Pick: Which Sixties shows should have been rated #1?

Which shows actually deserved the number one spot?

Image: The Everett Collection

In the 1960s, shows lived and died by their Nielson ratings. Series now recognized as iconic, like The Addams Family or The Jetsons, were only given short first runs because they didn’t hit it big in the ratings.

But did a program’s rank really determine its quality? Here are the number one rated shows for each year of the 1960s. Pick which one you think deserves the top spot and see how popular your opinions are!

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  1. Gunsmoke was the number one rated show for the 1960-1961 season. Which show should have been number one?
  2. Wagon Train was the number one rated show for the 1961-1962 season. Which show should have been number one?
  3. The Beverly Hillbillies was the number one rated show for the 1962-1963 season. Which show should have been number one?
  4. The Beverly Hillbillies was also the number one rated show for the 1963-1964 season. Which show should have been number one?
  5. Bonanza was the number one rated show for the 1964-1965 season. Which show should have been number one?
  6. Bonanza was also the number one rated show for the 1965-1966 season. Which show should have been number one?
  7. Bonanza was atop the ratings for a third time during the 1966-1967 season. Which show should have been number one?
  8. The Andy Griffith Show’s last season was the number one rated show for the 1967-1968 season. Which show should have been number one?
  9. Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In was the number one rated show for the 1968-1969 season. Which show should have been number one?
  10. Laugh-In topped the ratings again for the 1969-1970 season. Which show should have been number one?

Pick: Which Sixties shows should have been rated #1?

Your Result...

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270 Comments

Randall 29 months ago
to the powers that be, PLEASE do one for 70s and 80s shows, those were great shows !!!
Lillyrose 29 months ago
31% similar. Here's Lucy and The Brady Bunch should have been number one. And Hazel, although it's not listed. Great show! Leave it to Beaver should have been number one many times.
Coldnorth 29 months ago
I thought Mission Impossible deserved to be number one as well as Man from u.n.c.l.e. I am not much of a fan of westerns.
Charleshorse 29 months ago
I will never understand the appeal of The Beverly Hillbillies, The Dick Van Dyke Show, nor The Andy Griffith Show
a1k9 29 months ago
65% I still don’t agree with some of the answers.
ww245 29 months ago
Fun quiz, but I was different back then. Surprised Star Trek didn't show up on it's debut season.
Sherry777 ww245 29 months ago
I agree; my taste has changed a little.
ww245 Sherry777 26 months ago
Sorry about the late comeback. I just discovered this! LOL!
idkwut2use 29 months ago
32% but didn’t feel very strongly about any of them…too many good/goodish/decent choices with too few clear-cut winners…
ttenchantr 29 months ago
No Western ever deserved to be #1. All the same and all hokey and all corny.
RichLorn 29 months ago
44% similar. But alternatively I'm 55% independent and 1 % undecided.
DerekBird 29 months ago
65% similar
65% similar to the most popular responses
bagandwallyfan52 30 months ago
My favorite characters on Gomer
Pyle USMC were Cpl. Boyle (Roy
Stuart) Lou Ann Poovie (Elizabeth MacRae ) and Cpl.
Nick Cuccinelli (Tommy Leonetti).
My favorites costars on The
Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet
Were Rick Nelson Wally Plumstead (Skip Young) and
Ginger (Charlene Salerno).
My favorites costars on
Gilligan's Island were
Willie Gilligan (Bob Denver)
Mary Ann Summers (Dawn Wells) and Professor Roy Hinkley
(Russell Johnson).
On Green Acres there were
Wonderful Hooterville Residents:
Oliver Wendall Douglas
Lisa Douglas
EB Dawson
Hank Kimball
Mr. Haney
Newt Kiley
Alf Monroe
Ralph Monroe
Fred Ziffel
Doris Ziffel
Arnold
Roy Trend all
Sam Drucker
Darlene Wheeler
Grandpappy Miller
The best wiseguys-practical
Jokers on 1960s Sitcoms were
Uncle Arthur (Bewitched )
And Eddie Haskell and
Lumpy Rutherford of Leave
It To Beaver.
RIP
Tommy Leonetti
Cpl. Nick Cuccinelli
Gomer Pyle USMC
1929-1979
Roy Stuart
Cpl. Boyle
Gomer Pyle USMC
1927-2005
Dawn Wells
Mary Ann Summers
Gilligan's Island
1938-2020
Russell Johnson
Professor Roy Hinckley
Gilligan's Island
1924-
Russell Johnson
1924-2014
RIP
Sally 30 months ago
I was 70% similar. Some of these shows I didn't watch at the time because I was a teenager. Still, I always appreciated the humor on Carol Burnett!
JohnGrant 30 months ago
All good shows but now I would rather watch reruns of Andy Griffith than other shows listed here. Green acres was good but they spent waaaay too much time on the pig.
TeresaDraper 30 months ago
34% similar a lot of these shows I didn't watch at the time they originally aired only remember them as reruns
SashaPayneDiaz 30 months ago
45% Goin' against the grain.....again!
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