1959–60 United States network television schedule

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The following is the 1959–60 network television schedule for the three major English language commercial broadcast networks in the United States. The schedule covers primetime hours from September 1959 through March 1960. The schedule is followed by a list per network of returning series, new series, and series cancelled after the 1958–59 season.

By the end of the 1950s, the three major U.S. television networks had basically given up direct control of their TV programs. According to TV historians Castleman and Podrazik (1982), ABC allowed Warner Brothers studios to fill 30% of its fall 1959 schedule. The networks "acted as mere conduits", with Warner, Talent Associates, Revue Studios, Ziv, Screen Gems, 20th Century-Fox, Goodson-Todman, and Desilu Studios producing nearly everything on the networks; with rare exceptions, only network news and sports were still produced in-house.[1]

By fall 1959 what the Hollywood studios were producing were mostly Westerns. According to Castleman and Podrazik (1984), "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."[2] Westerns were popular with audiences, but critics lamented the loss of other program formats, which had quietly vanished from the three networks' schedules. The addition of Westerns and game shows came at the direct expense of the live dramatic anthology series seen during the Golden Age of Television.[3]

All times are Eastern and Pacific. New fall series are highlighted in bold.

The official schedule was set by each network before the start of the official fall season. The fall season is from September to November in the U.S.. The mid-season schedule is listed under the official fall season lineup of each network. The mid-season schedule is from December 1959 to May 1960.

Each of the 30 highest-rated shows is listed with its rank and rating as determined by Nielsen Media Research.[4]

  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[]

Network 7:00 PM 7:30 PM 8:00 PM 8:30 PM 9:00 PM 9:30 PM 10:00 PM 10:30 PM
ABC Fall Colt .45 Maverick (19/25.2) Lawman (15/26.2) The Rebel The Alaskans Dick Clark's World of Talent
Spring Broken Arrow Johnny Staccato
CBS Fall Lassie (29/23.1)
(Tied with The Perry Como Show) 		Dennis the Menace (16/26.0) The Ed Sullivan Show (12/28.0) General Electric Theater (21/24.4)
(Tied with Mr. Lucky and ) 		Alfred Hitchcock Presents (25/24.1) The Jack Benny Program / The George Gobel Show What's My Line? (27/23.9)
Summer Lucy in Connecticut
NBC Fall Riverboat NBC Sunday Showcase (Color) The Dinah Shore Chevy Show (Color) The Loretta Young Show Local Programming
February Overland Trail
Summer (Color) The Chevy Mystery Show (Color)

Note: The CBS 1960 summer series Lucy in Connecticut consisted of reruns of I Love Lucy from the final 13 episodes of the 1956-57 season when the Lucy and Ricky Ricardo characters made their home in Westport, Connecticut.

Monday[]

Network 7:00 PM 7:30 PM 8:00 PM 8:30 PM 9:00 PM 9:30 PM 10:00 PM 10:30 PM
ABC Local Programming Cheyenne (17/25.9) Bourbon Street Beat Adventures in Paradise Man with a Camera
CBS Fall 7:00 Local Programming / 7:15 Douglas Edwards with the News* Masquerade Party The Texan Father Knows Best (6/29.7)
(Tied with 77 Sunset Strip) 		The Danny Thomas Show (4/31.1) The Ann Sothern Show (24/24.2) Hennesey The DuPont Show with June Allyson
Mid-Season
NBC Fall 7:00 Local Programming / 7:15 The Huntley-Brinkley Report* Richard Diamond, Private Detective Love and Marriage Tales of Wells Fargo Peter Gunn Alcoa Theatre / Goodyear Television Playhouse The Steve Allen Plymouth Show** (Color)
February Riverboat

(*) In some areas, Douglas Edwards with the News and The Huntley-Brinkley Report aired at 6:45 p.m. (**) Formerly known as The Steve Allen Show

New episodes of Richard Diamond, Private Detective, starring David Janssen, during the season were split, with some airing on NBC from October 1959 to January 1960 on Mondays at 7:30 p.m. Eastern Time, and the remainder on NBC on Tuesdays at 9:00 p.m. Eastern from June to September 1960.

Tuesday[]

Network 7:00 PM 7:30 PM 8:00 PM 8:30 PM 9:00 PM 9:30 PM 10:00 PM 10:30 PM
ABC Local Programming Sugarfoot / Bronco The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp (20/25.0) The Rifleman (13/27.5) Philip Marlowe Alcoa Presents: One Step Beyond Keep Talking
CBS Fall 7:00 Local Programming / 7:15 Douglas Edwards with the News Local Programming The Dennis O'Keefe Show The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis Tightrope! The Red Skelton Show (Sporadically in Color) (5/30.8) The Garry Moore Show
Summer Peck's Bad Girl Diagnosis: Unknown
NBC Fall 7:00 Local Programming / 7:15 The Huntley-Brinkley Report Laramie Fibber McGee and Molly The Arthur Murray Party (Color) Startime (Color) Local Programming
Spring Startime (Color) The Arthur Murray Party (Color) M Squad
Summer Gas Company Playhouse/
NBC Playhouse (alternating) 		Richard Diamond, Private Detective

Notes: Gas Company Playhouse and NBC Playhouse alternated weekly. Gas Company Playhouse, hosted by Julia Meade, consisted of reruns of Goodyear Television Playhouse, The David Niven Show, Colgate Theater, and Alcoa Theatre. NBC Playhouse, hosted by Jeanne Bal, consisted of reruns of episodes of The Loretta Young Show in which Loretta Young had not starred.

New episodes of Richard Diamond, Private Detective, starring David Janssen, were split during the 1959–1960 season, with some airing on NBC from October 1959 to January 1960 on Mondays at 7:30 p.m. Eastern Time, and the remainder on NBC on Tuesdays at 9:00 p.m. Eastern from June to September 1960.

Wednesday[]

Network 7:00 PM 7:30 PM 8:00 PM 8:30 PM 9:00 PM 9:30 PM 10:00 PM 10:30 PM
ABC Fall Local Programming The Court of Last Resort (repeats) Charley Weaver's Hobby Lobby The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet Hawaiian Eye
Winter
Spring /
CBS Fall 7:00 Local Programming / 7:15 Douglas Edwards with the News The Lineup Men into Space The Millionaire I've Got a Secret (28/23.5) Armstrong Circle Theatre / The United States Steel Hour
Winter
NBC Fall 7:00 Local Programming / 7:15 The Huntley-Brinkley Report Wagon Train (2/38.4) The Price Is Right (Color) (8/29.2) The Perry Como Show (29/23.1)
(Tied with Lassie) (Color) 		This Is Your Life Wichita Town
Summer Happy Tate

Note: On ABC, Music For a Spring Night was the summer 1959 series renamed. It reverted to the name Music For a Summer Night in May 1960.

Thursday[]

Network 7:00 PM 7:30 PM 8:00 PM 8:30 PM 9:00 PM 9:30 PM 10:00 PM 10:30 PM
ABC Fall Local Programming The Gale Storm Show The Donna Reed Show The Real McCoys (11/28.2) The Untouchables Take a Good Look
Summer The Jeannie Carson Show
CBS Fall 7:00 Local Programming / 7:15 Douglas Edwards with the News To Tell the Truth The Betty Hutton Show Johnny Ringo (21/24.4)
(Tied with Mr. Lucky and General Electric Theater) 		Playhouse 90 /
Winter Markham
Summer The Invisible Man
NBC Fall 7:00 Local Programming / 7:15 The Huntley-Brinkley Report Law of the Plainsman Bat Masterson Johnny Staccato (later moved to ABC) Bachelor Father The Ford Show (14/27.4) (Color) You Bet Your Life (26/24.0) The Lawless Years
Summer Wrangler

Note; The ABC 1960 summer series The Jeannie Carson Show consisted of reruns of the 1956-1957 CBS situation comedy Hey, Jeannie!

Friday[]

Network 7:00 PM 7:30 PM 8:00 PM 8:30 PM 9:00 PM 9:30 PM 10:00 PM 10:30 PM
ABC Local Programming Walt Disney Presents The Man From Blackhawk 77 Sunset Strip (6/29.7)
(Tied with Father Knows Best) 		The Detectives Starring Robert Taylor Black Saddle
CBS 7:00 Local Programming / 7:15 Douglas Edwards with the News Rawhide (18/25.8) Hotel de Paree Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse / The Westinghouse Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Show (once a month) The Twilight Zone Person to Person
NBC Fall 7:00 Local Programming / 7:15 The Huntley-Brinkley Report People Are Funny The Troubleshooters The Bell Telephone Hour (Color) / NBC News Specials M Squad 10:00 Gillette Cavalcade of Sports / 10:45 Phillies Jackpot Bowling
Winter Masquerade Party

Saturday[]

Network 7:00 PM 7:30 PM 8:00 PM 8:30 PM 9:00 PM 9:30 PM 10:00 PM 10:30 PM
ABC Local Programming Dick Clark's Saturday Night Beech-Nut Show John Gunther's High Road Leave It to Beaver The Lawrence Welk Show Jubilee USA
CBS Fall Perry Mason (10/28.3) Wanted: Dead or Alive (9/28.7) Mr. Lucky (21/24.4)
(Tied with and General Electric Theater) 		Have Gun – Will Travel (3/34.7) Gunsmoke (1/40.3) Markham
Winter Local Programming
NBC Fall Bonanza (Color) The Man and the Challenge The Deputy Five Fingers It Could Be You
Winter Man from Interpol

By network[]

ABC[]

CBS[]

NBC[]

NTA[]

Not returning from 1958–59:

Note: The * indicates that the program was introduced in midseason.

References[]

  1. ^ Castleman, Harry; Walter J. Podrazik (1982). Watching TV: Four Decades of American Television. New York: McGraw-Hill. pp. 129–138. ISBN 0-07-010269-4.
  2. ^ 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. ISBN 0-07-010277-5
  3. ^ Heldenfels, R. D. (1994) Television's Greatest Year: 1954. New York: Continuum, pg 210. ISBN 0-8264-0675-0
  4. ^ 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. ISBN 978-0-345-49773-4.
  • McNeil, Alex. Total Television. Fourth edition. New York: Penguin Books. ISBN 0-14-024916-8.
  • Castleman, Harry & Podrazik, Wally (1984). The TV Schedule Book. New York: McGraw-Hill Paperbacks.
  • Brooks, Tim & Marsh, Earle (2007). The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows (9th ed.). New York: Ballantine. ISBN 0-345-31864-1.
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