1973–74 United States network television schedule

The following is the 1973–74 network television schedule for the three major English language commercial broadcast networks in the United States. The schedule covers primetime hours from September 1973 through August 1974. The schedule is followed by a list per network of returning series, new series, and series cancelled after the 1972–73 season. All times are Eastern and Pacific, with certain exceptions, such as Monday Night Football.

New fall series are highlighted in bold.

Each of the 30 highest-rated shows is listed with its rank and rating as determined by Nielsen Media Research.[1]

  Yellow indicates the programs in the top 10 for the season.
  Cyan indicates the programs in the top 20 for the season.
  Magenta indicates the programs in the top 30 for the season.

PBS, the Public Broadcasting Service, was in operation, but the schedule was set by each local station.

Sunday

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Network 7:30 PM 8:00 PM 8:30 PM 9:00 PM 9:30 PM 10:00 PM 10:30 PM
ABC The F.B.I. The ABC Sunday Night Movie (23/20.7)
(Tied with Adam-12)
Local
CBS Fall The New Perry Mason Mannix Barnaby Jones (17/21.4)
(Tied with Good Times)
Winter Apple's Way
Summer 60 Minutes
NBC The Wonderful World of Disney (12/22.3)
(Tied with The Bob Newhart Show)
NBC Sunday Mystery Movie (Columbo / McCloud / McMillan and Wife / Hec Ramsey) (14/22.2)

Note: 60 Minutes aired at 6:00-7:00 pm on CBS from January to June 1974.

Monday

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Network 8:00 PM 8:30 PM 9:00 PM 9:30 PM 10:00 PM 10:30 PM
ABC Fall The Rookies (25/20.3) Monday Night Football (19/21.2)
(Tied with The CBS Friday Night Movie)
Winter ABC Monday Movie (26/20.2)
CBS Gunsmoke (15/22.1) Here's Lucy (29/20.0) The New Dick Van Dyke Show Medical Center
NBC Fall Lotsa Luck Diana NBC Monday Night at the Movies
Winter The Magician
Summer The Baseball World of Joe Garagiola (8:00) / Monday Night Baseball (8:15)

Tuesday

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Network 8:00 PM 8:30 PM 9:00 PM 9:30 PM 10:00 PM 10:30 PM
ABC Fall The New Temperatures Rising Show ABC Tuesday Movie of the Week (21/21.0) Marcus Welby, M.D.
Winter Happy Days (16/21.5)
CBS Maude (6/23.5) Hawaii Five-O (5/24.0) The New CBS Tuesday Night Movies / Hawkins / Shaft
NBC Fall Chase The Magician Police Story
Winter Adam-12 (23/20.7)
(Tied with The ABC Sunday Night Movie)
NBC Tuesday Mystery Movie: Banacek / Tenafly / Faraday and Company / The Snoop Sisters

Wednesday

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Network 8:00 PM 8:30 PM 9:00 PM 9:30 PM 10:00 PM 10:30 PM
ABC Fall Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice ABC Wednesday Movie of the Week Owen Marshall, Counselor at Law
November Dick Clark Presents the Rock and Roll Years
Winter The Cowboys Doc Elliot
CBS Fall The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour (7/23.3)
(Tied with Kojak)
Cannon (9/23.1)
(Tied with The Mary Tyler Moore Show)
Kojak (7/23.3)
(Tied with The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour)
Summer The Bobbie Gentry Show
Follow-up Tony Orlando & Dawn
August The Hudson Brothers Show
NBC Fall Adam-12 (23/20.7)
(Tied with The ABC Sunday Night Movie)
NBC Wednesday Mystery Movie: Banacek / Tenafly / Faraday & Company / The Snoop Sisters Love Story
Winter Chase NBC Wednesday Night at the Movies

Thursday

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Network 8:00 PM 8:30 PM 9:00 PM 9:30 PM 10:00 PM 10:30 PM
ABC Fall Toma Kung Fu (27/20.1)
(Tied with The Carol Burnett Show)
The Streets of San Francisco (22/20.8)
Winter Chopper One Firehouse
Summer Temperatures Rising
August Just for Laughs
CBS The Waltons (2/28.1) CBS Thursday Night Movie (30/19.9)
NBC Fall The Flip Wilson Show Ironside NBC Follies
Winter Music Country USA
Summer The Mac Davis Show The Dean Martin Comedy World

Friday

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Network 8:00 PM 8:30 PM 9:00 PM 9:30 PM 10:00 PM 10:30 PM
ABC Fall The Brady Bunch The Odd Couple Room 222 Adam's Rib Love, American Style
Winter The Six Million Dollar Man (11/22.7) The Odd Couple Toma
CBS Fall Calucci's Department Roll Out! The CBS Friday Night Movie (19/21.2)
(Tied with Monday Night Football)
Winter Dirty Sally Good Times (17/21.4)
(Tied with Barnaby Jones)
Summer Your Hit Parade
NBC Fall Sanford and Son (3/27.5) The Girl with Something Extra Needles and Pins The Brian Keith Show* The Dean Martin Show
Winter Lotsa Luck The Girl with Something Extra
Summer The Brian Keith Show* NBC Friday Night at the Movies

(*) Formerly The Little People

Saturday

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Network 8:00 PM 8:30 PM 9:00 PM 9:30 PM 10:00 PM 10:30 PM
ABC Fall The Partridge Family ABC Suspense Movie Griff
January Owen Marshall: Counselor at Law
CBS Fall All in the Family (1/31.2) M*A*S*H (4/25.7) The Mary Tyler Moore Show (9/23.1)
(Tied with Cannon)
The Bob Newhart Show (12/22.3)
(Tied with The Wonderful World of Disney)
The Carol Burnett Show (27/20.1)
(Tied with Kung Fu)
Summer Barnaby Jones
NBC Emergency! NBC Saturday Night at the Movies

By network

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Note: The * indicates that the program was introduced in midseason.

References

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  1. ^ Highest-rated series is based on the annual top-rated programs list compiled by Nielsen Media Research and reported in: Brooks, Tim & Marsh, Earle (2007). The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network TV Shows (9th ed.). New York: Ballantine. ISBN 978-0-345-49773-4.

Additional sources

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  • Castleman, H. & Podrazik, W. (1982). Watching TV: Four Decades of American Television. New York: McGraw-Hill. 314 pp.
  • McNeil, Alex. Total Television. Fourth edition. New York: Penguin Books. ISBN 0-14-024916-8.
  • Brooks, Tim & Marsh, Earle (1985). The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network TV Shows (3rd ed.). New York: Ballantine. ISBN 0-345-31864-1.