Retro: This Week in TV Guide, September 28, 1963 - MSP Edition

[Mitchell H]

This week we read about Inger Stevens of The Farmer's Daughter (and her secret life) and a historic opening game of the World Series, and we look at how the networks advertised their new fall lineups. Plus Jerry Lewis, Sammy Davis Jr., Fireball XL-5, and more!

http://www.itsabouttv.com/2014/09/this-week-in-tv-guide-september-28-1963.html

As always your comments, positive as well as negative, are most welcome.

This week's listing is from Wednesday, October 2, and I picked it because of the opening game of the World Series. Imagine the game starting at 10:45 Central time, and expecting to be done in less than three hours! What a concept!

Oh, and if you're watching Channel 2, make sure you learn those languages!

KTCA, Channel 2 (Educ.)
Morning
08:55a French (Grade 4)
09:10a Spanish (Grade 4)
09:30a Spanish (Grade 5)
09:45a To Be Announced
10:10a Spanish (Grade 6)
10:25a German (Grade 5)
10:40a Earth and Space Science
11:00a Industry on Parade
11:25a Earth and Space Science
Afternoon
12:30p Man’s Living Body
01:00p Spanish (Grade 4)
01:20p Spanish (Grade 5)
01:35p German (Grade 4)
01:50p Science (Grade 2)
02:20p German (Grade 6)
02:35p Spanish (Grade 6)
02:50p Exploring Science (Grade 6)
02:50p Exploring Science (Grade 6)
03:15p German Fairy Tails
03:45p Spanish (preview)
Evening
06:00p Balance of Fear
06:30p General Science
07:00p Inquiry
07:30p Faculty Viewpoint
08:00p Folk Music Now and Then
08:30p Macalester College
09:00p Labor Problems
10:00p Profile
10:30p Quest for Certainty

WCCO, Channel 4 (CBS)
Morning
06:30a Sunrise Semester
07:00a Siegfried, Axel, Clancy
08:00a Captain Kangaroo
09:00a News (local)
09:15a What’s New?
09:25a Dr. Reuben K. Youngdahl
09:30a I Love Lucy
10:00a The McCoys
10:30a Pete and Gladys
11:00a Love of Life
11:25a CBS News (Harry Reasoner)
11:30a Search For Tomorrow
11:45a The Guiding Light
Afternoon
12:00p News (local)
12:15p Something Special
12:25p Weather (local)
12:30p As the World Turns
01:00p Password (Elizabeth Montgomery, Peter Lawford)
01:30p House Party (Jacqueline Cochran)
02:00p To Tell the Truth (Marilyn Van Derbur, Skitch Henderson, Carol Channing, Sam Levenson)
02:25p CBS News (Douglas Edwards)
02:30p The Edge of Night
03:00p The Secret Storm
03:30p The Best of Groucho
04:00p Around the Town
04:30p Axel and Deputy Dawg
05:00p Clancy and His Friends
05:30p CBS News (Walter Cronkite)
Evening
06:00p News (local)
06:15p Sports (local)
06:20p Spotlight (local)
06:25p Weather (local)
06:30p Chronicle (debut)
07:30p Glynis
08:00p The Beverly Hillbillies
08:30p Dick Van Dyke
09:00p Danny Kaye (Jose Ferrer, Red Norvo and his quintet)
10:00p News (local)
10:15p Weather (local)
10:20p Sports (local)
10:30p Roundy Predicts
11:00p Steve Allen (Troy Donahue, Lisa Carroll, Davis and Reese)
12:30a Movie – “The Beast of Hollow Mountain”

KSTP, Channel 5 (NBC)
Morning
06:45a Far Horizons
07:00a Today (Stanley Kramer, Stirling Moss)
09:00a Say When (Joseph Cotton) (color)
09:25a NBC News (Edwin Newman)
09:30a Word for Word (color)
10:00a Concentration
10:30a World Series Spotlight (special) (color)
10:45a World Series Game 1 (Dodgers vs. Yankees) (special) (color)
Afternoon
01:30p The Doctors
02:00p Loretta Young
02:30p You Don’t Say! (Rod Serling, Laraine Day) (color)
03:00p The Match Game (Jack Ging, Jane Withers)
03:25p NBC News (Sander Vanocur)
03:30p Make Room for Daddy
04:00p Betty Wells Chats
04:05p Movie – “The Invisible Woman”
05:25p Doctor’s House Call
05:30p NBC News (Huntley/Brinkley)
Evening
06:00p News (local)
06:15p Weather (local)
06:25p Sports (local)
06:30p The Virginian (color)
08:00p Espionage (debut)
09:00p The Eleventh Hour (season premiere)
10:00p News (local)
10:15p Weather (local)
10:20p Sports (local)
10:30p Johnny Carson (Stanley Kramer, John Gary) (color)
12:00a News and Sports (local)

KMSP, Channel 9 (ABC)
Morning
07:40a Chapel of the Air
07:45a Breakfast with Grandpa Ken
09:00a Romper Room (Miss Betty)
10:00a The Price Is Right
10:30a Seven Keys
11:00a Ernie Ford (Coyle and Sharpe)
11:30a People Are Funny
Afternoon
12:00p General Hospital
12:30p Father Knows Best
01:00p The People’s Choice
01:30p Day in Court
01:55p ABC News (Lisa Howard)
02:00p Queen for a Day
02:30p Who Do You Trust?
03:00p Trainmaster
04:00p Adventures in Paradise
05:00p News (local)
05:15p ABC News (Ron Cochran)
05:30p Leave It to Beaver
Evening
06:00p Dobie Gillis
06:30p Ozzie and Harriet
07:00p Patty Duke
07:30p The Price is Right (Joe E. Ross)
08:00p Ben Casey
09:00p Channing
10:00p News, Weather, Sports
10:30p The Detectives Starring Robert Taylor
11:30p Target: The Corruptors
12:30a News (local)

WTCN, Channel 11 (Ind.)
Morning
11:15a Kukla and Ollie
11:30a Dateline: Minnesota
11:55a Take Five
Afternoon
12:00p Lunch With Casey
12:45p The King and Odie
01:00p Movie – “Imperfect Lady”
02:30p Lee Phillip (Ray Bolgert, Dr. Clement Martin)
03:00p December Bride
03:30p Robin Hood
04:00p Beetle and Pete
04:30p Mickey Mouse Club
05:00p Superman
05:30p The Lone Ranger
Evening
06:00p Whirlybirds
06:30p Bold Journey
07:00p Expedition!
07:30p Stoney Burke
08:30p Desilu Playhouse
09:30p News (local)
09:45p Weather (local)
09:50p Sports (local)
10:00p Movie – “Hangman’s Knot”

 

[bpatrick]

I was in third grade in 1963 and my local public (or educational, as it was called in those days) station carried a Spanish-instruction show called "Una aventura espanola" two mornings a week; we watched it in class (it was a 15-minute show as I recall). I don't see a third-grade level Spanish in-school program on KTCA (maybe it aired on other days) but it whetted my appetite for Spanish, and I took two years of it in high school. I took Italian in college, which, being a Romance language (derived from Latin) is similar to Spanish, and it's my contention that if one can learn one or the other, it's possible to learn both as well as French and possibly Portuguese. English, OTOH, is derived from German; once I tried to teach myself how to conjugate in German and threw up my hands in frustration.

I love Spanish; I can read a little, but I can't follow a conversation. I wish I were more proficient at both.

Let me switch gears a minute. We know that on November 22, 1963, WFAA's program director Jay Watson came onto the set of Julie Benell's show to announce that something unusual had happened in nearby Dealey Plaza. (That footage has gotten as familiar as Walter Cronkite's interruption of "As The World Turns
and his announcement of JFK's death at 2:38 PM (ET).) I wonder if anyone at Chs. 5 or 9 in the Twin Cities took copy off the AP or UPI wires and broke into their regular programming, or waited for NBC and ABC, respectively, to announce that JFK had been shot (Ch. 4, like Ch. 4 in Dallas, would have picked up Cronkite's interruption of "As The World Turns.").

 

[Ccook55]

There's a video up on YouTube of ABC having broken into a repeat of Father Knows Best with a bulletin on the JFK shooting. At the top of the hour, ABC goes continuous with the coverage. Out west, ABC was local at the time (10:30 AM-11 AM PT) so stations out there most likely either cut into programming with local bulletins or picked up ABC's bulletins.

While it's well known that CBS cut into As The World Turns with the bulletins that Kennedy had been shot, it was certainly true in ET and CT. In Pacific Time, CBS would cut in to a repeat of Pete & Gladys, and NBC would cut into a repeat of Make Room For Daddy in the east and Missing Links in the west.

 

[bpatrick]

Again, I have to ask if Minnesota was on Central Standard Time, two hours behind Eastern Daylight, which would account for a baseball game being played at 10:45 AM local time (12:45 PM EDT).

As for the JFK assassination question, it's obvious that KSTP and KMSP waited for the networks to break into regular programming. "Make Room For Daddy" didn't air in pattern until 4:30 (ET) on NBC; "Bachelor Father" was interrupted on WNBC New York and a fashion show on WRC Washington, DC (David Brinkley wanted to break into NBC affiliate programming but his bosses decided to wait and let New York do it; ironically, he'd been kept from interrupting the radio soap "Front Page Farrell" for the announcement of FDR's death in 1945 for the same reason). "Pete And Gladys" and "Missing Links," both of which were on at 10:30 AM (PT), would indeed have been the shows interrupted on the West Coast. I wonder if ABC waited until 11 AM (PT) and cut into the original "Price Is Right." (IIRC, all three networks were on the air with nonstop coverage by 2 PM (ET)/11 AM (PT).)

What I'm sure of is that in Minneapolis Cronkite cut into "As The World Turns," on WCCO at 12:30.

 

[Ccook55]

Correct on when Make Room For Daddy aired; my source was in error. NBC was local at 1:30.

 

[Mitchell H]

Again, I have to ask if Minnesota was on Central Standard Time, two hours behind Eastern Daylight, which would account for a baseball game being played at 10:45 AM local time (12:45 PM EDT).

As for the JFK assassination question, it's obvious that KSTP and KMSP waited for the networks to break into regular programming. "Make Room For Daddy" didn't air in pattern until 4:30 (ET) on NBC; "Bachelor Father" was interrupted on WNBC New York and a fashion show on WRC Washington, DC (David Brinkley wanted to break into NBC affiliate programming but his bosses decided to wait and let New York do it; ironically, he'd been kept from interrupting the radio soap "Front Page Farrell" for the announcement of FDR's death in 1945 for the same reason). "Pete And Gladys" and "Missing Links," both of which were on at 10:30 AM (PT), would indeed have been the shows interrupted on the West Coast. I wonder if ABC waited until 11 AM (PT) and cut into the original "Price Is Right." (IIRC, all three networks were on the air with nonstop coverage by 2 PM (ET)/11 AM (PT).)

What I'm sure of is that in Minneapolis Cronkite cut into "As The World Turns," on WCCO at 12:30.

I've gotten a definitive answer on the Daylight Saving Time question - in checking the Pittsburgh Press for October 1, it states that game time is 12:45 ET, which would have been 11:45 CDT. Hence, you're absolutely correct that Minnesota is on Standard time at this point.

On the JFK question, the only wild card would have been Channel 11, the independent station. That's what was on in our home at the time; my three-year-old self was watching "Lunch With Casey," and I'm told I was quite put out when the bulletins came on. I don't know if WTCN picked up one of the network feeds, or if their local news department cut in with bulletins from the wire services. I must try and find that out sometime; the whole question of independent stations covering major news stories back then is a very good one.

 

[RALfan]

KSTP, Channel 5 (NBC)

10:30a World Series Spotlight (special) (color)
10:45a World Series Game 1 (Dodgers vs. Yankees) (special) (color)

What was the normal weekday schedule for KSTP in the fall of '63?

 

[Mitchell H]

What was the normal weekday schedule for KSTP in the fall of '63?

I think - and I don't have the issue right in front of me, so bear with me - I think that it would have been

10:30a Missing Links
11:00a Your First Impression
11:30a Truth or Consequences
11:55a NBC News
12:00p News (local)
12:30p Dialing for Dollars
01:00p People Will Talk
01:25p NBC News

As I say, I'm going by memory - I can get the definitive answer tonight, but I wanted to get something up for now.

 

[Mitchell H]

I think - and I don't have the issue right in front of me, so bear with me - I think that it would have been

10:30a Missing Links
11:00a Your First Impression
11:30a Truth or Consequences
11:55a NBC News
12:00p News (local)
12:30p Dialing for Dollars
01:00p People Will Talk
01:25p NBC News

As I say, I'm going by memory - I can get the definitive answer tonight, but I wanted to get something up for now.

It was not Dialing for Dollars - not yet, anyway. At 12:15p there was the Weather, followed at 12:20p by Treasure Chest, a local show that ran until 1pm.