Aug 29, 2016 5 min read

Much has been written about the 1966-67 television schedule. It was the first season in which the vast majority of shows were broadcast in color. It marked the debut of “Star Trek” and “The Monkees.” It was the year “Amos ‘N Andy” reruns were pulled from syndication.

And it featured the premiere of “The Smothers Brothers Show,” a variety program that either changed the course of television – or destroyed the variety show, depending on your viewpoint.

Fifty years ago, the three networks unveiled an even 50 series between September and March, a high number even by 1960s standards. Successes included “That Girl,” “Mission Impossible” and “Family Affair,” but five decades later, it’s the failures that prompt the most intrigue.

Even die-hard TV viewers in the ’60s would be hard-pressed to remember the bulk of the new programs.

Among them were 11 series axed before Christmas, including “Captain Nice,” with William Daniels in a parody of superheroes; “Hawk,” Burt Reynolds as an Iroquois detective; “Hero,” Richard Mulligan in a satire of TV; “The Jean Arthur Show,” a sitcom with the star as a defense attorney; “Jericho,” undercover agents in World War II; “The Man Who Never Was,” Robert Lansing as an agent who takes on a new identity; “The Milton Berle Show”; “Mr. Terrific,” Stephen Strimpell as another superhero; “The Rounders,” a Patrick Wayne western; “Run Buddy Run,” a Jack Sheldon comedy about a man on the run from gangsters; and “The Tammy Grimes Show,” which lasted all of four episodes.

By season’s end, nearly another dozen joined them on the trash heap.

Was the incredible number of quick failures the fault of TV programmers or the quickly changing tastes of viewers?

Certainly, programmers had major scheduling gaps to fill. Several long-running series had bowed out in the spring of ’66, including “The Dick Van Dyke Show,” “My Favorite Martian,” “Perry Mason,” “Hazel,” “McHale’s Navy,” “Dr. Kildare,” “Ben Casey,” “The Donna Reed Show” and “Ozzie and Harriet.” A few variety series also needed to be replaced, and both the teen-oriented “Shindig” and “Hullabaloo” were axed.

Keep in mind also that networks still began programming at 7:30 p.m. (7 on Sundays), which meant there was 25 hours of programming per network, per week.

Other than “The Dick Van Dyke Show,” most sitcoms of the period targeted their humor for youngsters. For the most part, lowbrow humor didn’t work in 1966-67. In fact, the bulk of series failures that season were sitcoms.

Of the successes, “The Monkees” took kid comedy to a whole new level, and “That Girl” signaled (albeit weakly) sitcom sophistication. The more traditional “Family Affair” and “I Dream of Jeannie” scored primarily because they were sandwiched between already successful shows.

Due to the overwhelming success of “Bonanza,” programmers continued to trot out westerns, but the most publicized of the new batch, Patrick Wayne’s “The Rounders,” died quickly, as did “The Road West” “The Iron Horse,” “Pistols ‘N Petticoats,” “Rango” and “Shane.”

The politically charged humor and music of “The Smothers Brothers” worked, but new shows in the standard variety format, helmed by Roger Miller and Milton Berle, did not.

The outrageous success of “Batman” triggered interest in fantasy/science fiction, but “Star Trek” aside (and its ratings were just moderate), that genre tanked, too, along with “Time Tunnel,” “Captain Nice,” “Mr. Terrific,” “The Green Hornet,” “It’s About Time” and “The Invaders.”

Noting the decline of westerns, the networks had a short-lived love affair with military programs, and its heyday was the 1966-67 season, with “Rat Patrol,” ‘Combat,” “Twelve O’Clock High” and “Hogan’s Heroes.”

And prime-time game shows were still hot, with the stodgy “To Tell the Truth” and “What’s My Line” now joined by “The Dating Game” and “The Newlywed Game.”

While viewers were evidently seeking something new in comedy, the lowbrow, rural humor of returning series still scored.

The most successful viewing night was Wednesday, with CBS’s returning “The Beverly Hillbillies,” “Green Acres” and “Gomer Pyle U.S.M.C.” easily knocking out the competition. CBS also ruled Mondays with “Gilligan’s Island,” “The Lucy Show,” “The Andy Griffith Show” and the new “Family Affair,” but it’s interesting that it could not plug in a hit show between “Gilligan” and “Lucy.”

TV’s third biggest viewing night was Tuesdays and was also on CBS, with the flash-in-the-pan “Daktari,” “The Red Skelton Show” and “Petticoat Junction.”

One show that never made it on the air that season was “Stranded,” about a group of people trying to survive in a jungle after a plane crash. Guess it got lost in the shuffle.

1. “Bonanza”

2. “The Red Skelton Show”

3. “The Andy Griffith Show”

4. “The Lucy Show”

5. “The Jackie Gleason Show”

6. “Green Acres”

7. (tie) “Daktari,” “Bewitched” and “The Beverly Hillbillies”

10. (tie) “The Ed Sullivan Show,” “Gomer Pyle U.S.M.C.,” “The Virginian” and “The Lawrence Welk Show”