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1972–73 United States network television schedule

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  • Morning: 1970–71
  • 1971–72
  • 1972–73
  • 1973–74
  • 1974–75
  • Overnight: 1970–71
  • 1971–72
  • 1972–73
  • 1973–74
  • 1974–75

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 prime-time 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]

The Prime Time Access Rule, intended to increase diversity in programming and enacted abruptly at the beginning of the previous season was slightly modified, with primetime network programming beginning at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time from Monday through Saturday and 7:30 p.m. on Sundays, limited to 21 weekly hours. This scheme would remain in place until 1975.

PBS is not included; member stations have local flexibility over most of their schedules and broadcast times for network shows may vary.

Legend

[edit]
  •   Gray indicates encore programming.
  •   Blue-gray indicates news programming.
  •   Light green indicates sporting events.
  •   Red indicates series being burned off and other regularly scheduled programs, including specials and movies.
  •  highlight  Lime highlights indicates the number-one most watched program of the season.
  •  highlight  Yellow highlights indicates the top-10 most watched programs of the season.
  •  highlight  Cyan highlights indicates numbers 11-20 most watched programs of the season.
  •  highlight  Magenta highlights indicates numbers 21-30 most watched programs of the season.
  •  highlight  Highlights indicates that it falls in multiple of the above categories.

Sunday

[edit]
Network 7:30 PM 8:00 PM 8:30 PM 9:00 PM 9:30 PM 10:00 PM 10:30 PM
ABC Local programming 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 programming
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

[edit]
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

[edit]
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

* formerly Chronolog[2][3]

Wednesday

[edit]
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 (R)
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

[edit]
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

[edit]
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

[edit]
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

[edit]

ABC

[edit]

CBS

[edit]

NBC

[edit]

Note: The * indicates that the program was introduced in midseason.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ 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.
  2. ^ "Major news project mapped by NBC-TV" (PDF). Broadcasting. March 20, 1972. p. 43. Retrieved November 20, 2023.
  3. ^ Gent, George (March 15, 1972). "N.B.C.‐WTV Investigative Series Planned for Prime Time in Fall". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved November 20, 2023.

Additional sources

[edit]
  • 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.
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