Butch Recalls TV Shows from 1966

  In January of 1966, I was a high school senior preparing to graduate in May. My free time was limited since basketball, homework, school activities and farm chores took up most of my after school hours. However, I did manage to watch several TV shows throughout the week. Do you remember the TV shows from 60 years ago?

   The top-rated TV shows were “Bonanza,” “The Red Skelton Show,” “The Lucy Show” (which had replaced I Love Lucy), and “Gomer Pyle, USMC”…”Shezammm!” Of course “The Andy Griffith Show” was a favorite, along with “Green Acres,” “The Addams Family” and “The Beverly Hillbillies.” Remember Granny and Jethro?

  There were quite a few new TV shows which made their debut during the 1965-66 TV season, and they became quite popular…”Get Smart,” “I Dream of Jeanie” (the men loved Barbara Eden!), “F Troop”, “I Spy,” “Hogan’s Heroes” and “Bewitched.” “The Big Valley” with Barbara Stanwyck was a very interesting western family drama, and many people loved “The Fugitive,” along with “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.” and “Mission Impossible.” Teenagers tuned in to “Gidget” and of course “American Bandstand.”

   I enjoyed watching “The Lawrence Welk Show,” but I never told any of my friends! And I still enjoyed “The Ed Sullivan Show.” I watched “Petticoat Junction” a few times, and just could not get that theme song out of my head. The same held true for “Gilligan’s Island.” In fact, there are very few story lines that I recall, but for some reason I remember the tunes.

   The first episode of “Batman” debuted in early 1966, and it became an instant hit, although I thought it was kind of corny. In the fall of 1966 the first episode of “Star Trek” was shown and was a huge success. Fun game shows to watch were “The Newlywed Game,” “Match Game,” “Truth or Consequences,” “The Dating Game,” “Concentration” and “Jeopardy.” Some of the other TV shows I watched on occasion were “Gunsmoke,” “My Three Sons,” “The Dean Martin Show,” “That Girl,” and yes, I still enjoyed “Dragnet.”

   Many housewives . . . and a few men . . . watched afternoon soap operas like “Search for Tomorrow,” “The Guiding Light,” “Days of Our Lives,” “The Secret Storm” and probably the most popular “General Hospital.” The closest thing to those in the evening was “Peyton Place.”

   Two of my all-time favorites were nearing their end . . . “The Jackie Gleason Show” and “The Milton Berle Show.” “Amos and Andy,” which had been on in the early 1950s, and was syndicated as reruns, was no longer shown. At night I loved “The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson.” Now it seems all of those type of shows are all politically biased.

   One thing that changed during 1966 was that most TV shows were now in color! In my opinion there are very few entertaining TV shows today. I also pay to have DIRECTV (the basic channels), which costs me $106 a month. But I find myself surfing through the various channels just to find something decent to watch. So I switch it off, lay down the remote, and grab a good book. Well, I am a librarian after all!  Now think back in time . . . what were your favorite TV shows 60 years ago?

John “Butch” Dale is a retired teacher and County Sheriff. He has also been the librarian at Darlington the past 37 years, and is a well-known artist and author of local history.