1963–64 United States network television schedule

This was the television schedule on all three networks for the fall season beginning in September 1963.

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.^[1] ABC also completely revamped its Friday night schedule, with three new series: detective show Burke's Law, sitcom The Farmer's Daughter, and boxing program The Fight of the Week. Fight would mark the end of boxing on network television. Boxing had debuted on network TV in 1946 and had enjoyed a run on all networks at various times, but after September 11, 1964, boxing would disappear entirely from network television.^[1] ABC introduced two variety hours that fall with The Jimmy Dean Show and the short lived Jerry Lewis Show.

CBS's success with rural comedies The Andy Griffith Show and The Beverly Hillbillies had convinced the network that rural sitcoms would continue to be popular. As a result, CBS president James Aubrey added what some 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.^[1] CBS also brought two show business veterans to weekly variety television that year with Judy Garland and Danny Kaye.

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.^[2]

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]

This network TV season is also notable for being the season when the JFK Assassination took place on Friday, November 22, 1963. Many programs that were originally scheduled to air on that weekend on all three networks (and on the day of the assassination) on prime time had to be pushed back to the weekend after the assassination due to all three networks doing news coverage of the assassination that would last until the president's funeral on Monday, November 25.

This became a landmark TV season when the Beatles made their American debut on the Ed Sullivan show on February 9, 1964. An estimated 73 million people tuned in to watch the Fab Four perform on the show, which made it one of the highest rated TV episodes in the history of prime time television.

     Yellow indicates the top 10 programs for the season.

     Cyan indicates the top 20 programs for the season.

     Magenta indicates the top 30 programs for the season.

Sunday

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. On the April of 1964, The Celebrity Game was added to CBS' primetime lineup. Empire on ABC consisted of reruns of the 1962-63 NBC TV series.

Monday

Note: 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

Tuesday

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 of 1964, Redigo was cancelled and replaced with You Don't Say!. On May 19th, YOU DON'T SAY! was replaced by SUSPENSE, a collection of episodes from other anthology programs.

Wednesday

Thursday

Note: Ensign O'Toole on ABC consisted of reruns of the 1962-1963 NBC situation comedy.

Friday

77 Sunset Strip on ABC ended February 7, 1964, replaced the next week by Destry. On December 6, 1963, The Farmer's Daughter was put on another day and timeslot, and put The Price Is Right at 9:30pm.

Saturday

ABC-TV Presents THE HOLLYWOOD PALACE will be debuted on January 4, 1964, replacing The Jerry Lewis Show.

References

• Castleman, H. & Podrazik, W. (1982). Watching TV: Four Decades of American Television. New York: McGraw-Hill. 314 pp.
• McNeil, Alex. Total Television. Fourth edition. New York: Penguin Books. ISBN 0-14-024916-8.
• Brooks, Tim & Marsh, Earle (1984). The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network TV Shows (3rd ed.). New York: Ballantine. ISBN 0-345-31864-1.