Author: Episode 30

The 1977-78 television season saw fewer viewers tuning in on Saturday nights. The 8:00 p.m. (ET) timeslot was particularly brutal for series trying to earn high ratings. The Bob Newhart Show and The Jeffersons (CBS), The Bionic Woman (NBC), and Fish, Tabitha, What’s Happening!! and Mel and Susan Together (ABC) all flopped in the slot…

When ABC and CBS announced their fall schedules for 1978, the two networks each slotted a promising newcomer on Monday night at 8:00 (ET). It was a tough timeslot, as NBC’s Little House on the Prairie had dominated it for the previous two years, finishing in 7th place in the Nielsen ratings for the 1977-78…

Ratings troubles? For M*A*S*H? After all, it finished in the top 10 for nine of its 11 years on CBS, topping out in 2nd place in its final season. Yet, the network moved M*A*S*H several times, including three instances when its ratings were not as strong as hoped. M*A*S*H debuted in 1972 on Sunday at…

How did two of the top shows of the 1974-75 season end up competing in the same timeslot in the fall of 1975? It was part of a gamble on CBS’ part to try to put a dent in the ratings of NBC’s successful Friday night lineup. NBC had dominated the Friday at 8:00 p.m.(ET)…

Happy Days and Good Times premiered just weeks apart in early 1974. Despite tough competition, both of these mid-season replacement sitcoms were hits in their first season. Replacing flop The New Temperatures Rising Show on Tuesday at 8 p.m. (ET) on ABC, the nostalgic Happy Days, from The Odd Couple producer Garry Marshall, finished 16th…

Fred Sanford had a worthy opponent on screen in feisty Aunt Esther. The same can’t be said for the sitcoms that had the misfortune of being scheduled opposite Sanford and Son. Sanford and Son premiered on NBC on Friday at 8:00 p.m. (ET) in January 1972 and was an instant smash hit, finishing 6th in…

In the 1972-73 television season, The Partridge Family finished as ABC’s second-highest-rated scripted series, landing in 19th place in the Nielsen ratings, trailing only Marcus Welby, M.D., which finished 13th. The Partridge Family was also far and away ABC’s most popular sitcom. Having previously won two epic sitcom showdowns of the ’70s, The Partridge Family…

In the first epic sitcom showdown of the ’70s, I examined how The Partridge Family defeated Andy Griffith in his TV comeback, as his dramedy Headmaster and his down-home sitcom The New Andy Griffith Show were each bested by the new sitcom. In its second season, The Partridge Family became an even bigger hit, finishing…

The FCC ordered the three major broadcast networks to give four hours of primetime programming back to their affiliates, beginning in the fall of 1971. For the most part, the networks cut an hour from their Sunday night schedules and a half-hour on the remaining nights. There were a couple of exceptions where ABC and…

After experiencing a downturn in the late 1960s, sitcoms began a comeback in both ratings and quality in the 1970s. So it was inevitable that some of the decade’s sitcoms went head-to-head in various timeslots. Sometimes the results were close. Other times, it was a one-sided battle. The Partridge Family vs. Headmaster CBS lured Andy…