Yuku free message boards

Grgs, I want to thank you for your pursuit of the the truth in this matter. I have no personal stake in when PSYCHO was first aired be it nationally or locally. All I'm interested in is the truth. I like to have the facts. If the truth turns out to be that the movie actually DID have a national broadcast, fine. I would have the truth and I would be happy. I would be very unhappy if, in the face of the facts, I persisted in believing I was correct when I wasn't.

At this point, based on the information at hand, unless some further research uncovers the opposite, I'm sticking with the belief that PSYCHO never had a national broadcast.

First, it wasn't shown on CBS or any other national network here in North Texas. I, too, was one of those teens who pored over the "TV Guide" every week to line up my week's viewing. This regional edition included 3 NBC, 2 CBS and 2 ABC listings to give you an idea of the size of the territory covered.

Anyway, I have the orginal "TV Guide" "Close-Up" for PSYCHO and was enormously disappointed when the broadcast was cancelled. But I kept looking every week hoping that I would see it rescheduled. I never did. Nor were there any TV spots advertising an upcoming broadcast of the movie. Not too terribly long after, though, it showed up on a local UHF station.

Totally by chance, I just discovered that I also have a "TV Guide" ad that this UHF station took out to advertise PSYCHO. It is the same size as the "Close-Up" that "TV Guide" featured. The ad reads, "Pearl Premier (sp) Theater, Monday, May 20, 8 p.m., Limited Commercials, KDTV 39." Unfortunately, there is no year on the ad. However, on the back there are two network show listings. If I can find my book of prime time TV shows I can, no doubt, place the year. The two shows listed are ROWAN AND MARTIN'S LAUGH-IN and THE RAT PATROL.

Second, I have heard all of my life that PSYCHO never got a network showing. Don't ask me where because I don't know. It's one of those things that I have heard and read several times over the last 30 some odd years. It's received knowledge that several of my closest friends believe, too. That doesn't make it true, but that's what we've always heard.

Third, Janet Leigh says it never got a network showing. She may have the broadcast date wrong, as Rick has pointed out, but a person can have the larger truth correct while screwing up on the details. (It may be that PSYCHO didn't air in her area until 1970.) I believe Janet Leigh to be correct when she says there was no network broadcast. Why? Well, to a large extent because what she says conforms to a) what I had heard all my life, and b) the fact that PSYCHO never had a national broadcast in the area of Texas covered by my regional "TV Guide." Not to mention that she had a vested interest in the film and would probably notice something like that. And, she wrote a book about it, with the help of another writer and I trust, the air date notwithstanding, that some fact checking went into the project.

Fourth, Rick's information from a newspaper account verifying that PSYCHO ran on an ABC station in 1967 indicates that CBS's license on the film had expired or been given up.

Fifth, Rick's personal recollection of a March 6, 1968 broadcast.

Six, FLIGHT FROM ASHIYA was definitely a film licensed for broadcast by CBS. I used to buy an annual publication that listed all the movies slated for that season and on what network they would appear. Also, I happen to have the "TV Guide" listing for it. On the back of the listing are two other network shows listed: HOLLYWOOD SQUARES and THE GUNS OF WILL SONNET. If you look at Grgs TV listing on the previous page you will see these shows listed right after FFA's entry. So, it would appear that this movie was broadcast over CBS in my region as well.

Although these six reasons don't constitute irrefutable proof that PSYCHO never aired nationally, logic leads one to believe that this is the truth.

I want to thank Rick for his input, as well. He says:

Quote:

---

Perhaps right at that time the movie was becoming available in wide syndication and stations, including affiliates, were making a few extra bucks, running their own big prime time movie, selling their own prime time commercials.

---

I'm not sure about this but isn't March a Sweeps month? If so, then it would make a lot of sense to air PSYCHO in that month to garner bigger than normal viewership. BTW, if the film were run on a network O & O (owned and operated) they would have access to all the network logos and program intros.