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| NBC Saturday Night at the Movies |
The battle for the top TV movies was on. (See Tuesday intro)
NBC's first original movie of the season and first one in nearly two years was the detective/reporter drama Fame Is the Name of the Game. It was followed in following months by How I Spent My Summer Vacation, The Longest Hundred Miles, and The Borgia Stick, and adding to the four (The Doomsday Flight, Wings of Fire, Winchester 73, and Ironside) that aired on Tuesday — and all aired under the NBC World Premiere banner. Fame and Ironside were picked up to series for the following season, and Universal found a new business venture: cranking out TV movies for NBC. By summer 1967, more than a dozen were in the pipeline.
In the ratings, the 8 movies averaged 23.9/40, above the average theatrical movie. As far as NBC was concerned, it would take Universal's movies for as long as it would produce them.
With the drying up of and increasing price of popular theatrical movies, NBC also went to Universal for its movie catalog for new titles, ending its agreement with MGM. The era of 30 movies per season was over. 28 movies aired this season — 15 from Paramount, 12 from Universal (8 theatrical, 4 TV movies), and 1 in-house Can anyone explain that one? There were also a few repeats during the season.
Programmer's Corner: Primetime Saturday, now all of it in living color! Five years after NBC first pushed color, ABC and CBS had fully caught up. While CBS found new life with The Jackie Gleason Show when the American Scene Magazine aspect was dropped, the rest of the lineup continued to bring up the rear, including Gunsmoke, which was now out of the top 30. Newcomers Pistols 'n' Petticoats and Mission: Impossible (a bizarre pairing) were no match for Lawrence Welk and movies. This season would be Welk's best, ranking at #10, but the ratings never carried over to veteran lead-out Hollywood Palace. NBC Saturday Night at the Movies also had its best season so far, ranking at #20. Its lead-in, Get Smart cooled in its second season, and NBC's other success, I Dream of Jeannie, was shipped to Mondays and replaced with the more modestly rated Please Don't Eat the Daisies, which struggled against the competition. The first hour of programming would not be renewed.
NBC SATURDAY NIGHT AT THE MOVIES, 1966–67
Regular season
17 Sep 1966: Donovan's Reef (1963, 2 hours 15 minutes)
'Guns' Donovan prefers carousing with his pals Doc Dedham and 'Boats' Gilhooley, until Dedham's high-society daughter Amelia shows up in their South Seas paradise. (Adventure Comedy / Color, Paramount)
Director: John Ford; with John Wayne, Lee Marvin, Elizabeth Allen
More: Wikipedia, Rotten Tomatoes, Letterboxd
24 Sep 1966: The Last Sunset (1961, 2 hours 15 minutes)
At a Mexican ranch, fugitive O'Malley and pursuing Sheriff Stribling agree to help rancher Breckenridge drive his herd into Texas where Stribling could legally arrest O'Malley, but Breckenridge's wife complicates things. (Western / Color, Universal)
Director: Robert Aldrich; with Rock Hudson, Kirk Douglas, Dorothy Malone, Joseph Cotten
Ratings Report: In the first two weeks of the season, the Saturday movie averaged 23.6, good enough for #7. Other shows: Lawrence Welk was at 19.1 (#29), Hollywood Palace at 15.1 (#70), Mission: Impossible at 15.5 (#68), Pistols n Petticoats at 18.9 (#30), and Gunsmoke at 18.5 (#36). (ABC's one-off airing of The Bridge on the River Kwai ranked a massive 38.3, ranking #1 and more than 12 points ahead of #2 Green Acres.)
1 Oct 1966: Rear Window (1954, 2 hours 15 minutes)
A wheelchair-bound photographer spies on his neighbors from his apartment window and becomes convinced one of them has committed murder. (Thriller / Color, Paramount)
Director: Alfred Hitchcock; with James Stewart, Grace Kelly, Wendell Corey
8 Oct 1966: The Joker Is Wild (1957, 2 hours 30 minutes)
A mob boss has his thugs try to kill singer Joe E. Lewis when he bolts a job for another. Lewis lives, but his vocal cords are cut. Years later, he meets Letty Page and attempts his dream as a comedian. However, he has also become an alcoholic and gambler. (Musical Drama / Black & White, Paramount)
Director: Charles Vidor; with Frank Sinatra, Mitzi Gaynor, Jeanne Crain, Eddie Albert
Ratings Report: In Nielsen's two-week report, the Saturday movie ranked #6 at 23.8.
15 Oct 1966: A Gathering of Eagles (1963, 2 hours 15 minutes)
During the Cold War, Air Force Colonel Jim Caldwell shapes up his Strategic Air Command B-52 wing to pass a nuclear war readiness test. (War / Color, Universal)
Director: Delbert Mann; with Rock Hudson, Rod Taylor, Mary Peach, Barry Sullivan
22 Oct 1966: The Proud and Profane (1956, 2 hours 15 minutes)
In the Pacific during WWII, a Roman Catholic widow falls for a tough lieutenant colonel. (War / Black & White, Paramount)
Director: George Seaton; with William Holden, Deborah Kerr, Thelma Ritter, Dewey Martin
Ratings Report: To show how flexible the series could be, in Nielsen's two-week report, Saturday Night at the Movies didn't rank in the top 12. However, Lawrence Welk (#12, 22.0) did.
29 Oct 1966: The Buccaneer (1958, 2 hours 30 minutes)
During the war of 1812, Louisiana buccaneer Jean Lafitte assists the Americans in defending New Orleans against the attacking British war fleet. (War / Color, Paramount)
Director: Anthony Quinn; with Yul Brynner, Claire Bloom, Charles Boyer, Charlton Heston
5 Nov 1966: Roman Holiday (1953, 2 hours 15 minutes)
A bored and sheltered princess escapes her guardians and falls in love with an American newsman in Rome. (Romantic Comedy / Black & White, Paramount)
Director: William Wyler; with Gregory Peck, Audrey Hepburn
12 Nov 1966: The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956, 2 hours 30 minutes)
An American physician and his wife take matters into their own hands after assassins planning to execute a foreign Prime Minister kidnap their son. (Thriller / Color, Paramount)
Director: Alfred Hitchcock; with James Stewart, Doris Day
19 Nov 1966: Come September (1961, 2 hours 15 minutes)
Younger generation vs. "older" folks on vacation at an Italian villa. (Romantic Comedy / Color, Universal)
Director: Robert Mulligan; with Rock Hudson, Gina Lollobrigida, Sandra Dee, Bobby Darin
Ratings Report: In Nielsen's two-week report, the Saturday movie was averaging 23.3% of households, which was good enough for #10. Right behind at #11 was Lawrence Welk (22.8).
26 Nov 1966: Fame Is the Name of the Game 📺 (1966, 2 hours)
TV Pilot. Investigating the murder of a call girl, a reporter unearths her diary, which has the names of many prominent people inscribed within its pages. He sets out to find her killer from among the names contained in the diary. (Drama / Color, Universal)
Director: Stuart Rosenberg; with Anthony Franciosa, Jill St. John, Jack Klugman
3 Dec 1966: Stalag 17 (1953, 2 hours 30 minutes; Original Air Date: 23 Oct 1965)
10 Dec 1966: Robinson Crusoe on Mars (1964, 2 hours 15 minutes)
Stranded on Mars with only a monkey as a companion, an astronaut must figure out how to find oxygen, water, and food on the lifeless planet. (Science Fiction / Color, Paramount)
Director: Byron Haskin; with Paul Mantee, Victor Lundin
17 Dec 1966: White Christmas (1954, 2 hours 30 minutes; Original Air Date: 19 Dec 1964)
Programming Note: To get viewers in a Christmas mood prior, there was the annual airing of Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol and was followed by the new (now lost?) holiday special Christmas with Lorne Greene.
Ratings Report: In Nielsen's two-week report, the Saturday movie ranked #20 (22.4), half a point behind Lawrence Welk.
24 Dec 1966: The Matchmaker (1958, 2 hours)
Thornton Wilder's tale of a matchmaker who desires the man she's supposed to be pairing with another woman. (Romantic Comedy / Black & White, Paramount)
Director: Joseph Anthony; with Shirley Booth, Anthony Perkins, Shirley MacLaine, Paul Ford
31 Dec 1966: Anything Goes (1956, 2 hours)
In Paris, Bill Benson and Ted Adams each find the perfect leading lady for the plum female role in their upcoming Broadway show. Each promises the prize role to the girl they selected without informing the other until they head back across the Atlantic by liner. (Musical / Color, Universal)
Director: Robert Lewis; with Bing Crosby, Donald O'Connor, Zizi Jeanmaire, Mitzi Gaynor
Programming Note: Like every New Year's Eve of the era, NBC opened the night with the Orange Bowl Parade, preempting Flipper and Daisies.
7 Jan 1967: How I Spent My Summer Vacation (NBC World Premiere) 📺 (1967, 2 hours)
TV Movie. A man who completes compiling a dossier on a mysterious billionaire begins to get the feeling that he is becoming the victim of a conspiracy. (Adventure / Color, Universal)
Director: William Hale; with Robert Wagner, Peter Lawford, Lola Albright
More: Wikipedia, Letterboxd
14 Jan 1967: Sabrina (1954, 2 hours 15 minutes)
A playboy becomes interested in the daughter of his family's chauffeur, but it's his more serious brother who would be the better man for her. (Romantic Comedy-Drama / Black & White, Paramount)
Director: Billy Wilder; with Humphrey Bogart, Audrey Hepburn, William Holden
21 Jan 1967: The Longest Hundred Miles (NBC World Premiere) 📺 (1967, 2 hours)
TV Movie. During the Japanese invasion of the Philippines, an assorted group of refugees, including an American soldier, an Army nurse, a priest and a group of local children, try to make their getaway aboard a rattletrap, creaky bus. (War / Color, Universal)
Director: Don Weis; with Doug McClure, Katharine Ross, Ricardo Montalban
More: Wikipedia, Letterboxd
Ratings Report: In Nielsen's two-week report, the Saturday movie was #10 (26.2).
28 Jan 1967: Teacher's Pet (1958, 2 hours 30 minutes)
A hard-nosed newspaper editor poses as a night school student in order to woo a journalism teacher who cannot stand him. (Romantic Comedy / Black & White, Paramount)
Director: George Seaton; with Clark Gable, Doris Day, Gig Young
4 Feb 1967: Back Street (1961, 2 hours 15 minutes)
Rae Smith meets the handsome Paul Saxon, of Saxon department store, as he passes through town, and while there's a spark between them he leaves without her. When she becomes a fashion designer, the two frequently meet and the spark always returns... but he's married. (Drama / Color, Universal)
Director: David Miller; with Susan Hayward, John Gavin, Vera Miles
11 Feb 1967: Dark City (1950, 2 hours)
Gamblers who "took" an out-of-town sucker in a crooked poker game feel shadowy vengeance closing in on them. (Film Noir / Black & White, Paramount)
Director: William Dieterle; with Charlton Heston, Lizabeth Scott, Viveca Lindfors, Dean Jagger
18 Feb 1967: Lonely Are the Brave (1962, 2 hours 15 minutes)
A fiercely independent cowboy gets himself locked up in prison to escape with an old friend. (Western / Black & White, Universal)
Director: David Miller; with Kirk Douglas, Gena Rowlands, Walter Matthau
25 Feb 1967: The Borgia Stick (NBC World Premiere) 📺 (1967, 2 hours)
TV Movie. A suburban couple discovers that they are pawns for a powerful crime syndicate. They try to break away from the cartel and go legitimate, but the syndicate doesn't want to give them up so easily. (Crime / Color, Universal)
Director: David Lowell Rich; with Don Murray, Inger Stevens, Barry Nelson
More: Wikipedia, Letterboxd
4 Mar 1967: The Spiral Road (1962, 3 hours)
In 1936, a selfish and prideful young Dutch doctor, through a series of circumstances, comes to learn that he does indeed "need" a higher spiritual being and other people. (Adventure-Drama / Color, Universal)
Director: Robert Mulligan; with Rock Hudson, Burl Ives, Gena Rowlands
11 Mar 1967: The Black Orchid (1958, 2 hours)
An aging widower fights family disapproval when he falls in love with a gangster’s widow. (Drama / Black & White, Paramount)
Director: Martin Ritt; with Sophia Loren, Anthony Quinn
18 Mar 1967: Lancelot and Guinevere (retitled Sword of Lancelot) (1963, 2 hours 30 minutes)
Lancelot is King Arthur's most valued Knight of the Round Table and a paragon of courage and virtue. Things change, however, when he falls in love with Queen Guinevere. (Adventure / Color, Universal)
Director: Cornel Wilde; with Cornel Wilde, Jean Wallace, Brian Aherne
Programming Note: Daisies and Get Smart were preempted for America's Junior Miss 1967. Rosemary Dunaway of Arkansas was the winner.
25 Mar 1967: Anything Can Happen (1952, 2 hours 15 minutes)
A quirky relationship unfolds between an immigrant and an all-American folk music fan. (Comedy Drama / Black & White, Paramount)
Director: George Seaton; with José Ferrer, Kim Hunter, Kurt Kasznar
1 Apr 1967: Tempest (1958, 2 hours 30 minutes)
In 18th century Russia, Imperial officer Piotr Grinov is dispatched to a faraway isolated outpost where his loyalties are tested during the Pugachev Rebellion against the Empress Catherine II (Adventure / Color, Paramount)
Director: Alberto Lattuada; with Silvana Mangano, Van Heflin, Viveca Lindfors
More: Wikipedia, Letterboxd
8 Apr 1967: Damn Yankees (1967, 2 hours)
A frustrated fan of the hopeless Washington Senators makes a pact with the Devil to help the baseball team win the league pennant. (Musical Comedy / Color, NBC)
Director: Kirk Browning; with Phil Silvers, Lee Remick, Jerry Lanning
More: Wikipedia, Letterboxd
Summer season
(Movies aired entirely in their allotted timeslot unless otherwise noted.)
(Movies aired entirely in their allotted timeslot unless otherwise noted.)
15 Apr 1967: Rear Window (1954, 2 hours 15 minutes)
22 Apr 1967: The Buccaneer (1958, 2 hours 30 minutes)
29 Apr 1967: Donovan's Reef (1963, 2 hours 15 minutes)
6 May 1967: The Last Sunset (1961, 2 hours 15 minutes)
13 May 1967: The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956, 2 hours 30 minutes)
20 May 1967: The Joker Is Wild (1957, 2 hours 30 minutes)
27 May 1967: Come September (1961, 2 hours 15 minutes)
3 Jun 1967: Sabrina (1954, 2 hours 15 minutes)
10 Jun 1967: Robinson Crusoe on Mars (1964, 2 hours 15 minutes)
17 Jun 1967: Roman Holiday (1953, 2 hours 30 minutes)
24 Jun 1967: A Gathering of Eagles (1963, 2 hours 15 minutes)
1 Jul 1967: Lonely Are the Brave (1962, 2 hours 15 minutes)
8 Jul 1967: Tammy Tell Me True (1961)
15 Jul 1967: The Proud and Profane (1956, 2 hours 15 minutes)
Programming Note: On June 19, NBC News aired a special that was highly critical of allegations by New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison that President Kennedy was assassinated as part of a government conspiracy. Because of equal time rules, on this night, Garrison was allowed to respond in a half-hour special preempting Please Don't Eat the Daisies. The special can be seen in its entirety here.
22 Jul 1967: Back Street (1961, 2 hours 15 minutes)
29 Jul 1967: The Ugly American (1963, 2 hours 30 minutes)
5 Aug 1967: The Spiral Road (1962, 2 hours 45 minutes)
12 Aug 1967: Wings of Fire (1967)
19 Aug 1967: 40 Pounds of Trouble (1962)
26 Aug 1967: The Black Orchid (1958)
2 Sep 1967: Ironside 📺 (1967)
9 Sep 1967: Rowan & Martin's Laugh In and Miss America 1968
This is the pilot of Laugh-In, airing as a special. NBC wasn't so sure if this variety show could work. It features Barbara Feldon, Pamela Austin, Judy Carne, Ken Berry, Henry Gibson, and Larry Hovis in segments like "Cocktail Party," "Mod Mod Mod Mod World," and "The News From 1987." It worked and was ready by midseason. Afterward, Debra Dene Barnes of Kansas was crowned Miss America.
Programming Note: Kicking off the night were the busted pilots Weekend and Campo 44.
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NBC's NIGHT AT THE MOVIES
Sources: IMDb and Letterboxd for movie information; Cedar Rapids Gazette, The Daily Banner, and San Bernardino Sun for listing and programming information; Broadcasting for various ratings notes; if you see bad links or incorrect information, let me know in the comments.
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