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What America was watching in daytime 50 years ago this fall (1956)

I appreciate the interest you all showed in the 1956 primetime schedules.
Here are the networks' daytime listings (to 7 PM ET) from Castleman and
Podrazik's "The TV Schedule Book."

MON-FRI:

ABC 3 PM Afternoon Film Festival (films from the UK)
4:30 (Local)
5 PM Mickey Mouse Club
6 PM (Local to 7 PM)

CBS 7 AM Good Morning
8 AM Captain Kangaroo
9 AM (Local)
10 AM Garry Moore Show
10:30 Arthur Godfrey Time (Mon-Thu)
Garry Moore Show (Fri)
11:30 Strike It Rich
12 N Valiant Lady
12:15 Love Of Life
12:30 Search For Tomorrow
12:45 Guiding Light
1 PM News
1:10 Stand Up And Be Counted
1:30 As The World Turns
2 PM Our Miss Brooks (reruns)
2:30 Art Linkletter's House Party
3 PM Big Payoff (anyone remember Bess Myerson
and her mink coat?)
3:30 Bob Crosby Show (yes, he's Bing's brother)
4 PM Brighter Day
4:15 Secret Storm
4:30 Edge Of Night
5 PM (Local)
6:45 Douglas Edwards With The News (airs at
7:15 in some markets)

NBC 7 AM Today (Dave Garroway)
9 AM (Local)
10 AM Ding Dong School (anyone remember
Miss Frances?)
10:30 Price Is Right (Cullen)
11 AM Home (Arlene Francis and Hugh Downs)
12 N Tic Tac Dough (Barry)
12:30 It Could Be You
1 PM (Local)
2:30 Tennessee Ernie Ford Show
3 PM NBC Matinee Theater
4 PM Queen For A Day
4:45 Modern Romances
5 PM Comedy Time (sitcom reruns)
5:30 (Local to 7:30)

SAT

ABC had no programming before 7:30 PM.

CBS 9:30 Captain Kangaroo
10:30 Mighty Mouse Playhouse
11 AM Winky Dink And You
11:30 Tales Of The Texas Rangers
12 N Big Top (Ed McMahon was the
clown on this show)
1 PM Lone Ranger (reruns)
1:30 (Local)
2 PM Football Roundup (if it's what I think
it is, based on a CBS radio show, it's
a look-in on several college games in progress)
5:30 (Local to 7 PM)

NBC 10 AM Howdy Doody
10:30 I Married Joan (reruns)
11 AM Fury
11:30 Uncle Johnny Coons (anyone from Chicago
remember him?)
12 N Cowboy Theater (an early hosting job for,
of all people, Monty Hall)
1 PM Watch Mr. Wizard
1:30 (Local)
1:45 NCAA Football Preview
2 PM NCAA Football
4:45 NCAA Football Scoreboard (time approximate)
5 PM (Local)
6:45 Meet The Champions

SUN

ABC 3:30 Johns Hopkins File 7
4 PM College Press Conference
4:30 Medical Horizons
5 PM Dean James A. Pike
5:30 (Local to 7 PM)

CBS 10 AM Lamp Unto My Feet
10:30 Look Up And Live
11 AM The UN In Action
11:30 Camera Three
12 N Let's Take A Trip
12:30 Wild Bill Hickok
1 PM Heckle And Jeckle Cartoon Show
1:30 (Local)
1:45 Football Preview
2 PM NFL Football (first year on CBS)
4:45 CBS Sunday News (time approximate)
5 PM Face The Nation
5:30 Bandwagon '56 (at least through the
Presidential election)
(NOTE: See It Now airs from 5 to 6 about once a month.)
6 PM Telephone Time
6:30 You Are There

NBC 1:30 Frontiers Of Faith
2 PM (Local)
2:30 Youth Wants To Know alternating with
American Forum
3 PM Outlook
3:30 Zoo Parade (Marlin Perkins)
4 PM Wide Wide World or Washington Square
(latter a variety show with Ray Bolger)
5 PM Wide Wide World or Topper reruns
(Wide Wide World alternates with Wash. Square/Topper.)
5:30 Captain Gallant
6 PM Meet The Press
6:30 Roy Rogers Show
 
bpatrick said:
MON-FRI:

NBC 2:30 Tennessee Ernie Ford Show

Old Ern was quite busy for a while..His Nighttime Variety show started in October 1956..and for several months he did the 5 day a week daytime show as well

MON-FRI:

ABC 3 PM Afternoon Film Festival (films from the UK)
4:30 (Local)
5 PM Mickey Mouse Club
6 PM (Local to 7 PM)


SAT

ABC had no programming before 7:30 PM.
SUN

ABC 3:30 Johns Hopkins File 7
4 PM College Press Conference
4:30 Medical Horizons
5 PM Dean James A. Pike
5:30 (Local to 7 PM)

Logical reason for ABC's Scant daytime schedule. Many ABC affiliates in medium-small markets Didnt sign-on till late afternoon..The larger ones could afford more movies and syndicated product to run before 3PM weekdays or 3:30 Sat/Sun
 
Eventually the Ol' Peapicker decided to concentrate
fulltime on his nighttime show. He revived the daytime
show on ABC in 1962. At the time he had just moved
to Carmel, CA, and wanted to do his show from San
Francisco rather than commute back and forth to L.A.
ABC was the only network with facilities where he could
tape the show (KGO-TV).

In 1965, just before the show left the air, Chuck Barris
happened to have his set on one morning and heard the
voice of Ernie's announcer. Barris decided he was just
the guy he wanted to host his new show, "The Dating Game."
The announcer, of course, was Jim Lange.
 
bpatrick said:
I appreciate the interest you all showed in the 1956 primetime schedules.
Here are the networks' daytime listings (to 7 PM ET) from Castleman and
Podrazik's "The TV Schedule Book."


CBS 7 AM Good Morning
8 AM Captain Kangaroo
9 AM (Local)
10 AM Garry Moore Show
10:30 Arthur Godfrey Time (Mon-Thu)
Garry Moore Show (Fri)
11:30 Strike It Rich
12 N Valiant Lady
12:15 Love Of Life
12:30 Search For Tomorrow
12:45 Guiding Light
1 PM News
1:10 Stand Up And Be Counted
1:30 As The World Turns
2 PM Our Miss Brooks (reruns)
2:30 Art Linkletter's House Party
3 PM Big Payoff (anyone remember Bess Myerson
and her mink coat?)
3:30 Bob Crosby Show (yes, he's Bing's brother)
4 PM Brighter Day
4:15 Secret Storm
4:30 Edge Of Night
5 PM (Local)
6:45 Douglas Edwards With The News (airs at
7:15 in some markets)

I'm showing my age here but I have many fond memories of CBS' line-up in the afternoon...especially of The Edge of Night.
 
You shouldn't feel too old. Two of those shows (As The
World Turns and Guiding Light) are still on the air; House
Party went off in 1969, Secret Storm in '74, and Love Of
Life in '80. Edge was on ABC 1975-84, Search on NBC
1982-86, so these shows were still on the air not THAT
long ago. CBS did have a very stable daytime schedule
in the '50s and '60s, and it doesn't do too badly now.
 
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