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The following is the1950–51 network television schedule for the four major English language commercialbroadcast networks in the United States. The schedule coversprimetime hours from September 1950 through March 1951. The schedule is followed by alist per network of returning series, new series, and series cancelled after the1949–50 season. This season became the first in which primetime was entirely covered by the networks. It was also the inaugural season of the Nielsen rating system. Late in the season, the coast-to-coast link was in service.
In September 1950NBC added two live variety series,Four Star Revue andThe Colgate Comedy Hour, to its fall schedule. These programs were a network effort to bring NBC's most popular radio stars to television; talent includedEddie Cantor,Jack Carson,Dean Martin andJerry Lewis,Jimmy Durante,Danny Thomas,Ed Wynn,Bob Hope andFred Allen. The two new star-studded series were scheduled directly against two ofCBS's most popular programs:Four Star Revue went up againstArthur Godfrey and Friends on Wednesday nights, whileThe Colgate Comedy Hour was slated againstToast of the Town. NBC was confident that its strategy would pay off.[1]
CBS answered NBC's schedule with big radio stars and variety programs of its own, bringing inFrank Sinatra and (in occasional specials)Bing Crosby,Jack Benny, andEdgar Bergen. "Despite the big budget variety shows in its schedule, though, CBS felt that situation comedy was actually a more stable television form that would be easier to exploit in the long run."[1]
In many time slots, the underfundedDuMont Network did not bother to compete against NBC's or CBS's hit series, instead airing what some TV historians have called "time-filler". For example: "During its long run [The Johns Hopkins Science Review] was scheduled against such hit shows asBreak the Bank [and]Dragnet, programs from which its network had little chance of luring away viewers."[2] During fall 1950,The Court of Current Issues andThe Johns Hopkins Science Review'' aired at the same time as the most heavily viewed program on television, NBC'sTexaco Star Theater. Given the competition, DuMont's Tuesday night public-affairs programming attracted virtually no audience. The network had some success with a crime drama that had debuted in January the previous season titledInside Detective (later retitledRocky King Detective), which became one of the longest-running series on the network. Another DuMont series to debut during the season,Star Time, while short-lived, is remembered for including a television version of the popular radio sketchesThe Bickersons, and for being an early example of a sponsored network series to feature an African-American as a regular (jazz pianistTeddy Wilson, a familiar member of the Benny Goodman Sextet).
New fall series are highlighted inbold.
Each of the 30 highest-rated shows is listed with its rank and rating as determined byNielsen Media Research.[3]
Network | 7:00 p.m. | 7:30 p.m. | 8:00 p.m. | 8:30 p.m. | 9:00 p.m. | 9:30 p.m. | 10:00 p.m. | 10:30 p.m. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ABC | Paul Whiteman's Goodyear Revue | Showtime U.S.A. | Hollywood Premiere Theatre | Sit or Miss | Soap Box Theater | The Marshall Plan in Action | Life Begins at Eighty | Youth on the March |
CBS | The Gene Autry Show | This Is Show Business /The Jack Benny Program | Toast of the Town(15/36.5) | The Fred Waring Show | Celebrity Time | What's My Line? | ||
DMN | Star Time | Rhythm Rodeo | Local Programming | The Arthur Murray Party | They Stand Accused | |||
NBC | Leave It to the Girls | The Aldrich Family(16/36.1) | The Colgate Comedy Hour(5/42.0) | The Philco Television Playhouse(3/45.3) | Garroway at Large | Take a Chance |
Note: On CBS, beginning in January,The Jack Benny Program aired as occasional specials once every six to eight weeks.
Hopalong Cassidy(9/39.9) aired on NBC from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m.The Bigelow Theatre aired on CBS from 6:00 to 6:30 p.m. from December 1950 to June 1951.
Network | 7:00 p.m. | 7:30 p.m. | 8:00 p.m. | 8:30 p.m. | 9:00 p.m. | 9:30 p.m. | 10:00 p.m. | 10:30 p.m. | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ABC | Club Seven | Hollywood Screen Test | Treasury Men in Action | Dick Tracy | The College Bowl | On Trial | Feature Film | ||
CBS | Fall | The Stork Club | CBS Television News (7:30) The Perry Como Show (7:45) | Lux Video Theatre(30/31.5) (Tied withThe Speidel Show) | Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts(8/40.6) | The Horace Heidt Show | The Goldbergs | Studio One(24/33.8) | |
June | Who's Whose | ||||||||
Follow-up | It's News to Me | ||||||||
DMN | Captain Video and His Video Rangers | Manhattan Spotlight (7:30) The Susan Raye Show (7:45) | Visit With the Armed Forces | The Al Morgan Show | Wrestling From Columbia Park Arena | ||||
NBC | Fall | Kukla, Fran and Ollie | Mohawk Showroom (7:30) Camel News Caravan (7:45) | The Speidel Show(30/31.5) (Tied withLux Video Theatre) | The Voice of Firestone | Lights Out(19/35.6) (Tied withArmstrong Circle Theatre andBig Town) | Robert Montgomery Presents(11/38.8) /Musical Comedy Time | Who Said That? | |
Summer | Tag the Gag |
Network | 7:00 p.m. | 7:30 p.m. | 8:00 p.m. | 8:30 p.m. | 9:00 p.m. | 9:30 p.m. | 10:00 p.m. | 10:30 p.m. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ABC | Club Seven | The Beulah Show | The Game of the Week | Buck Rogers in the 25th Century | The Billy Rose Show | Can You Top This? | Life Begins at Eighty | Roller Derby |
CBS | The Stork Club | 7:30CBS Television News / 7:45The Faye Emerson Show | Sure as Fate/Prudential Family Playhouse | The Vaughn Monroe Show | Suspense | Danger | We Take Your Word | |
DMN | Captain Video and His Video Rangers | 7:30Manhattan Spotlight / 7:45The Joan Edwards Show | Court of Current Issues | The Johns Hopkins Science Review | Cavalcade of Bands | Star Time | ||
NBC | Kukla, Fran and Ollie | 7:30The Little Show / 7:45Camel News Caravan | Texaco Star Theater (1/61.6) | Fireside Theatre (2/52.6) | Armstrong Circle Theatre (19/35.6) (Tied withLights Out andBig Town) | The Original Amateur Hour (26/33.4) (Tied withPabst Blue Ribbon Bouts) |
Network | 7:00 p.m. | 7:30 p.m. | 8:00 p.m. | 8:30 p.m. | 9:00 p.m. | 9:30 p.m. | 10:00 p.m. | 10:30 p.m. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ABC | Club Seven | Chance of a Lifetime | First Nighter | Don McNeill's TV Club | Wrestling From the Rainbo in Chicago | |||
CBS | The Stork Club | 7:30CBS Television News / 7:45The Perry Como Show | Arthur Godfrey and His Friends (18/35.9) | Teller of Tales | The Web | Pabst Blue Ribbon Bouts (26/33.4) (Tied withThe Original Amateur Hour) | ||
DMN | Captain Video and His Video Rangers | 7:30The Most Important People / 7:45 Local Programming | Local Programming | Famous Jury Trials | The Plainclothesman | Broadway to Hollywood – Headline Clues | Local Programming | |
NBC | Kukla, Fran and Ollie | 7:30The Mohawk Showroom / 7:45Camel News Caravan | Four Star Revue | Kraft Television Theatre (14/37.0) | Break the Bank | Stars Over Hollywood |
Network | 7:00 p.m. | 7:30 p.m. | 8:00 p.m. | 8:30 p.m. | 9:00 p.m. | 9:30 p.m. | 10:00 p.m. | 10:30 p.m. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ABC | Club Seven | The Lone Ranger (7/41.2) | Stop the Music (23/34.0) | Holiday Hotel | Blind Date | I Cover Times Square | Roller Derby | |
CBS | The Stork Club | 7:30CBS Television News / 7:45The Faye Emerson Show | The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show/Starlight Theatre | The Show Goes On | The Alan Young Show (22/34.4) | Big Town (19/35.6) (Tied withArmstrong Circle Theatre andLights Out) | Truth or Consequences | The Nash Airflyte Theater |
DMN | Captain Video and His Video Rangers | 7:30Manhattan Spotlight / 7:45The Joan Edwards Show | Local Programming | The Adventures of Ellery Queen | Local Programming | |||
NBC | Kukla, Fran and Ollie | 7:30The Little Show / 7:45Camel News Caravan | You Bet Your Life (17/36.0) | Hawkins Falls | Kay Kyser's Kollege of Musical Knowledge | Martin Kane, Private Eye (12/37.8) | The Wayne King Show |
Network | 7:00 p.m. | 7:30 p.m. | 8:00 p.m. | 8:30 p.m. | 9:00 p.m. | 9:30 p.m. | 10:00 p.m. | 10:30 p.m. | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ABC | Club Seven | Life with Linkletter | Twenty Questions | Pro Football Highlights | Pulitzer Prize Playhouse | Penthouse Party | Studs' Place | ||
CBS | The Stork Club | 7:30CBS Television News / 7:45The Perry Como Show | Mama (10/39.7) | Man Against Crime (13/37.4) | Ford Theatre/Magnavox Theatre | Star of the Family | Beat the Clock | ||
DMN | Captain Video and His Video Rangers | 7:30The Most Important People / 7:45The Susan Raye Show | Local Programming | Hold That Camera | Hands of Murder | Rocky King, Inside Detective | Cavalcade of Stars | ||
NBC | Fall | Kukla, Fran and Ollie | 7:30 The Mohawk Showroom / 7:45Camel News Caravan | Quiz Kids | We, the People | Bonny Maid Versatile Varieties | The Big Story (25/33.7) /The Clock | 10:00Gillette Cavalcade of Sports (6/41.3) / 10:45 Greatest Fights of the Century | |
Spring | The Big Story (25/33.7) |
Network | 7:00 p.m. | 7:30 p.m. | 8:00 p.m. | 8:30 p.m. | 9:00 p.m. | 9:30 p.m. | 10:00 p.m. | 10:30 p.m. | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ABC | Sandy Dreams | Life with the Erwins | Paul Whiteman's TV Teen Club | Roller Derby | |||||
CBS | Fall | 6:30Big Top | 7:30The Week in Review / 7:45The Faye Emerson Show | The Ken Murray Show (28/32.1) | The Frank Sinatra Show | Sing It Again | Local Programming | ||
January | Local Programming | ||||||||
Summer | Faye Emerson's Wonderful Town | ||||||||
DMN | Captain Video and His Video Rangers | Local Programming | Country Style | Saturday Night at the Garden | |||||
NBC | Fall | The Hank McCune Show | One Man's Family | The Jack Carter Show | Your Show of Shows (4/42.6) | Your Hit Parade (29/32.0) | |||
Summer | Saturday Roundup |
Notes: On CBS,Big Top aired from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m.Eastern Time from September 1950 to January 6, 1951, after which it moved to Saturdays from noon to 1:00 p.m., where it ran for another seven years.Faye Emerson's Wonderful Town began on June 16, 1951, and concluded its 42-episode run at 9 p.m. on April 12, 1952.
Note: The * indicates that the program was introduced in midseason.