Memories of Night of Final Episode

[manofhattan]

I watched the last episode of Mary's show alone in my dorm room at Penn State on my little b/w set. Looking back I find it curious that the decision was made to air this episode in March rather than during the May sweeps. To commemorate its anniversary (3/19/77) I wrote about my memories of that night in my blog at: http://www.HistoryAsYouExperiencedIt.com

[PGood97041]

I remember wondering just how they were going to end The Mary Tyler Moore Show, and I thought it was a fantastic final script (of course, I also didn't think the final "Seinfeld" was so horrible, but many people did).

I also remember bumming out that TMTS was "over", although it wasn't so bad immediately because with repeats it still had a few more months to run. After that, as I went off to college, I convinced myself it would be on reruns forever, and while it was on Nick at Nite for a while, that eventually changed.

Then came DVDs, but there's been the struggle to get the series out completely on that medium. Thankfully, we're almost there! I still feel like even though it's mostly available now on DVD, it should still be playing on TV regularly on some channel because it's such a great show and could be hooking more younger viewers!

[Benno123]

I don't think in the 70s there was a "May Sweeps" like there is now. Go back and look at the airdates for all the series, and you'll see that most of the shows final episode of the seasons usually aired around March. Just a few examples:

Here's Lucy "Lucy Fights The System" (final episode of the series) aired March 18, 1974.

Maude "The New Maid" (final episode of season 5) April 4, 1977

The Bob Newhart Show "You're Having My Hartley" (final episode of season 5) March 19, 1977

Sadly, it's all about the bottom line in money than it is giving TV viewers quality and a real TV season. Now it seems we get about 4 weeks of new shows at the beginning of the season, a couple weeks of repeats, 3 or 4 more new shows, then repeats for the holiday season, then the middle of January through February new episodes, then maybe a couple news ones for March and then repeats until the last of the new episodes for the season air in May.

[Miss Lisa]

I kinda wish that shows would still have a big final episode. The only ones that I was actually alive to see, well, the ones that I do remember watching, are Friends and Everybody Loves Raymond. Those though, were not nearly that big of a deal as MTM or any shows from back then. I know my aunt was telling me that a lot of times if there was a popular show that was ending, she would have her friends over and they would all get together to watch it and then end up having a party afterwards. Now there are no shows that are really that big so any deries finale isn't really all that big.

[LittleRickyII]

Originally Posted by Benno123

I don't think in the 70s there was a "May Sweeps" like there is now. Go back and look at the airdates for all the series, and you'll see that most of the shows final episode of the seasons usually aired around March. Just a few examples:

Here's Lucy "Lucy Fights The System" (final episode of the series) aired March 18, 1974.

Maude "The New Maid" (final episode of season 5) April 4, 1977

The Bob Newhart Show "You're Having My Hartley" (final episode of season 5) March 19, 1977

Sadly, it's all about the bottom line in money than it is giving TV viewers quality and a real TV season. Now it seems we get about 4 weeks of new shows at the beginning of the season, a couple weeks of repeats, 3 or 4 more new shows, then repeats for the holiday season, then the middle of January through February new episodes, then maybe a couple news ones for March and then repeats until the last of the new episodes for the season air in May.

Here's Lucy, Maude and The Bob Newhart Show probably aren't good comparisons. First, Here's Lucy didn't have a big finale episode: the last episode wasn't really a series send-off, just another typical Lucy episode. It didn't have a unique aspect about it that would draw a larger than normal audience, a necessity for sweeps week. The only hint it was the last episode was Gale Gordon's closing line: "I knew it would end like this." As for Maude, that show was at the very bottom of the ratings during it's last season. In fact, the final episode placed next-to-last in the ratings, so there's no way CBS would have wanted to air Maude during sweeps week. And the same thing with The Bob Newhart Show, which was also struggling in the ratings its final season (though not as badly as Maude). A better comparison might be M*A*S*H, which clearly was a special event finale for a still-popular series. But as I recall, the last I]M*A*S*H[/I] aired in February.

[Benno123]

Originally Posted by LittleRickyII

Here's Lucy, Maude and The Bob Newhart Show probably aren't good comparisons. First, Here's Lucy didn't have a big finale episode: the last episode wasn't really a series send-off, just another typical Lucy episode. It didn't have a unique aspect about it that would draw a larger than normal audience, a necessity for sweeps week. The only hint it was the last episode was Gale Gordon's closing line: "I knew it would end like this." As for Maude, that show was at the very bottom of the ratings during it's last season. In fact, the final episode placed next-to-last in the ratings, so there's no way CBS would have wanted to air Maude during sweeps week. And the same thing with The Bob Newhart Show, which was also struggling in the ratings its final season (though not as badly as Maude). A better comparison might be M*A*S*H, which clearly was a special event finale for a still-popular series. But as I recall, the last I]M*A*S*H[/I] aired in February.

Why wouldn't those be good comparisons? My point was that the seasons tended to end near the end of February/March and didn't have reruns padded through until a "May Sweeps" as they have now. The finale of a series is also the final show of the season, ratings have nothing to do with when a final show of the season airs. The finale of MTM was also the final show of the 7th seasons, and had the series went on to an 8th year, the final show of the 7th season still would have aired in March of that year based on the trends of the air dates.

The final Carol Burnett Show aired March 29, 1978, not in a special "May Sweeps" stunt pulled by the network to gain ratings. I don't care if a show had a formal finale, or what its ratings were, I'm looking at the start and end dates of the TV season, and my point was at that time during the 1970s it looks as if the trend was to end the season earlier than they do now. Now it's April, and all the shows I watch are in repeats until May gets here, and then we'll get some new shows to close the season out.

[LittleRickyII]

Originally Posted by Benno123

Why wouldn't those be good comparisons? My point was that the seasons tended to end near the end of February/March and didn't have reruns padded through until a "May Sweeps" as they have now.

I thought the point you were trying to make was that those shows -- MTM, Maude, Bob Newhart, Here's Lucy -- aired their final episodes earlier than May because there wasn't a May sweeps month back then. My point was that, even if there had been a sweeps month, those shows (with the exception of MTM) would not have even been considered by the network as candidates for May sweeps, for the various reasons I stated.

[Benno123]

Originally Posted by LittleRickyII

I thought the point you were trying to make was that those shows -- MTM, Maude, Bob Newhart, Here's Lucy -- aired their final episodes earlier than May because there wasn't a May sweeps month back then. My point was that, even if there had been a sweeps month, those shows (with the exception of MTM) would not have even been considered by the network as candidates for May sweeps, for the various reasons I stated.

Points missed and points taken! I think we're even - Ha! But what you just said was what I was trying to say, no May sweeps then (or for that matter any major gimmicks to catch audiences). It amazed me when I first started to research TV shows to see how many were finished for the season to what seems so early to me, February/March. Revenues are what drives the business, not the viewers.

[LittleRickyII]

Originally Posted by Benno123

Points missed and points taken! I think we're even - Ha! But what you just said was what I was trying to say, no May sweeps then (or for that matter any major gimmicks to catch audiences). It amazed me when I first started to research TV shows to see how many were finished for the season to what seems so early to me, February/March. Revenues are what drives the business, not the viewers.

Actually, come to think of it, there is -- or at least there used to be -- a February sweeps period, and I think the M*A*S*H finale was aired as part of that.