Primetime stars - Their hits and misses...

On 4/21/2026 at 8:51 AM, SoapDope78 said:

CBS tried to be edgy with the series "Bridget Loves Bernie" about a Catholic woman marrying a Jewish man. It caused a lot of controversy from religious groups . It ranked # 5 in the ratings during the 1972-73 season. CBS cancelled it due to backlash despite being a hit.

I think the problem was that although a success in ratings terms BLB was losing too many viewers from AITF. When NBC introduced Emergency in Jan 73 it's second half outrated BLB on several occasions. So the overall rating was because of stronger numbers in the first half of the season.

And although supposedly 'controversial' BLB looked old fashioned in style and content compared to AITF- lead in and MTM lead out.

From Broadcasting mag

'Bridget Loves Bernie, which CBS dropped this year on grounds that, though its shares were good, it still wasn't holding enough of its lead -in from All in the Family'.