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1958–59 United States network television schedule
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The following is the 1958–59 network television schedule for the four major English language commercial broadcast networks in the United States. The schedule covers primetime hours from September 1958 through March 1959. The schedule is followed by a list per network of returning series, new series, and series cancelled after the 1957–58 season.
According to television historians Castleman and Podrazik (1982), the networks' schedules were thrown "into complete chaos" by the quiz show scandals that erupted during the later months of 1958. At first only one series, Dotto, was implicated in the game-fixing charges. Ed Hilgemeier, a contestant on the program, filed a complaint with the show's sponsor, Colgate-Palmolive. Colgate withdrew its sponsorship of the Tuesday evening (on NBC) and daytime (on CBS) versions of Dotto halfway through the summer, and the show did not appear on either network's fall 1958 schedule.[1]
The $64,000 Challenge (on CBS) similarly did not appear that fall, and by November, The $64,000 Question (also CBS) and Twenty-One (NBC) were also removed from the network schedules, amidst accusations of game rigging. NBC's primetime Tic-Tac-Dough lasted through December. According to Castleman and Podrazik, "NBC and CBS were adamant in their own statements of innocence" since they only aired, and did not produce, the rigged series. They also claimed the cancellations were due to low ratings, not because of game-fixing accusations. ABC had few game shows on its 1958–59 schedule, and "eagerly pointed out" its innocence in the quiz show mess. The network affirmed its commitment to Westerns, which could not be rigged.[1]
Western TV series continued to be popular with audiences, and for the first time, the three highest-rated programs on television, CBS's Gunsmoke and, Have Gun – Will Travel alongside NBC's Wagon Train were all Westerns. ABC's new series, The Rifleman even hit #4, quite a feat for a network which had had no series in the top 30 five years earlier.[2]
Although ABC, CBS, and NBC remained the largest television networks in the United States, they were not the only companies operating television networks during this era. In May 1958, Ely Landau, president of the NTA Film Network, announced an NTA Film Network schedule for the 1958–59 season. The schedule consisted of three and a half hours of programs on Friday nights: Man Without a Gun at 7:30, followed by This is Alice at 8:00, then How to Marry a Millionaire at 8:30, and Premiere Performance, a package of films from the network's minority shareholder 20th Century Fox, from 9:00 to 11:00. Although the NTA Film Network had over 100 affiliate stations, only 17 agreed to air the Friday night schedule "in pattern" (during the scheduled time).[3] Other NTA Network affiliates carried the network's programs whenever they had available slots, and outside of Gun, Alice, Millionaire and Performance, NTA's programs were aired whenever the local stations preferred. National Educational Television (NET), the predecessor to PBS founded in 1952, also allowed its affiliate stations to air programs out of pattern.
Each of the 30 highest-rated shows is listed with its rank and rating as determined by Nielsen Media Research.[2]
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Legend
- Light blue indicates local programming.
- Gray indicates encore programming.
- Blue-gray indicates news programming.
- Light green indicates sporting events.
- Red indicates series being burned off and other irregularly scheduled programs, including specials and movies.
- Light gold indicates programming produced outside of the United States.
- highlight Lime highlights indicates the number-one most watched program of the season.
- highlight Yellow highlights indicates the top-10 most watched programs of the season.
- highlight Cyan highlights indicates numbers 11-20 most watched programs of the season.
- highlight Magenta highlights indicates numbers 21-30 most watched programs of the season.
- highlight Highlights indicates that it falls in multiple of the above categories.
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Schedule
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- 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.
Sunday
Notes:
- The Canadian-produced anthology series Encounter aired only five episodes on ABC before cancellation.
- Deadline for Action on ABC consisted of reruns of episodes that starred Dane Clark of the 1956–1957 series Wire Service.
- From February to September 1959, Richard Diamond, Private Detective, starring David Janssen, aired for a third and final season on CBS, on the Sunday schedule at 10 p.m. Eastern. It switched to NBC and returned to the air for a fourth season during the 1959–60 television season.
Monday
Note:
- The Westinghouse Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Show aired once a month at 10–11 p.m. Summer reruns aired as The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour.
Tuesday
Notes:
- Bronco was a replacement for Cheyenne, which had temporarily ceased production as Clint Walker walked out of the series.
- Confession, with host Jack Wyatt, which had begun as a local program in the Dallas, Texas, market in early 1957, premiered as a summer replacement on ABC on June 19, 1958, in advance of the 1958–59 television season. It ended on January 13, 1959, and was succeeded on January 20, 1959, by the paranormal anthology series Alcoa Presents: One Step Beyond.
- Stars in Action consisted of repeats of assorted anthology series.
Wednesday
Notes:
- Twilight Theater consisted of reruns of assorted anthology series.
- On CBS, Armstrong by Request aired in place of Armstrong Circle Theatre from July 8 to September 16, 1959, alternating with United States Steel Hour, consisting of reruns of six documentary dramas which originally had aired on Armstrong Circle Theatre during the 1958–1959 season.
Thursday
- The 90-minute series Jazz Party aired from May 8 to December 25, 1958, on WNTA-TV Thursdays at 9pm ET and was offered to NTA Film Network affiliates during the 1958 fall season. It was a successor to a similar program on the NYC DuMont station WABD, Art Ford's Greenwich Village Party, as the DuMont Network was ceasing operations.
Friday
Notes:
- On January 9, Phillies Jackpot Bowling premiered in the 10:45-11 p.m. spot on NBC.
- On March 13 Tombstone Territory replaced Man with a Camera on the ABC schedule.
- On NBC, the summer anthology series Colgate Western Theatre consisted of repeats of Western dramas originally aired on other anthology series, primarily General Electric Theatre and Schlitz Playhouse.
Saturday
Notes:
- On NBC, Brains & Brawn was replaced on January 3, 1959, by The D.A.'s Man.
- On CBS, Markham premiered Saturday, May 2, 1959, at 10:30 pm.
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By network
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ABC
CBS
NBC
NTA
|
Returning series
|
New series
|
Note: The * indicates that the program was introduced in midseason.
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See also
Notes
References
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