I Am Shocked! 'The Mary Tyler Moore Show' Was Never A #1 Show?!? - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

Brian Damage · 03-26-2011, 09:54 PM

All I can say is WOW! I was always under the impression that TMTMS was #1 for at Least a season. Heck, it wasn't even a top 5 hit! The closest it got was 7th place, which is good, but I am shocked by this news.

catlover79 · 03-26-2011, 11:45 PM

Yeah, I'm shocked it never made the Top 5, even. But it did have a good, long run and still holds up today, for the most part.

Marvo301 · 03-27-2011, 12:26 AM

Well it did air on Saturday night the spot in the schedule where TV shows go to die. So even getting into the top 10 was an incredible achievement!

Brian Damage · 03-27-2011, 11:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by catlover79

Yeah, I'm shocked it never made the Top 5, even. But it did have a good, long run and still holds up today, for the most part.

Oh I agree 100%, I guess I was under the impression that this was for the most part a top 5 show and it never was. It makes me wonder what was TMTMS main competition?

Brian Damage · 03-27-2011, 11:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marvo301

Well it did air on Saturday night the spot in the schedule where TV shows go to die. So even getting into the top 10 was an incredible achievement!

That is true, but if I am not mistaken, a lot of classic shows aired on the dreaded Saturday night time slot.

TVFactFan · 03-27-2011, 01:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brian Damage

All I can say is WOW! I was always under the impression that TMTMS was #1 for at Least a season. Heck, it wasn't even a top 5 hit! The closest it got was 7th place, which is good, but I am shocked by this news.

Brian you know Norman Lear Sitcoms RULED in the 70's era. MTM could not compete with any of the shows below

All in the Family
Maude
Sanford and Son
Good Times
Jeffersons
One Day at a Time

That was too much competition-lol

Mr. Television · 03-27-2011, 01:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brian Damage

That is true, but if I am not mistaken, a lot of classic shows aired on the dreaded Saturday night time slot.

AITF aired on Saturday and was #1 in the nation at that time. Saturdays didn't really start to lose some of that luster until after The Golden Girls went off the air in 1992. After that Dr. Quinn and Walker Texas Ranger continued to be top 20 hits but the rest of the shows only had mediocre ratings.

Brian Damage · 03-27-2011, 03:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TVFactFan

Brian you know Norman Lear Sitcoms RULED in the 70's era. MTM could not compete with any of the shows below

All in the Family
Maude
Sanford and Son
Good Times
Jeffersons
One Day at a Time

That was too much competition-lol

That is true Sol, but I was always under the impression that "Mary" was a top 5 hit. Most of those shows were on CBS anyway, so technically they weren't competing against them.

TVFactFan · 03-27-2011, 04:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brian Damage

That is true Sol, but I was always under the impression that "Mary" was a top 5 hit. Most of those shows were on CBS anyway, so technically they weren't competing against them.

Well from my research it appears that MTM went up against these shows

NBC saturday Movie
Most Deadly Game-ABC
ABC Movie of the Weekend
Streets of San Francisco-ABC
ABC Suspense Movie
Kung Fu-ABC
SWAT-ABC
Starsky and Hutch-ABC

But MTM finished in the Top Ten three times

71-72-#10
72-73-#7
73-74-#9
74-75-#11

The only show that it looked like MTM couldn't compete with was Starsky and Hutch in the 75-76 season because of the ratings below

S&H-#16
MTM-#19

Brian Damage · 03-27-2011, 04:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TVFactFan

The only show that it looked like MTM couldn't compete with was Starsky and Hutch in the 75-76 season because of the ratings below

S&H-#16
MTM-#19

I think by the time Starsky & Hutch came around, MTM was losing steam. I could be wrong though.

Marvo301 · 03-27-2011, 10:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brian Damage

I think by the time Starsky & Hutch came around, MTM was losing steam. I could be wrong though.

75-76 was TMTMS second last season. That means Rhoda and Phyllis were both gone. So I would say they were losing steam.

Dianne3 · 03-28-2011, 04:07 PM

In 75-76, not only were both Rhoda & Phyllis gone, leaving a void in the female character department, that was also the year Mary moved into a new apartment and had that awful perm. I believe it was year 6 were Mary had the awful hairdo which really aged her.

A question here - What do you think was the reason for the ratings jump between Season 1 and 2? Although I enjoy MTM's earlier years, I think the ratings jump may have had to do with AITF also being on Saturday nights. Remember, AITF premiered a few months after MTM.

OH Nuts! · 03-28-2011, 05:05 PM

I am surprised it was never in the top 5, but still #7 is nothing to sneeze at. Also, the field was crowded with many other fine shows.

biffbronson · 03-28-2011, 05:09 PM

I agree with that -- there were so many good shows coming out of the 3 major networks during those years.

PGood97041 · 03-29-2011, 01:12 AM

The Mary Tyler Moore Show was No. 1 in my ratings book, and still is!

03-26-2011, 09:54 PM	#1
Brian Damage I'm Rich Bitch Forum Icon Join Date: Feb 03, 2002 Location: What Ain't No Country I Ever Heard Of...They Speak English in What? Posts: 63,108	I Am Shocked! 'The Mary Tyler Moore Show' Was Never A #1 Show?!? All I can say is WOW! I was always under the impression that TMTMS was #1 for at Least a season. Heck, it wasn't even a top 5 hit! The closest it got was 7th place, which is good, but I am shocked by this news.
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03-26-2011, 11:45 PM	#2
catlover79 God Bless Val Forum Addict Join Date: May 29, 2006 Location: Bewitched in Ohio Posts: 70,376	Yeah, I'm shocked it never made the Top 5, even. But it did have a good, long run and still holds up today, for the most part.
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03-27-2011, 12:26 AM	#3
Marvo301 I'm NOT a Blockhead! Forum Celebrity Join Date: May 17, 2002 Location: The Great White North Posts: 21,450	Well it did air on Saturday night the spot in the schedule where TV shows go to die. So even getting into the top 10 was an incredible achievement!
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03-28-2011, 05:05 PM	#13
OH Nuts! Member Forum King Join Date: Feb 15, 2005 Posts: 133,383	I am surprised it was never in the top 5, but still #7 is nothing to sneeze at. Also, the field was crowded with many other fine shows.
	Last edited by OH Nuts!; 03-29-2011 at 09:20 PM.

03-28-2011, 05:09 PM	#14
biffbronson Sentimental Fool Forum Star Join Date: Aug 22, 2009 Location: Near Notre Dame Posts: 10,262	I agree with that -- there were so many good shows coming out of the 3 major networks during those years.
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03-28-2011, 04:07 PM	#12
Dianne3 Member Senior Member Join Date: Aug 07, 2002 Posts: 1,056	In 75-76, not only were both Rhoda & Phyllis gone, leaving a void in the female character department, that was also the year Mary moved into a new apartment and had that awful perm. I believe it was year 6 were Mary had the awful hairdo which really aged her. A question here - What do you think was the reason for the ratings jump between Season 1 and 2? Although I enjoy MTM's earlier years, I think the ratings jump may have had to do with AITF also being on Saturday nights. Remember, AITF premiered a few months after MTM.

03-29-2011, 01:12 AM	#15
PGood97041 Member Forum Regular Join Date: Jan 03, 2008 Location: Boston Posts: 747	The Mary Tyler Moore Show was No. 1 in my ratings book, and still is!