the only realistic, yet unsatisfactory, conclusion. On the off chance that military and political analysts are right, in the next few months we must test the enemy's intentions, in case this is indeed his last big gasp before negotiations. But it is increasingly clear to this reporter that the only rational way out then will be to negotiate, not as victors, but as an honorable people who lived up to their pledge to defend democracy, and did the best they could." To this, President Johnson allegedly replied to his White House aides, "If I've lost Cronkite, I've lost Middle America." Johnson quit his re-election bid the following month...
 
A great "late" Christmas present, Mike. Thanks so much for posting.

I had some nice belly-laughs from some of your comments, especially those pertaining to Birmingham's game of "spin the network bottle" and APT/AETV's "instructional" shows (I myself wondered why there weren't programs devoted to "P.E.", "Cafeteria", "Your Lurning How Too Spell" or "Antisocial Studies" ... but anyway ...).

As for WBRC airing several CBS soaps, this went back to Channel 6's flip from CBS back in 1961. 42 wasn't yet on the air, and 13 passed on those soaps when trying to fit two big networks (plus, at the time, an early afternoon movie!). Perhaps CBS wanted them shown badly enough to crawl to the network that just jilted them ... and/or: was 6 thinking, "What fools WAPI be. There's ratings gold in those soaps -- we'll keep them!"

Anyway, after 42 signed on, one can assume CBS wanted those soap franchises on the bigger signal, so they left well enough alone, and 6 kept them. I've always wondered at which point Ch. 6 let those programs go to 13 or 42. I don't think it was the May 1970 realignment. I guess some poking around in The Tuscaloosa News' archives on Google News is in order.

Birmingham television was one straaaange puppy.

--Russell
 
PS -- Did anybody else notice the HUGE quirk in the Huntsville-Decatur area?    WAAY 31 had flipped from NBC at the first of 1968, but WMSL 23 in Decatur did not yet change to ABC ... so, for a short period, there were two (!) NBC affils in a very short space.  I'm not sure if both Huntsville and Decatur were yet together in a DMA (that's "Designated Market Area", for the benefit of Mario ;-)), but I've long been curious how NBC allowed for it.   Neither station had extremely tall towers in Feb. 1968, but there was still substantial overlap in coverage in the valley area between each city.   A growing Madison, for example.

At any rate, WMSL was ABC by that Summer, and, at the end of 1968, gained 25 extra poun--er, channel numbers after moving to Huntsville. 

--Russell
 
By the time I moved to Birmingham in June 1969 Ch. 6
was no longer carrying any CBS soaps. 13 had "Search
For Tomorrow," "As The World Turns," "Love Is A Many
Splendored Thing," and "Guiding Light." 42 had "Love Of
Life," "Secret Storm," and "Edge Of Night," and would carry
"Where The Heart Is" when it debuted in September (13 had
"Jeopardy!" at 11 AM CT).

Of course, when 13 became fulltime NBC and 42 fulltime CBS
at the end of May 1970, all the CBS soaps moved to 42, while
13 picked up "Days Of Our Lives," "The Doctors," and "Somerset"
from 42; it already had "Another World" and "Bright Promise," IIRC.
 
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