60 Minutes Season 1

Season 1

60 Minutes' first season aired as a bi-weekly broadcast hosted by Mike Wallace and Harry Reasoner, debuting on September 24, 1968, and alternating weeks with other CBS News productions on Tuesday evenings at 10:00 p.m. Eastern Time. The first edition was described by Reasoner in the opening as a "kind of a magazine for television."

Air date: 1968-09-24

Episodes: 7

Episodes

E1: September 24, 1968

60 Minutes offers a beside-the-scenes look at presidential candidates Richard Nixon and Hubert Humphrey during their parties' summer nominating conventions then interviews three prominent European political thinkers about the elections before soliciting the opinion of native son and Pulitzer Prize-winning commentator Art Buchwald. A conversation with U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark follows during which he attempts to explain the forces at work in the country's rapidly changing relationship with law enforcement officers. A presentation of the short subject documentary "Why Man Creates" concludes this inaugural episode.

Air date: 1968-09-24 • ★ 4

E2: October 8, 1968

An exclusive interview with Richard Nixon, the Republican Party candidate for president, a look at highlights from an original musical comedy produced by Theatre Atlanta, and an examination of U.S. Defense research into germ and gas warfare.

Air date: 1968-10-08

E3: October 22, 1968

An exclusive interview with Democratic Party presidential candidate and current Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey, an interview with controversial Independent presidential candidate George Wallace, and the second part of an investigative story on U.S. Defense germ and gas warfare research.

Air date: 1968-10-22

E4: November 12, 1968

A look back at last week's election of Richard Nixon as President, a profile of NFL football star quarterback Joe Namath of the New York Jets and a look at some footage of the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia shot in Prague.

Air date: 1968-11-12

E5: November 26, 1968

An interview with former nun and current president of Webster College, Jacqueline Grennan, who left the Roman Catholic Church after challenging its stance on birth control; a trip to the famous Laurent Restaurant with food critic Craig Claiborne; an interview with recently re-elected Senator Edmund Muskie.

Air date: 1968-11-26

E6: December 10, 1968

An investigation into how sexual assaults are becoming more common in U.S. prisons,a look at cheating in football, shoplifting, and a profile of former ambassador Averell Harriman.

Air date: 1968-12-10

E7: December 24, 1968

Interviews of Coretta Scott King, Bernice King, Dexter King, Yolanda King, family of the late activist Martin Luther King, Jr. during Christmas in Atlanta, Georgia; Report on illiteracy in the U.S.; Interview with Ethel Kennedy the widow of the late Senator Robert F. Kennedy; Essay by Andy Rooney on "What Jesus Christ looked like?"

Air date: 1968-12-24