KTLA will celebrate six decades of classics

These days, history is sometimes tossed into the back of the closet like an old shoe. But KTLA is going against the norm and celebrating its rich six-decade history with 60 hours of retro TV beginning Friday.

The marathon, which will also include retro news stories during the station’s news telecasts, features several series that have aired on KTLA. There will be such syndicated TV staples as “Friends,” “Little House on the Prairie,” “The Honeymooners,” “The Munsters,” “The Andy Griffith Show” and “Gilligan’s Island” as well as many shows that haven’t seen the light of day on KTLA in years. Among the highlights are two episodes of the venerable “The Jack Benny Program” (11 and 11:30 p.m. Friday) featuring guests Bob Hope and Lawrence Welk; the 1950s western “Hopalong Cassidy” (4 and 4:30 a.m. Saturday) starring William Boyd as the sagebrush hero; the 1960s medical series “Dr. Kildare” (3 p.m. Saturday) starring a surreally handsome Richard Chamberlain; the cult 1950s action series “Highway Patrol” (5 and 5:30 p.m. Saturday) starring Broderick “10-4” Crawford; Blake Edwards’ stylish 1950s detective series “Peter Gunn” (10:30 and 11 p.m. Saturday), which features Henry Mancini’s classic score; and even the 1960s sitcom “Please Don’t Eat the Daisies” (5 and 5:30 p.m. Sunday). There will be classic shows for youngsters too -- and the young at heart -- during KTLA’s marathon, including “Lassie” (7 and 7:30 a.m. Saturday), “Uncle Waldo’s Cartoons” (8 and 8:30 a.m. Saturday), “Underdog” (9 and 9:30 a.m. Saturday) and “Time for Beany” (4:30 a.m. Monday).

-- Susan King