THE TOP THIRTEEN SHOWS
50 YEARS AGO
I admit I have become obsessed with classic television shows. I watch them, I study them, and now I'm blogging about them. Me-TV is my #1 go-to station these days. Part of it is nostalgia. Part of it is me giving props to the biggest cultural juggernaut to hit during my lifetime.
So it's with great affection that I look back on Nielsen's top-rated shows for the 1964-1965 TV season. I admit I'm old enough to remember all of them, though my parents wouldn't let me watch Peyton Place and Combat! really didn't hold my attention for long. Looking over this list, I could do a whole other post about what it tells us about women in the early-mid 1960s, but that's another TT for another time.
1) Bonanza. NBC. Season 6. Ben Cartwright and his three sons ride herd over their ranch, The Ponderosa.
2) Bewitched. ABC. Season 1. Samantha is a witch who, though married to an ordinary mortal, cannot resist using her magic powers.3) Gomer Pyle, USMC. CBS. Season 1. Misadventures of Mayberry's Gomer in the Marine Corps.
4) The Andy Griffith Show. CBS. Season 5. Sheriff Andy Taylor keeps the peace in a sleepy Southern town called Mayberry.
5) The Fugitive. ABC. Season 2. Dr. Richard Kimble, unjustly convicted of killing his wife, runs from Lt. Gerrard and death chamber.
6) The Red Skelton Hour. CBS. Season 14. A musical-variety show starring comedian Red Skelton.
7) The Dick Van Dyke Show. CBS. Season 4. Rob Petrie's life as a comedy writer for the fictional Alan Brady Show, and suburban husband and father.
8) The Lucy Show. CBS. Season 3. The misadventures of widow Lucy Carmichael, secretary to stuffy banker Mr. Theodore Mooney.
9) Peyton Place. ABC. Season 1. The continuing story of love and scandal in a small New England town.10) Combat! ABC. Season 3. The story of an American infantry squad fighting in Europe during WWII.
11) Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color. NBC. Season 11. An anthology series for the whole family, hosted by Walt Disney.
12) The Beverly Hillbillies. CBS. Season 3. The rural Clampetts strike it rich and find themselves living "in the Hills of Beverly."
13) My Three Sons. ABC. Season 5. Widower Steve Douglas raises his sons with the help of Uncle Charlie.
Please join us for The NEW THURSDAY THIRTEEN. Click here to play along, and to see other interesting compilations of 13 things.
I remember them all well. Peyton Place was a breakthrough drama for that time. I loved Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore. Laugh In? I still watch Saturday Night Live.
ReplyDeleteI remember some of these. I'm actually watching reruns of Bewitched at the moment. I hope they do reruns of My Three Sons. That was a fun show.
ReplyDeleteI remember some of these, but not all. In my rural area of Virginia, we could only get one channel on the TV so I missed out on some shows. Generally speaking, if it wasn't on ABC I didn't see it unless I was visiting someone else. I still think Bewitched was a great show (the movie remake did not do it justice at all). Thanks for coming back to Thursday Thirteen!
ReplyDeleteI watched them all.My age is revealed
ReplyDeleteWow. That these shows are that old. You can still see many of these on TV land. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.miaceleste.com/?p=518
I don't recognize all old them, but there are some good shows there. It's amazing how many "retro" non-cable stations there are now. I have two that show TV shows, and three that show movies.
ReplyDeleteI remember some of these and I'm not yet 50!
ReplyDeleteYep. Memory Lane.
ReplyDeleteMy grandmother always said Red "Skeleton" and Art "Carnegie".
These were all favorite shows when I was in my teens. Thank you for putting them together and thanks for the memories.
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