W2XBS Schedule, Week of December 17th, 1939

Here’s the schedule for NBC’s experimental station W2XBS in New York City for the week starting Sunday, December 17th, 1939, straight from the weekly television listings printed in The New York Times. It was an interesting week. The station was on the air on Tuesday, December 19th in order to broadcast the New York City premiere of Gone with the Wind, held at the Capitol Theatre. Film footage of the Atlanta premiere, the film’s first, which took place four days earlier on December 14th, has been made available on a variety of DVD/Blu-ray releases, but I’m not sure about the status of footage from the New York City. Otherwise, the week was business as usualy for W2XBS: lots of films, sporting events, a variety hour and two plays, “Stage Door” by Edna Ferber and George S. Kaufman and “Little Women” dramatized by Marian de Forest.

Sunday, December 17th, 1939
2:30-3:40PM – Film, “Laughing at Life,” with Victor McLaglen.
8:30-9:30PM – Play, “Stage Door,” by Edna Ferber and George S. Kaufman.

Tuesday, December 19th, 1939
8-9PM – Scene in Capitol Theatre lobby and interviews at premiere of “Gone with the Wind.”

Wednesday, December 20th, 1939
2:30-3:30PM – Louise Irwin, body building exercises; film serial, Episode II, “Burn ‘Em Up Barnes”; film, “Inca Land”; Wayland Gregory, with Caroline Bergh, on Ceramic Sculpture.
8:30-9:30PM – Ned Wayburn’s Holiday Revue, with Georgie Tapps.

Thursday, December 21st, 1939
2:30-3:55PM – Film, “The Curtain Rises,” in French, with English subtitles.
8:30-10PM – Wrestling: Ridgewood Grove.

Friday, December 22nd, 1939
2:30-3:30PM – Films, “The Violin,” “Stephen Foster,” “Flying Fishermen,” “Water Boy,” “Skiing in the Tyrol.”
9-11PM – Boxing at Madison Square Garden: Scalzo-Chavez. (Tentatively scheduled.)

Saturday, December 23rd, 1939
2:30-3:40PM – Film, “Forbidden Music,” with Jimmy Durante and Richard Tauber.
8:30-9:30PM – Play, “Little Women,” dramatized by Marian de Forest.

Sources:

“Televiews of Pictures.” New York Times. 17 Dec. 1939: 132.


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