The following is the 1962–63 network television schedule for the three major English language commercial broadcast networks in the United States. The schedule covers primetime hours from September 1962 through August 1963. The schedule is followed by a list per network of returning series, new series, and series cancelled after the 1961–62 season.

Summary Television historians Harry Castleman and Walter Podrazik (1982) state, "Despite all the promises of programming reform made by television executives in May, 1961" (the month of Newton Minow's landmark speech "Television and the Public Interest"), "the 1962–63 schedule turned out to be business as usual". Castleman and Podrazik point out that although the three networks had added generally well-made public-affairs and news programs to their schedules, there were "too many of them and their sheer number diluted the audience and stretched resources far too thin to allow quality productions each week". CBS aired CBS Reports and Eyewitness, NBC broadcast Chet Huntley Reporting, David Brinkley's Journal and Actuality Specials, while ABC had Bell and Howell Close-up and the Howard K. Smith show. Despite Minow's complaints that the sitcoms of the era were "totally unrealistic" and his disdain for cartoons, the new sitcoms of 1962 were even more hostile to Minow's stated taste and were frequently "stretching further than ever for their situations"; increasingly fantastical premises such as hillbillies in the city (The Beverly Hillbillies) and cartoons set a century into the future (The Jetsons, ABC's first regularly scheduled TV series to air in color) were among the new offerings.

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

Schedule New fall series are highlighted in bold. All times are Eastern and Pacific.

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

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 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 Fall Father Knows Best (repeats) The Jetsons (In COLOR) Hollywood Special (Sporadically in COLOR) The Voice of Firestone Howard K. Smith: News and Comment Winter Local CBS Lassie (19/23.3)(Tied with The Garry Moore Show and To Tell the Truth) Dennis the Menace The Ed Sullivan Show (14/25.3) The McCoys GE True* Candid Camera (2/31.1)(Tied with The Red Skelton Show) What's My Line? (13/25.5) NBC Ensign O'Toole Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color (24/22.3) (In COLOR) Car 54, Where Are You? Bonanza (4/29.8)(Tied with The Lucy Show) (In COLOR) The Du Pont Show of the Week / The Dinah Shore Show (In COLOR) / Various NBC News Specials

* formerly known as General Electric Theater * McKeever and the Colonel aired Sundays at 6:30-7 on NBC. * The Bullwinkle Show aired Sundays at 5:30-6 on NBC. * Password aired Sundays at 6:30-7 on CBS. * The Dinah Shore Show aired Sundays every 3 or 4 weeks at 10 on NBC In COLOR.

Monday Network7:00 PM7:30 PM8:00 PM8:30 PM9:00 PM9:30 PM10:00 PM10:30 PM ABC FallLocal Cheyenne The Rifleman Stoney Burke Ben Casey (7/28.7)(Tied with The Danny Thomas Show) Winter The Dakotas CBSFall Local (7:00) / Walter Cronkite with the News* (7:15) To Tell the Truth (19/23.3)(Tied with The Garry Moore Show and Lassie) I've Got a Secret (16/24.9) The Lucy Show (4/29.8)(Tied with Bonanza) The Danny Thomas Show (7/28.7)(Tied with Ben Casey) The Andy Griffith Show (6/29.7) The New Loretta Young Show Stump the Stars***Summer Vacation Playhouse** NBCFall Local (7:00) / The Huntley–Brinkley Report* (7:15) It's a Man's World**** Saints and Sinners The Price is Right (In COLOR) David Brinkley's Journal (Sporadically in COLOR) LocalWinterNBC Monday Night at the Movies (most in COLOR) The Art Linkletter Show

Notes: * In some areas, Walter Cronkite with the News and The Huntley-Brinkley Report aired at 6:45 p.m.(ET). ** Vacation Playhouse was an anthology series composed entirely of unsold television pilots. *** Stump the Stars was formerly Pantomime Quiz. **** It's a Man's World was shown in color on October 1, 1962. Password aired at 10:00 pm on CBS starting March 25.

Tuesday Network7:00 PM7:30 PM8:00 PM8:30 PM9:00 PM9:30 PM10:00 PM10:30 PM ABCLocal Combat! Hawaiian Eye The Untouchables Bell and Howell Closeup CBS Fall Local (7:00) / Walter Cronkite with the News (7:15) Marshal Dillon The Lloyd Bridges Show The Red Skelton Show (2/31.1)(Tied with Candid Camera) The Jack Benny Show (11/26.2)(Tied with Dr. Kildare) The Garry Moore Show (19/23.3)(Tied with To Tell the Truth and Lassie) Summer The Keefe Brasselle Show NBC Local (7:00) / The Huntley–Brinkley Report (7:15) Laramie (In COLOR) Empire (In COLOR) The Dick Powell Show Chet Huntley Reporting Note: The CBS series Marshal Dillon consisted of reruns of episodes of Gunsmoke.

Wednesday Network7:00 PM7:30 PM8:00 PM8:30 PM9:00 PM9:30 PM10:00 PM10:30 PM ABC Local Wagon Train (25/22.0) Going My Way Our Man Higgins Naked City CBS Local (7:00) / Walter Cronkite with the News (7:15) CBS Reports The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis The Beverly Hillbillies (1/36.0) The Dick Van Dyke Show (9/27.1) Armstrong Circle Theatre / The United States Steel Hour NBC Local (7:00) / The Huntley–Brinkley Report (7:15) The Virginian (26/21.7) (In COLOR) Perry Como's Kraft Music Hall (In COLOR) The Eleventh Hour

Thursday Network7:00 PM7:30 PM8:00 PM8:30 PM9:00 PM9:30 PM10:00 PM10:30 PM ABC Local The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet The Donna Reed Show Leave It to Beaver My Three Sons (28/21.0) McHale's Navy Alcoa Premiere CBS Fall Local (7:00) / Walter Cronkite with the News (7:15) Mister Ed Perry Mason (23/22.4) The Nurses The Alfred Hitchcock Hour Winter Twilight Zone The Nurses NBC Local (7:00) / The Huntley–Brinkley Report (7:15) Wide Country Dr. Kildare (11/26.2) (Tied with The Jack Benny Show) Hazel (15/25.1) (In COLOR) The Andy Williams Show (In COLOR) Note: Dr. Kildare and Wide Country on October 4, 1962, were shown in color.

Friday Network7:00 PM7:30 PM8:00 PM8:30 PM9:00 PM9:30 PM10:00 PM10:30 PM ABC FallLocal The Gallant Men The Flintstones (30/20.5) (In COLOR) I'm Dickens, He's Fenster 77 Sunset Strip Local January The Valiant YearsFather Knows Best (repeats) Spring Cheyenne CBS Fall Local (7:00) / Walter Cronkite with the News (7:15) Rawhide (22/22.8) Route 66 (27/21.3) Fair Exchange Eyewitness Winter The Alfred Hitchcock Hour NBC Fall Local (7:00) / The Huntley–Brinkley Report (7:15) International Showtime Sing Along with Mitch (In COLOR) Don't Call Me Charlie! The Jack Paar Program (In COLOR)WinterThe Price Is Right (In COLOR) Summer The Lively Ones (In COLOR)

Saturday Network7:00 PM7:30 PM8:00 PM8:30 PM9:00 PM9:30 PM10:00 PM10:30 PM ABC Fall Beany and Cecil* (In COLOR) The Roy Rogers and Dale Evans Show Mr. Smith Goes to Washington The Lawrence Welk Show The Fight of the Week (10:00) / Make That Spare (10:45) Winter The Gallant Men Spring Hootenanny CBS FallLocal The Jackie Gleason Show (17/24.1) The Defenders (18/23.9) Have Gun – Will Travel (29/20.8) Gunsmoke (10/27.0) Summer The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour (repeats) NBC Local Sam Benedict The Joey Bishop Show (In COLOR) NBC Saturday Night at the Movies (In COLOR)

Notes: * Formerly known as Matty's Funnies with Beany and Cecil. Sam Benedict on October 6, 1962, was shown in color.

By network

ABC

Returning Series 77 Sunset Strip ABC News Reports The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet Alcoa Premiere The Avengers Beany and Cecil * Bell and Howell Closeup Ben Casey Cheyenne The Donna Reed Show The Fight of the Week The Flintstones Hawaiian Eye Howard K. Smith: News and Comment The Lawrence Welk Show Leave It to Beaver Make That Spare My Three Sons Naked City The Rifleman The Untouchables The Voice of Firestone Wagon Train (moved from NBC)

New Series Combat! The Dakotas * The Gallant Men Going My Way Hollywood Special Hootenanny * I'm Dickens, He's Fenster The Jetsons McHale's Navy Mr. Smith Goes to Washington Our Man Higgins The Roy Rogers and Dale Evans Show Stoney Burke

Not returning from 1961–62: Adventures in Paradise Bachelor Father Bronco The Bugs Bunny Show Bus Stop Calvin and the Colonel The Detectives Starring Robert Taylor Expedition! Follow the Sun The Hathaways The Law and Mr. Jones Lawman Margie Matty's Funday Funnies The New Breed The Roaring 20's Room for One More The Steve Allen Show Straightaway Surfside 6 Target: The Corruptors! Top Cat Yours for a Song

CBS

Returning Series The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (moved from NBC) The Andy Griffith Show Armstrong Circle Theatre Brenner CBS News Hour CBS Reports Candid Camera Danny Thomas Show The Defenders Dennis the Menace The Dick Van Dyke Show The Ed Sullivan Show Eyewitness The Garry Moore Show Gunsmoke Have Gun – Will Travel I've Got a Secret The Jack Benny Show The Jackie Gleason Show Lassie The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis Mister Ed Perry Mason Rawhide The McCoys (moved from ABC) The Red Skelton Show Route 66 (debuted 1960) To Tell the Truth The Twentieth Century The Twilight Zone The United States Steel Hour Walter Cronkite with the News What's My Line

New Series The Beverly Hillbillies Fair Exchange GE True The Keefe Brasselle Show * The Lloyd Bridges Show The Lucy Show The New Loretta Young Show The Nurses The Real McCoys Stump the Stars Vacation Playhouse *

Not returning from 1961–62: Accent on an American Summer The Alvin Show Armstrong Circle Theatre Checkmate The Comedy Spot Douglas Edwards with the News Father of the Bride Frontier Circus Hennesey Ichabod and Me The Investigators Mrs. G. Goes to College/The Gertrude Berg Show The New Bob Cummings Show Oh! Those Bells Pete and Gladys Tell It to Groucho Tell It to the Camera Window on Main Street

NBC

Returning Series The Art Linkletter Show The Bell Telephone Hour Bonanza Car 54, Where Are You? David Brinkley's Journal The Dick Powell Show Dr. Kildare The DuPont Show of the Week Hazel The Huntley–Brinkley Report International Showtime The Joey Bishop Show Laramie The Lively Ones NBC Saturday Night at the Movies Perry Como's Kraft Music Hall The Price Is Right Sing Along with Mitch Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color

New Series The Andy Williams Show Don't Call Me Charlie! The Eleventh Hour Empire Ensign O'Toole It's a Man's World The Jack Paar Program McKeever and the Colonel NBC Monday Night at the Movies Saints and Sinners Sam Benedict The Virginian Wide Country

Not returning from 1961–62: 87th Precinct The Bob Newhart Show The Bullwinkle Show Cain's Hundred The Detectives Starring Robert Taylor The Dinah Shore Show Here and Now National Velvet Outlaws Tales of Wells Fargo Thriller Wagon Train (moved to ABC)

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

References

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. . Brooks, Tim & Marsh, Earle (2007). The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows (9th ed.). New York: Ballantine. .