The Fall 1974 That Wasn’t

Originally Published June 25th, 2009

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In 1970, the Federal Communications Commission instituted rules cutting the number of hours the broadcast networks could provide to their affiliates. The prime time access rule went into effect at the start of the 1971-1972 season. Several years later, the FCC decided to return some of that time to the networks. Schedules for Fall 1974 were announced. And then the courts delayed the changes. Six sitcoms were suddenly cut from the new season. All would eventually see the light of day in one way or the other.

The term “prime time” refers colloquially to the evening hours when the broadcast networks air their regularly scheduled programming. More specifically, according to the Federal Communications Commission, prime time is defined as the four-hour period running 7-11PM in the Eastern/Pacific time zones (which will be used in this article) and 6-10PM in the Central/Mountain time zones. During the 1950s the networks routinely filled all four hours with programming; the 7-7:30PM half-hour, however, was often used to air news shows or returned to affiliates for local use on some nights.

During the 1960s the networks cut back to programming only three and a half hours (7:30-11PM) each night with the exception of Sundays. Thus, each network was broadcasting 25 weekly hours. This all changed on May 7th, 1970 when the Federal Communications Commission officially announced its prime time access rule, which restricted television stations in the nation’s 50 largest markets to three hours of network programming during prime time.

According to The New York Times, the FCC felt the rule was “possibly the last chance to prevent the three commercial networks from gaining a stranglehold on the nation’s dominant entertainment medium” [1]. Although the rule would apply only to stations in the 50 largest markets (in which there were at least three commercial stations) in practice it would dictate the network’s schedules on the whole. The rule also dictated that stations could not air network reruns or movies recently seen on a network, although it would be waived for the first year. It also dealt with network syndication.

The FCC felt that “substantial benefit to the public interest in television broadcast service will flow from opening up evening time so that producers may have the opportunity to develop their full economic and creative potential under better competitive conditions than are now available to them” [2]. Not everyone agreed with that assessment (there was dissension within the FCC as well; it voted 5-2 in favor of the rule). Immediate opposition rose up from two of the three networks.

CBS released the following statement:

By proposing to curtail the amount of programing the networks may provide between 7 and 11 p.m. and by barring the networks from domestic syndication, the FCC rules, as a practical matter, (a) would limit the sources of programing to network affiliates, (b) would require the cancellation of more than 10 hours weekly of popular entertainment programs now enjoyed by the American public, (c) would bring about the substitution in their place of cheaper, lower-quality productions and (d) since the rule provides a limited exception for news and public affairs programing, would impede the ability of the networks to maintain and extend their service in that important area.

Far from improving the quality of television, we believe the rules will have the opposite effect. We will press for reconsideration. [3]

An NBC spokesman suggested that the rule “would have the reverse effect of lowering quality on television” [4]. ABC, however, announced that it might actual prosper under the rule and felt it could adequately adapt [5]. The FCC’s new rule came at a unfortunate time for the networks. They were facing a perfect storm of changes to the industry. The economy was in a downturn, cigarette advertising would be banned at the end of January 1st, 1971 and now the FCC was slashing their programming output.

The rule wouldn’t go into affect until the start of the 1971-1972 season. ABC, however, decided not to wait to return much of the required time to its affiliates. The network announced in mid-November of 1970 that as part of its mid-season realignment it would return three hours, including an additional hour on Saturdays [6]. Later that month NBC caved in and withdrew its appeal with the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York [7]. The National Association of Broadcasters, however, went ahead with its appeal, noting that stations outside the top 50 markets “could not afford the additional financial burdens the rule would place on them” [8].

The FCC left it up to the individual networks to decide which three hours they wanted to program. NBC recieved a waver in February of 1971 from the commission allowing it to keep its Sunday line-up, which ran from 7:30-11PM, intact [9]. ABC asked for and was given a similiar waver so it could retain its popular Tuesday line-up. In return, the network would have to relinquish an extra half-hour on another night. ABC gave up the 8:30-9PM half-hour on Mondays while NBC cut the 10:30-11PM half-hour on Fridays.

By early March, when the networks told the FCC of their plans for the 1971-1972 season, they had settled on programming the 8-11PM block every night of the week except for Tuesdays and Sundays [10]. To better compete with ABC on Tuesdays both CBS and NBC decided to program from 7:30-10:30PM. On Sundays, CBS decided to program from 7:30-10:30PM, matching NBC’s first three hours; ABC would air programming from 8-11PM. All three networks would directly compete from 8-11PM on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.

On May 10th, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the prime time access rule [11]. There would be no turning back. At least, not until 1974.

On January 25th, 1974 the FCC announced it was relaxing portions of the prime time access rule (once again, technically the changes would only affect stations in the top 50 markets). Beginning in September of 1974 and the start of the new television season, the networks would be allowed to program from 7-11PM on Sundays and Saturdays as well as the 7-7:30PM half-hour Monday through Friday. All that remained off limits was the 7:30-8PM half-hour on weekdays.

In explaining the change The Los Angeles Times noted that the rule “was designed to spur filling the restricted time with independent and local programming. But instead, stations relied mostly on relatively inexpensive game shows and foreign-produced dramas. The FCC said it still hopes restricting the last half of the hour will achieve the original goal” [12].

This time, it was independent production companies protesting the FCC’s move. On February 15th the National Association of Independent Television Producers and Distributors complained that for the past three years its members had complied with the original rule and “now that the producers have made substantial investments in [non-network] programs, the F.C.C. has suddenly altered the rule and diminished the market that had been assured them” [13].

The FCC promised to take such complaints under consideration and make a decision by February 26th about delaying the alterations to the prime time access rule until September of 1975 [14]. There was also the possibility of another appeal to the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals [15]. On February 27th the FCC voted not to delay, causing the National Association of Independent Television Producers and Distributors to announce it would be filing an appeal [16].

Meanwhile, the networks went to work putting together their 1974-1975 schedules. NBC announced its new schedules on April 19th [17]. The network cut 13 shows from its schedule, including Hec Ramsey, The Girl with Something Extra, Lotsa Luck, The Flip Wilson Show and Chase, and ordered 11 new ones. Eight were dramas: The Little House on the Prairie, Born Free, Lucas Tanner, In Tandem, The Rangers, The Rockford Files, Petrocelli and Police Woman. Two others were sitcoms: Chico and the Man and Second Start. The final new show was Sunshine, a half-hour series that Cecil Smith called an “oddity” [18].

CBS also announced its fall schedule on April 19th [19]. It cut just six shows from its schedule, including Here’s Lucy and The New Dick Van Dyke Show. The network ordered three new dramas (Senior Year, Planet of the Apes and The Manhunter) and four new sitcoms (Rhoda, The Paul Sand Show, The Love Nest and We’ll Get By. When ABC revealed its schedule a few days later gone were ten shows, The Brady Bunch, The F.B.I. and Toma among them.

ABC picked up five new sitcoms — That’s My Mama, Paper Moon, The Texas Wheelers, Everything Money Can’t Buy and Fireman’s Ball — and six new dramas: Kodiak, The New Land, Nakia, Get Christie Love, Harry O and Kolchak: The Night Stalker. Also on the ABC schedule was The Sonny Comedy Hour.

Here’s the fall schedule as it appeared in April of 1974 when the networks announced their cancellations, renewals and new shows:

Note that all three networks had four hours on Sundays.

Each of the networks designed their schedule working under the assumption that they would have the extra time offered by the FCC’s relaxed prime time access rule. That was not to be. On June 18th the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ordered a one-year stay in the FCC’s new rules from September of 1974 to September of 1975 [20]. Gone was the additional hour on Sundays and the hour on Saturday that CBS/NBC had devoted to news and/or childrens’ programming.

According to The New York Times the court had promised initially to rule in early April, which would have given the networks plenty of time to adjust their schedules. When that didn’t happen the networks were forced to work around the uncertainty with legal help. According to an CBS executive: “We did allow ourselves a fallback position, in case something like this were to happen, and that was to issue contracts for some shows with the provision that they might be delayed to a January start” [21].

Even with such fallback positions (and each of the networks were said to have them) it wouldn’t be an easy matter to revise the existing schedules. Simply slicing an hour from Sunday would require adjusting several other days as well. TV Guide reported in its July 6th issue that six previously announced sitcoms, two from each network, had been cut: The Love Nest (CBS, Charles Lane and Florida Friebus), We’ll Get By (CBS, Paul Sorvino and Mitzi Hoag), Sunshine (NBC, Cliff De Young), Second Start (NBC, Bob Crane), Where’s the Fire? (previously Fireman’s Ball, ABC, Johnny Brown and David Ketchum) and Everything Money Can’t Buy (ABC, cast unannounced) [22].

Also gone were 46 half-hour specials (documentaries, cartoons, National Geographic programs) CBS had ordered, ten hour-long news specials and 17 episodes of an hour-long news magazine NBC had ordered, and six ABC children’s specials [23]. Here’s the final 1974-1975 schedule (new shows in bold):

Among other changes, M*A*S*H was moved from Sundays to Tuesdays, Planet of the Apes from Tuesdays to Fridays and The Odd Couple from Sundays to Thursdays.

The ultimate fate of the hours of special programming ordered by the networks is unknown but presumably much of it was scheduled whenever and wherever it could be used. As for those six sitcoms, two never made it past the pilot stage, one was retooled and didn’t arrive on television until 1976 and the other three became mid-season replacements in march of 1974.

Second Start was renamed The Bob Crane Show and premiered Thursday, March 6th, 1976 of NBC along with Sunshine. Both ran for thirteen episodes.

We’ll Get By (which was created by Alan Alda) premiered on Friday, March 14th, 1975 as part of an hour-block running on CBS from 8-9PM. The first half-hour was filled with comedy pilots while We’ll Get By ran from 8:30-9PM. Twelve episodes were aired. The very first comedy pilot broadcast was for Love Nest. The pilot to Where’s the Fire? (also known as The Fireman’s Ball) was broadcast on May 17th, 1975.

Everything Money Can’t Buy was retooled and became Good Heavens, produced and starring Carl Reiner as an angel granting wishes to deserving folks. It premiered in February of 1976 and ran for thirteen weeks.

In September of 1976, the FCC’s new rules for prime time finally went into effect. The networks all programmed four hours on Sundays and three hours on the other six days of the week, for a total of 22 weekly hours. That schedule continues to this day. All but forgotten, however, is the fall that wasn’t.

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Last Updated June 25th, 2009