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.

  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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

ABC

Returning Series

• The ABC Sunday Night Movie
• The ABC Wednesday Night Movie
• The Avengers
• Bewitched
• The Big Valley
• The Dating Game
• The F.B.I.
• Felony Squad
• The Flying Nun
• The Guns of Will Sonnett
• Happening '69
• The Hollywood Palace
• It Takes a Thief
• Judd, for the Defense
• The King Family Show
• The Lawrence Welk Show
• Let's Make a Deal
• The Newlywed Game
• N.Y.P.D.
• Operation: Entertainment
• Peyton Place
• Saga of Western Man
• That Girl

New Series

• Animal World *
• The Dick Cavett Show *
• The Don Rickles Show
• The Generation Gap *
• Here Come the Brides
• The Johnny Cash Show *
• Journey to the Unknown
• Land of the Giants
• The Mod Squad
• The Outcasts
• That's Life
• This is Tom Jones *
• The Ugliest Girl in Town
• What's It All About, World *

Not returning from 1967–68:

• ABC Scope
• Batman
• Cowboy in Africa
• Custer
• Dream House
• Garrison's Gorillas
• Good Company
• Hondo
• The Invaders
• Iron Horse
• Man in a Suitcase
• Off to See the Wizard
• The Rat Patrol
• The Second Hundred Years
• Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea

CBS

Returning Series

• The 21st Century
• Animal World
• The Beverly Hillbillies
• The Carol Burnett Show
• CBS News Hour
• CBS Playhouse
• CBS Thursday Night Movie
• CBS Friday Night Movies
• Daktari
• The Ed Sullivan Show
• Family Affair
• Gentle Ben
• Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.
• Green Acres
• Gunsmoke
• Hogan's Heroes
• The Jackie Gleason Show
• The Jonathan Winters Show
• Lassie
• Mannix
• Mission: Impossible
• My Three Sons
• Petticoat Junction
• The Red Skelton Hour
• The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour
• Turn-On
• The Wild Wild West

New Series

• 60 Minutes
• Blondie
• Carol Burnett Presents the Jimmie Rodgers Show *
• The Doris Day Show
• The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour *
• The Good Guys
• Hawaii Five-O
• Hee Haw *
• Here's Lucy
• Lancer
• The Liberace Show *
• Mayberry R.F.D.
• The Queen & I *

Not returning from 1967–68:

• The Andy Griffith Show
• Cimarron Strip
• Dundee and the Culhane
• Good Morning, World
• He & She
• Lost in Space
• The Lucy Show
• Premiere
• The Prisoner

NBC

Returning Series

• Bonanza
• Daniel Boone
• Dean Martin Presents the Golddiggers
• The Dean Martin Show
• Dragnet 1969
• Get Smart
• The High Chaparral
• I Dream of Jeannie
• Ironside
• The Jerry Lewis Show
• Kraft Music Hall
• The Mothers-in-Law
• Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom
• NBC Monday Night at the Movies
• NBC Saturday Night at the Movies
• Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In
• The Saint
• Star Trek
• The Virginian
• Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color

New Series

• Adam-12
• The Beautiful Phyllis Diller Show
• Columbo
• The Ghost & Mrs. Muir
• Julia
• My Friend Tony *
• The Name of the Game
• The New Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
• The Outsider

Not returning from 1967–68:

• Accidental Family
• Actuality Specials
• American Profile
• The Bell Telephone Hour
• The Champions
• The Danny Thomas Hour
• Hollywood Squares
• I Spy
• The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
• Maya
• The Monkees
• NBC News Reports
• Run for Your Life
• Tarzan

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. 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.