Pick a Day

Music History Events: TV Shows

October 25, 1962 Cast member Paul Petersen sings his hit single "My Dad" on The Donna Reed Show.

December 12, 1961 Mike Douglas begins his TV variety/talk show in Cleveland, Ohio.

October 4, 1961 Alvin & The Chipmunks, who already have #1 hits with "The Chipmunk Song" and "Witch Doctor," get their own TV show on CBS called The Alvin Show.

October 2, 1961 Ben Casey (with would-be singer Vince Everett) premieres on ABC-TV (running 5 seasons).

September 28, 1961 Dr. Kildare debuts on NBC. The theme song, sung by the show's star Richard Chamberlain, goes to #10 the following year.

September 18, 1960 The Tab Hunter Show premieres on NBC-TV (it lasts one season)

October 7, 1959 The detective show Hawaiian Eye debuts on ABC with Connie Stevens starring as Cricket Blake. The show lasts four seasons.

October 2, 1959 The Twilight Zone premieres on CBS-TV. The original orchestral opening used throughout Season One was composed by Bernard Herrmann, and was later replaced by the now-iconic theme from French composer Marius Constant.

June 1, 1959 The music-critique show Juke Box Jury debuts on the BBC. Each week, four guest judges vote recent songs either a "hit" or "miss." The show lasts until 1967.

April 24, 1959 After running on Saturday nights on radio for 24 years and TV for the last nine, the final installment of the musical countdown show Your Hit Parade airs on NBC. The final Top Five: Elvis Presley, "I Need Your Love Tonight" (#5), Brook Benton, "It's Just A Matter Of Time" (#4), Ricky Nelson, "Never Be Anyone Else But You" (#3), Dodie Stevens, "Pink Shoe Laces" (#2), and the Fleetwoods at #1 with "Come Softly To Me."

January 19, 1959 Arbitron ratings reveal that ABC's American Bandstand is now the nation's most popular daytime show.

January 1, 1959 For the first time, ABC-TV's teen dance program American Bandstand leads the US daytime television ratings.

November 10, 1958 Billboard magazine reports that Dick Clark's American Bandstand show on ABC is the hottest merchandising opportunity on television, noting that sales of Beechnut gum have doubled since the company begin buying ad space on the program.

September 24, 1958 The Donna Reed Show, starring Shelley Fabares and Paul Petersen, debuts on ABC. It runs for seven seasons.

February 15, 1958 ABC debuts a new show hosted by Dick Clark, hoping to duplicate the success of American Bandstand. The first guests on The Dick Clark Show include Connie Francis, Pat Boone and Jerry Lee Lewis.

February 10, 1958 ABC's Mickey Mouse Club begins its "Annette" serial, solidifying the rising popularity of its young star, Annette Funicello.

February 9, 1958 Ratings show that ABC's American Bandstand is now America's top-rated daytime television program, with an average of 8,400,000 viewers per day.

October 18, 1957 The second Frank Sinatra Show debuts on ABC, lasting only one season. The singer's first version of the show lasted two seasons.

October 3, 1957 ABC premieres The Pat Boone Chevy Showroom variety show, later featured in Michael Moore's documentary Roger and Me. The show features unobjectionable acts like The Four Lads, Ella Fitzgerald and Johnny Mathis; TV Guide says it's "about as exciting as a milkshake with two straws." It runs for three years and helps launch the career of Woody Allen, who is one of the writers.

May 4, 1957 Alan Freed's Rock and Roll Revue debuts on ABC; the show is an attempt to replicate the success of their own hit American Bandstand. The first show features performances from The Clovers, The Del-Vikings, Screamin' Jay Hawkins, Sal Mineo, and Guy Mitchell.

February 16, 1957 The Six-Five Special, Britain's first pop music program, debuts on the BBC.

December 31, 1956 The BBC premieres its new musical variety show Cool For Cats.

September 29, 1956 The Gale Storm Show, starring the singer as a cruise ship director who makes lots of musical interludes, debuts on CBS.

September 23, 1956 Micky Dolenz of The Monkees begins his television career as a child actor with the premiere of NBC's Circus Boy series.

October 3, 1955 The Mickey Mouse Club, featuring their breakout star, 12-year-old Annette Funicello, debuts on ABC.

September 18, 1955 CBS-TV's popular variety show Toast Of The Town is renamed what many people had been calling it all along, The Ed Sullivan Show.

September 17, 1955 The Perry Como Show moves to NBC-TV, expanding from three 15-minute programs per week to one hour-long variety show on Saturday night.

September 27, 1954 The first national Tonight Show with Steve Allen is telecast.

October 7, 1952 The Philadelphia dance show Bandstand, hosted by Bob Horn and later by Dick Clark as American Bandstand, debuts on WFIL-TV.

October 3, 1952 The radio hit The Adventures Of Ozzie & Harriet, now featuring the couple's 12-year-old son Rick Nelson, debuts on CBS, where it runs for another 14 years.