Thanks @Soapsuds

Those Feb 2 ratings were an anomaly as CBS showed a 3 hr Shakeseare production.

Viewers switched in droves to the opposition with the ABC sitcoms hitting best numbers of the season and even a dud like Circle of Fear doing well.

NBC were reluctant to break up the Sanford/Chico duo but had they moved Chico to 9 they could have introduced new sitcoms at 8.30 and 9.30 which would have benefited the overall schedule as NBC had no other sitcoms and that was pretty much what gave CBS and then ABC the winning edge.

...

This was peak 'network wars' with super hyped programming battling it out.

ABC -TV emerged on top with a 21.9 rating average, NBC climbed out of third for the first time since last November with an 18.9 and CBS -TV came in close behind with an 18.3.

MON

CBS programmed All in the Family/Alice #19 8-9. MASH #9

ABC Salvage had a 28 share How The West was Won 26 share.

NBC Little House #12 Backstairs at White House #7

TUES

ABC Happy Days #4 Laverne #3 Three's Company #2 Taxi #8

WED

The much hyped Supertrain on NBC had a 2 hr debut and managed a 32 share #17 up against 2hr Charlies Angels 35 share #11.

Quincy had a special episode @10 #20.

CBS was way off Spiderman 23 share One Day at A Time 24 share, Jeffersons 25share/Kaz 19 share.

THURS

Angie #5 premiered following Mork & Mindy #1 so was guaranteed a successful debut. It was Mork's highest rated episode to date. Barney Miller #13

NBC up against Mork/Angie had Little Women premiere 18 share and 2hr Women in White 25 share

CBS Waltons 27 share

FRI

CBS Dukes of Hazzard 33share/Dallas 38 share #18

ABC After airing the previous Friday behind a Happy Days special episode, new sitcom Makin It aired @8 to a dismal 20 share up against Diff'rent Strokes and Incredible Hulk.

NBC were trying a sitcom block-Strokes 36 share #15 /Brothers & Sisters 26 share/ Turnabout 24 share/Hello Larry 22 share and Sweepstakes 21 share.

SAT

NBC BJ & The Bear 90 min premiere 36 share/Rockford Files 90 min ep 27 share

CBS White Shadow @8 25 share

ABC Love Boat #16

SUN

ABC Osmonds @7 24 share Elvis 8-11 #6 27.3/39

CBS GWTW Pt 1 7-10 #10 24.3/36 60 Minutes @19 27 share

NBC Cuckoos Nest #14 22.5/32 Weekend @10 19 share

That was only the 2nd time GWTW had been shown on TV. The first showing was in 1976 on NBC.

CBS Previews New Fall Season (1974-1975) "See the Best: CBS"

CBS Fall Shows (1978/1979) Promo Reel

Thanks @DRW50 Love these things you unearth. The living room set looked to be the Stephen's house from Bewitched.

Bob/Carol/Ted/Alice aired on ABC Wed @8 and ended up placing 79th out of 80 shows for the season, so a total bomb.

The competition was Sonny & Cher on CBS #7 and Adam 12 on NBC #39.

It was the 2nd lowest rated show for the week when it debuted. That was Wk 3 .The first 2 weeks of the season ABC played the final episodes of the low rated Summer sitcom Love Thy Neighbour so the show was already at a disadvantage

After 7 episodes it was dropped Nov7for a rerun of the TV movie Brians Song which had scored huge ratings in 1971. The following week Dr Dolittle aired.

Then Dick Clark's Rock n Roll Years took over for 5 weeks. That didnt do much better finishing 76th for it's run. Then it was movies and specials until the next series The Cowboys too over. That improved things finishing 57th.

Some critic's comments

Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (ABC, Wednesday, 8 -8:30 p.m.) "It takes more than a title to make a hit. . . If anything, the opener was disagreeable rather than humorous." Percy Shain, Boston Globe.

"The premiere ... tried awfully hard to be slick and sophisticated, but it came out looking strained and silly." Anthony LaCamera, Boston Herald American.

"How d'ya make it as sinful and sizzling as possible, but turn it around to be as Donna Reedish as possible by the end of the 22 minutes of running time... , After all the buildup, we find the plot not much more advanced than an Ozzie and Harriet ..." Rex Polier, Philadelphia Bulletin.

.. could be amusing & titillating & honest & contemporary if its principles are as astutely chosen as its principals." Harry Harris, Philadelphia Inquirer.

"Despite some very labored material, we happened to like ABC's Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice mainly because we like the four leads in it. They play well together and hold every promise that this series, with a title steal from the film, could come up with some good episodes in weeks to come." Kay Gardella, New York Daily News.

"Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice moves into screen range ... in a swift, occasionally bright, conventionally unconventional sex fable." Morton Moss, Los Angeles Herald- Examiner.

"It showed promise." Frank Judge, Detroit News. "Voluptuous Anne Archer . . . and lean, handsome Robert Urich as Carol and Bob tower over Anita Gillette and David Spielberg as Ted and Alice... . One thing that should be explained about the relationship of Bob and Carol with Ted and Alice: What do they see in each other?" Cecil Smith, Los Angeles Times.

"Based on the premiere, Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice will need help from Fred & Susie & Stan & Grace & Ed & Jenny & the U.S. Marine Band & the Kilgore College majorettes & Trigger & Lassie & all the males in the city of Hollywood & all the females in the city of Oakland & most of all, prayer." Norman Mark, Chicago Daily News.

"Bob and Carol and Ted and Alice have had their horns removed and endowed with a Hugh Heffner mentality - lots of talk about sex and no action... . Welcome to a half hour of sniggers, dedicated to the proposition that any topic can be debated into boredom, even sex." Richard Shull, Indianapolis News.

"It is a shame that Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice doesn't have a stronger format or premise because the four young actors who play the title roles are quite likeable." Bob Brock, Dallas Times -Herald

Thanks @Paul Raven appreciate all the reviews. The Chicago Daily News review made me laugh.

The cast is indeed very likeable but I'm never sure why they decided to make a show based on a film they couldn't adapt to television, as there was not going to be any wife-swapping going on.