Retro: St. Louis-Saturday/Sunday February 29-March 1, 1964

[Mr. Mike]

source: St. Louis Globe-Democrat TV Digest

This is the oldest schedule I have right now; I happened to find this in a commemorative edition of the old Globe-Democrat featuring the city of St. Louis' bicentennial anniversary. One other thing to note is that at the time, their TV suppliment had listings for Saturday-Friday, in contrast to the regular practice of Sunday-Saturday. So here's the Saturday-Sunday listings from back in the day.

KTVI-TV Channel 2 (ABC)
Saturday February 29th, 1964
6:40am Sign on
6:45am Mahalia Sings; News
7:00am Community Campus
9:00am Cartoon Carnival
9:30am The Jetsons
10:00am Casper Cartoon
10:30am Beany and Cecil
11:00am Bugs Bunny
11:30am American Bandstand
12:00pm Movie: “Flame of the Barbary Coast” (1945) w/John Wayne. Ann Dvorak)
1:30pm Challenge Golf [color] (Contenders: Bob Charles-Bruce Crampton at La Posas Club, Camarillo, California)
2:30pm Pro Bowlers Tour (The Birmingham Open)
4:00pm ABC Wide World of Sports
5:30pm Championship Bowling
6:30pm Saga of Western Man [color] (Part III, “1898”, traces America’s emergence as world power)
7:30pm The Lawrence Welk Show
8:30pm Hollywood Palace (Efrem Zimbalist Jr. host with The Great Wallendas, Kate Smith, Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, Tim Conway, Sons of the Pioneers)
9:30pm Target: Corruptors (Finance racketeers exposed in “Babes in Wall Street”)
10:30pm Spectacular Movie: “Samson” (1961) w/ Brad Harris, Brigit Corey
12:00am Movie: “Roar of the Crowd” (1953) w/Howard Duff, Helene Stanley
1:30am News; Mahalia Sings
1:45am Sign off
Sunday March 1st, 1964
8:15am Sign on
8:20am Mahalia Sings; News
8:30am Religious Reporter
8:45am Fisher Family
9:15am The Answer
9:45am Message of Rabbi
10:00am Catholic Mass
10:30am Sacred Heart
10:45am Ask A Priest
11:00am Viewpoint
11:30am Pro and Con
12:00pm Challenge Golf [color] (Contenders: Bob Charles-Bruce Crampton at La Posas Club, Camarillo, California)
1:00pm Spectacular Movie: “Samson” (1961) w/ Brad Harris, Brigit Corey (repeat of Saturday late movie that aired at 10:30pm the day before)
2:30pm Discovery ’64 (Part II, “Discovery Goes to Moscow”, study of Russian child)
3:00pm ABC News Issues and Answers
3:30pm Science All-Stars (Raymond Pokorny, St. Louis, and Charles Howard, Kirkwood, demonstrate their home-made electronic computers)
4:00pm Trailmaster
5:00pm Dick Powell’s Zane Grey Theater (Ex-gunman forced into gunplay in “Black Creek Encounter”)
5:30pm Battle Line “Dieppe”
6:00pm True Encounter
6:30pm Jaimie McPheeters (Michel Petit guest)
7:30pm Arrest and Trial (Feuding parents endanger couple’s romance in “Circle of Strangers”; Peter Fonda, Janet Margolin)
9:00pm The Naked City (Master gem theft planned in “Man Who Bit A Diamond in Half”)
10:00pm March 3 Deadline for Decision (Study of proposed County Bond issue)
10:15pm The Steve Allen Show
11:45pm Peter Gunn
12:15am Mahalia Sings; News
12:25am Sign off

KMOX-TV (now KMOV-TV) Channel 4 (CBS)
Saturday February 29th, 1964
5:10am Sign on
5:15am Prayer; News
5:30am Sunrise Semester
6:00am Town & Country
6:30am P.S. 4
7:00am Captain Kangaroo
8:00am The Alvin Show
8:30am Tennessee Tuxedo
9:00am Quick Draw McGraw
9:30am Mighty Mouse
10:00am The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin
10:30am The Roy Rogers Show
11:00am Sky King
11:30am Do You Know? (book topic; “The Riddle of Time”)
12:00pm Repertoire Workshop
12:30pm Let’s Eat (Marian O’Brien hostess)
1:00pm Eye on St. Louis
1:30pm Closeup
2:00pm Challenge
2:30pm News (local or network?)
2:45pm KMOX-TV Views Press
3:00pm Golf Classic (Chris Schenkel, Tommy Armour report)
4:00pm Popeye Cartoons
4:30pm Movie: “Go West” (1940) w/ The Marx Brothers, John Carroll
6:00pm The Big 4
6:30pm The Jackie Gleason Show
7:30pm The Defenders (“Drink Like a Lady”, story of an alcoholic woman who kills a man without knowing what she has done; Janice Rule stars)
8:30pm The Phil Silvers Show
9:00pm Gunsmoke (Revenge mad father endangers daughter’s life seeking murderer of his wife)
10:00pm News, Weather
10:15pm The Late Show: “Miss Sadie Thompson” (1954) w/ Rita Hayworth, Jose Ferrer, Aldo Ray
12:00am Frankly Speaking
1:00am News; Prayer
1:15am Sign off
Sunday March 1st, 1964
6:25am Sign on
6:30am Prayer; News
6:45am Big Picture
7:15am The Christophers
7:30am Camera Three (long running CBS religious show)
8:00am Sunday
8:30am Faith of Our Fathers
9:00am Lamp Unto My Feet
9:30am Look Up and Live
10:00am Montage
10:30am Way of Life
11:00am Quiz-A-Catholic
11:30am Face the Nation
12:00pm Movie: “Dangerous Partners” (1945) w/ James Craig, Signe Hasso
1:25pm News (not sure if it was local or CBS network)
1:30pm CBS Sports Spectacular
3:00pm One of a Kind
4:00pm Alumni Fun
4:30pm Amateur Hour
5:00pm The 20th Century “The Agony of Austria”
5:30pm Mister Ed
6:00pm Lassie (final episode of “The Disappearance”)
6:30pm My Favorite Martian
7:00pm The Ed Sullivan Show (Anita Bryant, Jack Carter, Alan Gale among guest headliners)
8:00pm Judy Garland (Judy is host of hour-long music-comedy show with guest stars)
9:00pm Candid Camera
9:30pm What’s My Line?
10:00pm CBS Sunday Night News (Harry Reasoner)
10:15pm The Big News (Max Roby)
10:30pm Movie: “Murder, He Says” (1945) w/ Fred MacMurray, Helen Walker
12:20am Movie: “The Lady with Red Hair” (1945) w/ Miriam Hopkins, Claude Rains
followed by sign off

KSD-TV (now KSDK-TV) Channel 5 (NBC)
Saturday February 29th, 1964
6:25am Sign on
6:30am Modern Farming
7:00am Agriculture U.S.A.
7:30am Ruff ‘n Reddy
8:00am Corky the Clown
9:00am Hector Heathcote [color]
9:30am Fireball XL-5
10:00am Dennis the Menace
10:30am Fury
11:00am Sergeant Preston of the Yukon
11:30am The Bullwinkle Show [color]
12:00pm St. Louis Hop (local dance show hosted by Russ Carter)
1:00pm Watch Mr. Wizard
1:30pm Exploring (Dan Blocker narrates “Johnny Appleseed”) [repeat]
2:30pm Bowery Boys Movie
3:30pm Sports Special (AAU Indoor Track and Field Championships at Madison Square Garden)
5:00pm Wrestling Show
5:30pm Porter Wagoner Show
6:00pm Death Valley Days
6:30pm The Lieutenant (Lt. Rice is technical adviser on a war movie in “In The Highest Tradition”; Andrew Duggan)
7:30pm The Joey Bishop Show [color]
8:00pm NBC Saturday Night at the Movies: “Violent Saturday” (1955) w/ Victor Mature, Richard Egan, Sylvia Sidney, Ernest Borgnine [color]
10:00pm KSD-TV Saturday Report (news, weather)
10:10pm Movie: “Pretty Baby” (1950) w/ Betsy Drake, Dennis Morgan
12:10am News
12:15am Movie: “Casbah” (1948) w/ Tony Martin, Yvonne De Carlo, Peter Lorre
1:45am Weather report
followed by sign off
Sunday March 1st, 1964
7:55am Sign on
8:00am British Calendar
8:30am The Christophers
9:00am Protestant Hour
9:30am This is the Life
10:00am Frontiers of Faith
10:30am Industry on Parade
10:45am Americans at Work
11:00am 12 Hours at Sebring [color]
11:30am Film Show
12:00pm Family Theater
12:30pm Movie: “Pretty Baby” (1950) w/ Betsy Drake, Dennis Morgan (repeat of Saturday late movie)
2:30pm Biography: “Grace Kelly”
3:00pm World of Golf [color] (Doug Sanders vs. Juan Rodriguez, at Dorado Beach Course, Puerto Rico)
4:00pm Wild Kingdom [color] (Wildlife refuge in British East Africa in “Crater of Gold”)
4:30pm College Bowl [color]
5:00pm Meet the Press [color]
5:30pm St. Louis County bond issue (Informational program)
6:00pm The Bill Dana Show
6:30pm Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color presented by Eastman Kodak [color]
7:30pm Grindl
8:00pm Bonanza [color] (Ben tries to civilize a Paiute-raised English girl in “Love Me Not”; Anjanette Comer)
9:00pm Jo Stafford Show (Local special, “Language of Language”, with comedian Peter Sellers guest)
10:00pm KSD-TV Sunday Report (news, weather)
10:15pm Movie: “This Above All” (1942) w/ Tyrone Power, Joan Fontaine
12:00am News
followed by sign-off

KETC-TV Channel 9 (Educational, now PBS)
Saturday February 29th, 1964
Off air on Saturdays
Sunday March 1st, 1964
Off air on Sundays

KPLR-TV Channel 11 (Independent)
Saturday February 29th, 1964
7:55am Sign on
8:00am Modern Almanac
8:30am For Your Information
9:00am Wild Bill Hickok
10:00am Clutch Cargo
10:30am Felix the Cat
11:00am Mischief Makers
12:00pm Movie: “Captain from Castile” (1947, w/ Tyrone Power, Jean Peters)
1:30pm Missouri Valley Basketball: Drake vs. St. Louis University
3:00pm Telesports
3:30pm Big Ten Basketball (Illinois vs. Michigan)
5:00pm New Orleans Open Golf
6:00pm Country Show
7:30pm Checkmate
8:30pm Wrestling at the Chase
10:00pm Roller Derby
11:00pm Top Star Bowling
12:00am Telesports
12:30am Sign off
Sunday March 1st, 1964
8:10am Sign on
8:15am Newsreels
8:30am Gospel Favorites
9:30am Allen Revival Hour
10:00am Frontiers of Science
10:30am Herald of Truth
11:00am Third Baptist Church
11:45am Davey and Goliath
12:00pm Oral Roberts
12:30pm Rev. Beeny
12:45pm Newsreels
1:00pm Church of Christ
1:30pm Championship Bridge
2:00pm Meliah (documentary on Women’s American Organization of Rehabilitation Through Training)
2:30pm Tony Lang’s Seranade
3:00pm Wrestling Show
3:30pm New Orleans Open Golf
5:00pm Movie: “Flying Cadets” (1941) w/ William Gargan, Frank Albertson
6:00pm Rocky and Friends
6:30pm Movie: “Captive Girl” (1950) w/ Johnny Weissmuller, Buster Crabbe
8:00pm Thriller
9:00pm Movie: “All Quiet on the Western Front” (1930) w/Lew Ayres
11:00pm Movie: “Strange Adventure” (1956) w/ Kent Taylor, Marla English
followed by sign-off

 

[wbhist]

KMOX-TV (now KMOV-TV) Channel 4 (CBS)
Saturday February 29th, 1964
10:15pm The Late Show: “Miss Sadie Thompson” (1954) w/ Rita Hayworth, Jose Ferrer, Aldo Ray
Sunday March 1st, 1964
12:00pm Movie: “Dangerous Partners” (1945) w/ James Craig, Signe Hasso
10:30pm Movie: “Murder, He Says” (1945) w/ Fred MacMurray, Helen Walker
12:20am Movie: “The Lady with Red Hair” (1945) w/ Miriam Hopkins, Claude Rains

I presume The Late Show came to Channel 4 upon CBS's 1958 acquisition of what was originally KWK-TV, and the accompanying call letter change. I also surmise that the Sunday afternoon movie would have been called Picture for a Sunday Afternoon (as was used by WCBS-TV in New York, WBBM-TV in Chicago and presumably the other two CBS O&O's of the time), and the movie after Murder, He Says aired under The Late Late Show umbrella?

I also seem to recall it wasn't until 1965 that KMOX's transmitter was upgraded to transmit in color (and presumably an RCA TK-27 film chain acquired to broadcast movies and slides in color), and 1966 when the station first got Marconi Mark VII color studio cameras.

 

[Mr. Mike]

KMOX-TV (now KMOV-TV) Channel 4 (CBS)
Saturday February 29th, 1964
10:15pm The Late Show: “Miss Sadie Thompson” (1954) w/ Rita Hayworth, Jose Ferrer, Aldo Ray
Sunday March 1st, 1964
12:00pm Movie: “Dangerous Partners” (1945) w/ James Craig, Signe Hasso
10:30pm Movie: “Murder, He Says” (1945) w/ Fred MacMurray, Helen Walker
12:20am Movie: “The Lady with Red Hair” (1945) w/ Miriam Hopkins, Claude Rains

I presume The Late Show came to Channel 4 upon CBS's 1958 acquisition of what was originally KWK-TV, and the accompanying call letter change. I also surmise that the Sunday afternoon movie would have been called Picture for a Sunday Afternoon (as was used by WCBS-TV in New York, WBBM-TV in Chicago and presumably the other two CBS O&O's of the time), and the movie after Murder, He Says aired under The Late Late Show umbrella?

I also seem to recall it wasn't until 1965 that KMOX's transmitter was upgraded to transmit in color (and presumably an RCA TK-27 film chain acquired to broadcast movies and slides in color), and 1966 when the station first got Marconi Mark VII color studio cameras.

I think you might be right with regard to the movie umbrella titles used on Channel 4 in the early 1960s. I'm not yet well versed into the history of local movie shows on St. Louis television during the early days. I do, however, know that KMOX-TV did use "The Bijou Picture Show" for its late movies during the 1970s and 1980s, much like CBS's Chicago O&O WBBM-TV when it used "The All-Electric Magik Lantern Moving Picture Show". As a matter of fact, they reportedly used it after KMOX-TV became KMOV-TV in 1986.

The only other umbrella titles I could come up with were Channel 2's "Spectacular Movie" and "Chiller Theater", the latter of which aired on Friday nights after their late night newscast at 10:15pm around that time. As a matter of fact, Channel 2 was the only station to advertise its shows, and in this case their movie umbrella titles, in the Globe's TV Digest that I have right now (owing to the fact that Channel 2 at the time was owned by Newhouse Broadcasting, which also owned and operated the Globe-Democrat).

As for local colorcasting it seems that of the market's five TV stations on air at that time, only KTVI Channel 2 and KSD Channel 5 were equipped to transmit network color programs. However, it would seem unlikely that both Channels 2 and 5 had begun local telecasts in color around 1963-64. I do know that the latter, Channel 5, was the first in the St. Louis market to air a locally-produced color program in 1954, two years before the NBC network introduced their full-color peacock logo. But, according to the Globe's TV suppliment, virtually all of the shows indicated as broadcasting in color were network-produced. In contrast Channels 4, 9 and 11 were only broadcasting in black and white. One fact that is undisputable is that by the end of the decade, all local programs produced by KSD-TV were produced in color from that point on. And not only that, every other station in the market (including then-new KDNL-TV Channel 30 in 1969) was now doing local colorcasting as well.

 

[oldschooler1]

KTVI-TV Channel 2 (ABC)
Saturday February 29th, 1964

1:30pm Challenge Golf [color]

This is curious -- a live show, in color, in early 1964 on ABC....I thought their first live color shows were Lawrence Welk and The Hollywood Palace. And here they are doing golf, in color? Or, was this a local show?

 

[Stanislav]

KTVI-TV Channel 2 (ABC)
Saturday February 29th, 1964

1:30pm Challenge Golf [color]

This is curious -- a live show, in color, in early 1964 on ABC....I thought their first live color shows were Lawrence Welk and The Hollywood Palace. And here they are doing golf, in color? Or, was this a local show?

ABC had no fixed live color studio facilities in '64, but perhaps they had the ability to originate a live color remote? Or maybe this wasn't an ABC broadcast, but was distributed via one of those ad hoc pick-up "networks" that were sometimes used for golf events? Or (most likely of all), maybe it's just a typo.

 

[bpatrick]

No typo. "Challenge Golf" was an ABC show, but filmed.
ABC had several filmed series in color in the early '60s
("The Flintstones," "The Jetsons," "Wagon Train" after
it moved to ABC in 1962, "The Greatest Show
On Earth," to name four), but no live or taped studio
shows such as Lawrence Welk or "Hollywood Palace" until
1965.

Also, "Camera Three" was not a religious program, even though
it aired on CBS in a block with "Lamp Unto My Feet" and "Look
Up And Live." It was a cultural program, offering drama, music,
and even once in the '70s, "The Boys Of Termite Terrace," about
Warner Brothers animation. The show actually started in New York
in 1953 under the title "It's Worth Knowing."

 

[Tim L]

The show actually started in New York
in 1953 under the title "It's Worth Knowing."

Interesting to me that CBS would use that title..While WEWS-TV 5 Cleveland was still a CBS affiliate, They had a local program called "It's Worth Knowing". This and two other 15 minute shows (Meet Your Schools, Inside Catholic Schools) served as fill in shows from at least 1952 well into the mid 1960's. A combination of two out of the three would fill a half hour..Usually one day a week during M-F from 7-7:30 PM or midafternoon weekends..

 

[oldiesfan6479]

...but no live or taped studio shows such as Lawrence Welk or "Hollywood Palace" until 1965.

I recall reading that ABC El Lay's first live/tape color facility was a remote truck parked
outside of the El Capitan Theater at 1735 North Vine Street in Hollywood, from where
Welk and Palace were taped.

Probably some TK-41 cameras; I don't recall if VTRs were in the truck or if the shows
were microwaved or 15 kHz local-looped back to Prospect for recording.

Later on a young Ted Turner colorized the studios at the Prospect facility and ABC
joined the other two nets in the "big time." (OK, so I lied about Turner. ;D)

 

[wbhist]

...but no live or taped studio shows such as Lawrence Welk or "Hollywood Palace" until 1965.

I recall reading that ABC El Lay's first live/tape color facility was a remote truck parked outside of the El Capitan Theater at 1735 North Vine Street in Hollywood, from where Welk and Palace were taped.

Probably some TK-41 cameras; I don't recall if VTRs were in the truck or if the shows were microwaved or 15 kHz local-looped back to Prospect for recording.

Later on a young Ted Turner colorized the studios at the Prospect facility and ABC joined the other two nets in the "big time." (OK, so I lied about Turner. ;D)

ABC's first color cameras were actually the TK-41C, made in 1964-65 before production of that iconic camera finally ceased upon introduction of the TK-42. Welk was at ABC's Palace Theatre until 1966 when his show moved to Prospect after one of their studios was converted to color with Norelco PC-60/70 cameras. (I read Prospect had a few other RCA TK-26 film chains besides the one they had upon their entree into color in 1962; they also for a time had TK-27's but their performance, according to Ed Reitan's website, was somewhat less than satisfactory; and New York, from what I read, had General Electric PE-24 [and probably some PE-240] film chains.)

 

[oldiesfan6479]

I read Prospect had a few other RCA TK-26 film chains besides the one they had upon their entree into color in 1962...

Regarding that one initial TK-26 film chain in 1962: wasn't it the only color film chain
ABC had--i.e., none in New York at the time--meaning that Prospect originated broadcast
of The Flintstones to the entire ABC-TV network, not just the left coast? As in backhaul
to New York at 5:30 PT (for 8:30/7:30 air), then again at 8:30 PT for the coast.

 

[wbhist]

Regarding that one initial TK-26 film chain in 1962: wasn't it the only color film chain ABC had--i.e., none in New York at the time--meaning that Prospect originated broadcast of The Flintstones to the entire ABC-TV network, not just the left coast? As in backhaul to New York at 5:30 PT (for 8:30/7:30 air), then again at 8:30 PT for the coast.

I could imagine the complexities of transmitting not only The Flintstones, but also The Jetsons and the first run of The (ABC) Sunday Night Movie, this way. But indeed they only had one single solitary color film chain for two years, before New York was equipped with color film chains in '64. (One measure of that fact was that WABC-TV in New York didn't air films in color on their own local movie shows on a regular basis until fall 1964.)

 

[Corky Marlowe]

7:00pm The Ed Sullivan Show (Anita Bryant, Jack Carter, Alan Gale among guest headliners)

This must have been the first Beatle-free Sullivan show after they made their first 3 appearances on February 9, 16 and 23.

 

[KYLEBOOK]

7:00pm The Ed Sullivan Show (Anita Bryant, Jack Carter, Alan Gale among guest headliners)

This must have been the first Beatle-free Sullivan show after they made their first 3 appearances on February 9, 16 and 23.

Yes it was, but not to worry...the next week The Dave Clark Five made their U.S. debut on "Ed Sullivan".