The following is the 1954–55 network television schedule for the four major English language commercial broadcast networks in the United States. The schedule covers primetime hours from September 1954 through March 1955. The schedule is followed by a list per network of returning series, new series, and series cancelled after the 1953–54 season.
Fall 1954 marked a big change for television when ABC announced a network deal with a significant Hollywood producer. ABC had contracted with Walt Disney to produce a new series called Disneyland (as part of the deal, the network provided funding towards the construction of Walt's amusement park of the same name, opening in July 1955). The series was an instant hit, and marked the beginning of the networks allowing Hollywood programs into their schedules. Thus, Disney became the third significant Hollywood film producer to venture into television production, after Jerry Fairbanks and Hal Roach.
ABC president Leonard Goldenson decided in early 1954 that a television network was not the place for religious programs; as a result, Billy Graham's religious series, Hour of Decision, did not appear on ABC's fall 1954 schedule. Goldenson told Graham that the series was canceled because the poor ratings the series received were hurting the "flow" of ABC's entertainment programs. However, later critics, such as R.D. Heldenfels (1994), reject the stated reason for the cancellation. According to Heldenfels, since Hour of Decision was the last program that ABC aired on Sunday nights (at 10:30), "flow would not have been an issue"; ABC did not air anything in place of the canceled series and gave the slot back to its local affiliates. Heldenfels believes Goldenson "simply felt uncomfortable about organized religion".[1] Another 1953–54 ABC religious series, This Is the Life, also failed to make the 1954–55 ABC schedule.
DuMont's 1954–55 schedule would be the last year the failing television network planned a seven night program schedule, and even this schedule was full of holes. Heldenfels states that the 1954 DuMont schedule "was a checkerboard of programs and empty spaces for [local] stations to fill".[2] DuMont did not bother to schedule anything against ABC's Disneyland, NBC's new series Caesar's Hour, or either of CBS's Arthur Godfrey programs, conceding those slots (and others) to the bigger networks. However, DuMont continued to air Bishop Fulton Sheen's program Life Is Worth Living against NBC's popular The Buick-Berle Show. DuMont's counter-programming strategy, scheduling a religious program against Milton Berle's bawdy show, had met with success in previous years. The rivalry between the programs had caused Berle to joke, "He uses old material, too." Sheen, for his part, once introduced himself as "Uncle Fultie".[3] Still, DuMont's limited success in counter-programming a few slots would not be enough to save the network; Heldenfels states that the DuMont network's programs "resemble the grasping of program straws as much or more as they look like a strategic plan."[4] DuMont would cancel Life Is Worth Living in April 1955, along with most of its remaining programs.[5]
New fall series are highlighted in bold.
Each of the 30 highest-rated shows is listed with its rank and rating as determined by Nielsen Media Research.[6]
Yellow indicates the programs in the top 10 for the season.
Cyan indicates the programs in the top 20 for the season.
Magenta indicates the programs in the top 30 for the season.
| Network | 7:00 PM | 7:30 PM | 8:00 PM | 8:30 PM | 9:00 PM | 9:30 PM | 10:00 PM | 10:30 PM | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ABC | You Asked For It | The Pepsi-Cola Playhouse | Flight No. 7 | The Big Picture | 9:00 The Walter Winchell Show / 9:15 The Martha Wright Show | Soldier Parade | Break the Bank | Local | ||
| CBS | Fall | Lassie | The Jack Benny Show (7/38.3) / Private Secretary (19/32.2) | Toast of the Town (5/39.6) | General Electric Theater (17/32.6) | Honestly, Celeste! | Father Knows Best | What's My Line? | ||
| Spring | Appointment with Adventure | |||||||||
| NBC | Fall | People Are Funny | Mister Peepers | The Colgate Comedy Hour (27/28.0) | The Philco Television Playhouse/Goodyear Television Playhouse | The Loretta Young Show (28/27.7) | The Hunter | |||
| Winter | The Bob Cummings Show | |||||||||
| DMN | Local | Opera Cameos | Local | Rocky King, Inside Detective | Life Begins at Eighty | The Music Show | Local | |||
| Network | 7:00 PM | 7:30 PM | 8:00 PM | 8:30 PM | 9:00 PM | 9:30 PM | 10:00 PM | 10:30 PM | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ABC | Fall | 7:00 Kukla, Fran and Ollie / 7:15 John Daly and the News | Jamie | Come Closer | The Voice of Firestone | College Press Conference | Boxing from Eastern Parkway | |||
| October | The Name's the Same | |||||||||
| CBS | Local | 7:30 Douglas Edwards with the News / 7:45 The Perry Como Show | The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show (26/29.0) | Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts (18/32.5) | I Love Lucy (1/49.3) | December Bride (10/34.7) | Westinghouse Studio One | |||
| NBC | Local | 7:30 The Tony Martin Show / 7:45 Camel News Caravan | Caesar's Hour | Medic | Robert Montgomery Presents | Local | ||||
| DMN | 7:00 Captain Video / 7:15 DuMont Evening News | Local | The Ilona Massey Show | Local | Boxing From St. Nicholas Arena | |||||
Note: On NBC, Producers' Showcase made its debut as a monthly series, airing 8:00–9:30 pm
| Network | 7:00 PM | 7:30 PM | 8:00 PM | 8:30 PM | 9:00 PM | 9:30 PM | 10:00 PM | 10:30 PM | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ABC | 7:00 Kukla, Fran and Ollie / 7:15 John Daly and the News | Cavalcade of America | Local | Twenty Questions | Make Room for Daddy | The United States Steel Hour/The Elgin TV Hour | Stop the Music | |||
| CBS | Fall | Local | 7:30 Douglas Edwards with the News / 7:45 The Jo Stafford Show | The Red Skelton Show | The Blue Angel | Meet Millie | Danger | Life with Father | See It Now | |
| Follow-up | The Halls of Ivy | |||||||||
| Summer | Music 55 | The $64,000 Question | ||||||||
| NBC | Local | 7:30 The Dinah Shore Show / 7:45 Plymouth News Caravan | The Buick-Berle Show (11/34.6)/The Bob Hope Show/The Martha Raye Show | Fireside Theatre (20/31.1) | Armstrong Circle Theatre | Truth or Consequences | It's a Great Life | |||
| DMN | 7:00 Captain Video / 7:15 DuMont Evening News | Local | Life Is Worth Living | Studio 57 | One Minute Please | Local | ||||
Note: Beginning this season, Chrysler's Plymouth division alternated with R.J. Reynolds as sponsor of Camel News Caravan on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The Bob Hope Show and The Martha Raye Show each appeared monthly.
| Network | 7:00 PM | 7:30 PM | 8:00 PM | 8:30 PM | 9:00 PM | 9:30 PM | 10:00 PM | 10:30 PM | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ABC | 7:00 Kukla, Fran and Ollie / 7:15 John Daly and the News | Disneyland (6/39.1) | The Stu Erwin Show | Masquerade Party | Enterprise | Local | ||||
| CBS | Fall | Local | 7:30 Douglas Edwards with the News / 7:45 The Perry Como Show | Arthur Godfrey and His Friends (22/29.8) | Strike It Rich | I've Got a Secret (13/34.0) | 10:00 Pabst Blue Ribbon Bouts (25/29.1) / 10:45 Sports Spot/10–11:00 The Best of Broadway (once a month) | |||
| Winter | The Millionaire (16/33.0) | |||||||||
| NBC | Fall | Local | 7:30 Coke Time with Eddie Fisher / 7:45 Camel News Caravan | I Married Joan | My Little Margie (29/27.1) | Kraft Television Theatre | This Is Your Life (12/34.5) | Big Town | ||
| Winter | Norby (In COLOR) | |||||||||
| Spring | Ford Theatre (In COLOR) | |||||||||
| DMN | 7:00 Captain Video / 7:15 DuMont Evening News | Local | Concert Tonight (Chicago Symphony) | Down You Go | Local | |||||
| Network | 7:00 PM | 7:30 PM | 8:00 PM | 8:30 PM | 9:00 PM | 9:30 PM | 10:00 PM | 10:30 PM | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ABC | 7:00 Kukla, Fran and Ollie / 7:15 John Daly and the News | The Lone Ranger | The Mail Story | Treasury Men in Action | So You Want to Lead a Band | Kraft Television Theatre | Local | |||
| CBS | Fall | Local | 7:30 Douglas Edwards with the News / 7:45 The Jane Froman Show | The Ray Milland Show | Climax!/Shower of Stars (once a month) | Four Star Playhouse | The Public Defender | Name That Tune | ||
| Spring | Willy | |||||||||
| Summer | The Bob Cummings Show | |||||||||
| NBC | Local | 7:30 The Dinah Shore Show / 7:45 Plymouth News Caravan | You Bet Your Life (4/41.0) | Justice | Dragnet (3/42.1) | Ford Theatre (In COLOR) (9/34.9) | Lux Video Theatre | |||
| DMN | 7:00 Captain Video / 7:15 DuMont Evening News | Local | They Stand Accused | What's the Story | Local | |||||
* formerly Meet Mr. McNutley
Note: On CBS, Willy moved from Saturday to Thursday in April.
| Network | 7:00 PM | 7:30 PM | 8:00 PM | 8:30 PM | 9:00 PM | 9:30 PM | 10:00 PM | 10:30 PM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ABC | 7:00 Kukla, Fran and Ollie / 7:15 John Daly and the News | The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin (23/29.5) | The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet | The Ray Bolger Show | Dollar a Second | The Vise | Local | ||
| CBS | Local | 7:30 Douglas Edwards with the News / 7:45 The Perry Como Show | Mama | Topper (24/29.4) | Schlitz Playhouse of Stars | Our Miss Brooks | The Lineup | Person to Person | |
| NBC | Local | 7:30 Coke Time with Eddie Fisher / 7:45 Camel News Caravan | The Red Buttons Show/The Jack Carson Show (once a month) | The Life of Riley (21/30.9) | The Big Story | Dear Phoebe | 10:00 Gillette Cavalcade of Sports / 10:45 The Greatest Moments in Sports | ||
| DMN | 7:00 Captain Video / 7:15 DuMont Evening News | Local | The Stranger | Local | Chance of a Lifetime | Time Will Tell | Local | ||
* formerly Where's Raymond?
| Network | 7:00 PM | 7:30 PM | 8:00 PM | 8:30 PM | 9:00 PM | 9:30 PM | 10:00 PM | 10:30 PM | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ABC | Fall | Local | Compass | The Dotty Mack Show | 9:00 The Saturday Night Fights / 9:45 Fight Talk | The Stork Club | Local | |||
| January | Ozark Jubilee | |||||||||
| CBS | Fall | The Gene Autry Show | Beat the Clock | The Jackie Gleason Show (2/42.4) | Two for the Money (14/33.9) | My Favorite Husband | That's My Boy | Willy | ||
| Winter | Professional Father | |||||||||
| Spring | Damon Runyon Theater | |||||||||
| Summer | America's Greatest Bands | |||||||||
| NBC | Fall | Watch Mr. Wizard | Ethel and Albert | The Mickey Rooney Show: Hey, Mulligan | Place the Face | The Imogene Coca Show | Texaco Star Theater | The George Gobel Show (8/35.2) | Your Hit Parade (15/33.6) | |
| Summer | The Soldiers | The Amazing Dunninger | Musical Chairs | And Here's the Show | ||||||
| DMN | Local | National Football League Professional Football | ||||||||
Note: On NBC, the Saturday edition of Max Liebman Presents debuted as a monthly series, airing 9:00–10:30 pm. On ABC, Ozark Jubilee premiered in January from 9:00–10:00 p.m. On CBS, Willy moved from Saturday to Thursday in April.
The Soldiers, a live military sitcom starring Hal March, Tom D'Andrea, and John Dehner, produced and directed by Bud Yorkin, aired eleven episodes on NBC Saturday schedule between June 25 and September 3, 1955.
Returning Series
New Series
Not returning from 1953–54:
Returning Series
New Series
Not returning from 1953–54:
Returning series
New series
Not returning from 1953–54:
Returning Series
New Series
Not returning from 1953–54:
Note: The * indicates that the program was introduced in midseason.