CBS Fall Preview 55 years ago (1961)

Let's take a look back at CBS' fall lineup, circa 1961.

The setting is a carnival. Night by night, the lineups are revealed, courtesy of Andy Griffith, Garry Moore, Sebastian Cabot, Bob Cummings, Rod Serling, Raymond Burr (w/Barbara Hale), and Ed Sullivan, plus cameo appearances by Bud Collyer (To Tell The Truth) and Moore's sidekicks, Durward Kirby and Carol Burnett. The Marion that Moore name-drops is Marion Lorne, later of Bewitched, who rounded out Moore's repertory company back in the day.

We've previously seen:

Window on Main Street
The Alvin Show (reviewed at Saturday Morning Archives)
The Dick Van Dyke Show
Mister Ed

And we'll be keeping an eye on:

Ichabod & Me
The Investigators
Father of the Bride
Frontier Circus
The Bob Cummings Show
Mrs. G Goes to College
The Defenders

Now, let's visit the carnival:



Moore worked two nights a week, with I've Got a Secret airing on Mondays. GE College Bowl, with Allen Ludden, would later move to NBC, but Ludden would not, as he began work on Password, resulting in Robert Earle taking over College Bowl when it changed networks.

I give CBS points for a clever presentation, the kind we just don't see anymore.

Rating: A.