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  • Member
On 6/29/2021 at 11:51 PM, Paul Raven said:

The fall 1974 schedule. Here's how things were going after 2 weeks in.

1. All in the Family 28.3/50

2. Chico and the Man 28.3/47

3. Rhoda 26.9/49

4. Sanford and Son 26.6/44

5. The Waltons 24.3/41

6. Maude 24.1/37

7. ABC Sunday Movie 22.8/39

8. Little House on the Prairie 22.7/38

9. MASH 22.7/35

10. NBC Mystery Movie 22.6/35

11. Medical Center 22.4/27

12. Mary Tyler Moore 22.1/38

13. Rockford Files 22.1/38

14. Paul Sand in Friends and Lovers 22.0/38

15. Streets of San Francisco 21.5/34

16. Kojak 21.4/33

17. Bob Newhart 21.3/37

18. Disney 21.2/39

19. Policewoman 21.0/38

20. ABC Tuesday Movie 21.0/32

21. NBC Saturday Movie 20.7/35

22. Good Times 20.7/34

23.  Manhunter 29.5/36

24. NBC Tuesday Movie 20.5/32

25. NBC Monday Movie 20.5/32

26. Gunsmoke 20.1/31

27. Hawaii Five O 19.9/30

28. Police Story 19.3/34

29. CBS Friday Movie 19.1/33

30. Lucas Tanner 19.0/30

 

Day 8:00 8:30 9:00 9:30 10:00 10:30 Network
Sunday Sonny Comedy Revue Movie ABC
Apple's Way Kojak Mannix   CBS
Walt Disney Mystery Movie   NBC
Monday The Rookies Monday Night Football ABC
Gunsmoke Maude Rhoda Medical Center CBS
Born Free Monday Night Movie NBC
Tuesday Happy Days Move of the Week Marcus Welby, M.D. ABC
Good Times M*A*S*H Hawaii Five-O Barnaby Jones CBS
Adam 12 Movie Police Story NBC
Wednesday That's My Mama Movie Get Christie Love ABC
Sons and Daughters Cannon Manhunter CBS
Little House on the Praire Lucas Tanner Petrocelli NBC
Thursday Odd Couple Paper Moon Streets of San Francisco Harry-O ABC
The Waltons Movie CBS
Sierra Ironside Movin' On NBC
Friday Kodiak Six Million Dollar Man Texas Wheelers Kolchak: The Night Stalker ABC
Planet of the Apes Movie CBS
Sanford and Son Chico and the Man Rockford Files Police Woman NBC
Saturday The New Land Kung Fu Nakia ABC
All in the Family Paul Sand in Friends and Lovers Mary Tyler Moore Show Bob Newhart Show Carol Burnett Show CBS
Emergency Movie NBC

 The year I was born ❤️

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  • Member
9 hours ago, BetterForgotten said:

MTM Enterprises did Betty and Georgia so WRONG on that show...

Agree.

  • Author
  • Member
10 hours ago, Khan said:

Agree.

Could you elaborate?

That show seemed to have hit written all over it. CBS scheduled it for Mon @9 and early ratings were good.

WTH happened???

  • Member

Well, the premise was intriguing enough.

In "The Betty White Show," Betty portrayed Joyce Whitman, a middle-aged actress, who lands the lead role in a new series, "Undercover Woman," that parodied "Police Woman," starring Angie Dickinson.  Unfortunately, for Joyce, the director for her new series turns out to be her ex-husband, played by a pre-"Magnum, P.I." John Hillerman.  Subsequently, episodes revolved around Betty and John's characters, as they learned to co-exist again, while navigating the ins and outs of producing a new, weekly TV series.

Again, a fairly solid premise.  EXCEPT...much of the supporting cast was forgettable; Georgia Engel, who WASN'T forgettable, nevertheless had a very inconsequential role as Betty's BFF (they should have made her character one of Joyce's UW co-stars instead); the "Undercover Woman" scenes played like rejected Carol Burnett skits; and the choice to shoot episodes on videotape rather than film seemed to blunt much of the show's humor, too.  (Not that there was much humor, mind you.  You know your show is crap when even David Lloyd can't turn out a decent script.)

Edited by Khan

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57 minutes ago, Khan said:

Well, the premise was intriguing enough.

In "The Betty White Show," Betty portrayed Joyce Whitman, a middle-aged actress, who lands the lead role in a new series, "Undercover Woman," that parodied "Police Woman," starring Angie Dickinson.  Unfortunately, for Joyce, the director for her new series turns out to be her ex-husband, played by a pre-"Magnum, P.I." John Hillerman.  Subsequently, episodes revolved around Betty and John's characters, as they learned to co-exist again, while navigating the ins and outs of producing a new, weekly TV series.

Again, a fairly solid premise.  EXCEPT...much of the supporting cast was forgettable; Georgia Engel, who WASN'T forgettable, nevertheless had a very inconsequential role as Betty's BFF (they should have made her character one of Joyce's UW co-stars instead); the "Undercover Woman" scenes played like rejected Carol Burnett skits; and the choice to shoot episodes on videotape rather than film seemed to blunt much of the show's humor, too.  (Not that there was much humor, mind you.  You know your show is crap when even David Lloyd can't turn out a decent script.)

Did Betty play a Sue Ann type character or was she softer?

I guess the Undercover Woman premise was meant to be part of the humor as Betty is along way from Angie Dickinson.

The videotape is a surprise as viewers were used to MTM shows being filmed.

Anyway, Betty had a couple of weeks of good numbers but once the season was truly underway, CBS was clobbered by the NBC Monday movie which was feeding off the Little House lead-in.

When CBS programmed an Elvis special at 8pm (#2 for the week) Betty jumped back into the Top 10 but that was it. It then swapped timeslots with lead out Maude before being dropped.

CBS which was suffering on Tues as Three's Company was hurting MASH moved its Tues 9-11 shows to Monday and put in a movie on Tues. That immediately worked and MASH was saved and prospered Mon at 9 till it finished.

Maybe if Betty was put Sat @9 it might have stood more of a chance in the familiar MTM slot.

  • Member
24 minutes ago, Paul Raven said:

Did Betty play a Sue Ann type character or was she softer?

From what I recall, Joyce Whitman wasn't man-hungry like Sue Ann, but she was definitely sarcastic.

On the one hand, procedural shows like "Police Woman" were still very popular, so I get why the producers of "The Betty White Show" would make their show-within-a-show a takeoff on that genre.  But, on the other hand, I think it would have made more sense to have Joyce work as a nurse on a medical show (think "Trapper John, M.D.") or even a perennially low-rated soap opera, like GH or THE DOCTORS. 

For the early part of her career, Betty White had an almost saccharine image; something which "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" wisely subverted with Sue Ann, the "Happy Homemaker," who was more like the Happy Home-WRECKER.  They could have done the same thing on Betty's own show, with Joyce's image as a benevolent, saintly nurse serving as a dichotomy to how she was in her own, personal life.

Edited by Khan

  • Member

The hilarious thing with Betty's career after Sue Ann was that she would go on to play more characters like that vs. Rose on The Golden Girls, or the sickeningly sweet characters she played in early TV. 

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  • Member
2 minutes ago, Khan said:

From what I recall, Joyce Whitman wasn't man-hungry like Sue Ann, but she was definitely sarcastic.

On the one hand, procedural shows like "Police Woman" were still very popular, so I get why the producers of "The Betty White Show" would make their show-within-a-show a takeoff on that genre.  But, on the other hand, I think it would have made more sense to have Joyce work as a nurse on a medical show (think "Trapper John, M.D.") or even a perennially low-rated soap opera, like GH or THE DOCTORS. 

For the early part of her career, Betty White had an almost saccharine image; something which "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" wisely subverted with Sue Ann, the "Happy Homemaker," who was more like the Happy Home-WRECKER.  They could have done the same thing on Betty's own show, with Joyce's image as a benevolent, saintly nurse serving as a dichotomy to how she was in her own, personal life.

Funny I thought the same thing.

Betty as a nurse or maybe a Waltons/Little House type wife would have been more believable and offscreen perhaps not as bitchy as Sue Ann but nonetheless with an edge to contrast her fictional character.

  • 3 weeks later...
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  • Member

WK 1 76-77 season.

ABC had it's best premiere  week ever.

1. Happy Days ABC 34.7/53

2.Sunday Movie 'Butch Cassidy and Sundance Kid ABC 31.9/51

3. Movie Airport 75 NBC 31.6/46

4.  Bionic Woman ABC 28.1/46

5. Movie 'Earthquake Pt. 1 ' NBC 27.8/41

6. All in the Family CBS 27.3/41

7. Rich Man Poor Man Book 2 ABC 26.7/42

8. Charlie's Angels ABC 26.4/45

9. MASH CBS 23.5/43

10. Six Million Dollar Man ABC 23.2/34

  • Member

Between Aaron Spelling and Marshall/Miller/Milkis/Boyett, ABC really struck gold in the late '70's.

  • Author
  • Member

The 79/80 season was the beginning of ABC losing it's grip on 1st place.

It was a tight race but CBS just slipped ahead.

ABC had the top six shows in 78/79

1. Laverne & Shirley dropped to 42nd in 79/80

ABC moved it from Tues 8.30 after Happy Days to Thurs @8 replacing Mork & Mindy. When Mork faltered it was moved back to its old slot and Laverne was moved to Mon @8 where it bombed before returning to Tues @8.30.

2. Three's Company. Held that spot in 79/80

3. Happy Days dropped to 17th in 79/80. Sheriff Lobo on NBC  provided some competition but overall viewers just seemed to lose interest.

4. Mork & Mindy dropped to 27th. ABC moved it to Sunday @ 8 up against Archie Bunker. archie began winning regurlarly so ABC returned it to Thurs but the ratings weren't as high as before.

5. Angie dropped to 39th. Scheduled after Mork the previous season it was a late season hit but then moved to follow Happy days before being exiled to Saturday night .

6. The Ropers. Earned that position in a limited run following 3's Company and Taxi. For 79/80 it was sent to Sat to lead off the night and failed.

Meanwhile CBS shows improved their standing.

7. MASH moved to 4th

8. 60 Minutes move up to #1

13. Alice moved up to # 5

18. One Day at a Time moved up to #10

20. Dukes of Hazzard moved up to #9

40. Dallas moved up to #6

49. Jeffersons moved up to #8

 

 

  • Member

"The Ropers" has to be the worst spin-off ever created.  There is not one redeeming quality about that entire series.  Not. One.

"Mork & Mindy"'s swift decline is generally attributed to two factors: a time slot change, and too many changes to the show's cast after the first season.

  • Author
  • Member

I remember CBS exec saying at one time 'Never move a hit, only a show that is struggling'

Of course, that was never followed but in ABC's case that was sage advice.

Mork, Laverne, Angie,The Ropers were moved and probably should have stayed put.

ABC also moved Fantasy Island that season to Fri at 8 where it flopped and was quickly returned to Sat at 10 and the ratings rebounded.

  • Member
12 hours ago, Paul Raven said:

Mork, Laverne, Angie,The Ropers were moved and probably should have stayed put.

Actually, I think "Angie" was doomed no matter what.  Once she and Brad had married, the life was drained from the series.

And "The Ropers" was just...oh God, lol.

Edited by Khan

  • 1 month later...

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