TELEVISION | 1966 | LISTS

Top 10 Television Shows from 1966

Here are the most popular shows of the 1966–1967 television season according to Nielsen ratings

JimRohr, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

1966 was 60 years ago.

So much has changed around the world since that time. The first members of Gen X were born, and the world population at just over 4 billion was half of what it is now.

The world was seeing increased turmoil in Vietnam, and protests about U.S. involvement were popping up all over the country.

Although many of us were either too young to remember or not even born in 1965, the pop culture of the era certainly has survived. We still listen to the music, stream the movies, and watch the reruns of the television shows from the sixties.

What were people watching on television 60 years ago? Here is a list of the ten highest Nielsen-rated shows of the 1966–1967 television season.

10. Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. (CBS), Nielsen Rating: 22.8

Running from 1964–1969, Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. was a spin-off of The Andy Griffith Show.

Jim Nabors played the innocent but lovable Private Gomer Pyle who was a thorn in the side of Sgt. Vince Carter. His folksy “Surprise, surprise, surprise!” and “Shazam!” became famous catchphrases of the naive marine.

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9. The Beverly Hillbillies (CBS), Nielsen Rating: 23.4

Released on CBS in 1962, The Beverly Hillbillies would run for nearly a decade, and then have a long life in cable TV reruns.

It starred Buddy Ebsen, Irene Ryan, Max Baer Jr, and Donna Douglas. The show was a hugely popular sitcom about the Clampetts, a hillbilly family who struck it rich with oil and moved to Beverly Hills.

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8. Bewitched (ABC), Nielsen Rating: 23.4

The show starred Elizabeth Mongomery as Samantha, a witch trying to live the live a suburban housewife.

Long before CGI and many modern special effects, the magic on Bewitched was created by simply stopping the filming, moving an object, and resuming the recording. Wires and props were used to make things fly.

Of course, one magic trick the audience did not fall for was replacing the actor that played Samantha’s husband Darrin. When Dick York was replaced by Dick Sargent, the ratings plummeted.

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7. Daktari (CBS), Nielsen Rating: 23.4

Although set in the jungles of Africa, Daktari was actually filmed in California on a 600-acre wild animal ranch in Soledad Canyon. They used stock footage for the jungle scenes.

Debuting in 1966, the show would be on air until 1969. It focused on a veterinarian played by Marshall Thompson, and was based on a 1965 movie called Clarence, the Cross-Eyed Lion.

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6. Green Acres (CBS), Nielsen Rating: 24.6

Based on a 1950s radio show Grandby’s Green Acres, the CBS sitcom Green Acres ran from 1965 until 1971.

It starred Eddie Albert as Oliver Douglas, a New York attorney who wants to try farm life, and Eva Gabor as his clueless wife who was ill-fitted for life on a farm.

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5. The Jackie Gleason Show (CBS), Nielsen Rating: 25.3

The original The Jackie Gleason Show was a 1950s sketch comedy show that gave rise to Gleason’s popular Honeymooners.

The show was discontinued in 1957, and brought back for one year in 1961, and finally brought back again by CBS in 1966. It would run this time until 1970.

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4. The Lucy Show (CBS), Nielsen Rating: 26.2

In the late 50s when Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz divorced, the popular sitcom I Love Lucy came to a natural end.

But the fans still wanted more of Lucille Ball, so CBS created The Lucy Show in 1962. It would run for six seasons and air until March of 1968.

Lucy was joined by her I Love Lucy costar, Vivian Vance, in this sitcom about a suburban widow raising two children with the help of her friend Viv.

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3. The Andy Griffith Show (CBS), Nielsen Rating: 27.4

Shows about rural places were popular in the 1960s. Andy Griffith played small town sheriff Andy Taylor in this feel-good sitcom about life in Mayberry, North Carolina.

Don Knotts played his hapless but loveable deputy, Barney Fife, while a young Ron Howard played Andy’s son. The Andy Griffith show ran from 1960 until 1968.

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2. The Red Skelton Hour (CBS), Nielsen Rating: 28.2

CBS aired The Red Skelton Hour from 1954 until 1971. It primarily ran on Tuesday evenings throughout its 17 year run.

A sketch comedy show, The Red Skelton Hour featured Red Skelton playing a variety of characters, his most famous character being Freddy the Freeloader. Red Skelton would end every show with the phrase, “Good night and may God bless.”

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1. Bonanza (NBC), Nielsen Rating:29.1

From 1965 until 1967, Bonanza would end up being the top Nielsen-rated show for three years in a row. The popular Western aired from 1959 until 1973, and much longer after that in reruns.

Starring Lorne Greene, Pernell Robert, Dan Blocker, and Michael Landon Bonanza was the second-longest running Western on television behind Gunsmoke. Set near Lake Tahoe, Nevada, the show followed the wealthy ranching family of Ben, Adam, Hoss and Little Joe Cartwright.

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Even if you were not alive during the original run of these shows, I am sure that most of us have seen them on reruns. If not, go find them to stream. Most of these programs have stood the test of time and are still entertaining today.

How about you? What are your favorite television shows from the 1960s? Feel free to add your thoughts in the comments.

As always, thanks for reading!

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If you like my listicles, you can find the complete list of them here, organized by subject: The Unabridged List of All of my Listicles

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