With westerns dominating the Nielsen ratings once again in the 1958-59 television season, holding six of the top seven positions, the future of sitcoms appeared to be in doubt. Though a few comedies (The Danny Thomas Show, The Real McCoys, Father Knows Best) remained popular, the late ‘50s were a down period for the format. However, anyone thinking TV comedies were close to breathing their last was dead wrong. Sitcoms would soon make a comeback and become a dominant form the next decade. Doomsayers made the same inaccurate prediction in the late 1960s and early 1980s. For now, though, there was only one sitcom showdown that fall.

December Bride vs. The Ed Wynn Show on Thursday at 8:00 p.m. (ET)

CBS’ December Bride was beginning its fifth season that fall. A big hit on Mondays, where it followed I Love Lucy and later The Danny Thomas Show, it moved to Thursdays. I Love Lucy was still its lead-in, but with the show no longer producing new half-hour episodes, these Thursday night showings were reruns. NBC brought early TV comic Ed Wynn back to TV in a sitcom where he played a grandfather raising his granddaughters.

Without its protected timeslot and airing 90 minutes earlier than before, December Bride’s ratings dropped, and it was cancelled at season’s end. Still, it performed better than The Ed Wynn Show, which only lasted until mid-season. Their respective networks doomed the shows by scheduling December Bride between a rerun and a one-year western and putting The Ed Wynn Show between a one-year western and a game show.

Winner: No one