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TV Time Capsule
For March 2026
Central Illinois' On-Line Broadcast Museum presents a Time Capsule from a TV Guide edition. This month, we open a Time Capsule from the September 20-26, 1958 edition, which is the special Fall Premiere edition for the 1958-1959 TV season. This edition includes the TV station listings for central Illinois.
The Week of September 20-26, 1958 (Saturday-Friday)
TV Guide from September 20-26, 1958. This edition is part of the Doug Quick Collection
This edition of TV Guide is very special. It was the final complete TV season of not only the 1950s, but also the last entire TV season of the first decade of what some call the Golden Age of Television.
It was called the Golden Age of Television. Network programming included many live productions, especially on NBC, where many were broadcast in color, even though only a very small number of viewers had spent $500+ on a color television. Keep in mind that the average weekly income for families was only $100 in 1958. NBC also completed construction of the NBC color studios in Burbank, California, which would be shown live on the East Coast and color-videotaped for the West Coast time zones.
CBS was known for a mix of black-and-white variety shows, filmed series, and live dramas originating from New York or Television City in Hollywood. ABC depended on filmed series from the Disney Studios or Warner Brothers. While CBS had color capabilities, very few color programs were produced, with no colorcasts featured in the week of this edition of TV Guide.
As you'll see in the listings below, NBC broadcast only 13 programs in color; two of those were broadcast on weekdays, as a sales tool for its sister company, RCA, and its TV dealers to demonstrate new color TVs to their customers.
The local TV story notes that UHF stations were failing across the country. Central Illinois lost one UHF station, WBLN, Channel 15, Bloomington, earlier this year. WDAN-TV, Channel 24, Danville, IL, wasn't even listed, even though it was geographically within this edition's coverage area. The owners of the station, the Danville Commercial-News, figured they didn't want to pay for a listing in TV Guide, since the station's listings would be in their local newspaper.
WTVP, Channel 17 in Decatur, was sold to another group in 1958, while WICS was planning upgrades due to the loss of the threat posed by a VHF competitor. WCIA was facing the possible loss of its VHF Channel 3 dial position. WMBD-TV had gone on the air on January 1, 1958, and was building an audience. WCIA would also soon lose its affiliation with NBC, as WICS was planning to construct a new station to serve the Champaign and east-central Illinois market.
To find out more, visit the history of each of the stations mentioned above on this website.
What was Life Like in 1958?
Median Family Income: $5,100 per year Full-Time Worker Income: $6,000 per year
Income Distribution: 1/10th of families received $10,000 or more, with 1/4 of families receiving less than $3,000 per year
Median Home Price: $19,250 Budget Home Prices: $7,450 to $7,900
Average Rent: 4-bedroom homes as low as $87/month Some smaller rentals: near $50/month
New Car Prices: $1,500 to $3,000 Used car prices: around $500 to $600
Average Family Size: 3.59 to 3.67 people (a couple with 3 or 4 children)
Gasoline Prices: 27 to 29 cents per gallon Price of Milk: 30 cents per quart, $1.20 per gallon
Price of postage stamp: 4 cents. Inflation: slight trend upward
In 1958, the economy in the US was recovering from a brief recession
TV Guide Price per issue (each week): 15 cents
source: Google
Click on each set of pages below to see a full-size view. This page is best viewed on a full-screen device, such as a laptop, tablet, or desktop computer.
Some browsers will not show videos, so click on "Watch video on YouTube"
"Howdy Doody" was a kids' show that premiered on NBC in 1947 and aired through September 30, 1960. This particular installment was from November 16, 1958. Note it did not air on WICS, as Channel 20 didn't sign on the air on Saturdays until Noon.
(YouTube)
The video on the left features fan favorites from the "The Lone Ranger" TV series, shown on CBS at Noon (CT) Saturdays. This series was seen locally on WCIA, KMOX-TV, and WMBD-TV.
(YouTube)
"The Dick Clark Beach Nut Show" aired on Saturday evenings on ABC and was seen across Mid-Illinois on KTVI, WTVP, and WTVH-TV. This example is from the Doug Quick YouTube Channel and was broadcast on February 15, 1958.
(YouTube)
"The Gale Storm Show: Oh, Suzanna" aired on CBS at 8 pm (CT) on the Mid-Illinois stations WCIA, WHBF-TV, KMOX-TV, KHQA-TV, and WMBD-TV.
(YouTube)
What is shown at the left is the first episode of "Steve Canyon," which aired exactly one week before the show indicated on the TV Guide page above. This adventure series aired on NBC for one year, ending its run in September 1959. It was seen on KSD-TV, WOC-TV, WGEM-TV, WICS, and WEEK.
(YouTube)
"Casey Jones" was a syndicated western adventure series starring Alan Hale Jr. as a train engineer in the late 1800s. It aired on local television stations at different times each week. You'll see it here in the listings at 5 pm on WCIA and a different episode at 5 on WGEM-TV.
(YouTube)
This "Zorro" episode is called "The New Commandante" and is the actual broadcast listed at 6 pm (CT) seen on WCIA. This was actually an ABC series, but the sponsor purchased the time on WCIA instead of WTVP because of WCIA's larger coverage area and greater audience. In exchange, WTVP would air the CBS adventure series "Lassie" with the other CBS affiliates.
"Zorro" was NOT broadcast in color, even though it was produced in color by Walt Disney Productions. Also, the video has been sped up to escape discovery by the YouTube copyright police.
(YouTube)
This video is the actual program that aired at 9:30 pm (CT) on CBS and was seen over Mid-Illinois on WCIA, WHBF-TV, KMOX-TV, KHQA, and WMBD-TV.
(YouTube)
Here's a first for the Museum: this time, we feature a movie, the exact film shown at 10:20 pm (CT) on WTVP as their "Late Show" Saturday Night Movie. "The Good Die Young" stars Laurence Harvey, Gloria Grahame, Richard Basehart, and Joan Collins.
(YouTube)
"American Bandstand" aired on ABC weekdays from 3 - 3:30 pm and again from 4 - 5pm. The iconic national teen dance program was hosted by Dick Clark. This episode aired on December 18, 1957, about eight months before our featured week in September 1958. The show aired on KTVI, WTVP, and WTVH. Not listed here, but it also aired on WDAN-TV. It's also been reported to be the only complete installment of "AB" from the 1950s! To put this show in perspective, the dancers would now be around 85 years old!
(YouTube)
This is a kinescope of the actual broadcast of "Harvey" starring Art Carney, Fred Gwynne, Marion Lorne, Elizabeth Montgomery, Charlotte Rae, and Jack Weston. Most of the actors were major stars of shows in the 1960s and 70s, including two on "Bewitched" (Marion Lorne and Elizabeth Montgomery).
This aired live on WCIA, WHBF-TV, KMOX-TV, KHQA, and WMBD-TV.'
(YouTube)
This video is the actual episode as described in the pages of the TV Guide above, airing at 9 pm (CT) on NBC and the stations KSD-TV, WOC-TV, WGEM-TV, WICS, and WEEK. This episode was one from the second season of the series starring Richard Coogan, Adam Kennedy, and Art Fleming.
(YouTube)
This is the actual "The Plymouth Show: Lawrence Welk Show" from September 24, 1958, as described in the TV Guide listings above. This was broadcast live from Hollywood, in stereo! The method was unknown for sure, but it was probably in conjunction with a local AM or FM radio station. The guest's name was misidentified, plus she was described as a pianist in the TV Guide when she was actually a violist. This was seen on KTVI, WGEM-TV, WTVP, and WTVH.
(YouTube)
"Tic Tac Dough" aired on NBC live in color on September 25, 1958. The exact installment could not be found, but this kinescope (in black and white) is presented here. This particular video was probably taken from the daytime version, also in color, live on NBC. The show was cancelled at the end of 1958, as it was accused of being part of the "game show rigging" scandals. Jack Barry and Dan Enright created it. Jay Jackson or Win Elliot hosted the prime-time version.
(YouTube)
"The Plot to Kill Stalin" was an American television play broadcast on CBS on September 25, 1958. It was the first episode of the third season of the anthology television series Playhouse 90. The video aspect ratio has been altered, possibly an attempt to avoid detection by the YouTube copyright police. This is the actual broadcast that was seen with the proper aspect ratio on WHBF-TV, KMOX-TV, KHQA, and WMBD-TV. It was not seen on WCIA, as "Buckskin" from NBC was shown instead.
(YouTube)
This is not fake; it's an actual episode of "Trackdown" that starred Robert Culp. It aired earlier in 1958, on May 9. The episode is called "The End of the World." It has a villain with the same name as a modern-day conman. In this episode, he is trying to con the townspeople of an old-west town in the "End of the World." It got considerable attention over the last 10 years as a prophecy of what was to come 60 years later. Listen for the lines often used today by the aforementioned conman, "The Big Lie" and "I can sue you!" One more thing: you might notice the use of a dramatic music segment, the same one used for the "Space Angel" cartoon series. "Trackdown" would have been seen on WCIA, WHBF-TV, KMOX-TV, KHQA, and WMBD-TV. (YouTube)
"M-Squad" starred Lee Marvin as Lt. Frank Ballenger, a detective assigned to M-Squad who investigated murders. You might pick up on this show being one of the satirical inspirations for ABC's "Police Squad." This NBC series aired from September 20, 1957, through September 13, 1960. This episode is listed as the first episode from the second season, but the description in TV Guide doesn't match. You might notice the "other woman" in this episode would become "Mrs. Cunningham" in "Happy Days" almost 20 years later. The musical theme is from Count Basie, and the same theme was used in "Police Squad."
(YouTube)
The 1958-1959 Prime Time Schedule
This is the official network TV schedule from ABC, CBS, and NBC records. The actual local TV schedules could be quite different.
Prime-Time Schedule from "Total Television" by Alex McNeil
The use of TV Guide is based on information given to me some years ago by TV Guide, which states that issues such as this one are considered public domain and not subject to copyright.
That's me, Doug Quick, around 1958-59. I was already a big television watcher and a fan of "Captain Kangaroo," "Howdy Doody," "Ruff and Ready," "As the World Turns (really!)," Art Linkletter's House Party (once again really!), and "Sheriff Sid (on WCIA)." I always had a fascination with broadcasting, even building a play TV studio model at that age, which, considering I had never really seen one in person, was pretty accurate! I never thought I would have a career in broadcasting, especially on air, because I had a severe stutter...
Maybe it was the haircut, showing my "Spock" ears....