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1959–60 United States network television schedule

The following is the 1959–60 network television schedule for the three major English language commercial broadcast networks in the United States. The schedule covers primetime hours from September 1959 through March 1960. The schedule is followed by a list per network of returning series, new series, and series cancelled after the 1958–59 season.

By the end of the 1950s, the three major U.S. television networks had basically given up direct control of their TV programs. According to TV historians Castleman and Podrazik (1982), ABC allowed Warner Brothers studios to fill 30% of its fall 1959 schedule. The networks "acted as mere conduits", with Warner, Talent Associates, Revue Studios, Ziv, Screen Gems, 20th Century-Fox, Goodson-Todman, and Desilu Studios producing nearly everything on the networks; with rare exceptions, only network news and sports were still produced in-house.

By fall 1959 what the Hollywood studios were producing were mostly Westerns. According to Castleman and Podrazik (1984), "the rush to Westerns had become a virtual stampede so that, by the fall of 1959, viewers had their choice from a staggering twenty-eight different Western-based prime time series." Westerns were popular with audiences, but critics lamented the loss of other program formats, which had quietly vanished from the three networks' schedules. The addition of Westerns and game shows came at the direct expense of the live dramatic anthology series seen during the Golden Age of Television.

The official schedule was set by each network before the start of the official fall season. The fall season is from September to November in the U.S. The mid-season schedule is listed under the official fall season lineup of each network. The mid-season schedule is from December 1959 to May 1960.

Each of the 30 highest-rated shows is listed with its rank and rating as determined by Nielsen Media Research.

Legend

Schedule

Sunday

Notes:

  • Lucy in Connecticut consisted of reruns of I Love Lucy from the final 13 episodes of the 1956-57 season when the Lucy and Ricky Ricardo characters made their home in Westport, Connecticut.
  • On ABC, 21 Beacon Street consisted of reruns of NBC's 1959 summer series.

Monday

(*) In some areas, Douglas Edwards with the News and The Huntley-Brinkley Report aired at 6:45 p.m. (**) Formerly known as The Steve Allen Show

Note:

Tuesday

Notes:

Wednesday

Note:

  • On ABC, Music For a Spring Night was the summer 1959 series Music For a Summer Night renamed. It reverted to the name Music For a Summer Night in May 1960.

Thursday

Note:

  • The ABC 1960 summer series The Jeannie Carson Show consisted of reruns of the 1956-1957 CBS situation comedy Hey, Jeannie!
  • Johnny Staccato later moved to ABC.

Friday

Notes:

  • On CBS, The Westinghouse Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Show aired once a month at 9 p.m.
  • On NBC, NBC Friday Night Special Presentation (In <span style="color:red;">C</span><span style="color:orange;">O</span><span style="color:gold;">L</span><span style="color:green;">O</span><span style="color:blue;">R</span>) aired once a month at 8:30 p.m.

Saturday

By network

ABC

Returning Series

New Series

Not returning from 1958–59:

CBS

Returning Series

New Series

Not returning from 1958–59:

NBC

Returning Series

New Series

Not returning from 1958–59:

NTA

Not returning from 1958–59:

Note: The * indicates that the program was introduced in midseason.

References

  • McNeil, Alex. Total Television. Fourth edition. New York: Penguin Books. .
  • Castleman, Harry & Podrazik, Wally (1984). The TV Schedule Book. New York: McGraw-Hill Paperbacks.
  • Brooks, Tim & Marsh, Earle (2007). The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows (9th ed.). New York: Ballantine. .