The following is the 1961–62 network television schedule for the three major English language commercial broadcast networks in the United States. The schedule covers primetime hours from September 1961 through April 1962. The schedule is followed by a list per network of returning series, new series, and series cancelled after the 1960–61 season.
The previous season had been criticized by Federal Communications Commission chairman Newton Minow in May 1961. Minow had criticized poor programs and weak network schedules, calling television a "vast wasteland" and calling on television executives to try harder to develop innovative and interesting television programs.[1]
Television historians Castleman and Podrazik (1982) believe the 1961–62 season marked a comeback for television, as the networks rearranged their schedules to accommodate the critics. They point out CBS's high-quality legal drama The Defenders, NBC's medical drama Dr. Kildare, CBS's The Dick Van Dyke Show, and ABC's medical drama Ben Casey as bright spots in the new TV schedule. Despite the praise for these four series, the authors also highlight several less worthy series which debuted during the 1961–62 season: Room for One More, Window on Main Street, Hazel ("possibly the dumbest family in TV history"), and the truly terrible The Hathaways ("possibly the worst series ever to air on network TV").[1]
NBC lured Disney's popular anthology series from ABC; Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color premiered on September 24, 1961. The color programs were a change from the previous ABC programs, which had been seen in black and white.[1]
NBC also added a movie night to its schedule; the network paid $25 million for the rights to broadcast 50 20th-Century Fox films on Saturday nights. In April 1962, ABC followed suit when it added its own Sunday night movie to its schedule.[1]
All times are Eastern and Pacific. 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.[2]
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 | Fall | Maverick | Follow the Sun | Lawman | Bus Stop | Adventures in Paradise | ||||
| Spring | Hollywood Special | |||||||||
| CBS | Lassie (15/24.0) (Tied with Sing Along with Mitch) | Dennis the Menace (17/23.8) | The Ed Sullivan Show (19/23.5) | General Electric Theater | The Jack Benny Program | Candid Camera (10/25.5) | What's My Line? | |||
| NBC | The Bullwinkle Show (In COLOR) | Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color
| Car 54, Where Are You? (20/23.2) | Bonanza (2/30.0) (In COLOR) | The Du Pont Show of the Week | |||||
* formerly Walt Disney Presents
Note: Mister Ed, previously syndicated, aired on CBS, 6:30-7 p.m.
| 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 | Expedition! | Cheyenne / Bronco | The Rifleman (27/22.3) (Tied with The Price Is Right) | Surfside 6 | Ben Casey (18/23.7) | |||||
| CBS | Fall | 7:00 Local / 7:15 Douglas Edwards with the News | To Tell the Truth | Pete and Gladys | Window on Main Street | The Danny Thomas Show (8/26.1) | The Andy Griffith Show (7/27.0) | Hennesey | I've Got a Secret | |
| Winter | Father Knows Best (repeats) | |||||||||
| Spring | 7:00 Local / 7:15 Walter Cronkite with the News | |||||||||
| Summer | The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour (repeats) | |||||||||
| NBC | 7:00 Local / 7:15 The Huntley-Brinkley Report* | Local | National Velvet | The Price Is Right (27/22.3) (Tied with The Rifleman) (In COLOR) | 87th Precinct | Thriller | ||||
* In some areas, Douglas Edwards with the News alongside Walter Cronkite with the News and The Huntley-Brinkley Report aired at 6:45 p.m.(ET).
| 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 | The Bugs Bunny Show | Bachelor Father | Calvin and the Colonel | The New Breed | Alcoa Premiere | |||
| November | The New Breed | Yours for a Song | ||||||||
| CBS | Fall | 7:00 Local / 7:15 Douglas Edwards with the News | Marshal Dillon (Gunsmoke repeats) | The Dick Van Dyke Show | The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis (21/22.9) (Tied with The Flintstones) | The Red Skelton Show (6/27.1) | Ichabod and Me | The Garry Moore Show (12/24.6) | ||
| Winter | Password | |||||||||
| Spring | 7:00 Local / 7:15 Walter Cronkite with the News | |||||||||
| Summer | The Comedy Spot | Talent Scouts | ||||||||
| NBC | 7:00 Local / 7:15 The Huntley-Brinkley Report | Laramie (In Living COLOR) | Alfred Hitchcock Presents | The Dick Powell Show | Cain's Hundred | |||||
| 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 | The Steve Allen Show | Top Cat | Hawaiian Eye | Naked City | ||||
| Winter | Howard K. Smith: News and Comment | Straightaway | ||||||||
| CBS | Fall | 7:00 Local / 7:15 Douglas Edwards with the News | The Alvin Show | Father Knows Best (repeats) | Checkmate | Mrs. G. Goes to College | Armstrong Circle Theatre / The United States Steel Hour | |||
| Winter | Window on Main Street | The Dick Van Dyke Show | ||||||||
| Spring | 7:00 Local / 7:15 Walter Cronkite with the News | |||||||||
| NBC | 7:00 Local / 7:15 The Huntley-Brinkley Report | Wagon Train (1/32.1) | The Joey Bishop Show (24/22.6) | Kraft Music Hall starring Perry Como (25/22.5) (In COLOR) | The Bob Newhart Show | David Brinkley's Journal | ||||
Note: Mrs. G. Goes to College moved to Thursday nights in January as The Gertrude Berg Show, allowing The Dick Van Dyke Show to take its time spot. Several episodes of The Joey Bishop Show and Wagon Train were shown in color.
| 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 | The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet | The Donna Reed Show (30/21.9) (Tied with 77 Sunset Strip) | The Real McCoys (14/24.2) | My Three Sons (11/24.7) | Margie | The Untouchables | |
| Spring | The Law and Mr. Jones | ||||||||
| CBS | Fall | 7:00 Local / 7:15 Douglas Edwards with the News | Frontier Circus | The Bob Cummings Show | The Investigators | CBS Reports | |||
| Winter | The New Bob Cummings Show | Frontier Circus | Tell It to Groucho | The Gertrude Berg Show | |||||
| Spring | 7:00 Local / 7:15 Walter Cronkite with the News | Oh! Those Bells | |||||||
| Summer | Accent on an American Summer | Brenner | |||||||
| Follow-up | Frontier Circus | Various | |||||||
| NBC | Fall | 7:00 Local / 7:15 The Huntley-Brinkley Report | Outlaws (In COLOR) | Dr. Kildare (9/25.6) | Hazel (4/27.7) | Sing Along with Mitch (15/24.0) (Tied with Lassie) (In COLOR) | |||
| Summer | The Lively Ones | ||||||||
| 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 | Straightaway | The Hathaways | The Flintstones (21/22.9) (Tied with The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis) | 77 Sunset Strip (30/21.9) (Tied with The Donna Reed Show) | |||
| Spring | Margie | ||||||||
| CBS | Fall | 7:00 Local / 7:15 Douglas Edwards with the News | Rawhide (13/24.5) | Route 66 | Father of the Bride | The Twilight Zone | Eyewitness | ||
| Spring | 7:00 Local / 7:15 Walter Cronkite with the News | ||||||||
| NBC | Fall | 7:00 Local / 7:15 The Huntley-Brinkley Report | International Showtime | The Detectives Starring Robert Taylor | The Bell Telephone Hour / The Dinah Shore Show** (In COLOR) | Here and Now | |||
| Winter | Chet Huntley Reporting | ||||||||
* formerly Eyewitness To History** formerly The Chevy Show
| 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 | Matty's Funday Funnies | The Roaring 20s | Leave It to Beaver | The Lawrence Welk Show | 10:00 The Fight of the Week / 10:45 Make That Spare | ||||
| Winter | Matty's Funnies With Beany and Cecil | Calvin and the Colonel | Room for One More | |||||||
| CBS | Local | Perry Mason (5/27.3) | The Defenders (26/22.4) | Have Gun – Will Travel (29/22.2) | Gunsmoke (3/28.3) | |||||
| NBC | Local | Tales of Wells Fargo (In COLOR) | The Tall Man | NBC Saturday Night at the Movies (In COLOR) | ||||||
Beginning January 6, Matty's Funday Funnies became Matty's Funnies With Beany & Cecil.
Returning Series
New Series
Not returning from 1960–61:
Returning Series
New Series
Not returning from 1960–61:
Returning Series
New Series
Not returning from 1960–61:
Note: The * indicates that the program was introduced in midseason.