The Limeliters were regulars on the Hootenanny television show, singing "Wabash Cannonball" on the June 29th, 1963 episode from Syracuse University, New York.
In the first episode of The Jetsons on September 23rd, 1962, "The Jetsons take Rosey the robot maid into their home, just in time to wreak havoc with a visiting Mr. Spacely."
Johnny Carson's first guests on October 1st, 1962 were Groucho Marx, Joan Crawford, Mel Brooks and Tony Bennett
"Gunsmoke" was in its 8th season on CBS.
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You'd think that the active life of teenagers just entering high school wouldn't have left much time for television, but for many of us, especially in our sophomore year (sans drivers license / car) there was a great deal of time spent at home (especially week nights), so television was a big part of our lives. Some programs were well established. While the heyday of the western was over, Bonanza (since 1959) and Gunsmoke (since 1955) were still very popular. "Wagon Train" kept on rolling, but "Cheyenne" was cancelled that year. The Andy Griffith show had debuted in 1960 and was still going strong and we had been tuning into the Petri household on Bonnie Meadow Road for a year (Dick Van Dyke Show). But the most popular show during the Class of 65's sophomore year was a newcomer, "The Beverly Hillbillies." It was the year we were introduced to the "cement pond" and Elly May's "critters." It was also a new season for some other series that would become main stays for the networks, "McHale's Navy," "The Jetsons," and "The Virginian." While "The Tonight Show" wasn't new, Johnny Carson took over in the fall of '62 as the permanent host. Walter Cronkite had taken over as anchor for "CBS Evening News" in the spring of '62 and expanded the coverage to 30 minutes in September. One new development in programming was "Hootenanny." In the fall of 1963, ABC initiated a project of taping appearances by folk music artists on college campuses. It began as a television special, but the enthusiastic reception it received led to its development as a series. The series debuted as a "summer replacement" in June and did so well that it was then included as a regular one hour show in the fall of '63. "Hootenanny" was at least partly responsible for the growing presence of folk music on the pop music charts. Aside from the entertaiment value of television, we experienced one of the most significant televised presidential addresses when President Kennedy informed us about missiles in Cuba in October. Television itself was undergoing change as Zenith marketed its first color set and the first television signal was sent via satellite. But from a 21st century point of view, the television experience of 1962 was quite primitive. There was no "on demand" and no "video streaming." There wasn't even a vcr -- if you missed a program, you had to wait for the summer rerun. But the programs have survived. The baby boomers of 1962 can watch a favorite episode of the "Hillbillies" much easier today -- dvd, on demand, streaming ... when they take our drivers licenses away (it will happen) we'll still have the same television. We'll still be able to experience the good times ... "if everybody had an ocean."
Top Ranked Shows of '62-'63
1
The Beverly Hillbillies
2
Candid Camera
3
The Red Skelton Show
4
Bonanza
5
The Lucy Show
6
The Andy Griffith Show
7
Ben Casey
8
The Danny Thomas Show
9
The Dick Van Dyke Show
10
Gunsmoke
11
Dr. Kildare
12
The Jack Benny Show
13
What's My Line
14
The Ed Sullivan Show
15
Hazel
16
I've Got a Secret
17
The Jackie Gleason Show
18
The Defenders
19
The Garry Moore Show
20
To Tell the Truth
Many of the top shows were named after their star performer. "The Jack Benny Show" debuted in 1950 and was still going strong in the '62-'63 season.
The first Telstar satellite was launched on July 10th of '62 and the first satellite tv transmission was made on July 11th.