Bernstein wrote every lecture during the series run.
When Leonard Bernstein took a sabbatical season from the New York Philharmonic in 1964-65, he still came back to lead the Young People's Concerts. He continued to lead these programs until 1972, even though he had stepped down as director of the Philharmonic in 1969.
The airing of the program was halted in March 1972, with a final Young People's Concert concentrating on Gustav Holst's The Planets.
As with many of Leonard Bernstein's scripts, the scripts for the Young People's Concerts found their way into book form. First published in 1961 and revised in 1970, "Leonard Bernstein's Young People's Concerts" was expanded in 1992 to include a total of fifteen text transcriptions.
Leonard Bernstein usually planned the programs for the Young People's Concerts based on repertory from the New York Philharmonic's regular concert season.