Primetime ratings from the 70's

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[Paul Raven]

@Soapsuds thanks so much for these. The ABC Movie of the Week was hit for ABC-over half of the Top 20 TV movies for the season.

And that was up against Hawaii Five O. It would be interesting to see which titles didn't do so well.

And 2 rape themed movies in the Top 10. A Case of Rape starred Elizabeth Montgomery and Cry Rape had Andrea Marcovicci as the victim.

[Khan]

To think: there was a time when rape, and especially acquaintance rape, was a "hot-button" issue most shows shied away from.  Now, it's the button on a teaser scene from "Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage."

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[Paul Raven]

in the first half of the season Flip Wilson was dominating the Thurs @8 time period and there was The Waltons languishing @#45

Here's the week ending Oct 1 Wk 3 of the season. Only actual numbers for Top 15 shows

(1) ABC Sunday Movie 'Love Story" (ABC) 42.3 One of the all time top movie ratings

(2) All in the Family (CBS) 33.2

(3) Marcus Welby, M.D. (ABC) 28.3

(4) NBC Saturday Movie (NBC) 28.1

(5) Bridget Loves Bernie (CBS) 25.5

(6) The FBI (ABC) 24.8

(7) Sanford & Son (NBC) 24.7

(8) Maude (CBS) 24.5

(9) Tuesday Movie of the Week (ABC) 23.8

(10) Ironside (NBC) 23.7

(11) Hawaii Five -O (CBS) 22.5

(12) Gunsmoke (CBS) 22.4

(13) Wednesday Mystery Movie (NBC) 22.3

(14) NBC Monday Night Movie (NBC) 22.2

(15) Here's Lucy (CBS) 22.0

(16) Flip Wilson (NBC)

(17) Walt Disney (NBC)

(18) Adam 12 (NBC)

(19) Cannon (CBS)

(20) Rookies (ABC)

21) Partridge Family (ABC)

(22)Mary Tyler Moore (CBS)

(23) New CBS Friday Movie (CBS)

(24) Ghost Story (NBC)

(25) Paul Lynde (ABC)

(26) Tuesday Movie (CBS)

(27) Wednesday Movie of the Week (ABC)

(28) Thursday Movie (CBS)

(29) Doris Day (CBS)

(30) ABC NFL Football (ABC)

(31) Mod Squad (ABC)

(32) Little People (NBC)

(33) Laugh -In (NBC)

(34) Medical Center (CBS)

(35) Sunday Mystery Movie (NBC)

(36) Search (NBC)

(37) Owen Marshall (ABC)

(38) Room 222 (ABC)

(39) Carol Burnett (CBS)

(40) Odd Couple (ABC)

(41) Emergency (NBC)

(42) Brady Bunch (ABC);

(43)Bob Newhart (CBS)

(44) MASH (CBS)

(45) Julie Andrews (ABC)

(46) Love, American Style (ABC)

(47) Bonanza (NBC)

(48) Waltons (CBS)

(49) Sonny & Cher (CBS)

(50) Dean Martin (NBC)

(51)Mission: Impossible (CBS)

(52)Temperatures Rising (ABC)

(53) Bill Cosby (CBS)

(54) Anna & the King (CBS)

(55) The Men (ABC)

(56) Banyon (NBC)

(57) Mannix (CBS)

(58) Streets of San Francisco

(59)Bold Ones (NBC)

(60) Sixth Sense (ABC)

(61) Night Gallery (NBC)

(62) Alias Smith & Jones (ABC)

(63) Dick Van Dyke (CBS)

(64) McGovern (Sunday) (CBS)

(65) NBC Reports (NBC)

ABC won the week 20.5 due to Love Story NBC was 2nd 19.1 and CBS 3rd 18.5

Night by Night

Mon 8pm Gunsmoke (CBS) 9pm -11pm Movie (NBC)

Tues 8pm Maude (CBS) 8.30 -10pm Movie (ABC) 10pm Marcus Welby (ABC)

Wed 8pm Adam 12 (NBC) 8.30-10pm Mystery Movie (NBC) 10pm Cannon (CBS)

Thurs 8pm Flip Wilson (NBC) 9pm Ironside (NBC) 10pm Owen Marshall (ABC)

Fri 8pm Sanford & Son (NBC) 8.30 Partridge Family (ABC) 9pm Movie (CBS)

Sat 8pm All in The Family (CBS) Bridget Loves Bernie (CBS) 9pm Movie (NBC)

Sun 7pm Disney (NBC) 8pm The FBI (ABC) 9pm Movie (ABC)

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[Paul Raven]

Sitcoms 8 of the Top 10. CBS had 6 of them. Good Times indeed! And they had Mary Tyler Moore, Bob Newhart etc  also doing well.

NBC foolishly did not try to build on the Fri night sitcom success. Rockford Files and Police woman did well off the back of Sanford/Chico but perhaps they should have moved Chico to 9pm and introduced 2 new sitcoms at 8.30/9.30 and move Rockford to another night. 

Both ABC and CBS got to #1 on the sitcom success but NBC missed their chance.

[Wendy]

Well, NBC got its ratings revenge for the next two subsequent decades, so it all balanced out!

[Paul Raven]

CBS had trouble initially finding a compatible 8.30 sitcom to AITF.

Funny Face with Sandy Duncan finished #8 but lost a lot of the lead in. Her show was revamped and moved to Sun the following season.

Bridget Loves Bernie was next and again did well #5 but was dropped due to controversy over the theme (odd considering that AITF thrived on controversy) 

For 73 they went with MASH which proved to be a winner and established itself as ahit and critical success.

But CBS moved it and replaced it with Paul Sand which again, lost too much of the AITF lead in and had mixed reviews.

So mid season CBS went with The Jeffersons. That was one of the few spinoffs that aired following the original show.

As of Feb. 3, Norman Lear's The Jeffersons (CBS, Saturday, 8:30 -9 p.m.) looked like the only certifiable hit among the networks' batch of second season shows. It got a 28.5 rating and 45 share on Feb. 1, making it the fifth highest rated show of the week.

CBS's Tony Orlando and Dawn (Wednesday, 8 -9 p.m.), after a number of sub survival ratings weeks, chalked up a 21.6 rating and 32 share on Jan. 29, on top of a solid 33 share on Jan. 22. Norman Lear's controversial The Hot l Baltimore (ABC, Friday, 9 -9:30 p.m.) also had its second good week in a row with a 19.4 rating and 31 share on Jan. 31.

The only successful second season transplant so far is ABC's The Six Million Dollar Man, which hit a 20.6 rating and 31 share in its new Sunday time period (7:30 -8:30 p.m.) on Feb 2. NBC's new private eye series Archer with Brian Keith, out of Paramount (Thursday, 8 -9 p.m.), got off to an unpromising start on Jan. 30, with a 17.6 rating and 27 share.

Two other new second season shows - The Mac Davis Show (NBC) and Baretta (ABC)- continued marginal in the ratings. The second -season shows (either new or shifted from other time periods) that, based on the Nielsens, look like sure losers are: Karen, Barney Miller, Kolchak and The Odd Couple.