Week 4 of the 1972-1973 season started on Monday, October 2nd, 1972 and ended on Sunday, October 8th, 1972. The highest-rated program was All in the Family on CBS with a 33.4/55 Nielsen rating/share. Here are the 10 lowest-rated programs:
| ## | Program | Network | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| 55 | CBS Tuesday Movie (“Footsteps”) | CBS | 15.0/25 |
| 56 | Owen Marshall | ABC | 15.0/25 |
| 57 | Julie Andrews | ABC | 14.4/26 |
| 58 | Sixth Sense | ABC | 14.3/24 |
| 59 | Banyon | NBC | 13.9/24 |
| 60 | Bold Ones | NBC | 13.5/21 |
| 61 | Anna & King | CBS | 12.5/23 |
| 62 | The Men | ABC | 10.7/16 |
| 63 | Alias Smith & Jones | ABC | 10.0/16 |
| 64 | First Tuesday | NBC | 6.5/11 |
For the record, program titles are written exactly the way they were published in 1972.
Source:
“All in the Family Rests Atop Weekly Ratings.” Los Angeles Times. 19 Oct. 1972: E22.
This was a time when most of my favorites were in the bottom half of the ratings. ALIAS SMITH AND JONES remains one of my favorites. I enjoyed SIXTH SENSE. I wonder what part of BOLD ONES and THE MEN aired that week.
THE BOLD ONES THE NEW DOCTORS episode “A Nation of Human Pincushions” aired 10/3/72. I think at this time the NEW DOCTORS were the only series left of THE BOLD ONES that had featured in the past THE LAWYERS, THE PROTECTORS and THE SENATOR.
THE MEN’S DELPHI BUREAU remains my favorite TV series of all. It was the episode “The Deadly Little Errand” that aired 10/5/62. Other series in THE MEN were ASSIGNMENT VIENNA and JIGSAW.
All 4 were gone by next fall. In fact, the only one that made it past January was The Men and that was only because ABC had a full season contract with Universal, who coincidentally produced all 4 shows.
yes’ these genres lost steam pretty quickly== it took a year and a half to get SNOOP SISTERS… AMY PRENTIS private eye … and even LANIGANS RABBI==right?? look for John Cacavas’s music=( that’s long before the public knew he roomed with Charles Osgood in the service–their influences became readily apparent..)…
I can see a big reason why M*A*S*H had such lousy ratings its first season. ANNA AND THE KING was its lead-in, and ANNA was 4th from the bottom this week. I doubt M*A*S*H was rated above 40 this week, if even above 50.
I’m amazed ALIAS SMITH & JONES was renewed for 1972-73, as Pete Duel killed himself 12/31/1971, and Roger Davis, the former announcer, had to try to take his place alongside Ben Murphy for the remainder of this series.
MASH was 54th, just barely missing this list. 15.2 rating, 25 share.
Universal was seriously considering George Peppard to replace Duel.
M*A*S*H finished #46 for the season
To be exact, M*A*S*H averaged a 17.5 rating and a 27 share during its first season.