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The following is the 1972–73 network television schedule for the three major English language commercial broadcast networks in the United States. The schedule covers primetime hours from September 1972 through August 1973. The schedule is followed by a list per network of returning series, new series, and series cancelled after the 1971–72 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.
Note: This was the first full season in which all networks, on every day of the week except for Sunday, started airing programs at 8:00 instead of 7:30, as dictated by the FCC under its Prime Time Access Rule, intended to increase diversity in programming.
PBS is not included; member stations have local flexibility over most of their schedules and broadcast times for network shows may vary.
Sunday
| Network | 7:30 PM | 8:00 PM | 8:30 PM | 9:00 PM | 9:30 PM | 10:00 PM | 10:30 PM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ABC | Local |
The F.B.I. (29/19.2) (Tied with The ABC Monday Movie and Kung Fu) |
The ABC Sunday Night Movie (23/20.0) (Tied with The Rookies) | |||||
| CBS | Fall | Anna and the King | M*A*S*H | The Sandy Duncan Show | The New Dick Van Dyke Show | Mannix | Local | |
| Winter | The New Dick Van Dyke Show | Mannix |
Barnaby Jones (25/19.9) (Tied with The Little People and The ABC Wednesday Movie of the Week) | |||||
| NBC | Fall | The Wonderful World of Disney (9/23.5) |
The NBC Sunday Mystery Movie (
Columbo /
McCloud /
McMillan and Wife /
Hec Ramsey) (5/24.2) (Tied with Bridget Loves Bernie) |
Night Gallery | ||||
| Spring | Escape | |||||||
| April | Night Gallery | |||||||
Note: 60 Minutes aired at 6:00-7:00 pm on CBS from January to June 1973.
Monday
| Network | 8:00 PM | 8:30 PM | 9:00 PM | 9:30 PM | 10:00 PM | 10:30 PM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ABC | Fall |
The Rookies (23/20.0) (Tied with The ABC Sunday Night Movie) |
ABC NFL Monday Night Football (18/21.0) | ||||
| Winter | ABC Monday Night Movie (29/19.2) (Tied with The F.B.I. and Kung Fu) | ||||||
| CBS | Fall |
Gunsmoke (7/23.6) (Tied with The Mary Tyler Moore Show) |
Here's Lucy (15/21.9) | The Doris Day Show | The New Bill Cosby Show | ||
| Spring | Medical Center | ||||||
| NBC | Fall | Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In | NBC Monday Night at the Movies (28/19.3) | ||||
| Summer | The Baseball World of Joe Garagiola (8:00) / Monday Night Baseball (8:15) | ||||||
Tuesday
| Network | 8:00 PM | 8:30 PM | 9:00 PM | 9:30 PM | 10:00 PM | 10:30 PM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ABC | Temperatures Rising | ABC Tuesday Movie of the Week (17/21.5) | Marcus Welby, M.D. (13/22.9) | ||||
| CBS | Maude (4/24.7) | Hawaii Five-O (3/25.2) | The New CBS Tuesday Night Movie | ||||
| NBC | Fall | Bonanza | The Bold Ones: The New Doctors | NBC Reports / First Tuesday* / NBC White Paper / America: A Personal History of the United States | |||
| Winter | NBC Tuesday Night at the Movies | ||||||
Wednesday
| Network | 8:00 PM | 8:30 PM | 9:00 PM | 9:30 PM | 10:00 PM | 10:30 PM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ABC | Fall | The Paul Lynde Show |
ABC Wednesday Movie of the Week (25/19.9) (Tied with Barnaby Jones and The Little People) |
The Julie Andrews Hour | |||
| Winter | Owen Marshall, Counselor at Law | ||||||
| Summer | Thicker than Water | ||||||
| August | Love Thy Neighbor | ||||||
| CBS | Fall | The Carol Burnett Show (22/20.3) |
Medical Center (19/20.6) (Tied with The Partridge Family and The Waltons) |
Cannon (14/22.4) | |||
| Winter | The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour | ||||||
| Spring | Dan August | ||||||
| NBC | Adam-12 (11/23.3) | NBC Wednesday Mystery Movie: Madigan / Cool Million / Banacek | Search | ||||
Note: Dan August consisted of reruns of the 1970-1971 ABC series.
Thursday
| Network | 8:00 PM | 8:30 PM | 9:00 PM | 9:30 PM | 10:00 PM | 10:30 PM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ABC | Fall | The Mod Squad |
The Men:
Assignment Vienna / The Delphi Bureau / Jigsaw |
Owen Marshall, Counselor at Law | |||
| Winter |
Kung Fu (29/19.2) (Tied with The ABC Monday Movie and The F.B.I.) |
The Streets of San Francisco | |||||
| CBS |
The Waltons (19/20.6) (Tied with The Partridge Family and Medical Center) |
CBS Thursday Night Movie | |||||
| NBC | Fall | The Flip Wilson Show (12/23.1) | Ironside (10/23.4) | The Dean Martin Show | |||
| Summer | The Helen Reddy Show | Dean Martin Presents Music Country | |||||
Friday
| 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 Partridge Family (19/20.6) (Tied with The Waltons and Medical Center) |
Room 222 | The Odd Couple | Love, American Style | |
| Summer | The Odd Couple | Love Thy Neighbor | |||||
| Follow-up | The Corner Bar | ||||||
| CBS | Fall | The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour | The CBS Friday Night Movie | ||||
| December | Mission: Impossible | ||||||
| Summer | 60 Minutes | ||||||
| NBC | Fall | Sanford and Son (2/27.6) |
The Little People (25/19.9) (Tied with Barnaby Jones and The ABC Wednesday Movie of the Week) |
Ghost Story | Banyon | ||
| Winter | Circle of Fear | The Bobby Darin Show | |||||
Note: Ghost Story was retooled slightly and retitled Circle of Fear (under the same production team) with the episode broadcast January 5, 1973.
Saturday
| Network | 8:00 PM | 8:30 PM | 9:00 PM | 9:30 PM | 10:00 PM | 10:30 PM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ABC | Fall | Alias Smith and Jones | The Streets of San Francisco | The Sixth Sense | |||
| Winter | Here We Go Again | A Touch of Grace | The Julie Andrews Hour |
The Men:
Assignment Vienna / The Delphi Bureau / Jigsaw | |||
| May | The Paul Lynde Show | The Strauss Family | |||||
| Summer | The Burns and Schreiber Comedy Hour | ||||||
| CBS | Fall | All in the Family (1/33.3) |
Bridget Loves Bernie (5/24.2) (Tied with The NBC Sunday Mystery Movie) |
The Mary Tyler Moore Show (7/23.6) (Tied with Gunsmoke) |
The Bob Newhart Show (16/21.8) | Mission: Impossible | |
| December | The Carol Burnett Show (22/20.3) | ||||||
| Summer | Mission: Impossible | ||||||
| NBC | Emergency! | NBC Saturday Night at the Movies | |||||
By network
ABC
CBS
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.
- ^ "Major news project mapped by NBC-TV" (PDF). Broadcasting. March 20, 1972. p. 43. Retrieved November 20, 2023.
- ^ Gent, George (1972-03-15). "N.B.C.‐WTV Investigative Series Planned for Prime Time in Fall". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-11-20.
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.