Week 3 of the 1973-1974 season started on Monday, September 24th, 1973 and ended on Sunday, September 30th, 1973. The highest-rated program was All in the Family on CBS with a 30.2/52 Nielsen rating/share. Here are the 10 lowest-rated programs:
## | Program | Network | Rating |
---|---|---|---|
55 | NBC Sat. Movie (“Dollars”) | NBC | 15.0/28 |
56 | Brady Bunch | ABC | 14.6/25 |
57 | NBC Follies | NBC | 14.6/25 |
58 | Perry Mason | CBS | 14.6/25 |
59 | Diana | NBC | 14.6/21 |
60 | Adam’s Rib | ABC | 13.4/23 |
61 | Love, American Style | ABC | 13.3/25 |
62 | Partridge Family | ABC | 13.1/23 |
63 | Bob, Carol, Ted, Alice | ABC | 10.2/17 |
64 | Calucci’s Department | CBS | 9.5/17 |
Source:
“All in the Family Back in Top Nielsen Spot.” Los Angeles Times. 15 Oct. 1973: D18.
In it’s final season, “Partridge Family” went head-to-head against both “All In The Family” and “Emergency!”. And “Brady Bunch” had to go up against “Sanford and Son”.
No wonder both shows got cancelled in 1974: The timeslot competition was too tough.
ABC’s long-time weekend shows were dying off by this time. THE BRADY BUNCH dropped to 56th place w/ “Snow White and the Seven Bradys” (not well-liked among fans, but I thought it had some funny moments), and THE PARTRIDGE FAMILY, exiled by ABC to its Saturday night death slot against AITF, fell to 62nd place w/ “Beethoven, Brahms, and Partridge”. This is 1 of 10 episodes where Ricky Segall was thrust upon Partridge fans as the new “cute kid” since I guess Chris & Tracy were getting too old by then. ADAM’S RIB had been added to the Friday-night lineup, and it was cancelled along with ROOM 222 in January to make room for new show THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN. LOVE AMERICAN STYLE was also cancelled in January to make room for TOMA, which was changed to BARETTA after Tony Musante quit the show. I think I remember trying out & liking CALUCCI’S DEPARTMENT, which had a funny CBS promo that fall, but it ended up in last place this week.
Yep, James Coco was funny, but the supporting cast was weak! Being up against Brady Bunch and Sanford And Son didn’t help!