The following is the 1961–62 network television schedule for the three major English language commercial broadcast networks in the United States. The schedule covers primetime hours from September 1961 through April 1962. The schedule is followed by a list per network of returning series, new series, and series cancelled after the 1960–61 season. The previous season had been criticized by

Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdicti ...

chairman Newton Minow in May 1961. Minow had criticized poor programs and weak network schedules, calling television a " vast wasteland" and calling on television executives to try harder to develop innovative and interesting television programs. Television historians Castleman and Podrazik (1982) believe the 1961–62 season marked a comeback for television, as the networks rearranged their schedules to accommodate the critics. They point out

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

's high-quality legal drama '' The Defenders'',

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

's medical drama ''

Dr. Kildare Dr. James Kildare is a fictional American medical doctor, originally created in the 1930s by the author Frederick Schiller Faust under the pen name Max Brand. Shortly after the character's first appearance in a magazine story, Paramount Pictur ...

'', CBS's ''

The Dick Van Dyke Show ''The Dick Van Dyke Show'' is an American television sitcom created by Carl Reiner that initially aired on CBS from October 3, 1961 to June 1, 1966, with a total of 158 half-hour episodes spanning five seasons. It was produced by Calvada Product ...

'', and

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

's medical drama ''

Ben Casey ''Ben Casey'' is an American medical drama series that aired on ABC from 1961 to 1966. The show was known for its opening titles, which consisted of a hand drawing the symbols "♂, ♀, ✳, †, ∞" on a chalkboard, as cast member Sam Jaff ...

'' as bright spots in the new TV schedule. Despite the praise for these four series, the authors also highlight several less worthy series which debuted during the 1961–62 season: '' Room for One More'', '' Window on Main Street'', '' Hazel'' ("possibly the dumbest family in TV history"), and the truly terrible ''

The Hathaways ''The Hathaways'' is a 26-episode situation comedy, which aired on ABC from October 6, 1961, to March 30, 1962, starring Peggy Cass and Jack Weston as suburban Los Angeles "parents" to a trio of performing chimpanzees. Weston portrayed Walter H ...

'' ("possibly the worst series ever to air on network TV"). NBC lured Disney's popular anthology series from ABC; ''

Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color The Walt Disney Company has produced an anthology television series since 1954 under several titles and formats. The program's current title, ''The Wonderful World of Disney'', was used from 1969 to 1979 and again from 1991 to the present. The pr ...

'' premiered on September 24, 1961. The color programs were a change from the previous ABC programs, which had been seen in black and white. NBC also added a movie night to its schedule; the network paid $25 million for the rights to broadcast 50 20th-Century Fox films on Saturday nights. In April 1962, ABC followed suit when it added its own Sunday night movie to its schedule. All times are Eastern and Pacific. New fall series are highlighted in bold. Each of the 30 highest-rated shows is listed with its rank and rating as determined by

Nielsen Media Research Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rati ...

.Highest-rated series is based on the annual top-rated programs list compiled by

and reported in: Brooks, Tim & Marsh, Earle (2007). ''The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network TV Shows'' (9th ed.). New York: Ballantine. . : Yellow indicates the programs in the top 10 for the season. : Cyan indicates the programs in the top 20 for the season. : Magenta indicates the programs in the top 30 for the season.

Sunday

* formerly ''

Walt Disney Presents The Walt Disney Company has produced an anthology television series since 1954 under several titles and formats. The program's current title, ''The Wonderful World of Disney'', was used from 1969 to 1979 and again from 1991 to the present. The p ...

'' Note: ''

Mister Ed ''Mister Ed'' is an American television sitcom produced by Filmways that aired in syndication from January 5 to July 2, 1961, and then on CBS from October 1, 1961, to February 6, 1966. The show's title character is a talking horse which orig ...

'', previously syndicated, aired on CBS, 6:30-7 p.m.

Monday

* In some areas, '' Douglas Edwards with the News'' alongside '' Walter Cronkite with the News'' and ''

The Huntley-Brinkley Report ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

'' aired at 6:45 p.m.(ET).

Tuesday

Wednesday

Note: ''

Mrs. G. Goes to College ''Mrs. G. Goes to College'' (retitled ''The Gertrude Berg Show'' starting with episode 14) is a 26-episode American sitcom which aired on CBS from October 4, 1961, to April 5, 1962. The series starred Emmy Award-winning actress Gertrude Berg. Syn ...

'' moved to Thursday nights in January as ''The Gertrude Berg Show'', allowing ''

'' to take its time spot. Several episodes of '' The Joey Bishop Show'' and ''

Wagon Train ''Wagon Train'' is an American Western series that aired 8 seasons: first on the NBC television network (1957–1962), and then on ABC (1962–1965). ''Wagon Train'' debuted on September 18, 1957, and became number one in the Nielsen ratings ...

'' were shown in color.

Thursday

Notes: ''

The Bob Cummings Show ''The Bob Cummings Show'' (also known in reruns as ''Love That Bob'') is an American sitcom starring Bob Cummings, which was broadcast from January 2, 1955, to September 15, 1959. The program began with a half-season run on NBC, then ran for tw ...

'' was retitled ''The New Bob Cummings Show'' on December 28. '' The Law and Mr. Jones'' moved to the 9:30-10:00 p.m. time slot on

on April 19. '' Hazel'' on November 2, 1961 was shown in color. The episodes of '' Brenner'' that ran on CBS in the summer of 1962 were reruns of episodes from the summer of 1959.

Friday

* formerly ''

Eyewitness To History ''Eyewitness to History'' was a Friday night CBS Television Network public affairs program. It was initially hosted by veteran broadcaster Charles Kuralt (1960–61), followed by Walter Cronkite (1961–62), and then Charles Collingwood (journalis ...

'' ** formerly ''The Chevy Show''

Saturday

'' Room for One More'' aired on ABC from January 27 to July 28, 1962, 8-8:30 p.m. Beginning January 6, ''

Matty's Funday Funnies ''Matty's Funday Funnies'' is a 1959—1961 American animated anthology television series. Broadcast history The original ''Matty's Funday Funnies'' was broadcast from 1959 to 1961 by American Broadcasting Company, scheduled during Sunday after ...

'' became ''Matty's Funnies With Beany & Cecil''.

By network

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

Returning Series * ''

77 Sunset Strip ''77 Sunset Strip'' is an American television private detective drama series created by Roy Huggins and starring Efrem Zimbalist Jr., Roger Smith, Richard Long (from 1960 to 1961) and Edd Byrnes (billed as Edward Byrnes). Each episode was o ...

'' * '' Adventures in Paradise'' * ''

The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet ''The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet'' is an American television sitcom that aired on ABC from October 3, 1952, to April 23, 1966, and starred the real-life Nelson family. After a long run on radio, the show was brought to television, where it ...

'' * '' The Avengers'' * '' Bachelor Father'' * ''

Bronco A bucking horse is any breed or either gender of horse with a propensity to buck. They have been, and still are, referred to by various names, including bronco, broncho, and roughstock. The harder they buck, the more desirable they are for rod ...

'' * ''

The Bugs Bunny Show ''The Bugs Bunny Show'' is a long-running American animated anthology television series hosted by Bugs Bunny that was mainly composed of theatrical '' Looney Tunes'' and '' Merrie Melodies'' cartoons released by Warner Bros. between 1948 and 196 ...

'' * ''

Cheyenne The Cheyenne ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Great Plains. Their Cheyenne language belongs to the Algonquian language family. Today, the Cheyenne people are split into two federally recognized nations: the Southern Cheyenne, who are enr ...

'' * ''

The Donna Reed Show ''The Donna Reed Show'' is an American sitcom starring Donna Reed as the middle-class housewife Donna Stone. Carl Betz co-stars as her pediatrician husband Dr. Alex Stone, and Shelley Fabares and Paul Petersen as their teenage children, Mary ...

'' * ''

Expedition! ''Expedition!'' is an American travel documentary television series that was broadcast in the United States on ABC Tuesday nights in the 1960–61 television season and Monday nights in the 1961–62 television season. Summary Producer John ...

'' * '' The Fight of the Week'' * ''

The Flintstones ''The Flintstones'' is an American animated sitcom produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions. The series takes place in a romanticized Stone Age setting and follows the activities of the titular family, the Flintstones, and their next-door neighb ...

'' * '' Hawaiian Eye'' * '' The Law and Mr. Jones'' * '' Lawman'' * ''

The Lawrence Welk Show ''The Lawrence Welk Show'' is an American televised musical variety show hosted by big band leader Lawrence Welk. The series aired locally in Los Angeles for four years, from 1951 to 1955, then nationally for another 16 years on ABC from 1 ...

'' * '' Leave It to Beaver'' * ''

Make That Spare ''Make That Spare'' is a fifteen-minute bowling program that was broadcast on ABC from October 8, 1960, to September 11, 1964. Broadcast history The series was hosted by the former actor and nightclub singer Johnny Johnston except in the 1961-19 ...

'' * ''

Maverick Maverick, Maveric or Maverik may refer to: History * Maverick (animal), an unbranded range animal, derived from U.S. cattleman Samuel Maverick Aviation * AEA Maverick, an Australian single-seat sportsplane design * General Aviation Design Burea ...

'' * ''

My Three Sons ''My Three Sons'' is an American television sitcom that aired from September 29, 1960, to April 13, 1972. The series was broadcast on ABC during its first five seasons, before moving to CBS for the remaining seasons. ''My Three Sons'' chroni ...

'' * '' Naked City'' * ''

The Real McCoys ''The Real McCoys'' is an American situation comedy starring Walter Brennan, Richard Crenna, and Kathleen Nolan. Co-produced by Danny Thomas's Marterto Productions in association with Walter Brennan and Irving Pincus's Westgate Company, ...

'' * ''

The Rifleman ''The Rifleman'' is an American Western television program starring Chuck Connors as rancher Lucas McCain and Johnny Crawford as his son Mark McCain. It was set in the 1880s in the fictional town of North Fork, New Mexico Territory. The show ...

'' * '' The Roaring 20's'' * ''

The Steve Allen Show ''The Steve Allen Show'' was an American variety show hosted by Steve Allen from June 1956 to June 1960 on NBC, from September 1961 to December 1961 on ABC,

'' * ''

Surfside 6 ''Surfside 6'' is an ABC television series which aired from 1960 to 1962. The show centered on a Miami Beach detective agency set on a houseboat and featured Troy Donahue as Sandy Winfield II; Van Williams as Kenny Madison (a character recyc ...

'' * ''

The Untouchables Untouchables or The Untouchables may refer to: American history * Untouchables (law enforcement), a 1930s American law enforcement unit led by Eliot Ness * ''The Untouchables'' (book), an autobiography by Eliot Ness and Oscar Fraley * ''The U ...

'' New Series * ''

Alcoa Premiere ''Alcoa Premiere'' (also known as ''Premiere, Presented by Fred Astaire'') is an American anthology drama series that aired from October 1961 to July 1963 on ABC. The series was hosted by Fred Astaire, who also starred in several of the episodes ...

'' * ''

'' * '' Bus Stop'' * ''

Calvin and the Colonel ''Calvin and the Colonel'' is an American animated sitcom about Colonel Montgomery J. Klaxon, a shrewd fox, and Calvin T. Burnside, a dumb bear. Their lawyer was Oliver Wendell Clutch, who was a weasel (literally). The colonel lived with his wife ...

'' * ''

'' * ''Howard K. Smith: News and Comment'' * * ''

Margie Margie is a feminine given name, usually a short form (hypocorism) of Margaret, Marjorie or Margarita. Margie may refer to: People * Margie Ackles (born 1939), American retired figure skater * Marjorie Margie Alexander (1948–2013), American ...

'' * '' The New Breed'' * '' Room for One More'' * * '' Straightaway'' * ''Target: The Corruptors!'' * ''Top Cat'' * ''Yours for a Song'' Not returning from 1960–61 United States network television schedule, 1960–61: * ''Alcoa Presents: One Step Beyond'' * ''The Asphalt Jungle (TV series), The Asphalt Jungle'' * ''Guestward, Ho!'' * ''Harrigan and Son'' * ''Hong Kong (TV series), Hong Kong'' * ''The Islanders (TV series), The Islanders'' * ''The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp'' *''Music for a Christmas Night'' *''Music for a New Year's Night; Class of 1961'' * ''Peter Gunn'' * ''The Rebel (American TV series), The Rebel'' * ''Stagecoach West'' * ''Sugarfoot'' * ''Take a Good Look (TV series), Take a Good Look'' * ''Walt Disney anthology series, Walt Disney Presents'' (moved to NBC as ''Walt Disney anthology series, Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color'')

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

Returning Series * ''The Alfred Hitchcock Hour'' * ''The Andy Griffith Show'' * ''Armstrong Circle Theatre'' * '' Brenner'' * ''Candid Camera'' * ''CBS News, CBS News Hour'' * ''CBS News, CBS Reports'' * ''Checkmate (American TV series), Checkmate'' * ''The Danny Thomas Show'' * ''Dennis the Menace (1959 TV series), Dennis the Menace'' * ''Douglas Edwards with the News'' * ''The Ed Sullivan Show'' * ''Eyewitness to History, Eyewitness'' * ''The Garry Moore Show'' * ''General Electric Theatre'' * ''Gunsmoke'' * ''Have Gun – Will Travel'' * ''Hennesey'' * ''I've Got a Secret'' * ''The Jack Benny Program'' * ''Lassie (1954 TV series), Lassie'' * ''The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis'' * ''Perry Mason (1957 TV series), Perry Mason'' * ''Pete and Gladys'' * ''Rawhide (TV series), Rawhide'' * ''The Red Skelton Show'' * ''Route 66 (TV series), Route 66'' * ''Danger Man, Secret Agent'' * ''To Tell the Truth'' * ''The Twentieth Century'' * ''The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series), The Twilight Zone'' * ''The United States Steel Hour'' * ''What's My Line'' New Series * ''Accent on an American Summer'' * ''The Alvin Show'' * '' The Defenders'' * ''

'' * ''Eyewitness to History'' * ''Father of the Bride (TV series), Father of the Bride'' * ''Frontier Circus'' * ''Ichabod and Me'' * ''The Investigators (1961 TV series), The Investigators'' * ''

'' * * ''

''/''The Gertrude Berg Show'' * ''The New Bob Cummings Show'' * ''Oh! Those Bells'' * * ''Password (American game show), Password'' * * ''Groucho Marx, Tell It to Groucho'' * * ''Tell It to the Camera'' * * '' Walter Cronkite with the News'' * * '' Window on Main Street'' Not returning from 1960–61 United States network television schedule, 1960–61: * ''Angel (1960 TV series), Angel'' * ''The Ann Sothern Show'' * ''The Aquanauts'' * ''Bringing Up Buddy'' * ''Dick Powell, Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theater'' * ''The DuPont Show with June Allyson'' * ''Frontier Justice (TV series), Frontier Justice'' * ''Glenn Miller Orchestra (1956–present), Glenn Miller Time'' * ''Gunslinger (TV series), Gunslinger'' * ''Have Gun — Will Travel'' * ''Holiday Lodge'' * ''Mr. Garlund'' * ''My Sister Eileen (TV series), My Sister Eileen'' * ''Person to Person'' * ''The Spike Jones Show (series), The Spike Jones Show'' * ''Summer Sports Spectacular'' * ''The Tom Ewell Show'' * ''Wanted Dead or Alive (TV series), Wanted Dead or Alive'' * '''Way Out (TV series), 'Way Out'' * ''The Witness (TV series), The Witness''

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

Returning Series * ''Art Linkletter, The Art Linkletter Show'' * ''The Bell Telephone Hour'' * ''Bonanza'' * ''Chet Huntley, Chet Huntley Reporting'' * ''The Detectives Starring Robert Taylor'' * ''The Dinah Shore Show'' * ''Ford Presents the New Christy Minstrels'' * ''The Huntley–Brinkley Report'' * ''The Jack Benny Program'' * ''Kraft Music Hall (TV series), Kraft Music Hall'' starring ''Perry Como'' * ''Laramie (TV series), Laramie'' * ''National Velvet (TV series), National Velvet'' * ''Outlaws (1960 TV series), Outlaws'' * ''Mitch Miller, Sing Along with Mitch'' * ''Thriller (U.S. TV series), Thriller'' * ''

'' * ''

'' (moved from

) New Series * ''87th Precinct (TV series), 87th Precinct'' * ''The Bob Newhart Show (1961 TV series), The Bob Newhart Show'' * ''The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show, The Bullwinkle Show'' * ''Cain's Hundred'' * ''Car 54, Where Are You?'' * ''David Brinkley, David Brinkley's Journal'' * ''The Dick Powell Show'' * ''

'' * ''The DuPont Show of the Week'' * '' Hazel'' * ''NBC News, Here and Now'' * ''Don Ameche, International Showtime'' * * ''NBC Saturday Night at the Movies'' * ''Theatre '62'' Not returning from 1960–61 United States network television schedule, 1960–61: * ''Acapulco (1961 TV series), Acapulco'' * ''The Americans (1961 TV series), The Americans'' * ''The Art Carney Special'' * ''The Barbara Stanwyck Show'' * ''Bat Masterson (TV series), Bat Masterson'' * ''NBC News, The Campaign and the Candidates'' * ''The Chevy Mystery Show'' * ''Concentration (game show), Concentration'' * ''Dan Raven'' * ''Dante (TV series), Dante'' * ''The Deputy (TV series), The Deputy'' * ''The Dinah Shore Chevy Show'' * ''Five Star Jubilee'' * ''The Ford Show'' * ''Great Ghost Tales'' * ''Groucho Marx, The Groucho Show'' * ''Happy (1960 TV series), Happy'' * ''It Could Be You'' * ''Jackpot Bowling, Jackpot Bowling starring Milton Berle'' * ''Klondike (TV series), Klondike'' * ''The Man from Interpol'' * ''Michael Shayne#Television, Michael Shayne'' * ''The Nation's Future'' * ''Omnibus (American TV program), Omnibus'' * ''One Happy Family'' * ''Peter Loves Mary'' * ''Riverboat (TV series), Riverboat'' * ''Shirley Temple's Storybook'' * ''The Tab Hunter Show'' * ''Tales of Wells Fargo'' * ''The Tall Man (TV series), The Tall Man'' * ''This Is Your Life (American franchise), This Is Your Life'' * ''The Westerner (TV series), The Westerner'' * ''Westinghouse Playhouse, Westinghouse Playhouse Starring Nanette Fabray and Wendell Corey'' * ''Westinghouse Preview Theatre'' Note: The * indicates that the program was introduced in midseason.

References

* Castleman, H. & Podrazik, W. (1982). ''Watching TV: Four Decades of American Television''. New York: McGraw-Hill. 314 pp. * McNeil, Alex. ''Total Television''. Fourth edition. New York: Penguin Books. . * Brooks, Tim & Marsh, Earle (1984). ''The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network TV Shows'' (3rd ed.). New York: Ballantine. . {{DEFAULTSORT:1961-62 United States network television schedule United States primetime network television schedules 1961 in American television 1962 in American television