A comment on a montage — at YouTube — of all 37 of the prime-time shows that were on ABC in the Fall of 1961.
ADDED: In 1961, I eagerly consumed the "Fall Preview" issue of TV, which didn't come out until mid-September. I guess they took the equinox seriously in those days. Back in August, 60 years ago, TV challenged the notion that TV was "for 12 year olds"....
I was only 10, so I had to aim higher just to reach 12. Not only were people concerned that television might not be sufficiently worthy of adult viewership, they were consuming advice on "How to teach your children how to watch TV":
That was my favorite show, "Dobie Gillis." About high school. I couldn't find the original text of that teach-your-children article, but I found an article about it:
[Leo] Rosten, political scientist, author and social critic, calls the current fare on television "dreary at best and ghastly at worst," but that doesn't make it much out of line from other forms of mass media; many newspapers are "sensational and shoddy," paperbacks "that are part of the alleged 'cultural revolution' are shallow and worthless," and "much of what appears on the Broadway stage is banal and unworthy of a civilized man's attention."
In that sense, TV is no different. "The public appetite for the silly and the trivial, for sheer distraction, the national mania for 'escape' and narcotic 'fun'—these are so great and so widespread that one can only wonder how our schools and families and churches have turned out so many people whose taste is so abominable."...
Television did not abolish parents, he notes, nor teachers, preachers and critics, "and I wish they would stop acting as if they were dead.... There is no swifter or more effective way of influencing Madison Avenue than by registering your vote for or against a program—that is, by listening to programs which are superior and by not listening to programs which are bilge."
Funny to talk about "listening" to TV. But, of course, there is sound just as well as pictures. Why privilege the visuals? By the way, Meade tells me his grandparents didn't speak of "watching TV." It was always "looking at TV."
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You can still watch most of those shows on the "nostalgia" channels, which are available both on cable systems and free over-the-airways broadcasting. (The only problem is that they're loaded with commercials, which are even worse than the ones on the major networks.)
California Dreamin'
Overheard, Once Upon a Time in 1969...
"Well, if by "the old timey days," you mean television eight years ago, yeah."
I wasn't alive in 1961 but I'd rather watch this than most of network television these days. That houseboat in Sufside 6 must make some prime real estate now. If it's not a parking garage.
When I caught Covid in January I managed to record the Dragnet series (1967-1971)on my DVR. Lots of similar themes to today, except the "kids" calling for de-funding the police, bringing about communism, and lamenting the state of race relations are now CNN anchors and members of Congress. Unfortunately Joe Friday isn't around anymore to set them straight.
I recall watching most of those programs and I would also rather watch those than most of what is on today.
We have taken to watching reruns of British TV. Currently we a watching MI5.
"You can still watch most of those shows on the "nostalgia" channels, which are available both on cable systems and free over-the-airways broadcasting."
Try YouTube. I tested the YouTube archive by searching for "Naked City" and easily got a full episode.
In 1961, Warner Brothers dominated ABC for prime time shows. One you noted, SURFSIDE 6 which was a clone of their biggest hit detective show, 77 SUNSET STRIP. They had their own hipster, Ed"Kookie"Brynes, who like Maynard G. Kreebs of Dobie fame, had his own unique jive speak. I wonder if Kookie experienced "Smog in the noggin'" he'd get tested for COVID. Anyway Ann, I happy you're posting comments again. Your the GINCHIEST. (That's Kookie jive saying you are the coolest.)
Hi, I'm actor Troy Donahue! You may remember me from such award winning films like "Monster on the Campus", and televisions shows like "Surfside Six" and "Hawaiian Eye"!
Remember that Newton Minow called TV a "vast wasteland" in 1961...
When I look at the plethora of channels available today, and realize that there is simply NOTHING on that I care to watch, I'm inclined to agree.
That was great. A brief shaking of my memory tree. Some of those shows had such great casts. And others...a lot of Brylcreem. I'm surprised at how much animation was being shown in prime time hours. But then, it was more families back then, so it makes sense if you think of kids and parents in the same room. I guess parents today would probably not approve of Bugs Bunny cartoons.
The scores brought back some memories. And yes, a few of those shows would be better than anything on any network programming today. I have not watched a regular network (CBS, NBC, ABC) show in years. Literally years. If not for sports, I'd not have any regular broadcasting, and the day is near when I'll just be paying to stream the teams or leagues I want. I'm about there now.
I tested the YouTube archive by searching for "Naked City"
I'm glad your search was successful.
How many of my searches have ended with......oh! Is that what that means!?!?
I'm guessing the HTML tags are no longer available????
I'm posting this after your added post. Dobie Gillis was one of the best shows of my childhood. Max Shulman was a funny man.
I loved this quote: "...these are so great and so widespread that one can only wonder how our schools and families and churches have turned out so many people whose taste is so abominable."
Imagine what he'd have thought today.
Ever since reality TV took over, television has been lousy. Hollywood writers and producers no longer no how to tell good TV/movie stories, with a few exceptions.
I've been watching lots of B&W Gunsmoke episodes on INSP and, more recently, Mission Impossible on Pluto.
I was not alive, yet in 61, but I am still surprised at how few of them I have heard of. Must not have done well on the re-run circuit in the later 60's and early 70's which were my prime TV watching years. I am surprised also by the blatant Mattel commercialization, and the fact that cartoons were on prime time. I was also unaware that Robert Conrad did a surfing show before he went on the bigger and better things. I wonder how well these shows aged. I have watched a few of the shows I watched as a kid and many I find quite laughable or gagable, or both. I supposed I can youtube some of them and see.
I managed to record the Dragnet series (1967-1971)
Been watching Adam-12 too.
The big question is why the Antifa/BLM/Defund crowd has adopted "12" as the epithet for police these days? Certainly none of the people using it were even alive when Adam-12 had its run. Even the prior "Five-Oh" that they used to use was way before their time. (Speaking of which, the Hawaii Five-0 remake is really, really bad, with the McGarrett character especially bad. What lame-brain thought they could ever compete with the iconic Jack Lord? "There can be only one.")
I don't remember much before 1966, when I was 10. There is some question when my parents actually acquired a TV. Hard to remember life without Looney Tunes. Davy Crockett somehow coming on around lunchtime. Bonanza had been running for some years; that was what we tried to stay up late to watch. Mission Impossible, probably also late. Our cousins turned us onto Get Smart. Somehow with TV there are always the great expectations and hopes, alongside disappointment at the actual result. I'm probably still in the Sopranos cult, impressed at how much was achieved. I fairly recently discovered "Morse," and I think "Promised Land," with a trip to Australia is a great and haunting piece of TV. For comedy: Fawlty Towers.
You can still watch most of those shows on the "nostalgia" channels
But they will be butchered. At least two minutes of every half hour will have been cut out. Some times it doesn't matter much but too often the experience just isn't the same.
Holy cow! That middle paragraph quoted is more prophetic than current if you know what I mean.
This fits here too -- the newly-announced permanent Jeopardy! hosts.
I rather watch reruns of the Alex Trebek days (or even Art Fleming), starting from the beginning.
Of course, ALL of the guest hosts were lousy. (Perhaps by design.) Not just because they were all of them left/progressive, but because they were all celebrities rather than professional MC/announcer types, which is what Trebek was, with a professional host, voice and presence.
A man’s reach should exceed his grasp.
The TV shows of that era were designed to appeal to me (and Ann Althouse). The TV shows of today are deliberately designed to include minorities (people of color) and sexual minorities (homosexuals, lesbians, trans type people). I doubt if you go to a network today and propose a TV show that does not include these kinds of characters that you could get a show approved. (I invite commenters to point me to modern TV shows that have been approved without these characters/storylines.) So from my perspective the old shows appeal to me as relevant to the life I led, and the new shows show a life experience that is totally different from my experience.
“WORK!!!”
—- Maynard G. Krebs
Seconding the YouTube suggestion, here. I have unearthed many vaguely remembered episodes of the Jack Benny Program, which I appreciate far more now than I did at the time. My favorite so far is when the T-Men drop by Jack's house to inspect the vault.
Timeless.
Exactly. YouTube has become my new TV. The algorithm has learned how to serve me the perfect blend of tech, music, history and nostalgia. And YouTube Premium is totally worth it to avoid commercials (that is, the real ones)
I could have sworn they said 13-year-olds in that critique.
I remember it because was 13 and felt attacked, fancying myself mature for my age.
But it was just right for 13 year olds, and it hasn't been as good since.
I loved "Dobie Gillis," mainly for the character of Maynard G. Krebs, whom I wanted to be like when I grew up. Recently I watched a couple of episodes on one of the nostalgia channels, and . . . meh.
Somebody beat me to the "vast wasteland" quote.
I was 7 going on 8 at that time.
Agree that Dobie Gillis was one of the greatest shows of the early 60s. I didn't know at the time that the actor playing Dobie's grocer daddy in the show, Frank Faylen, had had a long career as a character actor in the movies, perhaps most notably as the cab driver (I think) in It's a Wonderful Life. I don't remember his ma from much of anything else, but she was subsequently one of Bob Newhart's patients in the original Newhart TV show with the fabulous Suzanne Pleshette set in Chicago.
And should I say again that Bob Newhart graduated from my Jesuit high school on the near West Side of Chicago. Next month, I'm going to my 50th reunion there and will hopefully be able to go to the reunion and get some Italian Beef at Al's across the alley without being gunned down on the street anywhere along the way.
It's all a bit vague, but I actually have a number of other memories of that show, e.g., Maynard G. Krebbs, of course; the Tuesday Weld character, Thalia Meninger, in the first season or two; Chatsworth Osborne, Jr. and his hoity-toity high society mom; Dobie's breaking the fourth wall by the Thinker statue; William Schallert (TCM's "hardest working man in television") as the college professor, etc.
"Zelda" was in my law school class (HLS '75), maybe was class marshal, as if anyone cared, and went on to various escapades in California politics. I was never sure how many other people at the law school had any idea of her TV background, but I sure did. As far as I can recall, I saw her around occasionally but never interacted.
There was an earlier Dobie Gillis movie with Bobbie Van, Debbie Reynolds, and Bob Fosse(!) (OK. I looked part of that up, particularly the Bob Fosse part), which is mildly entertaining.
I was surprised at how many of the other shows here I remembered, at least as shows, if not necessarily remembering much about ever watching them. I could easily sing along with many of the theme songs, particularly the one for the Bugs Bunny Show. I can also do Maverick ("wild as the wind in Oregon/blowing up a canyon/easier to tame"), but I don't think it was on this clip. Plus themes for Top Cat, Hawaiian Eye, The Real McCoys, Margie, 77 Sunset Strip, The Flintstones, and The Roaring Twenties.
What a weird mix of stuff sticks in my brain.
--gpm
That was before my time, but we have several of those 60s TV shows on DVD including "The Untouchables" "Leave it to Beaver" and "Perry Mason". Oddly my daughters favorite old time show was "Andy Griffith" of all things! By comparison we have no DVD's of any show from 70's except "The Muppets". I hated all that 70s crap when I saw it as a kid (with a few exceptions) and I have no desire to shell out $$ to rewatch it.
I was eight in 1961, and watched as much TV as most kids (at that time) but I don't recall even half of those shows, and nothing there tempted me to further rerun-diving.
My wife and I were TV-less from about 1975 to 1985. Yep, we're those people. I can't deny that I did and still do enjoy some idiot box, but I have no desire to revisit shows I didn't much like the first time around.
Despite myself, I've been Youtubing (pffFFT) too much lately--mostly milhist and music. I do get a kick out of some 'first reaction' vids--60s&70s rock and a very few "classical" pieces-- the Righteous Brothers singing "You've Lost That Loving Feeling" on Ed Sullivan, which I watched live a few years later, is a fun one.
Some younger people can still hear and appreciate quality product, even if it's 200 years old.
An hour of TV back then was 55-56 minutes of programming.
Rod Serling famously testified in front of the the FCC that year ('61), complaining that a minute every 15 minutes was a horror to dramatists.
Just a note, 1961 was 60 years ago, not 70. I'm 65 and was born in 1955.
Archie Waugh
Warren Beatty as Milton Armitage? Robert Redford in Twilight Zone? They all had to start somewhere.
Althouse wrote: "Try YouTube. I tested the YouTube archive by searching for "Naked City" and easily got a full episode."
There are eight million stories in the "Naked City." Here are 138 of them.
"Just a note, 1961 was 60 years ago..."
Don't know how I made *that* mistake! I'm hyper-aware that I am not yet 80.
Thanks. Fixed.
There's a mother lode of old TV shows on Pluto.tv, Lately I've been watching the Love Boat channel, just to see unlikely pairings of long-dead stars, like Orson Bean and Rhonda Fleming, or Gene Rayburn and Fanny Flagg, or John Mills and Celeste Holm, with the added feature of John's daughters Hayley and Juliet.
And here I felt old, rightfully so, watching 45 unedited minutes of MTV from 1982, on YouTube, of course.
When I was a kid, we had a pet woolly monkey, whom we named “Kookie,” after the character on 77 Sunset Strip. My uncle was one of the screenwriters for that show, so that was part of the attraction. But my favorite show of that era was Dobie Gillis. I really loved Maynard G. Krebs — “You rang?”
"When I look at the plethora of channels available today, and realize that there is simply NOTHING on that I care to watch, I'm inclined to agree."
That's tantamount to saying, "I'm too stupid to find anything to eat in the grocery store."
About a year ago I watched the full series of "River Monsters". Biologist/fishing guy travels all over the world (Democratic Republic of the Congo, Northern Russia, Cambodia, the American deep-south, etc.) fishing for fish that allegedly can kill and/or eat humans. He went to every continent in the world except Antarctica, where he interacted with the locals in order to learn where to fish for these killer fish. What a great way to learn about the people with whom we share the planet. Quick travel tip: STAY AWAY FROM THE DRC!
I too loved The Many Loved of Dobie Gillis, with one episode I first watched at age 8 sticking in my memory throughout the years, specifically when Maynard actually gets a job ("work!!!") selling Confucious statues with a clock in their stomachs. Reconnected with it 20 years ago via early P2P file sharing tech & managed to show it to my wife, daughters & grandkids.
The episode was called "The Face That Stopped The Clock", and first aired in November, 1960 (season 2). Now available for free viewing online in several spots, though this one on DailyMotion I watched yesterday has fine quality & no commercials.
Dobie Gillis S2 E6 - The Face That Stopped The Clock
Ach! I have to fess up to a couple of mistakes. It was Nick at Nite, not TCM (which isn't much interested in TV), that dubbed William Schallert the hardest working man on television. And my/Sheila Kuehl's (aka Zelda's) HLS class was 1978, not 1975. 1975 was my undergrad class, sans Zelda.
--gpm
I interviewed for a job at TV Guide fresh out of college, in 1978. It was pretty funny. I was amazed that the hiring manager was so snooty about the publication -- he seemed to think it was an important and serious place to work, and didn't appreciate my attitude. I thought TV Guide was a lowly publication that nobody took seriously; I guess I didn't hide that very well...
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