A Year in TV Guide explores the 1964-1965 television season through the pages of TV Guide magazine. Each week, I’ll examine the issue of TV Guide published exactly 50 years earlier. The intent is not simply to examine what was on television each week but rather what was being written about television.
Week #30
April 10th, 1965
Vol. 13, No. 15, Issue #628
Eastern New England Edition
On the Cover: Janet Lake and Walter Brennan from The Tycoon (photograph by Richard R. Hewett).
The Magazine
This week’s cover article about actor Walter Brennan — “Foxy Grampa in a Business Suit” by Marian Dern — is relatively tame, with a brief biography and some insight into his finances. The most interesting revelations aren’t about The Tycoon, Brennan’s recently cancelled ABC series, but his previous CBS sitcom The Real McCoys. There apparently was significant friction between Brennan and his costar Kathy Nolan, who left the series after five seasons. She insists that while she may have learned a lot from working with Brennan, he also learned something from working with her (and Richard Crenna). Brennan and others in the cast were reportedly upset when she left, feeling she was disloyal. Brennan also liked to share his thoughts on politics even if nobody wanted to listen.
Front Cover – Copyright 1965 Triangle Publications, Inc.
There’s another article about an actor in a freshly cancelled series in this issue. “He Can’t Resist the Open Road” is a profile of The Rogues co-star Robert Coote. He signed a four-year contract for the series not thinking it would last that long and was right. He is described as a loner but also as a consummate professional. “We never know where Bob has his lunch,” explained co-creator Ivan Goff. “He doesn’t join us. All we know is that he cares greatly about his work. He never shows up without having given considerable thought to the scenes he is doing that day.” For his part, Coote explained that it was the hectic television schedule that led to his “monastic existence” and that in London he is busy with friends day and night.
“Smut in the Living Room?” is a four-page article by Leslie Raddatz examining films with adult themes making their way to television. It’s a long article with little to say and yet it is only the first of three parts. At the very least, it is more proof that the television landscape — and society overall — was very different in the 1960s and it is likely readers in 1965 had very different reactions than someone in 2015. Many may have agreed with Raddatz when he worried that films like Kiss Me, Stupid, The Carpetbaggers, A House Is Not a Home, or Walk on the Wild Side might one day wind up on the small screen.
Raddatz notes that recently Hollywood was worried about censorship due to violence and yet many violent films have been broadcast on television. Naturally, the next logical step would be for Hollywood’s current sexually explicit films to come to television next. He interviewed Geoffrey Shurlock, who administrates the MPAA Production Code. Shurlock suggested television was more than capable of policing itself but felt the public should ultimately decide what it watches, and shrugged off the MPAA approving Kiss Me, Stupid despite many violations of the MPAA Code (“We’re entitled to one mistake”).
Much of the rest of the article explores director Billy Wilder and producer Joseph E. Levine, both of whom are pushing boundaries with their films. Some of Levine’s films, like Two Women, are already being shown on TV. KHJ-TV in Los Angeles runs a movie series called Cinema IX on Fridays and Saturdays that features foreign films “presented in dignified trimmings.” Reaction has been about 80% positive. Is this the future for worthwhile adult films on TV, Raddatz wonders? Or will some sort of censorship be called for if smutty films like Kiss Me, Stupid do eventually make their way to TV? Next week’s installment promises to provide some answers from the FCC and the National Association of Broadcasters.
“Catching up with ‘the one-armed man'” is a short, two-page article about Bill Raisch, the one-armed man (his right arm was amputated after being severely burned during World War II) who plays the one-armed man on The Fugitive. The most interesting part of the article is the revelation that Raisch has spent just four days working on the show since it went on the air. According to executive producer Quinn Martin, “we believe that if we keep him evanescent, it’s much more interesting–until the last show, maybe five years from now, when Kimble finally catches him.”
Finally, Melvin Durslag’s “Why golf may find itself deep in the rough” isn’t really about golf on television but about former pro golfer turned TV commentator Cary Middlecoff, who believes there are too many golf tournaments on television. Another problem is that all of the tournaments feature the same players so there isn’t much variety for fans. He feels there shouldn’t be more than 15 national “exposures” a year. Whether that means tournaments or individual broadcasts isn’t clear.
The “As We See It” editorial this week is about beer commercials. There are five things you cannot do if you are cast in a beer commercial on TV: 1) don’t drink the beer; 2) don’t tip the glass as if you were drinking the beer; 3) don’t wiggle your Adam’s apple as if you were swallowing the beer; 4) don’t smack your lips as if you were enjoying drinking the beer; and 5) don’t wipe your lips as if you had just had a beer. The Television Authority Code released a bulletin recently explaining that violation of any of these rules will result in the commercial being banned. According to the editorial, the rules were a result of the huge number of beer commercials during the early days of TV. There have not been many since 1956.
Cleveland Amory reviews For the People this week and is generally positive, suggesting that with The Defenders getting a little stale, it is a good thing its producers came up with “something which is equally exciting and, because of really fine casting throughout, even more penetrating and engrossing.” The realism is sometimes too much but compared to the “seemingly endless seaminess” seen in The Doctors and the Nurses, the series features episodes “which may discourage you but which don’t so overwhelm you with despair that you give up.” Amory praises a long list of guest stars as well as lead William Shatner, who “is right up there in the big leagues with David Janssen, Robert Lansing, Vic Morrow, and Richard Crenna.”
News from the Hollywood and New York TV Teletype columns:
- NBC will initially replace Profiles in Courage with an installment of Children’s Theatre called “Kristie,” after which the 6:30-7:30PM time slot will be filled by NBC Sports in Action.
- Burke’s Law is being renamed Amos Burke–Secret Agent and will feature star Gene Barry as a James Bond-type spy.
- An episodes of ABC’s Discovery ’65 will examine whether famous cowpokes were actually heroes.
- NBC News will debut the first half-hour Saturday news program next season, hosted by Ray Scherer and Robert MacNeil and airing from 6:30-7PM or 7-7:30PM depending on the city.
- Ben Casey has added James McMullan as a new regular. Also, the show’s semiserialized format introduced during the current season with a five-episode arc featuring Stella Stevens, will continue next season.
- ABC has surprisingly decided not to renew No Time for Sergeants, which seemed like a sure thing.
- CBS has renewed Slattery’s People despite its low ratings.
- Katy and Glen will get engaged during the May 7th episode of The Farmer’s Daughter. The wedding will be next season.
- Backdoor pilots for two new NBC series will air this month: Run for Your Life as an episode of Kraft Suspense Theatre called “Rapture at Two-Forty” and The Streets of Laredo as an episode of The Virginian called “We’ve Lost a Train.”
- Quinn Martin is casting his new series The FBI Story, which was sold without a pilot. Efrem Zimbalist Jr. has been signed as the lead.
- NBC’s new Camp Runamuck features episode outlandish episode titles. An example:”General Directive No. 14: All Personnel Will Turn Out at 8.A. Tomorrow Morning to Scale Mount Everest. Bring Your Hammers, Saws and Plenty of Nails and Let’s Make This One the Biggest One Yet, Fellas! (Signed) Conrad Hilton.”
Rounding out the national section is a two-page picture feature about “The Hairhunters” salon in Hollywood catering to aspiring actresses and models, a four-page spread showcasing actress Barbara Barrie in a variety of leather outfits, and the regular TV crossword puzzle.
There were three news reports in the “For the Record” column in the listings section this week:
- CBS stockholder A. Edward Morrison has filed a lawsuit against former CBS-TV president James T. Aubrey, Jr., Richelieu Productions, Inc., and CBS-TV, charging that Aubrey had a financial interest in Richelieu, that the company profited more from CBS than other production companies, and that CBS knew and did nothing. Why was this such a big deal? Because Richelieu is headed by Keefe Brassselle, a good friend of Aubrey. CBS has denied it knew about any wrongdoing while Aubrey and Brasselle have not made any statements.
- The final piece of the 1965-1966 puzzle has fallen into place with the release of the CBS schedule for the new season. There may be some changes but new shows will likely include O’Brien [later retitled The Trials of O’Brien], The Loner, The Steve Lawrence Show, Lost in Space, Country Cousins [later retitled Green Acres], The Wild West [later retitled The Wild Wild West], Hogan’s Heroes, and The Smothers Brothers.
- CBS has cancelled For the People because it was unable to compete with NBC’s Bonanza. Repeats of The Twilight Zone will fill in until September when Perry Mason will switch from Thursdays to Sundays. The report notes that the series receives a positive review from Cleveland Amory in this issue of TV Guide.
The letters page this week features just five relatively lengthy letters covering four topics. One reader wrote in confused about Cleveland Amory’s March 20th article discussing the Monte Carlo Television Festival. The letter was written by Saul Turteltaub who, with co-writer Lan O’Kun, won an award at the 1962 Monte Carlo Festival for an episode of The Shari Lewis Show. An editorial note explained that Amory “did not mean to reflect on winners of prizes in the Monaco competition, he merely deplored the casual attitude many American producers have toward the TV festival.”
This was not the only letter critical of Amory. Another complained that Amory had promised to answer three questions in his reviews: “What is this guy trying to do?”, “Does he do it?”, and “Was it worth doing?” And yet his March 27th review of The American Sportsman only answered the third and final question. “If the price of prejudice is two-thirds of his critical standards, it is far too great a price to pay.”
There were also two letters responding to articles by Edith Efron:
As a television and screen writer (Today, Biography, Hollywood and the Stars, “World Without Sun,” etc.), I would like to say that your Edith Efron is the most incisive and exciting television journalist in the country. In her article on Lawrence Spivak she demonstrates once again a sharp point of view and the courage to express it. Generally, one reads magazine articles if the subject is important or provocative. I read Miss Efron because she is.
Al Ramrus
HollywoodGrow up, Edith Efron. Soap operas are a diversion for us housewives, not a pattern for our lives. We can still tell the good guys from the bad guys without a program.
Mrs. Joseph C. Donati
Santa Barbara, Cal.
The fifth letter suggests that Mitch Miller sank his own show by trying to turn into into a copy of every other variety show on television. “One trouble with television is that every show has to be ‘improved’ so it will be like every other show,” the anonymous writer argued.
The TV Listings
Between sporting events, religious programs, and several specials it was a very full week for the networks. The last installment of ABC’s Pro Bowlers Tour aired from 3:30-5PM on Saturday, April 10th. That same day CBS broadcast live coverage of the third round of the Masters Golf Tournament starting at 5PM. ABC pre-empted Hollywood Palace at 9:30PM for an installment of its Daring American documentary special called “Mission to Malaya,” about 22-year old Peace Corps volunteer Rita Franzone.
At 10AM on Sunday, April 11th CBS pre-empted Lamp Unto My Feet and Look Up and Live to repeat “Terezin Requiem,” an hour-long documentary about the 1944 performance of Verdi’s Requiem performed at Czechoslovakia’s Terezin concentration camp during World War II. NBC aired a special live Palm Sunday Mass from 11AM-12PM featuring The Reverend Karl J. Alter, Archbishop of Cincinnati, with Monsignor Earl Whalen providing commentary.
At 1PM CBS aired highlights of the fifth game of the NHL Stanley Cup semifinals. ABC’s Directions ’65 expanding to an hour at 1PM to present “The Final Ingredient,” an opera by David Amram and Arnold Weinstein commemorating Passover. [Locally, only WTEV (Channel 6) and WNHC-TV (Channel 8) aired Directions ’65 at 1PM. WNAC-TV (Channel 7) delayed it until 3PM while WMUR-TV (Channel 9) showed it at 4PM.] CBS broadcast coverage of the final round of the Masters Golf Tournament beginning at 4PM. Jack Whitaker, Jack Drees, John Derr, Cary Middlecoff, and Byron Nelson provided commentary.
On Monday, April 12th the final episode of Many Happy Returns aired on CBS from 9:30-10PM. CBS Reports was pre-empted at 10PM for an hour-long CBS News special called “FDR Remembered,” produced by Richard F. Siemanowski. CBS News correspondent Charles Kuralt served as host for the special commemorating the 20th anniversary of FDR’s death. [WHDH-TV pre-empted the special locally, airing it instead on Tuesday, April 13th at 7:30PM.]
Finally, NBC aired another installment of The Bell Telephone Hour from 10-11PM on Tuesday, April 13th with Olivia de Havilland as hostess.
Here are the TV Guide close-ups for the week:
- Daring American – “Mission to Malaya” (ABC, Saturday at 9:30PM)
- Directions ’65 – “The Final Ingredient” (ABC, Sunday at Various Times)
- Masters Golf Tournament (CBS, Sunday at 4PM)
- Profiles in Courage (NBC, Sunday at 6:30PM)
- CBS News Special – “FDR Remembered” (CBS, Monday at 10PM)
- Bell Telephone Hour – “Festival of Spring” (NBC, Tuesday at 10PM)
- Kraft Suspense Theatre – “Rapture at 240” (NBC, Thursday at 10PM)
With baseball season just around the corner, TV Guide published a two-age “1965 TV Baseball Guide” in this issue, customized for the Eastern New England Region. It included listings for Boston Red Sox games on WHDH-TV (Channel 5) and WPRO-TV (Channel 12); New York Yankees games on WNHC-TV (Channel 8); and New York Mets games also on WNHC-TV. Similar guides were no doubt published in other regional editions of TV Guide that covered areas with baseball teams.
Locally, it was a busy week. On Saturday, April 10th WHDH-TV aired a color special called “Bozo at the Fair” from 2-2:30PM, featuring a tour of the World’s Fair. WNHC-TV aired an NBA play-off game between the Philadelphia 76ers and the Boston Celtics starting at 2PM on Sunday, April 11th. At 5PM WGBH-TV (Channel 2) premiered a half-hour series called Dollar Diplomacy about foreign-aid policy. WNAC-TV (Channel 7) aired an hour-long special titled “The Old Ball Game” about the history of baseball, narrated by Branch Rickey.
At 9PM on Monday, April 12th WJAR-TV (Channel 10) pre-empted NBC’s The Andy Williams Show to air a David L. Wolper documentary called “Prelude to War,” about Britain’s policy of appeasement prior to World War II. Richard Basehart narrated. That same night WHDH-TV pre-empted the CBS News Special “FDR Remembered” at 10PM to air another Wolper documentary, this one called “Japan: A New Dawn Over Asia,” also narrated by Richard Basehart.
TV Guide published a notice in the Tuesday, April 13th listings explaining that several stations would pre-empt network programming if a sixth game of the NBA Eastern Division play-off between the Boston Celtics and the Philadelphia 76ers was required. It was, so WHDH-TV, WTEV (Channel 6), WJZB (Channel 14), and WIHS-TV (Channel 38) carried the game.
WPRO-TV (Channel 12) in Rhode Island pre-empted a rerun of My Living Doll from 8-8:30PM on Wednesday, April 14th to air Let’s Go to the Races, said to be “TV’s Thrilling-est New Sports Show” and featuring five thoroughbred races. WNAC-TV pre-empted ABC’s Burke’s Law to bring “The Best of the Bolshoi Ballet” to Boston audiences. Here’s an advertisement:
Advertisement for WNAC-TV’s Bolshoi Ballet Special – Copyright 1965 Triangle Publications, Inc.
On Thursday, April 15th at 7:30PM WGBH-TV aired a college lacrosse game between Harvard and MIT. And at 10PM, WNHC-TV pre-empted The Jimmy Dean Show for “The Wonderful World of Sammy Davis,” an hour-long variety special featuring Davis and guests Peter Lawford, Billy Daniels, Lola Falana, and Mike Silva.
Here are some other neat local advertisements from this issue:
Advertisement for WMUR-TV’s Daily Popeye Theatre – Copyright 1965 Triangle Publications, Inc.
Advertisement for WTEV’s Sunday Worship Programming – Copyright 1965 Triangle Publications, Inc.
Here are the episode descriptions for Dateline Boston, a local series broadcast live and in color Monday through Friday from 6-6:25PM on WHDH-TV (Channel 5):
Monday, April 12th, 1965
“Twenty-Four Beacon Street.” Part I, with a look at the Massachusetts Senate in session.Tuesday, April 13th, 1965
“Twenty-Four Beacon Street.” Part 2, takes a look at the Massachusetts Senate in session.Wednesday, April 14th, 1965
“Come and Meet the Arts” with guest Sonya Hamlin, school and community lecturer on the arts.Thursday, April 15th, 1965
[No description provided.]Friday, April 16th, 1965
Dr. Edwin P. Boothe continues his chronology of the Civil War with particularly comments on the events which influenced the final outcome of the war.
That’s it for this week. Hit the comments with your thoughts.
It just brings back fond memories before going to Vietnam….
This is not a comment on the TV Guide issue, but a bit of Walter Brennan trivia. Mr. Brennan’s distinctive craggy voice was the result of his military service during the first World War, when his vocal cords were damaged by a mustard gas attack. I recently learned that, and found it so interesting that I wanted to tell someone, but most of my friends have no idea who Walter Brennan was, so I “barged in” here, where it’s okay to have an interest in actors who worked long ago.
Thank you, TV Obscurities, for providing a “safe haven” for people like myself who are fascinated by historical forms of media entertainment.
I remember first hearing about Walter Brennan at the time of his passing in 1974. A few years after that I enjoyed seeing him in “The Real McCoys”, and years later I saw him on video in the movie “Who’s Minding the Mint?”.
“TV Guide published a notice in the Tuesday, April 12th listings explaining that several stations would pre-empt network programming if a sixth game of the NBA Easter Division play-off between the Boston Celtics and the Philadelphia 76s was required. It was, so WHDH-TV, WTEV (Channel 6), WJZB (Channel 14), and WIHS-TV (Channel 38) carried the game.”
April 12, 1965 fell on a Monday. Was this actually Tuesday, April 13?
It’s interesting that WTEV would have studio chapels on-site, and it would probably never happen nowadays.
You know Jon, i didn’t even realize The Real McCoys even existed. I never watched the CBS daytime reruns, i was a wee youngin’ at that time. But thanks to the fact that we could occasionally pull in St. Joseph, MO’s only station, KQTV channel 2, i got to see the show. That station aired it weekday afternoons at 4 PM (CT) from September 1979 to August 1980. I later saw reruns again on ABC Family cable net in the early 2000’s. Interestingly, Kathy Nolan wasn’t even listed int the cast credits during the first few years the show ran in prime time. Only in the later years was she even included in the opening sequence. Could this be part of the reason for the eventual falling out?
Walter wasn’t much of a singer, probably because of his voice, but he is known for his only hit record, “Old Rivers”, which came out in 1962-the year the series moved from ABC to CBS. A certain someone forgot to mention that. Ironically, i first saw “Who’s Minding the Mint?” sometime in the early 70’s. It aired first on ABC’s “Sunday Night Movie” and KC affiliate KMBC-TV channel 9 also aired it locally a few years later. Brennan also did a Christmas recording i like, titled “Henry Had a Merry Christmas”, about a turkey named Henry. Look it up on YouTube, i think you might like it.
And it is fascinating for a TV station to have on site studio chapels. Guess that’s part of what helped WTEV (now WLNE) stand out from all other outlets-in New England or elsewhere.
As a certified Fifties Kid, I remember The Real McCoys in its early ABC net first run, starting in fall of 1957.
The opening titles were keyed to Harry Ruby’s theme song
“That’s Grandpappy Amos, the head of the clan …”, Walter Brennan, billed on screen.
“And now here’s Luke, who beams with joy …”, Richard Crenna, billed on screen.
” … since he made Kate Mrs. Luke McCoy!” , Kathy Nolan, billed on screen.
So it went for The Real McCoys’s five year run on ABC primetime.
Kathy Nolan left the show in 1962, when it moved to CBS.
The redone opening titles gave billing to Brennan and Crenna, along with revised lyrics for the theme song.
At that same time, the daytime reruns began on CBS, unchanged except for the elimination of the original lyrics, and alteration of the title to simply The McCoys.
I saw those reruns on CBS daytime for much of the ’60s, and I remember Kathy Nolan’s name and face as always being in there.
What subsequent syndicators may have done with or to the openings over the years – anybody’s guess.
But that original opening, theme song and all, is a solid memory of my ’50s kidhood – and so is Kathy Nolan’s co-star billing thereon.
It was Tuesday, April 13th. Thanks for the correction.
Thanks, Robert. One more I just noticed:
“At 9PM on Monday, April 11th WJAR-TV (Channel 10) pre-empted NBC’s The Andy Williams Show to air a David L. Wolper documentary called “Prelude to War,” about Britain’s policy of appeasement prior to World War II. Richard Basehart narrated. That same night WHDH-TV pre-empted the CBS News Special “FDR Remembered” at 10PM to air another Wolper documentary, this one called “Japan: A New Dawn Over Asia,” also narrated by Richard Basehart.”
In 1965, April 11 fell on Sunday and April 12 on Monday, So these were either Sunday, April 11 or Monday, April 12.
I was at that basketball game in 1965.I was surprised to learn Walter Brennan was from Lynn,Mass.
I wonder TVO, do you write these things like there’s not enough time to get it done? I know it’s hard to get this out by Friday, but that should be no excuse for the mistakes i see! The NBA Easter Division finals? Philadelphia 76s? REALLY?? The report on rules for beer commercials should have ended with “There have not be (as) many since 1956”, and the Cleveland Amory thing about the TV festival in Monte Carlo should have read “He merely deplored the attitude many American producer(s) had toward the festival”. You replaced “Kiss Me, Stupid” with “Kiss Me Kate” in talking about adult films on television. Ever heard of PROOFREADING?!
It’s interesting that Barbara Barrie would do what she did. She was Hal Linden’s wife on “Barney Miller” for two seasons, but doing that fashion spread shows that she was a forward thinker ten years before the fact.
Speaking of The Masters, which CBS has so often called “A tradition like no other”, this marks the 10th anniversary of Tiger Woods’ incredible putt that i’m sure even you have seen many times. He sure hasn’t been the same since that Thanksgiving incident a few years back, but i wish him all the best.
And how incredible is it that WNAC-TV channel 7 (which now sports the WHDH-TV call) would air ballet-in prime time? Public TV viewers probably take that kind of thing for granted these days, but it’s not often that a local commercial TV station, in ANY community, would go to great lengths to put something cultural on its’ air. Who does that these days? For its’ time, it must have been something akin to George Brett’s pine tar home run or the first pictures of the surface of the planet Mars-or even the Apollo 11 moon landing of 4 years later.
Regarding WMUR-TV’s ad, seeing this Uncle Gus makes me kinda glad Torey Southwick named his puppet pal Ol’ Gus. But i’m sure he’s as familiar to New Hampshire TV viewers as Torey was to Kansas City kids like me growing up. Popeye has been a fixture since he came on the TV scene in 1956. In KC, i first saw his cartoons on KMBC, then later on KBMA-TV channel 41 (now KSHB)-which is where i also got acquainted with such shows as Speed Racer, Ultraman, Johnny Sokko and His Flying Robot, The Adventures of Superman, The Munsters,, Dennis the Menace, the list goes on and on.
Already looking forward to next Friday and the 4/17/1965 issue. But please, do me and everyone who is enjoying this feature a little favor: don’t type too fast, okay? :)
I’m not going to apologize for making occasional mistakes. These posts take up a significant amount of my spare time every week. I have a full time job and other commitments and I do the best I can.
Of course I proofread but things slip through. It happens. I correct any errors I make as soon as I can and appreciate when they are pointed out. For whatever reason, this week’s post seems to have had more than the usual number of dumb typos. I consider it a win if I only make one or two mistakes.
Also, for the record, I am not a sports person so it took me a full minute to figure out what was wrong with the “Philadelphia 76s.”
By the end of the 60s, Brennan was telling interviewers that the antiwar and civil rights movements were led by “anti-American” agitators. Those views weren’t going to win many friends in Hollywood, and are probably why Nolan was upset.
“The Final Ingredient” was an opera about Jewish inmates of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp and their attempt to have a seder. It was commissioned by ABC(!) in 1965 and run at Passover for several years. (When’s the last time you’ve seen Jewish religious content on TV at all?)
On a much lighter note, how did they squeeze the church/synagogue performances into just 30 minutes each?
I think it was only the old WHDH Channel 5 and the old WPRO Channel 12 that carried the game (although for some reason it wasn’t listed on the former, which actually packaged the telecast), and not CBS.
Additionally, I would think that this was an edited tape of CBC’s broadcast of the game from the previous night, with the tape flown to Boston for editing and broadcast.
April 11,1965 will always be remembered here in the Midwest (I live in Ohio) as the day of the Palm Sunday tornado outbreak, in which a series of destructive twisters tore a path from Wisconsin to central Ohio. The outbreak was one of the first major weather events comprehensively covered by local meterologists since television signed on in the 1940s. WTOL-TV in Toledo produced a chilling documentary of the event later in 1965: this is on YouTube and is a very good piece.