Retro: This Week in TV Guide, December 16, 1967 - MN State Edition

[Mitchell H]

The week before Christmas starts with a flock of Christmas specials, a pair of Truman Capote adaptations, the Baltimore Colts' bid for an undefeated season, and another edition of Sullivan vs. The Palace. CBS presents an interview with Secretary of State Rusk and Secretary of Defense McNamara on Vietnam. There's a profile of Ed McMahon, and the humorist H. Allen Smith writes about people who don't watch TV. Fortunately for us, he's against them.

http://www.itsabouttv.com/2012/12/this-week-in-tv-guide-december-16-1967.html

As always your comments, positive and negative, are welcome.

And now the broadcast listings for Saturday, December 16. Unless otherwise indicated, stations are in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area.

KTCA, Channel 2 (Educ)
Evening
07:00p Our Musical Heritage (B&W)
07:30p Commencement Exercises (B&W)

KGLO, Channel 3 (CBS)
Morning
07:00a Captain Kangaroo
08:00a Frankenstein Jr.
08:30a Herculoids
09:00a Shazzan!
09:30a Space Ghost
10:00a Moby Dick
10:30a Superman/Aquaman
11:30a Jonny Quest
Afternoon
12:00p Lone Ranger
12:30p Road Runner
01:00p Here’s Allen (B&W)
01:15p Wrestling (B&W)
02:15p Cartoons (B&W)
02:25p Photo Tips (B&W)
02:30p Commercial (Arts)
02:45p NFL Pre-Game
03:00p NFL Football Dallas at San Francisco (SF 24, Dal 16)
Evening
06:00p CBS News (Roger Mudd) (B&W)
06:15p Western Music (B&W)
06:30p Jackie Gleason (guests Paul Ford, Art Carney, Sheila MacRae, Jane Kean)
07:30p My Three Sons
08:00p Hogan’s Heroes
08:30p Petticoat Junction
09:00p Mannix
10:00p News (local)
10:30p Operation Santa Claus
11:00p Movie – “Jason and the Argonauts”

WCCO, Channel 4 (CBS)
Morning
06:00a Sunrise Semester (B&W)
06:30a Siegfried (B&W)
07:00a Captain Kangaroo
08:00a Frankenstein Jr.
08:30a Herculoids
09:00a Shazzan!
09:30a Space Ghost
10:00a Moby Dick
10:30a Superman/Aquaman
11:30a Jonny Quest
Afternoon
12:00p News (local)
12:30p Woodcraft Hobby Show
12:45p Almanac Newsreel (B&W)
01:00p Championship Bowling
02:00p Almanac Newsreel (B&W)
02:15p Commercial (Music)
02:30p Football Preview
02:45p NFL Pre-Game
03:00p NFL Football Dallas at San Francisco (SF 24, Dal 16)
Evening
06:00p News (local)
06:30p Jackie Gleason (guests Paul Ford, Art Carney, Sheila MacRae, Jane Kean)
07:30p My Three Sons
08:00p Hogan’s Heroes
08:30p Petticoat Junction
09:00p Mannix
10:00p News (local)
10:30p Movie – “Bad Boy” (B&W)
12:10a Bedtime Nooz
12:30a This Must Be The Place
01:00a Nite Kappers

KSTP, Channel 5 (NBC)
Morning
07:00a Movie – “Men From Music Mountain (B&W)
08:00a Super 6
08:30a Super President
09:00a The Flintstones
09:30a Samson & Goliath
10:00a Birdman
10:30a Adam Ant/Secret Squirrel
11:00a Top Cat
11:30a Cool McCool
Afternoon
12:00p Forest Rangers
12:30p Science Fiction Theater
01:00p AFL Football – San Diego at Houston (Hou 24, SD 17)
04:00p AFL Highlights (B&W)
04:30p The Outer Limits
05:30p NBC News (Frank McGee)
Evening
06:00p News (local)
06:30p Mr. Magoo’s Christmas Carol
07:30p Christmas with Lorne Greene (guests UNICEF Children’s Choir)
08:00p Movie – “White Christmas”
10:30p News (local)
11:00p Johnny Carson (guests George Burns, Kaye Ballard, Wilfrid Hyde-White)
12:15a Alan Burke (topic: Sex and Society in Sweden)

KAUS, Channel 6 (ABC) Austin, MN
Morning
08:00a Casper
08:30a Fantastic Four
09:00a Spider-Man
09:30a Journey to the Center of the Earth
10:00a King Kong
10:30a George of the Jungle
11:00a Beatles
11:30a American Bandstand (guests include The American Breed)
Afternoon
12:30p TBD
12:45p Liberty Bowl Pre-Game
01:00p Liberty Bowl – Georgia vs. North Carolina State (NC St 14, GA 7)
04:00p Wide World of Sports – National Indianapolis-Car Championship, World Figure Skating Exhibition
05:30p Austin High School Band (B&W)
Evening
06:00p News (local) (B&W)
06:30p Dating Game
07:00p Newlywed Game
07:30p Lawrence Welk
08:30p The Iron Horse
09:30p That Girl (from Thursday) (B&W)
10:00p ABC News (Keith McBee)
10:15p News (local) (B&W)
10:30p Albert Lea Civic Choir
11:00p Movie – “The Blue Lagoon” (B&W)
12:30a News (local) (B&W)

KCMT, Channel 7 (NBC, ABC) Alexandria, MN
Morning
07:00a St. Cloud College (B&W)
08:00a Super 6
08:30a Super President
09:00a The Flintstones
09:30a Samson & Goliath
10:00a Birdman
10:30a Adam Ant/ Secret Squirrel
11:00a Top Cat
11:30a Family Xmas Party (B&W)
Afternoon
12:30p Commercial (Tools) (B&W)
12:45p Liberty Bowl Pre-Game
01:00p Liberty Bowl – Georgia vs. North Carolina State (NC St 14, GA 7)
04:00p Clarissa High School Choir (B&W)
04:30p G-E College Bowl (Jackson College for Women vs. Barnard or Ohio State)
05:00p Wadena High School Choir (B&W)
05:30p TBD
Evening
06:00p News (local) (B&W)
06:30p Mr. Magoo’s Christmas Carol
07:30p Christmas with Lorne Greene (guests UNICEF Children’s Choir)
08:00p Movie – “White Christmas”
10:30p News (local) (B&W)
11:00p Movie – “13 Ghosts”

KMSP, Channel 9 (ABC)
Morning
07:00a Magilla Gorilla (B&W)
07:30a Milton the Monster (B&W)
08:00a Casper
08:30a Fantastic Four
09:00a Spider-Man
09:30a Journey to the Center of the Earth
10:00a King Kong
10:30a George of the Jungle
11:00a Beatles
11:30a American Bandstand (guests include The American Breed)
Afternoon
12:30p Tony Parker (sports)
12:45p Pecan Bowl Pre-Game
01:00p Pecan Bowl – UT Arlington vs. North Dakota State (UTA 13, ND St 0)
04:00p Wide World of Sports – National Indianapolis-Car Championship, World Figure Skating Exhibition
05:30p The Lieutenant (B&W)
Evening
06:30p Dating Game
07:00p Newlywed Game
07:30p Lawrence Welk
08:30p The Iron Horse
09:30p Death Valley Days
10:00p News (local)
10:30p Movie – “The Jazz Singer” (remake)
12:30a ABC News (Keith McBee)

KROC, Channel 10 (NBC) Rochester, MN
Morning
08:00a Super 6
08:30a Super President
09:00a The Flintstones
09:30a Samson & Goliath
10:00a Birdman
10:30a Adam Ant/ Secret Squirrel
11:00a Top Cat
11:30a Cool McCool
Afternoon
12:00p Mister Ed (B&W)
12:30p Leave It to Beaver (B&W)
01:00p AFL Football – San Diego at Houston (Hou 24, SD 17)
04:00p League of Women Voters
04:30p G-E College Bowl (Jackson College for Women vs. Barnard or Ohio State)
05:00p It’s a Small World
05:30p NBC News (Frank McGee)
Evening
06:00p Musical Spotlight
06:30p Mr. Magoo’s Christmas Carol
07:30p Christmas with Lorne Greene (guests UNICEF Children’s Choir)
08:00p Movie – “White Christmas”
10:30p News (local)
11:00p Movie – “Breakout” (B&W)

WTCN, Channel 11 (Ind)
Morning
09:00a Farm Forum (B&W)
09:30a Double Feature – “Never Give a Sucker an Even Break” (B&W)
“Tyrant of Lydia Against the Son of Hercules” (B&W)
Afternoon
12:00p Lunch With Casey (B&W)
01:00p Cartoon Cut-Ups
01:30p Bold Journey (B&W)
02:00p Laramie (B&W)
03:00p Upbeat (B&W)
04:00p Polka Varieties (B&W)
05:00p Harmonics of a City (B&W)
05:30p Daring Venture
Evening
06:00p All-Star Wrestling (B&W)
07:30p Movie – “The Fighting Seabees” (B&W)
09:30p News (local)
10:00p NHL Hockey – Minnesota vs. California (B&W) (Min 1, Cal 0)

 

[bpatrick]

That version of "The Jazz Singer" on Ch. 9 had to have been the
1953 one with Danny Thomas in the role made famous by Al Jolson.
There was yet another remake, 1976 (I believe), with Neil Diamond.

 

[Mike Stroud]

Sorry to spoil the party, but I have a couple of corrections for you:

1) KGLO-TV's location was not specified, and it was not a Twin Cities station. It was then the CBS affil for northern Iowa and extreme southern Minnesota, licensed to Mason City, Iowa, but serving mainly the Rochester/Austin market. Today the station is KIMT, still with CBS but on digital 42 (PSIP 3)

2) The "NBC News" was actually "The Frank McGee Report," which was a full-length half-hour (sometimes a full hour) documentary seen on Saturdays and Sundays at the usual news hour on most NBC affils, a la "60 Minutes." Although NBC had tried a Saturday evening bulletin with Robert MacNeil and Ray Scherer anchoring in the early 1960s, NBC gave up on that for a few years in favor of McGee's program, which did not include, AFAIK, a normal newscast therein. It was not until January 1969 that the Peacock channel re-entered the weekend newscast game, with a Saturday version of "Huntley-Brinkley Report," that for a short time had Chet and David alternate weeks doing solo, until NBC decided, due to low ratings and station clearances, instead to have second-stringers like McGee at the 30 Rock desk, apparently keeping the "HBR" name, though. In short, NBC was very much in flux during this period about weekend news, largely because of the changing developments regarding Vietnam and civil disturbances at home.

 

[Mitchell H]

Sorry to spoil the party, but I have a couple of corrections for you:

1) KGLO-TV's location was not specified, and it was not a Twin Cities station. It was then the CBS affil for northern Iowa and extreme southern Minnesota, licensed to Mason City, Iowa, but serving mainly the Rochester/Austin market. Today the station is KIMT, still with CBS but on digital 42 (PSIP 3)

Of course you're right about KGLO. In fact, in past "This Week" listings I've probably mentioned its location. This time the cut-and-paste failed!

2) The "NBC News" was actually "The Frank McGee Report," which was a full-length half-hour (sometimes a full hour) documentary seen on Saturdays and Sundays at the usual news hour on most NBC affils, a la "60 Minutes." Although NBC had tried a Saturday evening bulletin with Robert MacNeil and Ray Scherer anchoring in the early 1960s, NBC gave up on that for a few years in favor of McGee's program, which did not include, AFAIK, a normal newscast therein. It was not until January 1969 that the Peacock channel re-entered the weekend newscast game, with a Saturday version of "Huntley-Brinkley Report," that for a short time had Chet and David alternate weeks doing solo, until NBC decided, due to low ratings and station clearances, instead to have second-stringers like McGee at the 30 Rock desk, apparently keeping the "HBR" name, though. In short, NBC was very much in flux during this period about weekend news, largely because of the changing developments regarding Vietnam and civil disturbances at home.

Don't have the issue in front of me right now, so I don't know how it was listed at the time. This is good info. McGee was very good on NBC, and I always enjoyed watching him. I've always thought he showed a professionalism during the JFK assassination coverage that was sorely needed, and his coverage of the space program was informing without being overly technical.

It's quite interesting, don't you think, that Huntley and Brinkley were on Saturdays, even if they weren't on at the same time? Unthinkable today that any of the major anchors would do Saturday news. I wonder to what extent this can be seen as an extension of the old 5 1/2 day work week, where people often worked a half day on Saturday? I don't mean that Chet and David had to do that, just the idea that it would be understandable that Saturday wasn't quite as separated from the rest of the week as it is today.

 

[Joseph_Gallant]

Mitchell H:

I suspect that on Saturdays, either Huntley or Brinkley was live and the other probably had a taped piece included during the half-hour as well as taping their part of the opening ("I'm Chet Huntley, NBC News, New York/And I'm David Brinkley, NBC News, in Washington") and closing ("Good night, David"/"Good Night Chet, and Good Night For NBC News").

 

[Joseph_Gallant]

The California Seals (later Golden Seals) were based in Oakland, and struggled for fan support during the nine years they were out there, even though for much of that time, they were owned by one Charles O. Finley, whose baseball team (the Oakland Athletics) won three consecutive World Series during the time he also owned the Seals.

Fifteen years after the Seals left, hockey returned to the Bay Area down in San Jose (San Jose Sharks), and the Sharks have been extremely successful at the gate and have built a large fan base. It also helps that they have gone deep into the playoffs, whereas the Seals never did.

 

[EJ204]

Interesting that the one Independent station, KTCN 11, doesn't sign on till 9am and is off the air by the time the hockey game is over, around 1am. Not very good service. By 1967, most Independent stations, especially on VHF and in a large city, were on the air the same hours as the network affiliates.

Only a couple of shows are in color. And it's a pretty boring line-up.

Lunch with Casey I think ran Mon-Sat. and I suppose was cartoons and some chatter with a host named Casey. That's good. But KTCN fills the morning with pretty low-rate movies. OK, maybe Independent stations used to do that on Saturday mornings, but not a three-hour double feature. There's only one off-network show I recognize, Laramie. No off-network sitcoms. No Burns & Allen or Groucho or Honeymooners or My Little Margie. No other off-network dramas, no Rifleman, no Sea Hunt, no Highway Patrol.

I guess in Minneapolis, if you're an indie, you do an hour of polkas on Sat. afternoon. And kudos for doing a weekend half hour of news at 9:30. But you put your agriculture show on at 9am, not 6 or 7am? And you don't have anything to follow the hockey game on a Saturday night? By 1967, a few stations around the country were on the air almost around the clock. In a market the size of Minneapolis, someone would stay on till 4 or 5am on Fridays and Saturdays. But not KTCN. Early to bed, late to rise.

 

[Mike Stroud]

2) The "NBC News" was actually "The Frank McGee Report," which was a full-length half-hour (sometimes a full hour) documentary seen on Saturdays and Sundays at the usual news hour on most NBC affils, a la "60 Minutes." Although NBC had tried a Saturday evening bulletin with Robert MacNeil and Ray Scherer anchoring in the early 1960s, NBC gave up on that for a few years in favor of McGee's program, which did not include, AFAIK, a normal newscast therein. It was not until January 1969 that the Peacock channel re-entered the weekend newscast game, with a Saturday version of "Huntley-Brinkley Report," that for a short time had Chet and David alternate weeks doing solo, until NBC decided, due to low ratings and station clearances, instead to have second-stringers like McGee at the 30 Rock desk, apparently keeping the "HBR" name, though. In short, NBC was very much in flux during this period about weekend news, largely because of the changing developments regarding Vietnam and civil disturbances at home.

Don't have the issue in front of me right now, so I don't know how it was listed at the time. This is good info. McGee was very good on NBC, and I always enjoyed watching him. I've always thought he showed a professionalism during the JFK assassination coverage that was sorely needed, and his coverage of the space program was informing without being overly technical.

It's quite interesting, don't you think, that Huntley and Brinkley were on Saturdays, even if they weren't on at the same time? Unthinkable today that any of the major anchors would do Saturday news. I wonder to what extent this can be seen as an extension of the old 5 1/2 day work week, where people often worked a half day on Saturday? I don't mean that Chet and David had to do that, just the idea that it would be understandable that Saturday wasn't quite as separated from the rest of the week as it is today.

Oh, yes. NBC decided at first not to go the route of CBS, which started up its weekend bulletins circa 1966 or so with Roger Mudd at the desk. I am sure having Huntley and/or Brinkley on Saturdays was a ploy more than anything else to get stations to clear the program, something that "Frank McGee Report" wasn't doing too well, apparently (I don't have a lot of TVG copies from that period, so I can't say for certain--sorry to also say I haven't closely at some of the retros posted here to find out about what stations cleared it).

And, yes, a greater amount of the public worked, not only office jobs on Saturday, but other occupations, especially farming and building trades, on Saturdays too. So, in many respects, life in the home was much the same for adults as on the weekdays--only Sundays were different in much of Middle America, with church and family activities (and NOT shopping and restaurant-going, unlike today) taking center stage then, with the only daytime viewers on that day of the week being mainly sports fans. Sure, on Saturdays by that point, you had kiddie cartoons in the mornings because of no school and ball games in the afternoons for the men who got through with their work in time, but otherwise, what surprises me is that it took the networks so long (and local stations even longer) to pick up on the fact that the husbands and fathers of America were just as interested in news early Saturday evening as they were Monday through Friday.

As I stated earlier, I believe that Vietnam was the watershed moment for network execs to realize that they needed weekend evening newscasts also, with NBC making the first attempt during the Kennedy administration, and CBS subsequently jumping in the fray in '66. By the time NBC got serious in '69, the U.S. was knee-deep in daily crises of every imaginable sort, and it did not look good, particularly to the FCC, to have local stations not carrying news coverage. We have left ABC out of this because, as we know, no attempt was made there until 1975, and it was a flop. The Alphabet channel wouldn't add Sundays until 1979 and Saturdays (for good this time) until well into 1985, for crying out loud. NBC, by the way, added Sundays in conjunction with the retirement of Chet Huntley in 1970 to establish a seven-day-per-week "NBC Nightly News," with the infamous three-man rotation of John Chancellor, David Brinkley, and McGee, with, like the Saturday "HBR" originally, no weekend anchor.

 

[Mitchell H]

Interesting that the one Independent station, KTCN 11, doesn't sign on till 9am and is off the air by the time the hockey game is over, around 1am. Not very good service. By 1967, most Independent stations, especially on VHF and in a large city, were on the air the same hours as the network affiliates.

Only a couple of shows are in color. And it's a pretty boring line-up.

Lunch with Casey I think ran Mon-Sat. and I suppose was cartoons and some chatter with a host named Casey. That's good. But KTCN fills the morning with pretty low-rate movies. OK, maybe Independent stations used to do that on Saturday mornings, but not a three-hour double feature. There's only one off-network show I recognize, Laramie. No off-network sitcoms. No Burns & Allen or Groucho or Honeymooners or My Little Margie. No other off-network dramas, no Rifleman, no Sea Hunt, no Highway Patrol.

I guess in Minneapolis, if you're an indie, you do an hour of polkas on Sat. afternoon. And kudos for doing a weekend half hour of news at 9:30. But you put your agriculture show on at 9am, not 6 or 7am? And you don't have anything to follow the hockey game on a Saturday night? By 1967, a few stations around the country were on the air almost around the clock. In a market the size of Minneapolis, someone would stay on till 4 or 5am on Fridays and Saturdays. But not KTCN. Early to bed, late to rise.

WTCN (not KTCN), Channel 11 (now known as KARE) has an interesting programming history. It started out as the DuMont/ABC affiliate, then went independent when ABC moved to KMSP Channel 9. As an independent, they were the home of University of Minnesota sports, Minnesota Twins baseball and Minnesota North Stars hockey(and before that their minor league hockey team), as well as various state high school tournaments.

The schedule I've excerpted is perhaps not the best one can look at to get a representative sample of what their programming in the late 60s was like. As I documented here (http://www.itsabouttv.com/2012/09/this-week-in-tv-guide-september-7-1968.html), the typical prime-time schedule by 1968 would include 12 O'Clock High, The Munsters, The Addams Family, Wagon Train, The Invaders and Run For Your Life, as well as Star Trek, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea and Twilight Zone. Later on they'd add shows like That Girl, The Lucy Show and the Merv Griffin Show. You can add to that various nationally syndicated football games, specials, game shows and regular 70s and 80s features such as the Jerry Lewis Telethon.

Lunch With Casey was an iconic kids show, much beloved until it went off the air in the 70s. (http://lunchwithcasey.com/main/), and featured exceptionally creative bits that were, in hindsight, clearly inspired by Ernie Kovacs. And the matinee movie was more than just a movie, hosted by the famed Twin Cities pitchman Mel Jass. (http://www.pavekmuseum.org/jass.html)

By the late 70s, WTCN had become one of the highest-rated independent stations in the country, and thus it was quite a surprise when, in the great affiliate shakeup of 1979, WTCN chose to team up with NBC after Channel 5, the longtime NBC affiliate, switched to ABC.

So I think we need to be fair to WTCN. It was a very popular station in the Twin Cities, and even though it's an NBC affiliate today, the memory of it is still much-loved by those of my era.

 

[Markxxx]

WTCN was a regional "SuperStation" they were on the cable systems in the Dakotas, Nebraska, northern Wisconsin and I even got them in a hotel in Thunder Bay, Ontario. Of course that stopped when they became NBC.

 

[Mitchell H]

WTCN was a regional "SuperStation" they were on the cable systems in the Dakotas, Nebraska, northern Wisconsin and I even got them in a hotel in Thunder Bay, Ontario. Of course that stopped when they became NBC.

Apropos of nothing in particular, there was a time when WTCN's local news was called World and Twin Cities News - WTCN. Clever, huh?