Here are the top ten programs in Chicago during “early July” according to Videodex. As always, the exact period these ratings cover is unknown. Notice how different this list is when compared to the top ten for April of 1950. Even in 1950, during the summer program schedules and viewing habits changed quite a bit.
| ## | Program | Station | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Arthur Godfrey and Friends | WBKB | 41.2 |
| 2. | Toast of the Town (The Milton Berle Show) | WBKB | 30.2 |
| 3. | Premiere Playhouse | WENR-TV | 26.5 |
| 4. | Sunday Evening Playhouse | WNEQ | 25.9 |
| 5. | Television Theater | WNBQ | 25.8 |
| 6. | The Big Story | WNBQ | 24.7 |
| 7. | The Original Amateur Hour | WNBQ | 23.7 |
| 8. | Four Star Theater | WGN-TV | 23.6 |
| 9. | Stop the Music | WENR-TV | 22.6 |
| 10. | Courtesy TV Theater | WGN-TV | 21.9 |
Sources:
“Video Football Schedules for Fall Shaping Up.” Chicago Daily Tribune. 6 Aug. 1950: SW8.
I don’t know about the “local” series in this “Top 10” (from WENR and WGN), but I KNOW the network series {all times Central- add one hour for Eastern}:
1) “ARTHUR GODFREY AND HIS FRIENDS”
[CBS, Wednesdays, 7-8pm]
2) “TOAST OF THE TOWN” (Ed Sullivan, NOT Berle)
[CBS, Sundays, 7-8pm]
4) “PHILCO TELEVISION PLAYHOUSE”
[NBC, Sundays, 8-9pm] (WNBQ, not “WNEQ”)
5) “KRAFT TELEVISION THEATER”
[NBC, Wednesdays, 8-9pm]
6) “THE BIG STORY” [NBC, Fridays, 8:30-9pm]
7) ‘THE ORIGINAL AMATEUR HOUR”
[DuMont, Sundays, 6-7pm]
9) “STOP THE MUSIC” [ABC, Thursdays, 7-8pm]
We still have Four Star Theater reruns showing every week here on WTLU. I enjoyed the episodes with David Niven most of all.
I am very surprised to hear that. I would never have thought the show was still in local syndication.
I believe that’s not the same “FOUR STAR THEATER”, as “Four Star Television” wasn’t formed by Dick Powell, David Niven and Charles Boyer until 1952, and their first series, “FOUR STAR PLAYHOUSE” went on the air over CBS. The one that aired on WGN was either a live local anthology, or a series of older films that weren’t produced by the eight major movie studios in Hollywood [they didn’t start releasing most of their pre-1948 libraries to local stations until 1956]. It could also have been the “package” of producer Alexander Korda’s films initially released to TV in 1949, and first seen on WPIX-TV in New York.
It was a WGN show and called Four Star TV Theater. It aired in 1949 and 1950 and aired theatrical films.