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Monday Open Thread: Pop Culture of 1966

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Good Morning POU!

We’re gonna take a look back at the top entertainment for the decades leading up to 2016 this week and see what was, and what it came to be!

Top TV Shows of 1966

1. Bonanza  NBC
2. The Red Skelton Hour  CBS
3. The Andy Griffith Show  CBS
4. The Lucy Show  CBS
5. The Jackie Gleason Show  CBS
6. Green Acres  CBS
7. Daktari* CBS
7. Bewitched* ABC
7. The Beverly Hillbillies* CBS
10. Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.* CBS
10. The Virginian* NBC
10. The Lawrence Welk Show* ABC
10. The Ed Sullivan Show* CBS

*Tied

Daytime Soaps for 1966–1967 Season

  • 1. As the World Turns 12.7
  • 2. The Edge of Night 10.9
  • 3. The Guiding Light 10.8
  • 4. Search for Tomorrow 10.7
  • 4. The Secret Storm 10.7
  • 6. Love of Life 9.5
  • 7. Another World 9.0
  • 8. The Doctors 7.6
  • 9. General Hospital 7.0
  • 10. Days of our Lives 6.9
  • 11. The Nurses 4.6 (Final Season; ended March 31, 1967)
  • 12. Dark Shadows 4.3
  • 13. A Time For Us 4.0 (Debut/Final Season; ended December 16, 1966)

Emmy Winners

1966 The Dick Van Dyke Show – comedy
(CBS)		 The Fugitive – drama
(ABC)		 The Andy Williams Show – variety
(NBC)		 Dick Van Dyke
The Dick Van Dyke Show – lead comedy
(CBS)		 Bill Cosby
I Spy – lead drama
(NBC)		 Mary Tyler Moore
The Dick Van Dyke Show – lead comedy
(CBS)		 Barbara Stanwyck
The Big Valley – lead drama
(ABC)

Top Grossing Films

1. The Bible: In the Beginning… 20th Century Fox Michael Parks, Richard Harris, John Huston, George C. Scott, Ava Gardner, Stephen Boyd, Peter O’Toole $34,900,023
2. Hawaii United Artists Julie Andrews, Max von Sydow, Richard Harris, Gene Hackman, Jocelyne LaGarde $34,562,222
3. Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Warner Bros. Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, George Segal, Sandy Dennis $33,736,689
4. The Sand Pebbles 20th Century Fox Steve McQueen, Richard Attenborough, Candice Bergen, Richard Crenna, Marayat Andriane, Mako $30,017,647
5. A Man for All Seasons Columbia Paul Scofield, Wendy Hiller, Robert Shaw, John Hurt $28,350,000
6. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly United Artists Clint Eastwood, Eli Wallach, Lee Van Cleef $25,100,000
7. Lt. Robin Crusoe, U.S.N. Walt Disney Pictures Dick Van Dyke, Nancy Kwan $22,565,634
8. The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming United Artists Alan Arkin, Eva Marie Saint, Jonathan Winters, Carl Reiner $21,693,114
9. Grand Prix MGM James Garner, Eva Marie Saint, Yves Montand, Toshiro Mifune $20,845,016
10. Blowup MGM David Hemmings, Vanessa Redgrave $20,000,000
11. The Endless Summer Cinema V Mike Hynson, Robert August, Miki Dora $20,000,000
12. The Professionals Columbia Burt Lancaster, Lee Marvin, Claudia Cardinale, Jack Palance $19,537,346
13. Alfie Paramount Michael Caine, Shelley Winters $18,871,300
14. Georgy Girl Columbia Lynn Redgrave, James Mason $16,873,162
15. The Silencers Columbia Dean Martin, Stella Stevens $16,318,124

Academy Awards:

Best Picture: A Man for All Seasons – Highland, Columbia
Best Director: Fred Zinnemann – A Man for All Seasons
Best Actor: Paul Scofield – A Man for All Seasons
Best Actress: Elizabeth Taylor – Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Best Supporting Actor: Walter Matthau – The Fortune Cookie
Best Supporting Actress: Sandy Dennis – Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

The New York Times Fiction Best Sellers of 1966

Only three novels topped the list that year, which was dominated by Jacqueline Susann‘s Valley of the Dolls which spent 28 weeks at the top of the list and 65 weeks in the top 10. Valley was toppled by Robert Crichton’s The Secret of Santa Vittoria, a World War II story based on fact, which sold more than 100,000 copies in the first month of its release. It spent 18 weeks at the top of the list and nearly a year in the top 10. The other top seller of the year, James Michener’s The Source, spent 36 weeks at the top of the list in 1965 and 1966.

Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical
Angela Lansbury
Honored for : Mame

Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play
Hal Holbrook
Honored for : Mark Twain Tonight!

Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical
Frankie Michaels
Honored for : Mame

Tony Award for Best Choreography
Bob Fosse
Honored for : Sweet Charity

Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play
Patrick Magee
Honored for : Marat/Sade

Tony Award for Best Play
Peter Weiss, David Merrick Arts Foundation
Honored for : Marat/Sade

Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical
Bea Arthur
Honored for : Mame

Tony Award for Best Musical
Hal James, Albert W. Selden, Dale Wasserman
Honored for : Man of La Mancha

Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical
Richard Kiley
Honored for : Man of La Mancha

Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play
Rosemary Harris
Honored for : The Lion in Winter

Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play
Zoe Caldwell
Honored for : Slapstick Tragedy

Sports

MVP of NBA – Wilt Chamberlin, Philadelphia 76ers

MVP of NFL – Bart Starr, QB – Green Bay Packers

MVP of NHL – Bobby Hull

MLB National League MVP – Roberte Clemente, Pittsburgh Pirates

MLB American League MVP – Frank Robinson, Baltimore Orioles

US Open (tennis) men’s champion – Fred Stolle

US Open (tennis) women’s champion – Maria Bueno