1955–56 United States Network Television Schedule

The 1955–56 network television schedule for the four major English language commercial broadcast networks in the United States. The schedule covers primetime hours from September 1955 through March 1956. The schedule is followed by a list per network of returning series, new series, and series cancelled after the 1954–55 season.

''The $64,000 Question'' had debuted on CBS during summer 1955 and became the #1 program on U.S. television. The three networks "rushed to copy this latest hit format, quickly filling prime time with similar contests". (It would not be until fall 1958 that it would be confirmed that several of these new quiz shows were rigged.)Castleman, H. and Podrazik, W. (1984). ''The TV Schedule Book: Four Decades of Network Programming from Sign-on to Sign-off''. McGraw-Hill. pg 79–85.

For years, ABC had "struggled to cobble together a TV schedule", but following the network's major success with Disney-produced series ''Disneyland'' in 1954, other Hollywood film companies began embracing television. MGM assembled clips for ''MGM Parade'' on ABC; ABC also hired Warner Bros. for a Tuesday night program called '' Warner Brothers Presents''. The hour-long umbrella series featured TV adaptations of three Warner Brothers movies: ''Cheyenne'', ''Casablanca'', and ''Kings Row''. Of the three new series, only ''Cheyenne'' was a hit with viewers, and ABC began contracting with other Hollywood studios for Westerns. Immediately following '' Warner Brothers Presents'', ABC scheduled ''The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp.

CBS had its own Western hit with ''Gunsmoke'', which also debuted in fall 1955. Over the next few years, "the rush to Westerns had become a virtual stampede so that, by the fall of 1959, viewers had their choice from a staggering twenty-eight different Western-based prime time series." Around 1955, live drama anthologies, the staple of early television programming, were being phased out by the networks in favor of filmed fare: Westerns, police dramas, quiz shows, and adventure series.

By the mid-1950s, the practice of television executives of ordering dozens of pilots for proposed television series each year — far more than their networks could possibly broadcast as series — had created a sizable body of unsold pilots that had never aired. By 1954, the American television industry had begun to consider the idea of packaging these unsold pilots in anthology series and airing them during the summer, providing television networks with a way of both providing fresh programming during the summer rerun season and recouping at least some of the expense of producing them. During the summer of 1956, ABC and NBC acted on this idea, airing the first series — '' G.E. Summer Originals'' on ABC and ''Sneak Preview'' on NBC — composed entirely of unsold pilots. On June 8, 1956, when it reported ABC's decision to broadcast ''G.E. Summer Originals'', the ''New York Times'' wrote that "the problem of what to do with ‘pilot’ or sample films of projected television series that previously have failed to sell has been solved." Both series premiered on July 3, 1956, at 9:00 p.m. In the following decades, ABC, NBC, and later CBS would air a number of anthology series consisting in whole or in part of unsold pilots.

The struggling DuMont Television Network offered little during the 1955–56 television season. DuMont's final program line-up consisted of '' What's the Story'' on Wednesday nights at 9:30 and ''Boxing From St. Nicholas Arena'' on Monday nights at 9:00. By September 23, ''What's the Story'' was off the air.McNeil, Alex (1996). ''Total Television'' (4th ed.), p. 907. New York: Penguin Books. DuMont honored its few remaining network commitments until August 6, 1956, when it ceased operations as a major television network.Brooks, Tim & Marsh, Earle (2007). ''The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows'' (9th ed.). New York: Ballantine. pp. 517–518, 1576–1577. . DuMont hoped to go into independent television production; the company's studio facilities and Electronicam system were used to produce CBS's ''The Honeymooners'' during the 1955–56 season. DuMont's loss was ABC's gain, as some of DuMont's most popular programs, including '' Life Is Worth Living'', '' Chance of a Lifetime'', ''Life Begins at Eighty'', and '' Down You Go'', found their way onto ABC's 1955–56 prime time schedule.

The crumbling and eventual death of the old DuMont Network meant the 1955–56 television season would be the first year in which the three major remaining U.S. television networks would be the only full-time commercial participants in prime time, a situation that was to remain for the next 31 years, until Fox entered prime time on Sunday, April 5, 1987.

This was the first season that CBS and NBC aired some of their prime-time programs in color.

New series are highlighted in bold.

All times are U.S. Eastern and Pacific time (except for some live sports or events). Subtract one hour for Central and Mountain times.

Each of the 30 highest-rated shows is listed with its rank and rating as determined by Nielsen Media Research.Highest-rated series is based on the annual top-rated programs list compiled by Nielsen Media Research and reported in: Brooks, Tim & Marsh, Earle (2007). ''The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network TV Shows'' (9th ed.). New York: Ballantine. .

Legend

Sunday

* ''The Ed Sullivan Show'' was formerly '' Toast of the Town''.

** formerly ''The Colgate Comedy Hour''.

* On NBC, ''Color Spread'' (COLOR) aired as a monthly series, 7:30–9 p.m.
*''Appointment with Adventure'' premiered on CBS on April 3, 1955, and ran through September 1955, before starting its regular second season in the same time slot on October 2, 1955. The anthology series had no host.

Monday

Note: On NBC, ''Producers' Showcase'' aired as a monthly series 8–9:30 p.m. No longer a network operation, DuMont continued airing its ''Boxing From St. Nicholas Arena'' on an occasional basis over individual stations until August 6, 1956. On CBS, in most areas, '' Douglas Edwards With the News'' aired at 6:45 p.m., while some cities (including New York) aired the 7:15 p.m. edition.

Tuesday

Notes: ''The Martha Raye Show'' and '' The Chevy Show'' appeared monthly. As of November 1, '' You'll Never Get Rich'' officially became ''The Phil Silvers Show'', swapping time periods with '' Navy Log''.

On NBC, '' Dear Phoebe'' consisted entirely of reruns of the series from the 1954–1955 season.

Premiering on the same evening at the same time, '' G.E. Summer Originals'' on ABC and ''Sneak Preview'' on NBC were the first U.S. anthology series composed of unsold television pilots.

Wednesday

* Formerly '' Pabst Blue Ribbon Bouts'' on CBS.

''** What's the Story'' aired only until September 23, before being cancelled.

Thursday

Friday

Note: On NBC, '' The Best in Mystery'' consisted entirely of reruns of episodes of ''Four Star Playhouse'' seen previously on CBS.

Saturday

Notes:
* On ABC, ''Grand Ole Opry'' made its debut as a monthly series, airing 8–9 p.m. from October 15, 1955, to September 26, 1956. On CBS, ''Ford Star Jubilee'' made its debut as a monthly series, airing 9:30–11 p.m. On NBC, '' Max Liebman Presents'' aired as a monthly series, 9–10:30 p.m.
*'' High Finance'', hosted by Dennis James, debuted on July 7, 1956, at 10:30 on CBS. It ran until December 15, 1956. It replaced ''The Damon Runyon Theater.''
*On NBC, the 1956 version of the summer series '' Encore Theatre'' consisted of reruns of episodes of '' Pepsi Cola Playhouse'' and '' Studio 57''.

By network

ABC

Returning Series
*''The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet''
*'' The Adventures of Rin-Tin-Tin''
*'' The Big Picture''
*'' Break the Bank''
*'' Chance of a Lifetime'' (moved from DuMont)
*''Cheyenne''
*''Disneyland''
*'' Dollar a Second''
*'' The Dotty Mack Show''
*'' Down You Go''
*'' Du Pont Cavalcade Theater''
*'' Ethel and Albert''
*'' John Daly and the News''
*''Kukla, Fran and Ollie''
*''Life Begins at Eighty''
*'' Life is Worth Living''
*''The Lone Ranger''
*'' Make Room for Daddy''
*'' Masquerade Party''
*''The Original Amateur Hour''
*''Ozark Jubilee''
*'' Paris Precinct''
*''Star Tonight''
*'' Stop the Music''
*''Tomorrow's Careers''
*''TV Reader's Digest''
*'' The Vise''
*'' The Voice of Firestone''
*''You Asked for It''

New Series
*''The Alcoa Hour''
*''Casablanca''
*''Cheyenne''
*'' Combat Sergeant'' *
*'' Crossroads''
*'' Down You Go''
*'' Famous Film Festival''
*'' G.E. Summer Originals'' *
*''Grand Ole Opry''
*'' It's Polka Time'' *
*''Kings Row''
*'' Lawrence Welk's Dodge Dancing Party''
*''The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp

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