Jump to content

Primetime ratings from the 60's.


Paul Raven

Recommended Posts

  • Members

Inspired by Soapsuds posting 1965 ratings in the 70's thread, I've decided to start one for the 1960's. That may be too far back for a lot of you, but hopefully there will be some interest.

Ratings collection was very different in those days and networks had to wait weeks to get a full nationwide picture of how shows were performing. Most new shows got a full season to prove themselves.

Here's the numbers for the Top 40 shows Sept 29-Oct 10 1965.

1 Bonanza (NBC) 29.7

2 Andy Griffith Special* (CSB) 27.4

3 Gomer Pyle U.S.M.C. (CBS) 26.0

4 Andy Griffith (CBS) 24.5

5 Get Smart* (NBC) 24.2

6 Bewitched (ABC) 24.0

7 Red Skelton (CBS) 23.9

8 Lucy Show (CBS) 23.8

9 Dick Van Dyke (CBS) 23.4

9 Shenandoah* (ABC) 23.4

11 Beverly Hillbillies (CBS) 23.1

12 Gunsmoke (CBS) 22.7

13 Green Acres* (CBS) 22.6

13 Hogan's Heroes* (CBS) 22.6

15 Man From U.N.C.L.E. (NBC) 22.5

16 Ed Sullivan (CBS) 22.3

17 Virginian (NBC) 21.6

18 Daniel Boone (NBC) 21.4

18 Thursday Night Movie* (CBS) 21.4

20 Lawrence Welk (ABC) 21.0

21 The Munsters (CBS) 20.9

22 F Troop* (ABC) 20.8

23 My Three Sons (CBS) 20.7

24 Gilligans Island (CBS) 20.6

24 Flipper (NBC) 20.6

26 I Dream of Jeannie* (NBC) 20.6

27 FBI Story* (ABC) 20.4

28 My Favorite Martian (CBS) 19.9

29 Combat (ABC) 19.8

30 Fugitive (ABC) 19.7

30 Hazel (CBS) 19.7

30 Petticoat Junction (CBS) 19.7

30 Wild Wild West* (CBS) 19.7

34 Run For Your Life* (NBC) 19.6

34 Jesse James* (ABC) 19.6

36 Laredo* (NBC) 19.5

37 Smothers Brothers* (CBS) 19.3

37 Saturday Night Movie (NBC) 19.3

37 McHales Navy (ABC) 19.3

40 Peyton Place II (ABC) 19.1

40 Sunday Movie (ABC) 19.1

*New Show.

  Top 5

CBS 3 NBC  2 ABC 0

Top 10

CBS 6 NBC 2  ABC 2

Top 15

CBS 10 NBC 3 ABC 2

Top 20

CBS 12 NBC 5  ABC 3

Top 30

CBS 16 NBC 7 ABC 7 

Top 40

CBS 20 NBC 10 ABC 11

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 14
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

  • Members

All of the networks movie nights in the Top 30.

By seasons end the ABC Sunday and Wednesday movies finished out of the Top 30.

ABC struggling. Despite Bewitched in the Top 10 they couldn't build a competitive night around it. That Girl followed Bewitched, which finished the season #11, but Marlo didn't make the Top 30. Competition from CBS Movie and second half of Ironside on NBC was too strong.

NBC had the same issue with Bonanza, a Top 5 show, but follow up High Chapparal  was nowhere to be seen.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members


Thanks starting this…definitely wayyyy before my time and existence but interesting to look through nonetheless.

I never knew Hazel aired its final  season on CBS. I remember trying to watch reruns of that years ago and found it appallingly bad LOL. 

My Three Sons move from ABC to CBS and William Fawley leaving due to bad health proved more successful….though I will say I’m always surprised to see how long the show lasted and how it was milked to death. The later years could’ve easily been a brand new show compared to the earlier years 

Interesting to see CBS just dominate and also display a wide variety of mostly higher quality programming.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
  • Members

ABC failing to land a single show in the Top 20. They were so far behind the eight ball in those years with only Bewitched, FBI and a few other shows making any impression.

Smothers Brothers was the first show to make any impact on Bonanza but controversy over their content and clashes with CBs saw them cancelled.

NBC's  Wednesday and Thursday lineups were the only nights all the shows made the Top 20.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

arland

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
  • 4 weeks later...
  • Members

Night by night

Mon 

Gunsmoke taking the 7.30 slot over Jeannie on NBC before Laugh In takes 8-9 but Here's Lucy competitive at 8.30.

Then CBS sweeps the night with Mayberry, Family Affair and Carol Burnett. NBC holds up with the Monday movie. ABC completely out of the race with Avengers, Peyton Place, Outcasts and Big Valley.

Tues

Mod Squad beats Lancer as lead in but after 8.30 ABC loses momentum.  It Takes a Thief, NYPD and That's Life are nowhere to be seen. Jerry Lewis flops for NBC .At 8.30 Red Skelton and Julia are competitive but Doris Day beats the Tuesday movie which has the advantage of CBS news as  it's 10pm competition.

Wed

The Virginian takes the first 90 mins  over Daktari/Good Guys  and Here Comes the Brides/Peyton Place. CBS takes the next hour Beverly Hillbillies/Green Acres. Kraft Music Hall is 2nd in the timeslot but no network makes the Top 40 at 10pm. Jonathan Winters,The Outsider and the last hour of ABC's movie fail to impress.

Thurs

Strong for NBC . Daniel Boone/Ironside/Dragnet/Dean Martin take every timeslot except 8.30 where Bewitched stands alone for ABC. Lead-ins Ugliest Girl in Town/Flying Nun and lead outs That Girl/Journey to the Unknown flop.

CBS first  half hour is also a disaster Blondie provides a poor lead in to Hawaii Five O but the Thursday movie manages a Top 40 placement.

Fri

Gomer Pyle at #2 helping Friday Movie hit Top 40 but lead in Wild Wild West out of Top 40.

Neither ABC- Operation Entertainment/Felony Squad/Don Rickles/Will Sonnett/Judd for the Defense or NBC Tarzan/Name of the Game/Star Trek were competitive.

Sat 

Jackie Gleason takes the first hour over Adam 12/Get Smart and Newlywed/Dating Game.

At 8.30 My Three Sons, Ghost and Mrs Muir and Lawrence Welk are all close in the ratings. NBC takes 9-11 with a movie but CBS hangs in there with Hogan's Heroes/Petticoat Junction.

Hollywood Palace and Mannix fall out of top 40.

Sun 

Land of the Giants, Lassie/Gentle Ben and Huckleberry Finn/Disney in the lead in hour. ABC beats Ed Sullivan and Disney/Mothers in Law before Bonanza takes over at 9 defeating Smothers Brothers and ABC movie. At 10 Mission Impossible leads over High Chapparal and the final hour of the movie.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...
  • Members

Night by night

Mon

7.30 Monkees #40  Gilligans Island #39 

8.00 Mt Terrific # 27

8.30 Lucy #4  Rat Patrol # 21 

9.00  Andy Griffith #2 

9.30 Family Affair #12 Peyton Place #35

10.00 Nothing in Top 40 Jean Arthur on CBS a big flop. ABC offers Big Valley, NBC Run For Your Life

Tues

7.30 Daktari #9

8.30 Red Skelton #3 Invaders #31

9.30 Petticoat Junction #19

10.00 The Fugitive #37

Wed

7.30 The Virginian 90 min #15

8.30 Beverly hillbillies # 13

9.00 Green Acres #10 Bob Hope Chrysler Theater #29

9.30 Gomer Pyle # 20

10.00 Nothing in Top 40 Danny Kaye CBS I Spy NBC Stage 67 ABC

Thurs

7.30 Daniel Boone #25

8.30 My Three Sons # 36

9.00  Bewitched #8 CBS Movie #33

9.30 Dragnet # 16

10.00 CBS Movie #33

Fri

7.30 Tarzan #11

8.30 Hogans Heroes #22

9.00 CBS Movie #30

Sat

7.30 Jackie Gleason #5

8.30 Lawrence Welk #18 Get Smart #32 CBS Playhouse #38

9.00 NBC Movie #14

10.00 Gunsmoke #26

Sun

7.00 Lassie #24

7.30 Disney #34

8.00 Ed Sullivan # 7 The FBI #28

9.00 Bonanza #6 Smothers Brothers #17 ABC Movie #23

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Unfortunately, your content contains terms that we do not allow. Please edit your content to remove the highlighted words below.
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.



  • Recent Posts

    • Please register in order to view this content

       
    • Surely we (and Billy Flynn) are not going to be saddled with a character named Aristotle Dumas? This isn't 1970's Edge of Night.
    • What annoys me a little bit about the "day players" is they sound a bit too "Brooklyn-ish" sometimes.  Obviously, the show was taped in New York City, and the actors are all New York actors, but Monticello is supposed to be located in Illinois or Ohio.  Occasionally, they grab actors and actresses for small roles who have VERY distinct New York accents, which contrasts sharply with the main cast, none of whom have noticeable accents (except for our dashing European gigolo, Eliot Dorn, of course).  The heavy Brooklyn accent works fine if the character is a bookie, or the owner of a pawn shop, or a guy who's selling stolen guns on the street corner.  But when it's a steadily recurring character -- such as the first Mrs. Goodman, who worked for Miles and Nicole -- it's pretty jarring to me sometimes.  And you'll see it often -- such as an "under-five" character who witnesses a car accident, or a character who witnesses a shooting, or the occasional desk clerk, or waiter.  
    • Please register in order to view this content

       
    • Please register in order to view this content

       
    • Please register in order to view this content

       
    • I'm screaming at those clips and gifs.  THIS IS PURE GOLD.

      Please register in order to view this content

    • That's always been my thought. I can't imagine that the show would play up the unseen AD so far in advance without them casting a *star*. After today's episode, I wonder if he'll somehow be connected with Diane. It was strange that Diane mentioned her very distant family today. I can't recall Diane ever talking about her backstory. Maybe he's her much younger brother?  It's also possible he's connected to Diane during her time in LA. Sally's already said she crossed paths with him. OC, I think Dumas is Mariah's mistake.... As a side note, it was good to see some mixing it up - Adam with Clare/Kyle and Sharon with Tessa.
    • Here's the place to share some memorable criticism. You don't have to agree with it, of course (that's often where the fun starts). Like I mentioned to @DRW50, Sally Field was a favorite punching bag in the late '80s and early '90s.   Punchline (the 1988 movie where she and Tom Hanks are stand ups): "It's impossible to tell the difference between Miss Field's routines that are supposed to be awful, and the awful ones that are supposed to be funny." -- Vincent Canby, New York Times. "It's not merely that Field is miscast; she's miscast in a role that leaves no other resource available to her except her lovability. And (David) Seltzer's script forces her to peddle it shamelessly." -- Hal Hinson, Washington Post. "As a woman who can't tell a joke, Sally Field is certainly convincing. ... Field has become an unendurable performer ... She seems to be begging the audience not to punch her. Which, of course, is the worst kind of bullying from an actor. ... She's certainly nothing like the great housewife-comedian Roseanne Barr, who is a tough, uninhibited performer. Sally Field's pandering kind of 'heart' couldn't be further from the spirit of comedy." -- David Denby, New York   Steel Magnolias: The leading ladies: Dolly Parton: "She is one of the sunniest and most natural of actresses," Roger Ebert wrote. Imagining that she probably saw Truvy as an against-type role, Hinson concluded it's still well within her wheelhouse. "She's just wearing fewer rhinestones." Sally Field: "Field, as always, is a lead ball in the middle of the movie," according to Denby . M'Lynn giving her kidney to Shelby brought out David's bitchy side. "I can think of a lot more Sally Field organs that could be sacrificed." Shirley MacLaine: "(She) attacks her part with the ferociousness of a pit bull," Hinson wrote. "The performance is so manic that you think she must be taking off-camera slugs of Jolt." (I agree. If there was anyone playing to the cheap seats in this movie, it's Shirley.) Olympia Dukakis: "Excruciating, sitting on her southern accent as if each obvious sarcasm was dazzlingly witty," Denby wrote. Daryl Hannah: "Miss Hannah's performance is difficult to judge," according to Canby, which seems to suggest he took a genuine "if you can't say something nice ..." approach. Julia Roberts: "(She acts) with the kind of mega-intensity the camera cannot always absorb," Canby wrote. That comment is so fascinating in light of the nearly 40 years Julia has spent as a Movie Star. She is big. It's the audience who had to play catch up. And on that drag-ish note ... The movie itself: "You feel as if you have been airlifted onto some horrible planet of female impersonators," Hinson wrote. Canby: "Is one supposed to laugh at these women, or with them? It's difficult to tell." Every review I read acknowledged the less than naturalistic dialogue in ways both complimentary (Ebert loved the way the women talked) and cutting (Harling wrote too much exposition, repeating himself like a teenager telling a story, Denby wrote). Harling wrote with sincerity and passion, Canby acknowledged, but it's still a work of "bitchiness and greeting card truisms." The ending was less likely to inspire feeling good as it was feeling relieved, according to Denby. "(It's) as if a group of overbearing, self-absorbed, but impeccable mediocre people at last exit from the house."
    • I tend to have two minds about Tawny (Kathy Najimy) fainting during Soapdish's big reveal. You're the costume designer, if anything, you should have known the whole time. I guess it's an application of what TV Tropes calls the "Rule of Funny." Every time I watch Delirious, I always want the genuine romance in John and Mariel's reunion at the deli counter to last longer. Film critics had their knives out for Sally in this period. I'll start a separate thread on the movies page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy