1960s Timeline

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2 days ago

TV: Tonight on “The Lucy Show”

Mar. 25, 1963 - Tonight on “The Lucy Show,” Lucy and Vivian's sons’ Boy Scout club make a replica of the White House out of sugar cubes. The President is so impressed he invites all of them to the White House to unveil it. Calamity ensues when the replica gets destroyed on the train. 8:30 on CBS. #tv #classictv #1960s #hollywood #CBS

3 days ago

TV: Tonight on “Lassie”

Mar. 24, 1963 - Tonight on “Lassie,” learning that traditional bluebird nesting sites are declining, Timmy (Jon Provost) builds birdhouses for the area to preserve the species. But the preservation project is imperiled when local farmers use dynamite to combat a starling invasion. 7 p.m. on CBS. #tv #classictv #1960s #hollywood #CBS

4 days ago

TV: Tonight on “Gunsmoke”

Mar. 23, 1963 - Tonight on “Gunsmoke,” an orphaned Indian boy (Edmund Vargas) latches on to a cowboy (Ron Hayes) in need of work. The two of them find all doors closed to them in Dodge. Can Matt (James Arness) help? 10 p.m. on CBS. #tv #classictv #1960s #hollywood #CBS

5 days ago

TV: Tonight on “Rawhide”

Mar. 22, 1963 - Tonight on “Rawhide,” the drovers find two stranded nuns (Virginia Gregg and Nina Shipman) who rescued a Comanchero (Robert Loggia) from a torture apparatus. As the man slowly recovers from his ordeal, the new Comanchero leader tells the drovers he wants the man back. Rowdy (Clint Eastwood) has to decide whether to protect him. 7:30 p.m. on CBS. #tv #classictv #1960s #hollywood #CBS

6 days ago

TV: Tonight on “Perry Mason”

Mar. 21, 1963 - Tonight on “Perry Mason,” Eva Belter (Patricia Barry) is caught in a photo leaving an illegal gambling club with a politician. Fearing she will be blackmailed, she asks Perry for help, but she seems dishonest and tries to incriminate Perry. Her murdered husband is the blackmailer. 8 p.m. on CBS. #tv #classictv #1960s #hollywood #CBS

6 days ago

Euthanasia Practiced on “Dr. Kildare,” a TV First

Mar. 21, 1963 - Euthanasia is practiced by a doctor for the first time on a television series in an episode filmed for NBC’s “Dr. Kildare” show. The episode may touch off a heated controversy. In allowing a doctor to practice euthanasia, the segment has not only broken new ground for a television series, it has gone beyond the Hollywood movie code, which is generally more liberal than television’s code. The movie industry’s code of censorship declares that “mercy killing shal

7 days ago

TV: Tonight on “The Virginian”

Mar. 20, 1963 - Tonight on “The Virginian,” Ed Frazer (Howard Duff, left) returns to Medicine Bow after serving three years for burglary. Steve (Gary Clarke) fears for his own life because his testimony was crucial in convicting Ed. Frazer's main interest isn't revenge, however, but renewing his acquaintance with Helen Blaine (Ida Lupino, right). 7:30 p.m. on NBC. #tv #classictv #1960s #hollywood #NBC

Mar 19

Tonight on “The Dick Powell Show”

Mar. 19, 1963 - Tonight on “The Dick Powell Show,” nightclubowner Charlie (Anthony Franciosa) resists the attempts of a big-time gangster to take him over, but fears for the life of the girl (Julie London, pictured) he loves. 9:30 p.m. on NBC. #tv #classictv #1960s #hollywood #NBC

Mar 18

TV: Tonight on “Ben Casey”

Mar. 18, 1963 - Tonight on “Ben Casey,” after pro quarterback Terry Dunne (Neville Brand, pictured in 1950) is diagnosed with a serious but potentially operable brain tumor, Dunne decides his team's life insurance policy makes him more valuable dead than alive and unable to participate in sports. Can Dr. Casey convince Terry he is worth more than money and that life after football may be more rewarding to his family than a financially secure but fatherless home? 10 p.m. on AB

Mar 17

Mar. 17, 1963 - Tonight on “Bonanza,” an alcoholic saloon girl (Ruta Lee) changes her life with the

Mar. 17, 1963 - Tonight on “Bonanza,” an alcoholic saloon girl (Ruta Lee) changes her life with the help of Ben and an ex-prizefighter (Don Megowan) who falls in love with her. 9 p.m. on NBC. #tv #classictv #1960s #hollywood #NBC

Mar 17

Vincent Edwards, TV’s “Ben Casey,” Big in Japan

Mar. 17, 1963 - Vincent Edwards (pictured in Japan) is riding a huge wave of fan enthusiasm in Japan since “Ben Casey” hit the top of Japanese rating polls. Side effects of the “Ben Casey” popularity include a sell-out of Edwards’ record albums. Also, stores report heavy sales in items of promotional merchandise, from “Ben Casey” doctor kits and dolls to apparel for children and women. Japanese magazines are devoting large sections to Vincent Edwards material, and several hav

Mar 15

TV: Tonight on “The Alfred Hitchcock Hour”

Mar. 15, 1963 - Tonight on “The Alfred Hitchcock Hour,” after killing a woman, a man (Dean Jagger) is chosen to be a juror for the trial of the man falsely accused of her murder. 10 p.m. on CBS. #tv #classictv #1960s #hollywood #CBS

Mar 14

TV: Tonight on “The Twilight Zone”

Mar. 14, 1963 - Tonight on “The Twilight Zone,” astronaut Robert Gaines (Steve Forrest, right) returns from space to a world that is similar to the one from which he departed — but not the same. What is going on? 9 p.m. on CBS. #tv #classictv #1960s #hollywood #CBS

Mar 12

TV: Tonight on “The Untouchables”

Mar. 12, 1963 - Tonight on “The Untouchables,” a World War I veteran (Frank Sutton, right with John Larkin) runs one of the city's most vicious extortion rackets. A double-cross by one of his own gives Ness an opening to trap the thug. 9:30 p.m. on ABC. #tv #classictv #1960s #hollywood #ABC

Mar 12

James Arness Asks for Custody of Three Children

Mar. 12, 1963 - Exclusive custody of three children was demanded today by television actor James Arness (pictured in 1956) in a suit for divorce which charged that his wife Virginia is not a proper person to rear the girl and two boys. Arness, 39, who has played Marshal Dillon on CBS’s “Gunsmoke” series since 1955, charged cruelty. His petition said that while the children were in the care of Mrs. Arness, 41, she took an overdose of sleeping pills and had to be hospitalized.

Mar 12

TV: Tonight on “Combat!”

Mar. 12, 1963 - Tonight’s episode of “Combat!” (7:30 p.m. on ABC) was less written than improvised. Producer-director Robert Altman took John Black’s script of the escape of a prisoner during World War II and virtually improvised the action. Nearly 90% of the episode, called “Survival,” has no dialogue. It tells of the escape of Sergeant Saunders (Vic Morrow) and other members of his squad from a German prison camp during an artillery bombardment. Saunders is badly burned in

Mar 11

TV: Tonight on “The Andy Griffith Show”

Mar. 11, 1963 - Tonight on “The Andy Griffith Show,” Andy must protect Aunt Bee (Frances Bavier) from a charming but dishonest traveling salesman (John Dehner, pictured) whose 170-proof "tonic" provides temporary relief from mid-life crisis. 9:30 p.m. on CBS. #tv #classictv #1960s #hollywood #CBS

Mar 10

TV: Tonight on “Bonanza”

Mar. 10, 1963 - Tonight on “Bonanza,” Adam (Pernell Roberts, right) helps a beautiful woman (Aneta Corsaut, left) and her father (Ludwig Donath), a devout Jewish peddler. 9 p.m. on NBC. #tv #classictv #1960s #hollywood #NBC

Mar 9

TV: Tonight on “Have Gun - Will Travel”

Mar. 9, 1963 - Tonight on “Have Gun - Will Travel,” Carl Soddenberg (Crahan Denton) committed a heinous, murderous act, but a doctor feels he was mentally imbalanced at the time. Paladin (Richard Boone) is hired to get Soddenberg to an asylum while keeping the revenge-minded family of Soddenberg’s victim at bay. 9:30 p.m. on CBS. #tv #classictv #1960s #hollywood #CBS

Mar 8

TV: Tonight on “The Alfred Hitchcock Hour”

Mar. 8, 1963 - Tonight on “The Alfred Hitchcock Hour,” a mother of three (Gena Rowlands, pictured) notices that her baby son fascinates the lady renting a room in her home. What is going on? 10 p.m. on CBS. #tv #classictv #1960s #hollywood #CBS