1968–69 United States network television schedule

The following is the 1968–69 network television schedule for the three major English language commercial broadcast networks in the United States. The schedule covers primetime hours from September 1968 through August 1969. The schedule is followed by a list per network of returning series, new series, and series cancelled after the 1967–68 season.

New fall series are highlighted in bold.

Each of the 30 highest-rated shows is listed with its rank and rating as determined by Nielsen Media Research.[1]

  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.

National Educational Television (NET) was in operation, but the schedule was set by each local station.

Sunday

edit
Network 7:00 PM 7:30 PM 8:00 PM 8:30 PM 9:00 PM 9:30 PM 10:00 PM 10:30 PM
ABC Land of the Giants The F.B.I. (18/21.7) The ABC Sunday Night Movie
CBS Fall Lassie Gentle Ben The Ed Sullivan Show (23/21.2) The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour (27/20.6) Mission: Impossible (11/23.3)
(Tied with Bewitched and The Red Skelton Hour)
Summer Hee Haw
NBC Fall The New Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color (21/21.3)
(Tied with Daniel Boone)
The Mothers-in-Law Bonanza (3/26.6) The Beautiful Phyllis Diller Show
Winter My Friend Tony

Monday

edit
Network 7:30 PM 8:00 PM 8:30 PM 9:00 PM 9:30 PM 10:00 PM 10:30 PM
ABC Fall The Avengers Peyton Place The Outcasts The Big Valley
Summer The Guns of Will Sonnett The Dick Cavett Show
CBS Fall Gunsmoke (6/24.9) Here's Lucy (9/23.8) Mayberry R.F.D. (4/25.4) Family Affair (5/25.2) The Carol Burnett Show (24/20.8)
(Tied with The Jackie Gleason Show)
Summer The Lucy Show repeats Carol Burnett Presents the Jimmie Rodgers Show
NBC I Dream of Jeannie (26/20.7) Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In (1/31.8) NBC Monday Night at the Movies

Tuesday

edit
Network 7:30 PM 8:00 PM 8:30 PM 9:00 PM 9:30 PM 10:00 PM 10:30 PM
ABC Fall The Mod Squad (28/20.5)
(Tied with The Lawrence Welk Show)
It Takes a Thief N.Y.P.D. That's Life
Summer The Dick Cavett Show
CBS Fall Lancer The Red Skelton Hour (11/23.3)
(Tied with Mission: Impossible and Bewitched)
The Doris Day Show (30/20.4) CBS News Hour / 60 Minutes
Summer The Liberace Show
NBC Fall The Jerry Lewis Show Julia (7/24.6) NBC Tuesday Night at the Movies
Summer Star Trek

Wednesday

edit
Network 7:30 PM 8:00 PM 8:30 PM 9:00 PM 9:30 PM 10:00 PM 10:30 PM
ABC Fall Here Come the Brides Peyton Place (*) The ABC Wednesday Night Movie
Spring The King Family Show
CBS Fall Daktari The Good Guys The Beverly Hillbillies (10/23.5) Green Acres (19/21.6) The Jonathan Winters Show
Winter The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour (15/22.5) Hawaii Five-O
Summer Tarzan repeats
NBC The Virginian (17/21.8) Kraft Music Hall The Outsider

(*) Turn-On aired in this time period on February 5, 1969, only.

Tarzan on CBS consisted of reruns from the 1966-68 NBC series.

Thursday

edit
Network 7:30 PM 8:00 PM 8:30 PM 9:00 PM 9:30 PM 10:00 PM 10:30 PM
ABC Fall The Ugliest Girl in Town The Flying Nun Bewitched (11/23.3)
(Tied with Mission: Impossible and The Red Skelton Hour)
That Girl Journey to the Unknown Local
Winter The Flying Nun That Girl What's It All About, World? Local
Summer This is Tom Jones
CBS Fall Blondie Hawaii Five-O CBS Thursday Night Movie
Winter The Queen & I The Jonathan Winters Show
Summer Animal World The Prisoner
NBC Fall Daniel Boone (21/21.3)
(Tied with Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color)
Ironside (16/22.3) Dragnet 1969 (20/21.4) The Dean Martin Show (8/24.1)
July Dean Martin Presents the Golddiggers

Friday

edit
Network 7:30 PM 8:00 PM 8:30 PM 9:00 PM 9:30 PM 10:00 PM 10:30 PM
ABC Fall Operation: Entertainment Felony Squad The Don Rickles Show The Guns of Will Sonnett Judd, for the Defense
Winter This is Tom Jones The Generation Gap Let's Make a Deal
Summer Let's Make a Deal The John Davidson Show Judd, for the Defense The Dick Cavett Show
CBS The Wild Wild West Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. (2/27.2) The CBS Friday Night Movie
NBC Fall The High Chaparral The Name of the Game Star Trek
Summer The Saint

Saturday

edit
Network 7:30 PM 8:00 PM 8:30 PM 9:00 PM 9:30 PM 10:00 PM 10:30 PM
ABC Fall The Dating Game The Newlywed Game The Lawrence Welk Show (28/20.5)
(Tied with The Mod Squad)
The Hollywood Palace Local
June The Johnny Cash Show
CBS The Jackie Gleason Show (24/20.8)
(Tied with The Carol Burnett Show)
My Three Sons (14/22.8) Hogan's Heroes Petticoat Junction Mannix
NBC Adam-12 Get Smart The Ghost & Mrs. Muir NBC Saturday Night at the Movies

By network

edit

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

References

edit
  1. ^ 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. Total Television. Fourth edition. New York: Penguin Books. ISBN 0-14-024916-8.
  • Brooks, Tim & Marsh, Earle (1994). The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network TV Shows (3rd ed.). New York: Ballantine. ISBN 0-345-31864-1.