There is no understanding why The Rookies couldn't have gotten more viewers than Gunsmoke in the Monday lead-off slot. Gunsmoke was a western that had been on the air for 17 seasons by the time The Rookies debuted, and The Rookies was an up-and-coming police-procedural drama that should have been seen as a fresh alternative to old-a$$ and tired-a$$ and boring-a$$ Gunsmoke. Here is the seasonal ratings rundown for the three seasons that The Rookies and Gunsmoke were on the air together.

1972-73: Gunsmoke, 23.6/8th place; The Rookies, 20.0/23rd place
1973-74: Gunsmoke: 22.1/15th place; The Rookies, 20.3/25th place
1974-75: Gunsmoke: 20.5/28th place; The Rookies, 22.0/18th place

You see? Only in Gunsmoke's final season was Gunsmoke beaten by The Rookies. I believe The Rookies should have started beating Gunsmoke's ratings earlier than that, like in The Rookies's second season.

IDK. My family watched Gunsmoke during those years. It was tradition.

I'm pretty surprised that The Rookies was rated as highly as it was, and lasted four years. I don't recall people talking about it at all.

Several decades later, Gunsmoke is still going strong in reruns on multiple channels today. The Rookies hasn't aired anywhere in a long time.

MeTV Plus airs The Rookies currently.

Actually the last few seasons of Gunsmoke had lots of good episodes. Long-running doesn't always equate with "tired." I don't find it any more "boring" than The Rookies, and the Gunsmoke lead actors were superior in some ways. I've seen most of both series... there were not very many exceptional episodes of The Rookies IMHO.