1950-1951 Neilsen ratings, The Top 10

Sorry about no post yesterday, folks. Just had a lazy Sunday.

So, at long last, here are the top ten rated shows:

10. Mama on CBS, Fridays at 8 PM ET with a 39.7 percent of the viewing audience.

This is one of those television shows that have two stories to tell: the history of the show being a cultural phenomena and a case of a show lost and then found again. As to the phenomena part, Mama was based off of two movies done several years previous. The television series about an immigrant Norwegian family was so popular, it led to one of the movies, I Remember Mama, being reissued in theaters and a large audience base following the show for years. As to the lost and found part, all but the last season of the show was done live, meaning only 26 episodes of the show could logically survive and even those were, in time, lost. In 1985, when putting together a retrospective of the show, the Museum of Broadcasting, now the Pauley Center, was lucky enough to get a few kinescopes of the live shows donated to be a part of the retrospective. Then luck dealt them a bonus when tapes of all 26 episodes of the last season were located in a storage closet to add to the kinescopes.

Unfortunately, even with what has been located under one roof, we have yet to see a release of any of the material on DVD or any other format. A great shame for a series that was almost lost, but we now have the potential to introduce an entire new generation to.

9. Hopalong Cassidy on NBC, Sundays at 6 PM ET with a 39.9 percent of the viewing audience.

As far as television Westerns go, this is one of the big ones and also, really, the originator. I do not want to go into too much detail on the show, history or impact simply because it is one I want to cover in detail so badly. The only thing holding me back honestly is the price. Right now, given the large amount of Hoppy material collected in the Ultimate Collection by Infinity (10 movies plus all 52 episodes of the television series), it is just out of my price range right now. Be assured, this is one I WILL cover if I can ever get the money set aside for it and I promise to do the show justice.

8. Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts on CBS, Mondays at 8:30 PM ET with a 40.6 percent of the viewing audience.

This is the other half of Arthur Godfrey’s one-two punch of finding and promoting talent. This particular one played much like any other talent discovery shows with people working for Godfrey finding the talent, performing live and the audience either approving or disapproving based on their applause. I am aware of only one appearance on the show surviving, that of Patsy Cline, but if any others are out there and available, I am certainly interested.

7. The Lone Ranger on ABC, Thursdays at 7:30 PM ET with a 41.2 percent of the viewing audience.

I have to admit a bias on this one – I love The Lone Ranger. I remember quite fondly listening to rebroadcasts of the old radio shows when I was younger and it is another show that I am dying to do, but once again am limited by finances. Well, finances and some issues with the source material as only the first two seasons plus part of the 1956 and 1957 season collected completely with a scattering of episodes from other seasons all over the landscape. Needless to say, the material to do the show is available, with varying degrees of quality and content. It is a show, like with Hoppy, that I have a strong desire to do, but just currently lack the funds to afford the bigger releases currently. Spirit is willing, but the wallet is weak, sort of speak. If I get the money, like with Hoppy, I will make it happen and that is a sincere promise.

6. Gillette Cavalcade of Sports on NBC, Fridays at 10 PM ET with a 41.3 percent of the viewing audience.

If it’s Friday night and it’s sports, that can mean only one thing – boxing. And I don’t say that dismissively, as stated earlier, boxing was a monster in the early days of television before football broadcasts gained in prominence. Once again, sadly, very few matches appear to survive from this period. If anyone knows of any source material where any of this can be found, I would love to know about it so I can at least tip my hat to sports in this era before baseball and football come on strong in the late half of the decade.

5. Colgate Comedy Hour on NBC, Sundays at 8 PM ET with a 42.0 percent of the viewing audience.

If you were funny and popular in the early 50s, you were on Colgate, especially with the audience share commanded. It was just strictly a comedy show like going to a club, watching comedians take the stage and making you laugh for about an hour with a variety of acts and entertainers. Segments of the show, mostly with Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin, still exist, but I can’t find much evidence of complete shows. I will be working to unearth what I can and, if backtracking is needed, I will do so to cover what I may have missed on this one.

4. Your Show of Shows on NBC, Saturdays at 9 PM ET with a 42.6 percent of the viewing audience.

This is another comedy sketch show, more in the vein of Saturday Night Live of today, I suppose. Unfortunately, it is also a show where very little survives, aside from the Sid Ceasar collection of sketches and I am honestly not sure if there is any way to determine what sketches and how many aired on each broadcast. If people are really interested, I’ll be willing to take a run at the show, but I am honestly not sure if there is any way to be certain what goes where or to do the show justice with what remains.

3. Philco Television Playhouse on NBC, Sundays at 9 PM ET with a 45.3 percent of the viewing audience.

There was Westinghouse, there was Kraft and then there was Philco, an hour-long anthology series showcasing mostly dramas, but some comedies too. I have at least one episode from Philco, but I honestly do not know what else may be out there that survives. I will keep looking and if anything comes to light, I will cover it. But, for now, we just have the one to look forward to.

2. Fireside Theater on NBC, Tuesdays at 9 PM ET with a 52.6 percent of the viewing audience.

I feel sorry for any show up against this one with a percentage share that large. This was history in another way too as it was one of the few shows not done live, but on tape to be broadcast later. I am just not aware of any of those tapes surviving, although there is a small chance, given how short it was, that some episodes could be in anthology collections and I am just not aware of them. If anyone knows anything about surviving episodes, hit the comment line please.

And finally, the number one highest rated show of the 1950-1951 television season:

1. Texaco Star Theater on NBC, Tuesdays at 8 PM ET with a 61.6 percent of the viewing audience.

61.6 percent.

Think about the size of that number. It means that over half of all the television sets in the United States between the hours of 8 and 9 PM Eastern on a Tuesday night were tuned into one show consistently, half of between 8 and 11 million homes.

Probably also explains why the number for Fireside Theater is so large too, since it followed Texaco. Television shows scheduled after very popular ones are always going to get some bleed over, something we still see today.

But, I digress. It can be argued that the source of the show’s success can be attributed to host Milton Berle, the man credited with basically being televisions’s first “face.” The man just seemed to have a nation at his feet, just watching to see what stunt he was going to pull next and the nation kept coming back for more every single week.

But, like so much of early television, it is really a question mark what survives from this period. To be sure, Berle shows are out there, but I am not sure if any survive from the 1950-1951 season, when the show was at the peak of Mount Everest. It is, again, something I will look into and see what I can find, but I am more than a bit pessimistic about what I will find.

So, that is the landscape of television from September of 1950 through to at least May of 1951. Some sports, some comedy, a few Westerns, a lot of drama anthologies, but make no mistake, Milton Berle was the undisputed king of the castle at this point.

Tomorrow, a special comment on what may have been the most popular (and infamous) question asked between 1950 and 1951.