"Wasteland" or "Wholesome"? TV in 1962

In honor of Andy Griffith, one of the icons of 1960s television, who died earlier this week, I thought a dive into the genre might be fitting (and fun).  So, here goes ….

By way of a quick overview, Wikipedia noted that shortly before the 1961-62 season on which we’ll focus (the television season started with premiers in the fall of each year) TV had been described by the Federal Communication Chairman as a "vast wasteland."  This season featured rearranged network schedules to accommodate the critics.

So much for the egghead stuff.  What was TV really like in the first half of 1962?  Here are some facts: 

• There were only three networks (ABC, CBS and NBC), all of which were broadcast through local channels numbered between 2 and 13.   
• Little of the nation had access to higher numbered channels, which usually had terrible picture quality (even assuming the home had a TV set that could receive it).   
• Although public television had been around in some form for ten years, it was barely a blip on the radar (Sesame Street didn't begin until 1969).  
•  There was very little cable infrastructure – the vast majority of television was received through antennas, ranging from “rabbit ears” to large contraptions attached to the outside of homes.   
• TV programming started in most areas at 6 am with the "Star Spangled Banner", and ended around midnight the same way.  As strange as it may seem today, there was no television of any kind to watch between midnight and 6 am, and of course there were no home video devices to fill the gap.

Of the top ten shows, only two had episodes in color – the rest were in black and white.  The top three shows (four in the top twenty) were all hour-long western dramas.   In the rest of the top twenty, seven were half-hour comedies, three were one-hour variety shows, two were medical dramas (one-hour each).  The remaining four included a famous court-room drama (Perry Mason), a half-hour family animal drama (Lassie), Sing Along With Mitch (which is frankly hard to describe other than as a sing-along show – really, I’m not kidding), and the iconic Candid Camera.  Not a reality show in the bunch, and no story line that you wouldn’t have been comfortable discussing in church.   

Here are some additional (hopefully interesting) tidbits:

Theme music: 1962 TV featured some of the most memorable theme music of all times.  This group included:

Bonanza – The #2 program of the year (and the only one in color) was an atypical western, built around the Cartwright family on their huge ranch in Nevada.  It ran for 14 years, and among the co-stars were Michael Landon as “Little Joe,” who later starred in Little House on the Prairie.  

The Andy Griffith Show – Ranked 7^th in ‘61-‘62  Nielsen’s, this show was set in rural, small town North Carolina.  Aside from its classic whistling theme and of course Andy Griffith, it is best remembered for its child star “Ronnie” Howard, the later Academy Award winning director.

Perry Mason – In my humble opinion, this long-running courtroom drama (5th for the season), based on Earle Stanley Gardner’s numerous pot-boiler novels, has perhaps the most memorable TV theme music of all times.  

 

Westerns – As we mentioned above, the top three programs for the year were all westerns.  Ironically, the top-rated show, Wagon Train, is probably now the least memorable.  Some other trivia:

Gunsmoke cast, Burt Reynolds seated

Gunsmoke – The show’s 635 total episodes made it the longest running, prime time series of the 20th century.  It ranked third in this TV season.  One interesting tidbit is that Burt Reynolds played half-breed blacksmith Quint Asper from 1962–1965.

Clint Eastwood as Rowdy Yates

Rawhide – Although it only ranked 13^th  in this season, you can’t discuss TV westerns of the 1960s without mentioning Rawhide for at least two reasons.  The first is the classic rendition of the show's theme in The Blues Brothers, as the band desperately tries to find anything country enough to survive a drunken cowboy bar crowd.  The show’s other claim to fame is its main co-star for eight seasons – Clint Eastwood.

Comedies – The seven comedies that made the season’s top twenty ranged from classic to the silly to the completely forgettable.  In addition to The Andy Griffin Show, some worth noting, for good or bad, include:

Hazel – A completely inane premise based around a family’s white, middle class, uniformed housekeeper, the show actually was the 4^th highest rated program of the season. 

My Three Sons – The #11 show for the year is probably best remembered for its star, Fred McMurray, who started as a leading man in films in the 1930s and ended up making The Absent Minded Professor for Walt Disney.

The Real McCoys – This sitcom (ranked 14^th) involved a poor farming family lead by famous actor Walter Brennan.

Car 54, Where Are You? – Although it only ran three years, that was probably at least two years too long for this series.  Based on two idiotic police officers on patrol, it finished this season ranked 20^th.

Ed Sullivan

Variety Shows – Approaching the heyday of this genre, the top 20 shows of the season included The Red Skelton Show (#6), The Garry Moore Show (#12), and immortal Ed Sullivan Show (#19).  If you’re not familiar with this type of program, they featured guest acts of all kinds (including many rock and roll bands later in the decade), skits, monologs, and what could only be described as “general entertainment.”

 

Richard Chamberlain as Kildare

Medical Dramas – Two new programs in this season featured medical story lines.  Dr. Kildare (#9) and Ben Casey (#18) were really the prototypes for this type of programming. 








Honorable Mention – Let’s conclude this already-too-long discussion by mentioning two of the oddest programs of the season:

Candid Camera – This American hidden camera/practical joke reality television series (reality in the non-actor sense, not the contrived drama or competition sense of today) was produced off and on for decades.  It was truly original and groundbreaking (for good or evil).  It was the 10^th rated show in the ’61-’62 season.  The following is an episode called "The Power of Conformity."

Mitch Miller leads a song

Sing Along With Mitch - Mitch Miller was a household name in the early 1960s with his 15^th rated show Sing Along with Mitch, a community-sing program featuring him and a male chorale. As the title suggests, lyrics were shown at the bottom of the TV screen so viewers could sing along.  As corny as this sounds, remember that The Lawrence Welk Show was a prime-time Saturday night staple not yet half way through its 27 year run.

Wasteland or Wholesome?  You now have a pretty good idea of what popular television was like in the first half of 1962.  Would you describe it as “wholesome,” as many of the tributes to Andy Griffith have done, or would you chose “wasteland,” as the FCC chairman saw it in 1961?  Many of these programs can still be found in syndication.  Many of the formats – particularly sitcoms and medical dramas – have so far stood the test of time.  Certainly, some were completely inane. None were yet tackling the social issues that they would take on by the end of the decade, but there was also no reason for parents to censor their children’s viewing choices.  Wholesome or wasteland?  You decide.