1962: Walter Cronkite becomes the anchor of The CBS Evening News. Johnny Carson takes over as the host of The Tonight Show. The Rose Bowl is the first coast to coast color television broadcast of a college football game. Notable TV premieres of the year: The Jetsons (ABC), The Beverly Hillbillies (CBS), and The Lucy Show (CBS). Notable TV finales of the year: Alfred Hitchcock Presents.

And these were the top 20 shows of 1961-62.

Top 20 Prime Time Broadcast Programs, October 1961-April 1962:

For a bit of perspective, the top rated show this season, Tuesday’s American Idol, Season To Date HH rating is 16.1 and its share is 24.

1962 was the era of the TV western (5 of 20, Wagon Train, Bonanza, Gunsmoke, x2, and Rawhide) and the variety show (5 of 20, The Red Skelton Show, The Danny Thomas Show, The Garry Moore Show, Sing Along With Mitch, The Ed Sullivan Show)

Five of the top 20 shows were sitcoms. (Hazel, The Andy Griffith Show, My Three Sons, The Real McCoys and Dennis The Menace)

There was just one crime drama (Perry Mason). 173 fewer than CBS has in its schedule this season.

The year included what was perhaps the first “reality” TV series (Candid Camera). Allen Funt, look what you’ve done to television!

Several of these TV shows began as radio shows, among them Candid Camera and Gunsmoke.

The network v. network competition was also uneven with ABC having only 3 shows in the top 20. NBC had 5 and CBS had 12.

Don’t forget that a HH ratings point today means a lot more households than it did in the past

The Movies of 1962

The Top Grossing Films of 1962

10. Gypsy9. To Kill a Mockingbird8. Hatari!7. Mutiny on the Bounty

6. That Touch of Mink5. The Music Man4. In Search of the Castaways3. Lawrence of Arabia2. The Longest Day1. How the West Was Won