1962–63 United States network television schedule

The following is the 1962–63 network television schedule for the three major English language commercial broadcast networks in the United States. The schedule covers primetime hours from September 1962 through August 1963. The schedule is followed by a list per network of returning series, new series, and series cancelled after the 1961–62 season.

Summary

Television historians Harry Castleman and Walter Podrazik (1982) state, "Despite all the promises of programming reform made by television executives in May, 1961" (the month of Newton Minow's landmark speech "Television and the Public Interest"), "the 1962–63 schedule turned out to be business as usual". Castleman and Podrazik point out that although the three networks had added generally well-made public-affairs and news programs to their schedules, there were "too many of them and their sheer number diluted the audience and stretched resources far too thin to allow quality productions each week".^[1] CBS aired CBS Reports and Eyewitness, NBC broadcast Chet Huntley Reporting, David Brinkley's Journal and Actuality Specials, while ABC had Bell and Howell Close-up and the Howard K. Smith show.^[1] Despite Minow's complaints that the sitcoms of the era were "totally unrealistic" and his disdain for cartoons, the new sitcoms of 1962 were even more hostile to Minow's stated taste and were frequently "stretching further than ever for their situations"; increasingly fantastical premises such as hillbillies in the city (The Beverly Hillbillies) and cartoons set a century into the future (The Jetsons, ABC's first regularly-scheduled TV series to air in color) were among the new offerings.^[2]

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

Schedule

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.^[3]

  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	Father Knows Best (repeats)	The Jetsons (In COLOR)	Hollywood Special (Sporadically in COLOR)				The Voice of Firestone	Howard K. Smith: News and Comment
	Winter	Local
CBS		Lassie (19/23.3) (Tied with The Garry Moore Show and To Tell the Truth)	Dennis the Menace	The Ed Sullivan Show (14/25.3)		The McCoys	GE True*	Candid Camera (2/31.1) (Tied with The Red Skelton Show)	What's My Line? (13/25.5)
NBC		Ensign O'Toole	Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color (24/22.3) (In COLOR)		Car 54, Where Are You?	Bonanza (4/29.8) (Tied with The Lucy Show) (In COLOR)		The Du Pont Show of the Week / The Dinah Shore Show (In COLOR) / Various NBC News Specials

* formerly known as General Electric Theater * McKeever and the Colonel aired Sundays at 6:30-7 on NBC. * The Bullwinkle Show aired Sundays at 5:30-6 on NBC. * Password aired Sundays at 6:30-7 on CBS. * The Dinah Shore Show aired Sundays every 3 or 4 weeks at 10 on NBC In COLOR.

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	Fall	Local	Cheyenne		The Rifleman	Stoney Burke		Ben Casey (7/28.7) (Tied with The Danny Thomas Show)
	Winter		The Dakotas
CBS	Fall	7:00 Local / 7:15 Walter Cronkite with the News*	To Tell the Truth (19/23.3) (Tied with The Garry Moore Show and Lassie)	I've Got a Secret (16/24.9)	The Lucy Show (4/29.8) (Tied with Bonanza)	The Danny Thomas Show (7/28.7) (Tied with Ben Casey)	The Andy Griffith Show (6/29.7)	The New Loretta Young Show	Stump the Stars***
	Summer				Vacation Playhouse**
NBC	Fall	7:00 Local / 7:15 The Huntley–Brinkley Report*	It's a Man's World****		Saints and Sinners		The Price is Right (In COLOR)	David Brinkley's Journal (Sporadically in COLOR)	Local
	Winter		NBC Monday Night at the Movies (most in COLOR)				The Art Linkletter Show

Notes: * In some areas, Walter Cronkite with the News and The Huntley-Brinkley Report aired at 6:45 p.m.(ET). ** Vacation Playhouse was an anthology series composed entirely of unsold television pilots. *** Stump the Stars was formerly Pantomime Quiz. **** It's a Man's World was shown in color on October 1, 1962.

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	Combat!		Hawaiian Eye		The Untouchables		Bell and Howell Closeup
CBS	Fall	7:00 Local / 7:15 Walter Cronkite with the News	Marshal Dillon	The Lloyd Bridges Show	The Red Skelton Show (2/31.1) (Tied with Candid Camera)		The Jack Benny Show (11/26.2) (Tied with Dr. Kildare)	The Garry Moore Show (19/23.3) (Tied with To Tell the Truth and Lassie)
	Summer							The Keefe Brasselle Show
NBC		7:00 Local / 7:15 The Huntley–Brinkley Report	Laramie (In COLOR)		Empire (In COLOR)		The Dick Powell Show		Chet Huntley Reporting

Note: The CBS series Marshal Dillon consisted of reruns of episodes of Gunsmoke.

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	Local	Wagon Train (25/22.0)		Going My Way		Our Man Higgins	Naked City
CBS	7:00 Local / 7:15 Walter Cronkite with the News	CBS Reports		The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis	The Beverly Hillbillies (1/36.0)	The Dick Van Dyke Show (9/27.1)	Armstrong Circle Theatre/ The United States Steel Hour
NBC	7:00 Local / 7:15 The Huntley–Brinkley Report	The Virginian (26/21.7) (In COLOR)			Perry Como's Kraft Music Hall (In COLOR)		The Eleventh Hour

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		Local	The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet	The Donna Reed Show	Leave It to Beaver	My Three Sons (28/21.0)	McHale's Navy	Alcoa Premiere
CBS	Fall	7:00 Local / 7:15 Walter Cronkite with the News	Mister Ed	Perry Mason (23/22.4)		The Nurses		The Alfred Hitchcock Hour
	Winter					Twilight Zone		The Nurses
NBC		7:00 Local / 7:15 The Huntley–Brinkley Report	Wide Country		Dr. Kildare (11/26.2) (Tied with The Jack Benny Show)		Hazel (15/25.1) (In COLOR)	The Andy Williams Show (In COLOR)

Note: Dr. Kildare on October 4, 1962 was shown in color.

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	Fall	Local	The Gallant Men		The Flintstones (30/20.5) (In COLOR)	I'm Dickens, He's Fenster	77 Sunset Strip		Local
	January		The Valiant Years	Father Knows Best (repeats)
	Spring		Cheyenne
CBS	Fall	7:00 Local / 7:15 Walter Cronkite with the News	Rawhide (22/22.8)		Route 66 (27/21.3)		Fair Exchange		Eyewitness
	Winter						The Alfred Hitchcock Hour
NBC	Fall	7:00 Local / 7:15 The Huntley–Brinkley Report	International Showtime		Sing Along with Mitch (In COLOR)		Don't Call Me Charlie!	The Jack Paar Program (In COLOR)
	Winter						The Price Is Right (In COLOR)
	Summer						The Lively Ones (In COLOR)

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	Fall	Beany and Cecil* (In COLOR)	The Roy Rogers and Dale Evans Show		Mr. Smith Goes to Washington	The Lawrence Welk Show		10:00 The Fight of the Week / 10:45 Make That Spare
	Winter		The Gallant Men
	Spring				Hootenanny
CBS	Fall	Local	The Jackie Gleason Show (17/24.1)		The Defenders (18/23.9)		Have Gun – Will Travel (29/20.8)	Gunsmoke (10/27.0)
	Summer		The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour (repeats)
NBC		Local	Sam Benedict		The Joey Bishop Show (In COLOR)	NBC Saturday Night at the Movies (In COLOR)

Notes: * Formerly known as Matty's Funnies with Beany and Cecil. Sam Benedict on October 6, 1962 was shown in color.

By network

ABC

Returning Series 77 Sunset Strip ABC News Reports The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet Alcoa Premiere The Avengers Beany and Cecil * Bell and Howell Closeup Ben Casey Cheyenne The Donna Reed Show The Fight of the Week The Flintstones Hawaiian Eye Howard K. Smith: News and Comment The Lawrence Welk Show Leave It to Beaver Make That Spare My Three Sons Naked City The Rifleman The Untouchables The Voice of Firestone Wagon Train (moved from NBC)

New Series Combat! The Dakotas * The Gallant Men Going My Way Hollywood Special Hootenanny * I'm Dickens, He's Fenster The Jetsons McHale's Navy Mr. Smith Goes to Washington Our Man Higgins The Roy Rogers and Dale Evans Show Stoney Burke

Not returning from 1961–62: Adventures in Paradise Bachelor Father Bronco The Bugs Bunny Show Bus Stop Calvin and the Colonel The Detectives Starring Robert Taylor Expedition! The Hathaways The Law and Mr. Jones Lawman Margie Matty's Funday Funnies The New Breed The Roaring 20's Room for One More The Steve Allen Show Straightaway Surfside 6 Target: The Corruptors! Top Cat Yours for a Song

CBS

Returning Series The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (moved from NBC) The Andy Griffith Show Armstrong Circle Theatre Brenner CBS News Hour CBS Reports Candid Camera Danny Thomas Show The Defenders Dennis the Menace The Dick Van Dyke Show The Ed Sullivan Show Eyewitness The Garry Moore Show Gunsmoke Have Gun – Will Travel I've Got a Secret The Jack Benny Show The Jackie Gleason Show Lassie The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis Mister Ed Perry Mason Rawhide The McCoys (moved from ABC) The Red Skelton Show Route 66 (debuted 1960) To Tell the Truth The Twentieth Century The Twilight Zone The United States Steel Hour Walter Cronkite with the News What's My Line

New Series The Beverly Hillbillies Fair Exchange GE True The Keefe Brasselle Show * The Lloyd Bridges Show The Lucy Show The New Loretta Young Show The Nurses The Real McCoys Stump the Stars Vacation Playhouse *

Not returning from 1961–62: Accent on an American Summer The Alvin Show Armstrong Circle Theatre Checkmate The Comedy Spot Douglas Edwards with the News Father of the Bride Frontier Circus Hennesey Ichabod and Me The Investigators Mrs. G. Goes to College/The Gertrude Berg Show The New Bob Cummings Show Oh! Those Bells Pete and Gladys Tell It to Groucho Tell It to the Camera Window on Main Street

NBC

Returning Series The Art Linkletter Show The Bell Telephone Hour Bonanza Car 54, Where Are You? David Brinkley's Journal The Dick Powell Show Dr. Kildare The DuPont Show of the Week Hazel (debuted 1961) The Huntley–Brinkley Report International Showtime The Joey Bishop Show Laramie (debuted 1959) The Lively Ones NBC Saturday Night at the Movies Perry Como's Kraft Music Hall The Price Is Right Sing Along with Mitch Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color

New Series The Andy Williams Show Don't Call Me Charlie! The Eleventh Hour Empire Ensign O'Toole It's a Man's World The Jack Paar Program McKeever and the Colonel NBC Monday Night at the Movies Saints and Sinners Sam Benedict The Virginian Wide Country

Not returning from 1961–62: 87th Precinct The Bob Newhart Show The Bullwinkle Show Cain's Hundred The Detectives Starring Robert Taylor The Dinah Shore Show Here and Now National Velvet Outlaws Thriller Wagon Train (moved to ABC)

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. 147–153. ISBN 0-07-010269-4.
2. "Television: The Coming Season". Time. July 27, 1962. Archived from the original on February 19, 2011. Retrieved 2010-11-21. The producers of The Flintstones have a new family called The Jetsons, who live in outer space.
3. 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.

• 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. ISBN 0-14-024916-8.
• 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.