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The 1955–56 network television schedule for the four major English language commercial broadcast networks in the United States. The schedule covers primetime hours from September 1955 through March 1956. The schedule is followed by a list per network of returning series, new series, and series cancelled after the 1954–55 season.

The $64,000 Question had debuted on CBS during summer 1955 and became the #1 program on U.S. television. The three networks "rushed to copy this latest hit format, quickly filling prime time with similar contests". (It would not be until fall 1958 that it would be confirmed that several of these new quiz shows were rigged.)

For years, ABC had "struggled to cobble together a TV schedule", but following the network's major success with Disney-produced series Disneyland in 1954, other Hollywood film companies began embracing television. MGM assembled clips for MGM Parade on ABC; ABC also hired Warner Bros. for a Tuesday night program called Warner Brothers Presents. The hour-long umbrella series featured TV adaptations of three Warner Brothers movies: Cheyenne, Casablanca, and Kings Row. Of the three new series, only Cheyenne was a hit with viewers, and ABC began contracting with other Hollywood studios for Westerns. Immediately following Warner Brothers Presents, ABC scheduled The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp. This Western was also produced in conjunction with a Hollywood studio: Desilu Productions.

CBS had its own Western hit with Gunsmoke, which also debuted in fall 1955. Over the next few years, "the rush to Westerns had become a virtual stampede so that, by the fall of 1959, viewers had their choice from a staggering twenty-eight different Western-based prime time series." Around 1955, live drama anthologies, the staple of early television programming, were being phased out by the networks in favor of filmed fare: Westerns, police dramas, quiz shows, and adventure series.

By the mid-1950s, the practice of television executives of ordering dozens of pilots for proposed television series each year — far more than their networks could possibly broadcast as series — had created a sizable body of unsold pilots that had never aired. By 1954, the American television industry had begun to consider the idea of packaging these unsold pilots in anthology series and airing them during the summer, providing television networks with a way of both providing fresh programming during the summer rerun season and recouping at least some of the expense of producing them. During the summer of 1956, ABC and NBC acted on this idea, airing the first series — G.E. Summer Originals on ABC and Sneak Preview on NBC — composed entirely of unsold pilots. On June 8, 1956, when it reported ABC's decision to broadcast G.E. Summer Originals, the New York Times wrote that "the problem of what to do with ‘pilot’ or sample films of projected television series that previously have failed to sell has been solved." Both series premiered on July 3, 1956, at 9:00 p.m. In the following decades, ABC, NBC, and later CBS would air a number of anthology series consisting in whole or in part of unsold pilots.

The struggling DuMont Television Network offered little during the 1955–56 television season. DuMont's final program line-up consisted of What's the Story on Wednesday nights at 9:30 and Boxing From St. Nicholas Arena on Monday nights at 9:00. By September 23, What's the Story was off the air. DuMont honored its few remaining network commitments until August 6, 1956, when it ceased operations as a major television network. DuMont hoped to go into independent television production; the company's studio facilities and Electronicam system were used to produce CBS's The Honeymooners during the 1955–56 season. DuMont's loss was ABC's gain, as some of DuMont's most popular programs, including Life Is Worth Living, Chance of a Lifetime, Life Begins at Eighty, and Down You Go, found their way onto ABC's 1955–56 prime time schedule.

The crumbling and eventual death of the old DuMont Network meant the 1955–56 television season would be the first year in which the three major remaining U.S. television networks would be the only full-time commercial participants in prime time, a situation that was to remain for the next 31 years, until Fox entered prime time on Sunday, April 5, 1987.

This was the first season that CBS and NBC aired some of their prime-time programs in color.

New series are highlighted in bold.

All times are U.S. Eastern and Pacific time (except for some live sports or events). Subtract one hour for Central and Mountain times.

Each of the 30 highest-rated shows is listed with its rank and rating as determined by Nielsen Media Research.

Legend

•   Light blue indicates local programming
•   Light green indicates sporting events.
•   Light purple indicates movies.
•   Red indicates series being burned off and other irregularly scheduled programs, including specials.
•   Yellow indicates the programs in the top 10 for the season.
•   Cyan indicates the programs in the top 20 for the season.
•   Magenta indicates the programs in the top 30 for the season.

Sunday

* The Ed Sullivan Show was formerly Toast of the Town.
** formerly The Colgate Comedy Hour.

• On NBC, Color Spread (COLOR) aired as a monthly series, 7:30–9 p.m.
• Appointment with Adventure premiered on CBS on April 3, 1955, and ran through September 1955, before starting its regular second season in the same time slot on October 2, 1955. The anthology series had no host.

Monday

Note: On NBC, Producers' Showcase aired as a monthly series 8–9:30 p.m. No longer a network operation, DuMont continued airing its Boxing From St. Nicholas Arena on an occasional basis over individual stations until August 6, 1956. On CBS, in most areas, Douglas Edwards With the News aired at 6:45 p.m., while some cities (including New York) aired the 7:15 p.m. edition.

Tuesday

Notes: The Martha Raye Show and The Chevy Show appeared monthly. As of November 1, You'll Never Get Rich officially became The Phil Silvers Show, swapping time periods with Navy Log.

On NBC, Dear Phoebe consisted entirely of reruns of the series from the 1954–1955 season.

Premiering on the same evening at the same time, G.E. Summer Originals on ABC and Sneak Preview on NBC were the first U.S. anthology series composed of unsold television pilots.

Wednesday

* Formerly Pabst Blue Ribbon Bouts on CBS.

** What's the Story aired only until September 23, before being cancelled.

Thursday

Friday

Note: On NBC, The Best in Mystery consisted entirely of reruns of episodes of Four Star Playhouse seen previously on CBS.

Saturday

Notes:

• On ABC, Grand Ole Opry made its debut as a monthly series, airing 8–9 p.m. from October 15, 1955, to September 26, 1956. On CBS, Ford Star Jubilee made its debut as a monthly series, airing 9:30–11 p.m. On NBC, Max Liebman Presents aired as a monthly series, 9–10:30 p.m.
• High Finance, hosted by Dennis James, debuted on July 7, 1956, at 10:30 on CBS. It ran until December 15, 1956. It replaced The Damon Runyon Theater.
• On NBC, the 1956 version of the summer series Encore Theatre consisted of reruns of episodes of Pepsi Cola Playhouse and Studio 57.

By network

ABC

CBS

DuMont

NBC

Note: The * indicates that the program was introduced in midseason.

References

1. ^ Castleman, H. and Podrazik, W. (1984). The TV Schedule Book: Four Decades of Network Programming from Sign-on to Sign-off. McGraw-Hill. pg 79–85. ISBN 0-07-010277-5
2. Miller, Roger K. (2005-09-16). "TV of 50 Years Ago is Stiff Competition for Today's Shows". Deseret News. Salt Lake City (UT). Retrieved 2009-09-17.
3. ^ "UNSOLD PILOTS ON TELEVISION, 1956-1966". tvobscurities.com. Television Obscurities. 15 August 2019. Retrieved 3 June 2024.
4. ^ "General Electric Summer Originals". ctva.com. CTVA – The Classic TV Archive. Retrieved 3 June 2024.
5. ^ "Sneak Preview". ctva.com. CTVA – The Classic TV Archive. Retrieved 3 June 2024.
6. "G.E. Will Sponsor TV Series in Summer Using Previously Unsold 'Sample' Films". nytimes.com. The New York Times. 8 June 1956. p. 37. Retrieved 3 June 2024.
7. "UNSOLD PILOTS ON TELEVISION, 1967-1989". tvobscurities.com. Television Obscurities. 5 May 2018. Retrieved 3 June 2024.
8. McNeil, Alex (1996). Total Television (4th ed.), p. 907. New York: Penguin Books. ISBN 0-14-024916-8
9. Brooks, Tim & Marsh, Earle (2007). The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows (9th ed.). New York: Ballantine. pp. 517–518, 1576–1577. ISBN 0-345-31864-1.
10. Highest-rated series is based on the annual top-rated programs list compiled by Nielsen Media Research and reported in: Brooks, Tim & Marsh, Earle (2007). The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network TV Shows (9th ed.). New York: Ballantine. ISBN 978-0-345-49773-4.

• Castleman, H. & Podrazik, W. (1982). Watching TV: Four Decades of American Television. New York: McGraw-Hill. 314 pp.
• McNeil, Alex (1996). Total Television: The Comprehensive Guide to Programming from 1948 to the Present. Fourth edition. New York: Penguin Books. ISBN 0-14-024916-8.
• Brooks, Tim & Marsh, Earle (1964). The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network TV Shows (3rd ed.). New York: Ballantine. ISBN 0-345-31864-1.

• United States primetime network television schedules
• 1955 in American television
• 1956 in American television