Looking at the October 7 1961 Seattle TV Guide

I was only two years old in 1961 and I don't know how much TV I was watching, and I'm sure I was a few years away from becoming the avid TV Guide reader that I became, but let's take a look at what we could have been watching on Saturday morning, October 7, 1961:

7:45 Channel 5 is the first to sign on the air, with Davey and Goliath (in COLOR--only Channels 4 and 5 have any color programming at this point). "Davey puts on his 'New Skates' and slides out onto thin ice."
8:00 Channel 5 continues with Telaventure Tales, which I don't remember ever watching but do remember seeing it in TV Guide. Apparently it consisted of Ruth "Wunda Wunda" Prins reading books. For the first ten minutes of the show it was still the only show in town, but then at 8:10 Channel 4 signed on with Farm Report (15 minutes) followed by News, Weather (5 minutes), while Channel 7 came on at 8:15 with Light Time, whatever the hell that was.
8:30 A tough choice, between Channel 4's Agriculture Unlimited (today's episode: "Animal Disease Laboratory"), Pip the Piper on Channel 5 (today's episode: "Lost Horse Day"), and Channel 7's Christie Comedies (listed as cartoons, but actually, I assume, silent shorts). Stations often had farm programming in the mornings, but it seems like all the farmers should have been out working before 8:30.
8:45 Channel 11 signs on with News, Sports, Weather--topping Channel 4's News, Weather. At this point in time Channels 11 and 7 were both CBS affiliates, as if people in Tacoma couldn't pick up Channel 7.
9:00 Channel 5 has Shari Lewis in COLOR, and 7 and 11 have Captain Kangaroo, but I think I'd choose Channel 4's Adventure Today. TV Guide categorized it as "Children," and that's the only scrap of information I have about this show, and probably ever will--it's not like I can find it on Youtube or anything. Apparently it was an hour long.
9:30 Adventure Today and Captain Kangaroo continue, while Channel 5 has 15 minutes of To Be Announced before Game 3 of the World Series at 9:45. Was it actually a pre-game show? The listings then show Video Village starting at 9:45 on 7 and 11, but I think it's a typo and it actually started at 10:00, making Captain Kangaroo an hour and VV half an hour, rather than 45 minutes each. Video Village was a kids' game show hosted by Monty Hall and based on an adult version which starred Jack Narz.
10:00 Opposite the World Series and Video Village, Channel 4 has Western Theater. This week's movie is Bob Steele in "Oklahoma Cyclone" from 1930.

One thing I like is how every movie slot had its own name. Some of us remember "Nightmare Theater" or "Owl Theater" or "Nightcap Theater," but in 1961 everything had a name:

Saturday
10 AM, Channel 4: Western Theater
11 AM, 11: Adventure Theater
2 PM, 5: Midday Matinee
2:30 PM, 7: Alan Ladd Theater
4 PM, 13: Western Theater
5:30 PM, 13: Feature Film Fair
8 PM, 13: Movie 13
10 PM, 11: Who-Done-It?
11 PM, 4: Major Studio Preview
11 PM, 7: Big 7 Movie
11 PM, 11: Nightmare

Sunday
10:30 AM, 11: Sunday Showcase
11:30 AM, 7: Sunday Show
2 PM, 5: Armchair Theater
3 PM, 4: Sunday Matinee
4:30 PM, 13: Sunday Cinema
6 PM, 13: Feature Film Fair

Monday-Friday
9:30 AM, 4: Movietime on 4
11 AM, 13: Jerry's Club Matinee (10 AM on Friday)
7:30 PM, 13: Early Show (except Thursday)
11:30 PM, 4: Fourmost Movie (11:35 PM Tuesday & Thursday)
11:30 PM, 11: All Star Movie (listed as All Star Theater Monday)

Monday
8 PM, 11: Early Show
9:30 PM, 11: Gold Star Theater

Tuesday
11:30 PM, 7: Masterpiece Theater

Wednesday
9:30 PM, 11: Showroom
11:30 PM, 7: Masterpiece Theater

Friday
11:30 PM, 7: Masterpiece Theater

But back to Saturday morning:
10:30 The World Series and Western Theater continue, while Channel 7 has Mighty Mouse Playhouse. "A special feature today is a short film about the work of UNICEF, the United Nations relief organization, does around the world called 'Mighty Mouse Tells Where Your Pennies Go.'" Channel 11 is not listed.
11:00 The World Series continues. Channel 4 has On Your Mark, a children's quiz show, while Channel 7 has The Magic Land of Allakazam, one of my earliest TV memories. "Mark Wilson and Nani Darnell find an old pirate chest with a map and will left by Dreadful Darnell, Nani's swashbuckling ancestor." Mark and Nani were a husband-and-wife magician-and-assistant team. Channel 11 diverges from the CBS schedule with Adventure Theater; this week's film is "Pacific Adventure," from 1947, starring the immortal Ron Randell, Muriel Steinbeck and Margaret Tremmel.
11:30 The World Series and Adventure Theater continue. Channel 4 has Magic Ranch, which seems to have been ABC's answer to Allakazam. Today, "Peter Borger, 13, shows how to make hamsters invisible." Channel 7 has Roy Rogers.
12:00 Now it's time to go outside and play.

And where were Channels 9 and 13 all morning? Channel 9 didn't broadcast on the weekends, and Channel 13 didn't sign on until 4 PM on Saturday.