1960–61 United States Network Television Schedule
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The following is the 1960–61 network television schedule for the three major English language commercial broadcast networks in the United States. The schedule covers primetime hours from September 1960 through March 1961. The schedule is followed by a list per network of returning series, new series, and series cancelled after the 1959–60 season. New fall series are highlighted in bold. All times are Eastern and Pacific. 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 rat ...
.Highest-rated series is based on the annual top-rated programs list compiled 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 rat ...
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

Note: ABC aired the interim '' The Walter Winchell Show'' at 10:30 p.m. from early October until early November.


Monday

Notes: On CBS, '' Presidential Countdown'' aired as an interim series, 10:30–11 p.m. in September and October until the November 8th election. In some areas, '' Douglas Edwards with the News'' and '' The Huntley-Brinkley Report'' aired at 6:45 p.m. ''
Peter Gunn ''Peter Gunn'' is an American detective fiction, private eye television series, starring Craig Stevens (actor), Craig Stevens as Peter Gunn with Lola Albright as his girlfriend, lounge singer Edie Hart. The series was broadcast by NBC from Sept ...
'' moved from NBC to ABC in the fall of 1960. The episodes of '' Brenner'' that ran on CBS in the summer of 1961 consisted of two previously unaired episodes produced in 1959 and reruns of episodes broadcast during the summer of 1959.


Tuesday

NOTES: This is the first broadcast of '' The Bugs Bunny Show''. On CBS, '' Comedy Spotlight'' consisted of reruns of episodes of '' General Electric Theater''.


Wednesday


Thursday

* formerly '' You Bet Your Life''


Friday


Saturday

Note: On NBC, '' The Campaign and the Candidates'' aired as an interim series, 9:30–10:30 p.m., from mid-September until the November 8 election.


By network


ABC

Returning Series *'' 77 Sunset Strip'' *'' The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet'' *'' Adventures in Paradise'' *'' Alcoa Presents: One Step Beyond'' *'' Bronco'' *'' Cheyenne'' *'' The Detectives Starring Robert Taylor'' *'' The Donna Reed Show'' *'' Hawaiian Eye'' *'' Lawman'' *'' The Lawrence Welk Show'' *'' Leave It to Beaver'' *'' The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp'' *'' Matty's Funday Funnies'' *'' Maverick'' *''
Peter Gunn ''Peter Gunn'' is an American detective fiction, private eye television series, starring Craig Stevens (actor), Craig Stevens as Peter Gunn with Lola Albright as his girlfriend, lounge singer Edie Hart. The series was broadcast by NBC from Sept ...
'' (moved from NBC) *'' The Real McCoys'' *'' The Rebel'' *'' The Rifleman'' *'' Sugarfoot'' *'' Take a Good Look'' *'' The Untouchables'' *'' Walt Disney Presents'' New Series *'' The Asphalt Jungle'' * *'' The Bugs Bunny Show'' *'' Expedition!'' *'' The Fight of the Week'' *''
The Flintstones ''The Flintstones'' is an American animated sitcom produced by Hanna-Barbera, Hanna-Barbera Productions, which takes place in a romanticized Stone Age setting and follows the titular family, the Flintstones, and their next-door neighbors, the R ...
'' *'' Guestward, Ho!'' *'' Harrigan and Son'' *''
Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...
'' *'' The Islanders'' *'' The Law and Mr. Jones'' *'' Make That Spare'' *'' My Three Sons'' *'' Naked City'' *'' The Roaring 20's'' *'' Stagecoach West'' *'' Sugarfoot'' *'' Surfside 6'' *'' Winston Churchill: The Valiant Years'' Not returning from 1959–60: *'' The Alaskans'' *'' Black Saddle'' *'' Bourbon Street Beat'' *'' Broken Arrow'' *'' Charley Weaver's Hobby Lobby'' *'' Colt .45'' *'' Dick Clark's Saturday Night Beach-Nut Show'' *''
Dick Clark's World of Talent ''Dick Clark's World of Talent'' is a talent/variety television show produced by Irving Mansfield and broadcast weekly in the United States on the American Broadcasting Company, ABC television network from 10:30-11 p.m. (ET) on Sundays during th ...
'' *'' The Gale Storm Show'' *'' The Jeannie Carson Show'' *'' John Gunther's High Road'' *'' Johnny Staccato'' *''Music for a Spring Night'' *''Music for a Summer Night'' *'' Jubilee USA'' *'' Keep Talking'' *'' The Man from Blackhawk'' *'' Man with a Camera'' *'' The Pat Boone Chevy Showroom'' *'' Philip Marlowe'' *''The Wednesday Night Fights''


CBS

Returning Series *'' The Ann Sothern Show'' *'' The Armstrong Circle Theatre'' *'' Brenner'' *'' Candid Camera'' *'' CBS Reports'' *''Comedy Spotlight'' (previously '' The Comedy Spot'') *'' The Danny Thomas Show'' *'' Dennis the Menace'' *'' Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theater'' *'' Douglas Edwards with the News'' *'' The DuPont Show with June Allyson'' *''
The Ed Sullivan Show ''The Ed Sullivan Show'' is an American television variety show that ran on CBS from June 20, 1948, to March 28, 1971, and was hosted by New York City, New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan. It was replaced in September 1971 by the ''CB ...
'' *''
Face the Nation ''Face the Nation'' is a weekly news and Sunday morning talk show, morning public affairs program airing Sundays on the CBS radio and Television broadcasting, television network. Created by Frank Stanton (executive), Frank Stanton in 1954, ''Fa ...
'' *'' Frontier Justice'' *'' The Garry Moore Show'' *'' General Electric Theatre'' *''
Gunsmoke ''Gunsmoke'' is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman Macdonnell and writer John Meston. It centered on Dodge City, Kansas, in the 1870s, during the settlement of the American West. The central charact ...
'' *'' Have Gun — Will Travel'' *'' Hennessy'' *'' I've Got a Secret'' *'' The Jack Benny Show'' *'' Lassie'' *'' The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis'' *'' Perry Mason'' *'' Person to Person'' *'' Rawhide'' *'' The Red Skelton Show'' *'' The Spike Jones Show'' *'' To Tell the Truth'' *'' The Twentieth Century'' *'' The Twilight Zone'' *'' The United States Steel Hour'' *'' Wanted Dead or Alive'' *'' What's My Line'' New Series *''
Angel An angel is a spiritual (without a physical body), heavenly, or supernatural being, usually humanoid with bird-like wings, often depicted as a messenger or intermediary between God (the transcendent) and humanity (the profane) in variou ...
'' *'' The Aquanauts'' *'' Bringing Up Buddy'' *'' Danger Man'' *'' The Andy Griffith Show'' *'' Eyewitness to History'' *'' Glenn Miller Time'' *'' Gunslinger'' * *'' Holiday Lodge'' * *'' The Jackie Gleason Show'' *'' Mr. Garlund'' *'' My Sister Eileen'' *'' Route 66'' *''Summer Sports Spectacular'' * *'' The Tom Ewell Show'' *'' 'Way Out'' *'' The Witness'' Not returning from 1959–60: *''Be Our Guest'' *'' The Betty Hutton Show'' *''The Big Party'' *'' Buick-Electra Playhouse'' *'' The Dennis O'Keefe Show'' *'' Diagnosis: Unknown'' *'' Father Knows Best'' *'' The George Gobel Show'' *'' Hotel de Paree'' *''
The Invisible Man ''The Invisible Man'' is an 1897 science fiction novel by British writer H. G. Wells. Originally serialised in '' Pearson's Weekly'' in 1897, it was published as a novel the same year. The Invisible Man to whom the title refers is Griffin, a s ...
'' *'' Johnny Ringo'' *'' The Kate Smith Show'' *'' The Lineup'' *'' Lucy in Connecticut'' *'' Markham'' *'' Masquerade Party'' *'' Men into Space'' *'' The Millionaire'' *'' New Comedy Showcase'' *'' Peck's Bad Girl'' *''
Playhouse 90 ''Playhouse 90'' is an American television anthology drama series that aired on CBS from 1956 to 1960 for a total of 134 episodes. The show was produced at CBS Television City in Los Angeles, California. Since live anthology drama series of t ...
'' *''The Revlon Revue'' *'' The Robert Herridge Theatre'' *'' The Texan'' *'' Tightrope!''


NBC

Returning Series *''
Alfred Hitchcock Presents ''Alfred Hitchcock Presents'' is an American television anthology series created, hosted and produced by Alfred Hitchcock, airing on CBS and NBC, alternately, between 1955 and 1965. It features dramas, thrillers, and mysteries. Between 1962 ...
'' (moved from CBS) *'' The Art Carney Special'' *'' Bachelor Father'' *''
Bat Masterson Bartholemew William Barclay "Bat" Masterson (November 26, 1853 – October 25, 1921) was a U.S. Army scout, lawman, professional gambler, and journalist known for his exploits in the late 19th and early 20th-century American Old West. He was bo ...
'' *'' The Bell Telephone Hour'' *''
Bonanza ''Bonanza'' is an American Western television series that ran on NBC from September 12, 1959, to January 16, 1973. Lasting 14 seasons and 431 episodes, ''Bonanza'' is NBC's longest-running Western, the second-longest-running Western series on ...
'' *'' The Chevy Mystery Show'' *''
Concentration In chemistry, concentration is the abundance of a constituent divided by the total volume of a mixture. Several types of mathematical description can be distinguished: '' mass concentration'', '' molar concentration'', '' number concentration'', ...
'' *'' The Deputy'' *'' The Dinah Shore Chevy Show'' *''
Five Star Jubilee ''Five Star Jubilee'' is an American country music variety show carried by National Broadcasting Company, NBC-TV from March 17–September 22, 1961. The live program, a Spin-off (media), spin-off of ABC-TV's ''Ozark Jubilee, Jubilee USA'', wa ...
'' *'' The Ford Show'' *'' The Groucho Show'' *'' Happy'' *'' The Huntley–Brinkley Report'' *'' It Could Be You'' *'' Jackpot Bowling starring Milton Berle'' *'' Laramie'' *'' The Lawless Years'' *'' The Loretta Young Show'' *'' The Man from Interpol'' *'' NBC News Specials'' *'' One Happy Family'' *'' Perry Como's Kraft Music Hall'' *'' The Price Is Right'' *'' Riverboat'' *'' Shirley Temple's Storybook'' *'' Tales of Wells Fargo'' *'' This Is Your Life'' *'' Wagon Train'' *'' Westinghouse Playhouse Starring Nanette Fabray and Wendell Corey'' New Series *''
Acapulco Acapulco de Juárez (), commonly called Acapulco ( , ; ), is a city and Port of Acapulco, major seaport in the Political divisions of Mexico, state of Guerrero on the Pacific Coast of Mexico, south of Mexico City. Located on a deep, semicirc ...
'' * *''
The Americans ''The Americans'' is an American historical drama, period spy fiction, spy drama television series created by Joe Weisberg for FX (TV channel), FX. It aired for six seasons from 2013 to 2018. Weisberg and Joel Fields also served as showrunners ...
'' * *'' The Barbara Stanwyck Show'' *'' The Campaign and the Candidates'' * *'' Dan Raven'' *''
Dante Dante Alighieri (; most likely baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri; – September 14, 1321), widely known mononymously as Dante, was an Italian Italian poetry, poet, writer, and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called ...
'' *''
Five Star Jubilee ''Five Star Jubilee'' is an American country music variety show carried by National Broadcasting Company, NBC-TV from March 17–September 22, 1961. The live program, a Spin-off (media), spin-off of ABC-TV's ''Ozark Jubilee, Jubilee USA'', wa ...
'' * *'' Great Ghost Tales'' *'' The Groucho Show'' *'' Happy'' * *'' Klondike'' *'' Michael Shayne'' *''The Nation's Future'' * *'' National Velvet'' *'' One Happy Family'' * *'' Outlaws'' *'' Peter Loves Mary'' *'' Sing Along with Mitch'' * *'' The Tab Hunter Show'' *'' Tales of Wells Fargo'' * *'' The Tall Man'' *'' Thriller'' *'' Westinghouse Playhouse Starring Nanette Fabray and Wendell Corey''* *'' Westinghouse Preview Theatre'' * *'' Whispering Smith'' * Not returning from 1959–60: *'' The Arthur Murray Party'' *'' Fibber McGee and Molly'' *'' Five Fingers'' *''Gas Company Playhouse'' *'' Gillette Cavalcade of Sports'' *'' Law of the Plainsman'' *'' Love and Marriage'' *'' M Squad'' *'' The Man and the Challenge'' *''Music on Ice'' *''NBC Playhouse'' *'' NBC Sunday Showcase'' *'' Omnibus'' *'' Overland Trail'' *'' People Are Funny'' *'' Richard Diamond, Private Detective'' *'' Startime'' *'' The Steve Allen Plymouth Show'' *'' Tate'' *'' The Troubleshooters'' *'' Wichita Town'' *'' Wrangler'' Note: The * indicates that the program was introduced in midseason.


Trivia


Effects of the WGA strike

Between January and June 1960, the 1960 Writers Guild of America strike took place, affecting the fall schedule. The networks had numerous holes, which were mostly filled with unscripted material, some of which included political programs in anticipation of the forthcoming 1960 United States presidential election. CBS gave the unprecedented step of showing episodes from previous seasons of popular series. Some timeslots however (particularly that of 10:30-11) were ceded to stations.


"Vast wasteland" speech

On May 9, 1961, at the annual convention of the
National Association of Broadcasters The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) is a Industry trade group, trade association and lobbying, lobby group representing the interests of commercial and non-commercial over-the-air radio and television broadcasting, broadcasters in th ...
new
Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, internet, wi-fi, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains j ...
chairman Newton Minow delivered " Television and the Public Interest," a scathing speech directed at the "procession of game shows, violence, audience participation shows, formula comedies about totally unbelievable families, blood and thunder, mayhem, violence, sadism, murder, Western badmen, Western goodmen, private eyes, gangsters, more violence, and cartoons, and, endlessly, commercials, many screaming, cajoling, and offending, and, most of all, boredom ..Is there one network president in this room who claims he can't do better?" Minow called TV a "vast wasteland"; the phrase was picked up by the press and resulted in bad publicity for the networks and for the television industry as a whole. According to television historians Castleman and Podrazik (1982), the networks were in a bind, though: they had already purchased their fall 1961 programs and had locked in their 1961–62 schedules. "The best the networks could do was slot a few more public affairs shows, paint rosy pictures for 1962–63, and prepare to endure the barrage of criticism they felt certain would greet the new season."


References


Additional sources

* 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 (2007). ''The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows'' (9th ed.). New York: Ballantine. . {{DEFAULTSORT:1960-61 United States network television schedule United States primetime network television schedules 1960 in American television 1961 in American television