The following is the 1963âÂÂ64 network television schedule for the three major English language commercial broadcast networks in the United States. The schedule covers primetime hours from September 1963 through August 1964. The schedule is followed by a list per network of returning series, new series, and series cancelled after the 1962âÂÂ63 season.
ABC began its new fall schedule a week early, beating CBS and NBC out of the starting gate. New series debuting this week included sci-fi anthology The Outer Limits, police/lawyer series Arrest and Trial, drama The Fugitive, and game show 100 Grand. ABC also completely revamped its Friday night schedule, with two new series: detective show Burke's Law, sitcom The Farmer's Daughter, and returning boxing program The Fight of the Week. Fight would mark the end of boxing on network television. Weekly boxing telecasts had debuted on network TV in 1940 and had enjoyed a run on all networks at various times, but after September 11, 1964, weekly primetime boxing series would disappear entirely from network television. ABC introduced two variety hours that fall with The Jimmy Dean Show and the short lived The Jerry Lewis Show.
CBS's success with rural comedies The Andy Griffith Show and The Beverly Hillbillies convinced the network that rural sitcoms would continue to be popular. As a result, CBS president James Aubrey added what critics described as an "endless procession of country clones [of] the wildly successful Beverly Hillbillies" to the network's schedule. Petticoat Junction, from the same producers of Hillbillies, debuted on September 24. The strategy worked: CBS had 14 of the top 15 primetime programs, a feat Variety later compared to Joe DiMaggio's 56-game hitting streak. CBS also brought two show business veterans to weekly variety television that year with The Judy Garland Show and The Danny Kaye Show.
Westerns continued to be popular on television, and all three networks scheduled several Western series. NBC, in particular, retained a number of Westerns on its fall 1963 schedule: two returning series The Virginian and Bonanza, and new series Temple Houston, and Redigo. NBC's Western-heavy schedule would pay off, as Bonanza again became the second highest-rated TV series in the Nielsen ratings that year; The Virginian reached #17. CBS's Gunsmoke reached #20. However, some Westerns from the previous season were cancelled, some examples are Laramie and Empire, which due to low ratings.
On July 17, 1963, NBC removed The Robert Taylor Show from the lineup due to conflicts between the producers and the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare.
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.
Two landmark events occurred during this network TV season. The first was the JFK assassination, which took place on Friday, November 22, 1963. Many programs that were originally scheduled to air in prime time on that weekend had to be pushed back to the following weekend due to all three networks broadcasting news coverage that would last until November 26. Regular programming was resumed on November 27.
The second event was the live American debut of The Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show on February 9, 1964. An estimated 73 million people tuned in to watch the Fab Four perform on the program, which made it one of the highest rated TV episodes in the history of prime-time television.
Notes: Mister Ed aired on CBS from 6:30 to 7 p.m. 100 Grand only lasted three weeks, and was replaced by Laughs For Sale, which ran until December 1963. In April 1964, The Celebrity Game was added to CBS' primetime lineup. Empire on ABC consisted of reruns of the 1962-63 NBC TV series. Brenner on CBS consisted of ten new episodes â the first produced for the show since 1959 â followed by reruns of episodes first aired in 1959 and 1961.
Notes: Beginning in September, CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite (formerly Walter Cronkite with the News) and The Huntley-Brinkley Report expanded to a half-hour, airing weekdays at 6:30 p.m.
On CBS, Vacation Playhouse was an anthology series made up of unsold television pilots.
Note: The 1964 CBS summer series High Adventure with Lowell Thomas consisted of reruns of specials which had aired under that title during the late 1950s. In January 1964, Redigo was cancelled and replaced with You Don't Say!.
Note: Ensign O'Toole on ABC consisted of reruns of the 1962-1963 NBC situation comedy. On NBC, The Robert Taylor Show was supposed to air at 7:30-8:30, but it was never aired and Temple Houston replaced it on the schedule at the last minute.
Note: 77 Sunset Strip on ABC ended February 7, 1964, replaced the next week by Destry. On December 6, 1963, The Farmer's Daughter moved to another day and timeslot and The Price Is Right replaced it.
Notes: ABC-TV Presents: The Hollywood Palace debuted on January 4, 1964, replacing The Jerry Lewis Show.
On CBS, Summer Playhouse was an anthology series consisting of a combination of unsold television pilots and reruns of episodes of other anthology series.
Returning Series
New Series
Not returning from 1962âÂÂ63:
Returning Series
New Series
Not returning from 1962âÂÂ63:
Returning Series
New Series
Not returning from 1962âÂÂ63:
Note: The * indicates that the program was introduced in midseason. The ** indicates that the program ran only for a partial season.