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'.

1 hour ago, Paul Raven said:

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.

Yes, the first half of the season (week 1-12), Bridget Loves Bernie averaged at 25.5 and All in the Family 32.7. By the end of the season Bridget Loves Bernie was averaging a 24.2, while All in the Family 33.3. Mary Tyler Moore had a 21.8 rating for the first half of the season, 23.6 by the end of it. Similar with Bob Newhart - 19.5 at the beginning of the season, 21.8 by the end of the season. So all comedies on the night were in an upward trajectory except Bridget Loves Bernie.

Week of November 20-26 1972, All in the Family rated #1, Bridget Loves Bernie at #10 and Mary Tyler More at #14.

CBS replaced BLB with MASH which held onto the lead in. CBS decided to move MASH and introduced a new MTM comedy 'Friends and Lovers' which again didn't retain enough of the AITF lead in. So it was cancelled and The Jeffersons took over and was an instant hit.

After bringing up Bridget Loves Bernie, I was able to pull up the first 7 episodes on Internet Archive. It's a cute show, but one problem that jumps out at you right away is there are too many cast members and too much focus on the in-laws instead of the young couple.

Good writers could have woven better storylines and used the supporting cast in a better fashion. Birney and Baxter have excellent chemistry and one can see them falling in love for real. Too bad their marriage was tumultuous in real life.

The show is very dated with the controversial marriage issue and several characters trying to make a point of the changing times by mentioning " It's 1972".

7 hours ago, SoapDope78 said:

The show is very dated with the controversial marriage issue and several characters trying to make a point of the changing times by mentioning " It's 1972".

I genuinely believe the marriage controversy had very little to do with it - I mean, after the rural purge CBS was kind of courting "controversy" with the Norman Lear shows. It also aired in the same season where Maude had an abortion, so CBS was at that point not trying to be a conservative network even if it's what it's mostly known as today.

TvObscurities actually has a good archive of the 1972-73 ratings. Here's the night where the series finale aired:

All in the Family: 34.0/54

Bridget Loves Bernie: 21.5/33

Mary Tyler Moore: 25.6/41

Bob Newhart: 23.6/33

So by the end of the run, it had cratered to the point Mary Tyler Moore and Bob Newhart was out-rating it. The whole "religious groups got it cancelled" is a good story, but it is just that.

David Birney

Bridget Loves Bernie CBS 1972-73

Serpico NBC 1976-77

St Elsewhere 1982 NBC (first season)

Glitter ABC 1984-85

Live Shot UPN 1995

Meredith Baxter

Bridget Loves Bernie CBS 1972-73

Family 1976-80 ABC

Family Ties 1982-89 NBC

The Faculty ABC 1996