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The following is the1957–58 network television schedule for the four major English language commercialbroadcast networks in the United States. The schedule coversprimetime hours from September 1957 through March 1958. The schedule is followed by alist per network of returning series, new series, and series cancelled after the1956–57 season.
As in previous seasons, bothCBS andABC continued to add Westerns to their schedule, fillingprime time with as many "oaters" (as they were derisively called) as possible. In addition to several returning Westerns which the network retained on its fall 1957 schedule, ABC's new western series includedSugarfoot andBroken Arrow on Tuesday nights,Tombstone Territory on Wednesdays,Colt .45 on Fridays, andMaverick on Sundays.
ABC, third in the networkNielsen ratings, placed its new WesternMaverick in a difficult time slot: Sunday night against two hit series:The Steve Allen Show on NBC, andThe Ed Sullivan Show on CBS. ABC airedMaverick one half-hour prior to the Allen and Sullivan programs; the strategy was designed to "hook the audience before it fell into its usual viewing habits".[1]
NBC, late to the Western format, also began plugging Westerns into its fall schedule. New NBC Western series debuting in the 1957–58 season includedWagon Train,The Restless Gun, andThe Californians (though one NBC executive insistedThe Californians is not a Western but a drama set in California in the 1850s).[1]
Another programming shift occurred at NBC: the network's flagship news program,The Huntley-Brinkley Report, moved to the 7:15 PM weekday timeslot, for the first time going head to head against both ABC's and CBS's news programs.[2] The face-off between the three networks' news programs would become the standard model for U.S. broadcast television; the three networks still air their network news programs against one another.
1958 saw a number of executive changes at the networks; these presidential shifts would affect the network television schedules.Oliver Treyz became the president of ABC on February 17,Louis G. Cowan became the president of CBS on March 12, and NBC programmerRobert Kintner became the president of NBC on July 11. Dr.Allen B. DuMont resigned as chairman of the board of the DuMont Broadcasting Corporation on May 13, and the name of the company was changed toMetropolitan Broadcasting Corporation. According to Castleman and Podrazik (1982) the final DuMont Network program,Monday Night Fights aired for the last time on August 4, 1958, carried on only five stations nationwide.[1] NBC'sKraft Television Theatre, which had debuted in 1947 and was the oldest program still left on television, was cancelled in spring 1958. It was the dawn of a new era in television; producerDavid Susskind, who had producedKTT at the end, would call 1958 "the year of the miserable drivel".[1]
New fall series are highlighted inbold. Series ending are highlighted initalics
Each of the 30 highest-rated shows is listed with its rank and rating as determined byNielsen Media Research.[3]
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 | You Asked For It | Maverick | Bowling Stars | Open Hearing | All-American Football Game of the Week | Scotland Yard | Local Programming | |
Winter | Local Programming | Adventure at Scott Island (formerly on CBS asHarbormaster) | |||||||
Spring | The Mike Wallace Interview | ||||||||
Summer | Anyone Can Play | ||||||||
CBS | Lassie (22/27.8) | The Jack Benny Show (28/27.1) /Bachelor Father | The Ed Sullivan Show (27/27.3) | General Electric Theatre (7/31.5) | Alfred Hitchcock Presents (12/30.3) (Tied withCheyenne) | The $64,000 Challenge | What's My Line? | ||
NBC | Fall | The Original Amateur Hour | Sally | The Steve Allen Show (InCOLOR) | The Dinah Shore Chevy Show (InCOLOR) | The Loretta Young Show (30/26.6) (Tied withZorro andThe Real McCoys) | Local Programming | ||
Winter | My Friend Flicka (InCOLOR) (repeats) | No Warning! | The Steve Lawrence andEydie Gormé Show (InCOLOR) | The Chevy Show (InCOLOR) | |||||
Summer | Decision |
Notes: On CBS,Air Power, narrated byWalter Cronkite, aired from 6:30 to 7:00 p.m. from May 4 to October 19, 1958. It consisted entirely of reruns of the series from the1956–1957 season.
On NBC, the summeranthology seriesDecision consisted of a mix of unsoldtelevision pilots and reruns of episodes ofThe Ford Television Theatre,Schlitz Playhouse of Stars, andScreen Directors Playhouse.
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 | 7:00 Local / 7:15John Daly and the News | American Bandstand | The Guy Mitchell Show | Bold Journey | The Voice of Firestone | Lawrence Welk's Top Tunes and New Talent | Local Programming | |
Winter | O.S.S. | Love That Jill | Anybody Can Play | This is Music | |||||
Spring | American Odyssey | Campaign Roundup | |||||||
Summer | Cowtown Rodeo | Polka Go-Round | |||||||
CBS | 7:00 Local / 7:15Douglas Edwards with the News* | The Adventures of Robin Hood | The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show | Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts | The Danny Thomas Show (2/35.3) | December Bride (9/30.7) | Studio One in Hollywood | ||
NBC | Fall | 7:00 Local / 7:15The Huntley-Brinkley Report* | The Price Is Right (InCOLOR) | The Restless Gun (8/31.4) | Tales of Wells Fargo (3/35.2) | Twenty-One (26/27.6) | Turn of Fate (Alcoa Theatre)/Goodyear Theatre | Suspicion | |
Summer | Haggis Baggis (InCOLOR) |
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 | 7:00 Local / 7:15John Daly and the News | Cheyenne (12/30.3) (Tied withAlfred Hitchcock Presents) /Sugarfoot (23/27.7) (Tied withWagon Train andFather Knows Best) | The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp (6/32.6) | Broken Arrow | Telephone Time | The West Point Story | Local Programming | |
Summer | Confession | ||||||||
CBS | Fall | 7:00 Local / 7:15Douglas Edwards with the News | Name That Tune | The Phil Silvers Show | The Eve Arden Show | To Tell the Truth | The Red Skelton Show (15/28.9) (InCOLOR) | The $64,000 Question (19/28.1) (Tied withThis Is Your Life) | Assignment: Foreign Legion |
Winter | Local Programming | ||||||||
Follow-up | Mr. Adams and Eve | ||||||||
Summer | Bid 'N' Buy | ||||||||
NBC | Fall | 7:00 Local / 7:15The Huntley-Brinkley Report | The Nat King Cole Show | The Eddie Fisher Show (InCOLOR)/The George Gobel Show (InCOLOR) | Meet McGraw | The Bob Cummings Show | The Californians | Local Programming | |
Summer | The Investigator (InCOLOR) | Dotto | |||||||
August | Colgate Theatre |
Confession, with hostJack Wyatt, began as a local program in theDallas,Texas, market in early 1957. It premiered as a summer replacement on ABC on June 19, 1958, in advance of the1958–59 television season.
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 | 7:00 Local / 7:15John Daly and the News | Disneyland | Tombstone Territory | The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet | The Walter Winchell File | 10:00The Wednesday Night Fights /10:45Famous Fights | ||
Winter | Date with the Angels | ||||||||
Follow-up | The Betty White Show | ||||||||
CBS | Fall | 7:00 Local / 7:15Douglas Edwards with the News | I Love Lucy (repeats) | The Big Record (InCOLOR) | The Millionaire (17/28.5) | I've Got a Secret (5/33.4) | Armstrong Circle Theatre/The United States Steel Hour | ||
Spring | Leave It to Beaver | The Big Record (InCOLOR) | |||||||
NBC | Fall | 7:00 Local / 7:15The Huntley-Brinkley Report | Wagon Train (23/27.7) (Tied withSugarfoot andFather Knows Best) | Father Knows Best (23/27.7) (Tied withSugarfoot andWagon Train) | Kraft Television Theatre (InCOLOR) | This Is Your Life (19/28.1) (Tied withThe $64,000 Question) | Local Programming | ||
Summer | It Could Be You |
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 | 7:00 Local / 7:15John Daly and the News | Circus Boy | Zorro (30/26.6) (Tied withThe Loretta Young Show andThe Real McCoys) | The Real McCoys (30/26.6) (Tied withThe Loretta Young Show andZorro) | The Pat Boone Chevy Showroom | O.S.S. | Navy Log | Local Programming |
Winter | Navy Log | Make Me Laugh | |||||||
Summer | The Andy Williams Show | Confession | |||||||
CBS | Fall | 7:00 Local / 7:15Douglas Edwards with the News | Sergeant Preston of the Yukon | Harbormaster (Later moved to ABC) | Climax!/Shower of Stars | Playhouse 90 | |||
Winter | Richard Diamond, Private Detective | ||||||||
NBC | Fall | 7:00 Local / 7:15The Huntley-Brinkley Report | Tic-Tac-Dough (InCOLOR) | You Bet Your Life (10/30.6) | Dragnet | The People’s Choice | The Ford Show (14/29.7) | The Lux Show Starring Rosemary Clooney (InCOLOR) | The Jane Wyman Show |
Summer | The Price Is Right (InCOLOR) | Music Bingo |
From January 2 to June 26, 1958,Richard Diamond, Private Detective, starringDavid Janssen, aired for a second season on the CBS Thursday schedule at 8 p.m. Eastern. It returned to the air for a third season from February to September 1959.
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 | 7:00 Local / 7:15John Daly and the News | The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin | The Adventures of Jim Bowie | The Patrice Munsel Show | The Frank Sinatra Show | Date with the Angels | Colt .45 | Local Programming |
Winter | The Walter Winchell File | ||||||||
CBS | Fall | 7:00 Local / 7:15Douglas Edwards with the News | Leave It to Beaver | Trackdown | Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre (21/27.9) | Mr. Adams and Eve | Schlitz Playhouse (formerlySchlitz Playhouse of Stars) | The Lineup (18/28.4) | Person to Person |
Winter | The Phil Silvers Show | ||||||||
Spring | Dick and the Duchess (repeats) | ||||||||
Summer | The Boing Boing Show | ||||||||
NBC | Fall | 7:00 Local / 7:15The Huntley-Brinkley Report | Saber of London | The Court of Last Resort | The Life of Riley | M Squad | The Thin Man | 10:00Gillette Cavalcade of Sports / 10:45Red Barber's Corner | |
Spring | Jefferson Drum | ||||||||
Summer | The Big Game |
Network | 7:30 PM | 8:00 PM | 8:30 PM | 9:00 PM | 9:30 PM | 10:00 PM | 10:30 PM | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ABC | Fall | Keep It in the Family | Country Music Jubilee | Lawrence Welk's Dodge Dancing Party | The Mike Wallace Interview | Local Programming | ||
Winter | The Dick Clark Show | Midwestern Hayride | ||||||
March | The Dick Clark Saturday Night Beech-Nut Show | |||||||
Summer | The Billy Graham Crusade | |||||||
CBS | Fall | Perry Mason | Dick and the Duchess | The Gale Storm Show (16/28.8) | Have Gun – Will Travel (4/33.7) | Gunsmoke (1/43.1) | Local Programming | |
Spring | Top Dollar | |||||||
NBC | Fall | People Are Funny (29/27.0) | The Perry Como Show (11/30.5) (InCOLOR) | The Polly Bergen Show/Club Oasis | The Gisele MacKenzie Show | What's It For? | Your Hit Parade (InCOLOR) | |
Winter | Turning Point | The Original Amateur Hour | The Joseph Cotten Show | |||||
Summer | The Bob Crosby Show (InCOLOR) | Opening Night/Club Oasis withSpike Jones |
Notes: On NBC,Club Oasis, which had a different host for each episode, becameClub Oasis with Spike Jones during the summer of 1958 whenSpike Jones became the permanent host.Opening Night consisted of reruns of episodes of the ABC seriesFord Theatre from the 1956–1957 season.The Polly Bergen Show andClub Oasis alternated in the time slot, each show airing every other week. During the summer of 1958,Opening Night andClub Oasis with Spike Jones alternated in the time slot, each show airing every other week.Turning Point was a dramatic anthology series consisting of two unsoldpilots and reruns of episodes from other series.The Joseph Cotten Show consisted of reruns of the 1956–1957 seriesOn Trial.
Not returning from1956–57:
Note: The * indicates that the program was introduced in midseason.