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The following is the 1970–71 network television schedule for the three major English language commercial broadcast networks in the United States. The schedule covers primetime hours from September 1970 through August 1971. The schedule is followed by a list per network of returning series, new series, and series cancelled after the 1969–70 season. All times are Eastern and Pacific, with certain exceptions, such as Monday Night Football.
This was the first time that the top rated show of the season aired on ABC.
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 by October 1970; however, schedules were set by each affiliated station.
In April 1970, Congress passed a law banning the advertising of cigarettes on television and radio, effective January 2, 1971.
This season would be the last one for the traditional 3½-hour prime time schedule.
Sunday
| Network | 7:00 PM | 7:30 PM | 8:00 PM | 8:30 PM | 9:00 PM | 9:30 PM | 10:00 PM | 10:30 PM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ABC | Fall | The Young Rebels | The F.B.I. (10/23.0) | The ABC Sunday Night Movie (28/19.7) | |||||
| Winter | Local | ||||||||
| CBS | Fall | Lassie | Hogan's Heroes | The Ed Sullivan Show | The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour | The Tim Conway Comedy Hour | |||
| December | The Honeymooners | ||||||||
| Summer | The CBS Sunday Night Movie | The Ice Palace | |||||||
| August | Animal World | Comedy Playhouse | The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour | Six Wives of Henry VIII | |||||
| NBC | Fall | Wild Kingdom |
The Wonderful World of Disney (13/22.4) (Tied with Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In) |
The Bill Cosby Show | Bonanza (9/23.9) |
The Bold Ones: The New Doctors / The Lawyers / The Senator | |||
| Summer | Local | The Red Skelton Show | |||||||
Monday
| Network | 7:30 PM | 8:00 PM | 8:30 PM | 9:00 PM | 9:30 PM | 10:00 PM | 10:30 PM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ABC | Fall | The Young Lawyers | The Silent Force | Monday Night Football | ||||
| Winter | Let's Make a Deal | The Newlywed Game | The Reel Game | The ABC Monday Night Movie | ||||
| Spring | It Was a Very Good Year | |||||||
| CBS | Fall | Gunsmoke (5/25.5) | Here's Lucy (3/26.1) | Mayberry R.F.D. (15/22.3) | The Doris Day Show (20/20.7) |
The Carol Burnett Show (25/19.8) (Tied with The Partridge Family and NBC Monday Night at the Movies) | ||
| Summer | The Lucy Show reruns | Suspense Playhouse | ||||||
| Follow-up | The CBS Newcomers | |||||||
| NBC | Fall | The Red Skelton Show |
Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In (13/22.4) (Tied with The Wonderful World of Disney) |
NBC Monday Night at the Movies (25/19.8) (Tied with The Carol Burnett Show and The Partridge Family) | ||||
| Spring | From a Bird's Eye View | |||||||
| Summer | NBC Comedy Theater | |||||||
| Follow-up | Specials | Monday Night Baseball | ||||||
Note: NBC Comedy Theater featured repeats of Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre, with new introductions by Jack Kelly.
Tuesday
| Network | 7:30 PM | 8:00 PM | 8:30 PM | 9:00 PM | 9:30 PM | 10:00 PM | 10:30 PM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ABC | The Mod Squad (11/22.7) | ABC Movie of the Week (6/25.1) | Marcus Welby, M.D. (1/29.6) | |||||
| CBS | Fall | The Beverly Hillbillies | Green Acres | Hee Haw (16/21.4) | To Rome With Love | CBS News Hour / 60 Minutes | ||
| Winter | All in the Family | |||||||
| Summer | Cimarron Strip reruns | Specials | ||||||
| NBC | Fall | The Don Knotts Show | Julia | NBC Tuesday Night at the Movies / First Tuesday | ||||
| Winter | Julia | The Don Knotts Show | ||||||
| Summer | The Bill Cosby Show | |||||||
| Follow-up | Make Your Own Kind of Music | |||||||
Wednesday
| Network | 7:30 PM | 8:00 PM | 8:30 PM | 9:00 PM | 9:30 PM | 10:00 PM | 10:30 PM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ABC | Fall | The Courtship of Eddie's Father | Danny Thomas in Make Room for Granddaddy | Room 222 | The Johnny Cash Show | Dan August | ||
| Winter | Room 222 | The Smith Family (21/20.6) | The Young Lawyers | |||||
| Summer | Love on a Rooftop reruns | The Immortal | NFL Action | |||||
| CBS | Fall | Storefront Lawyers | The Governor & J.J. | Medical Center (8/24.5) | Hawaii Five-O (7/25.0) | |||
| Winter | Men at Law | To Rome with Love | ||||||
| NBC | Fall | The Men from Shiloh (18/21.2) | Kraft Music Hall | Four in One: McCloud / San Francisco International Airport / Night Gallery / The Psychiatrist | ||||
| Summer | The Des O'Connor Show | |||||||
Notes: Love on a Rooftop consisted of reruns of the series, which originally aired during the 1966-1967 season. The Men from Shiloh formerly was entitled The Virginian.
Thursday
| Network | 7:30 PM | 8:00 PM | 8:30 PM | 9:00 PM | 9:30 PM | 10:00 PM | 10:30 PM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ABC | Fall | Matt Lincoln | Bewitched | Barefoot in the Park | The Odd Couple | The Immortal | ||
| Winter | Alias Smith and Jones | Danny Thomas in Make Room for Granddaddy | Dan August | Local | ||||
| CBS | Fall | Family Affair | The Jim Nabors Hour (29/19.5) | The CBS Thursday Night Movies (30/19.3) | ||||
| Summer | Lancer reruns | |||||||
| NBC | Fall | The Flip Wilson Show (2/27.9) | Ironside (4/25.7) | Nancy | The Dean Martin Show (24/20.0) | |||
| Winter | Adam-12 (12/22.6) | |||||||
| Summer | NBC Action Playhouse | The Dean Martin Summer Show Starring Your Host Vic Damone reruns | ||||||
Notes: The Dean Martin Summer Show Starring Your Host Vic Damone consisted entirely of reruns of the show of the same name from the summer of 1967. NBC Action Playhouse featured repeats of Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre, with new introductions by Peter Marshall.
Friday
| Network | 7:30 PM | 8:00 PM | 8:30 PM | 9:00 PM | 9:30 PM | 10:00 PM | 10:30 PM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ABC | Fall | The Brady Bunch | Nanny and the Professor |
The Partridge Family (25/19.8) (Tied with The Carol Burnett Show and NBC Monday Night at the Movies) |
That Girl | Love, American Style | This Is Tom Jones | |
| Winter | The Odd Couple | Love, American Style | ||||||
| CBS | Fall | The Interns | Headmaster | The CBS Friday Night Movies | ||||
| Winter | The New Andy Griffith Show | |||||||
| Summer | Headmaster (repeats) | |||||||
| NBC | Fall | The High Chaparral | The Name of the Game | Bracken's World | ||||
| Winter | Strange Report | |||||||
Saturday
| Network | 7:30 PM | 8:00 PM | 8:30 PM | 9:00 PM | 9:30 PM | 10:00 PM | 10:30 PM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ABC | Fall | Let's Make a Deal | The Newlywed Game | The Lawrence Welk Show | The Most Deadly Game | Local | ||
| Winter | The Lawrence Welk Show | The Pearl Bailey Show | Local | |||||
| Summer | The Val Doonican Show | |||||||
| CBS | Mission: Impossible | My Three Sons (19/20.8) | Arnie | The Mary Tyler Moore Show (22/20.3) | Mannix (17/21.3) | |||
| NBC | Fall | The Andy Williams Show | Adam-12 (12/22.6) | NBC Saturday Night at the Movies (23/20.1) | ||||
| Winter | NBC Saturday Night at the Movies (23/20.1) | Local | ||||||
By network
ABC
CBS
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Returning Series
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New Series
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Not returning from 1969–70:
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NBC
Note: The * indicates that the program was introduced in midseason.
References
- ^ 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
- 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.