TV Week that wasn't
November 22 1963. It's the last Friday before Thanksgiving and BANG... The President of the United States is shot dead while riding in his motorcade in Dallas. The entire nation is in shock.
So what's on TV?
Probably just news reports and updates of the terrible tragedy for the near and foreseeable future... plus the live reports of national mourning, the presidential funeral and other sad but related events.
But what was supposed to be on?
My mom always made it a habit to squirrel away newspaper clippings from big-time historical events while I was growing up...though sometimes it seemed like she 'd just grab any ol' part of the paper and stick it in the savin' pile. This was one of those occasions. For reasons unknown she saved the TV section from the week directly following JFK's assasination. This section must've already been all finished and typeset 'cause there's no hint that the biggest story in the world has even taken place. Doubtless a lot of this programming never saw the airwaves (Just like after 911) so keep that in mind as you peruse this entry. If JFK had just been riding in a hardtop that Friday the world might've spun more like it does in print here --at least as far as Atlanta TV goes.
Wow, three big channels --but almost always something to watch! No indication of Ted Turner or even TBS yet (which was the UHF station WTCG when Ted first came on the TV scene --more about that later).
And in case you didn't remember --or maybe weren't born yet--virtually all TV sections in big-city newspapers were printed primarily in green in the 1960's. Who knows why? Actually though, Atlanta did have one UHF station in the form of Channel 30. (which ran a lot of PBS-type stuff) Their listings ran in only one place in the section like this:
Lastly, watch out for Channel 5 in '64...They've got this whole "clear-as-life" tape deal goin' on...
(Now, if they can find someone who can rub-on letraset type in a straight line...)
That's it for now. More kick-ass stuff later this week.
posted by C. Martin Croker at 2:47 PM
12 Comments:
I'm sure I've told you that Friday, Nov. 29th, the national day of mourning, was the day I was most likely conceived having been born almost exactly 9 months later. What else was there to do but comfort each other in bed. Too bad they missed that Freddie the Freeloader sketch on Red Skelton but, then again, I might've never been if they were all laughed out.
7:12 PM
Wow, three big channels --but almost always something to watch! No indication of Ted Turner or even TBS yet (which was the UHF station WTCG when Ted first came on the TV scene --more about that later).
Still, it must've been a great time before he entered the picture!
And in case you didn't remember --or maybe weren't born yet--virtually all TV sections in big-city newspapers were printed primarily in green in the 1960's. Who knows why?
My city had a much different color for it's "society page". The "Peach Section" had been a favorite of the Toledo Blade for generations, probably started before my grandma's generation. I got to live through it's final years, as by the mid '90s, the rising cost to manufacture special peach-color newsprint stock forced The Blade to change it to a normal newsprint stock, but printed the first page (now an insert inside the paper) in peach that is sort of presented in a windowboxed form. This was the section that had our TV, Movies and other entertainment/lifestyle-related fare in town (the comic section would gravitate here eventually). I still miss the days when it the entire section was all peach! :(
Actually though, Atlanta did have one UHF station in the form of Channel 30. (which ran a lot of PBS-type stuff) Their listings ran in only one place in the section like this:
That was also where Toledo's PBS channel has been for the past 46 years now (WGTE-TV30).
4:06 AM
Cool caricature of Rod Serling - kind of Hirshfieldy.
11:43 AM
It's amazing how much animation is on the schedule, considering the limited number of channels. While there's quite a bit of prime-time animation on "free" television these days, it's mostly relegated to Fox, and one evening specifically. The lack of ANY animation on the big 3's current schedule is glaring; it's not like they haven't tried (Fish Police? God, The Devil and Bob? Father of the Pride? Stressed Eric? Oy.) Fascinating that over 40 years have passed and we still fondly remember Fred and Barney, Bullwinkle, etc, while the recent and not-so recent bombs are largely forgotten.
3:03 PM
Hey, Dick Miller's listed in saturday's "War of the Satellites" credits! Cool!
3:54 PM
That's just one of the reasons I left up some of the sidebar info...
I'll be doing an entire post on our pal Dick Miller sometime soon.
6:05 PM
A side note. The San Francisco Chronicle, up until about 1992, printed the entire sports section on green pages. It was called The Sporting Green and I thought that was pretty cool. Then they swithced to regular newsprint but kept the name with a thin green line across the top of the first page. Probably half a generation there that don't even know why it's called that. I can remember my parents, back in ATL in the '70s shout down the hall, "Where are the green pages?!?!?" A subscription to tv guide was still a divorce and five years away.
2:15 PM
Ah, I remember the Big Three: Channels 2, 5, and 11. And I remember that ABC was on 11 and NBC was on 2 up until the 70's, I believe.
That's interesting to see Ch. 5 advertise about video, even before they knew what to call it! "Television Tape." I like it.
Very cool post, Clay.
1:36 AM
Tony Aguirre said...
A side note. The San Francisco Chronicle, up until about 1992, printed the entire sports section on green pages. It was called The Sporting Green and I thought that was pretty cool. Then they swithced to regular newsprint but kept the name with a thin green line across the top of the first page. Probably half a generation there that don't even know why it's called that. I can remember my parents, back in ATL in the '70s shout down the hall, "Where are the green pages?!?!?"
Heh, I'm only glad many people don't have to ask a question like that with our newspaper's "Peach Section", since they'd bothered to use the proper sepia-toned ink for the entire first page so you'd know. I say the Toledo Blade wins over The San Francisco Chronicle anyday!
A subscription to tv guide was still a divorce and five years away.
I'm still sad at what happened to the TV Guide I used to know. Those new magazine issues aren't worth jack! :(
5:30 AM
So, you're probably gonna hate hearing this, but one of the C2C fans found yer blog. Just wanted to say thanks kicking ass and making me laugh when I was depressed over stupid teenager crap (and stupid college student crap). 'Preciate it. Hope to see your work pop up somewhere soon.
Peace.
2:53 AM
Oh, I forgot to mention that I'd rather have 3 channels with worthwhile stuff to watch as opposed to 300 channels with nothing but reality TV and DIY shows.
6:43 PM
I though by Tuesday the 26th, television programming had returned pretty much to what was scheduled.
8:11 PM
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