"All in the Family" and "My Three Sons" – Original Plan for Fall of 1971 - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

James28 · 01-06-2015, 02:51 AM

When CBS unveiled its Fall of 1971 prime time schedule in March of 1971, they originally planned to have All in the Family occupy the Mondays at 10:30 timeslot, My Three Sons on Saturday at 8:00, and Arnie on Mondays at 10:00.

But in August of 1971, CBS decided to reposition AitF, MTS and Arnie to new timeslots. AitF was relocated to Saturdays at 8:00, MTS was moved to Mondays at 10:00, and Arnie was switched to Mondays at 10:30. It was said in an old issue of Broadcasting Magazine that the purpose of the moves was to give the network sequential family programming on Monday nights, and AitF "presumably would inject a jarring break in this sequence of programming".

What do you think? How would all three of AitF, MTS and Arnie have fared if CBS had stuck with its original plan for Fall of 1971? AitF getting low ratings on Mondays at 10:30 and ending up cancelled after Season 2? An old, tired show like MtS starting off Saturdays at 8:00?

visaman666 · 01-06-2015, 03:04 AM

If ATF was on Mondays at 10:30, then I wouldn't have been allowed to watch it, as I was 6 years old at the time. As it was on Saturday, my parents allowed me to watch it. Generation X was born from that move by CBS.

One does wonder though, if it did have the late time slot, would the show have been allowed to be even more racy than it was already?

KurtfromPitts · 01-21-2015, 12:10 PM

If AITF had run on Mondays, there's no telling what would have happened to the comedies that ran at 8:00 Saturday on the other networks, "The Partners" [NBC], which I liked, and "Getting Together" [ABC]. At least one of them probably would've lasted the season and maybe saw a second one.

JSP · 01-22-2015, 08:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KurtfromPitts

If AITF had run on Mondays, there's no telling what would have happened to the comedies that ran at 8:00 Saturday on the other networks, "The Partners" [NBC], which I liked, and "Getting Together" [ABC]. At least one of them probably would've lasted the season and maybe saw a second one.

Yeah, from what I read, NBC was really banking on "The Partners" to be a big hit.

In fact, it scared Fred Silverman at CBS so much that he claims that's the reason he moved "All In The Family" to Saturdays at 8.

"All In The Family" destroyed "The Partners", probably to much frustration to the folks at NBC, who thought they had a sure-fire hit.

Someday I'd like to see "The Partners" get released to DVD. But from what I've heard Universal says there's not enough interest. A relative of one of the cast members told me this on YouTube once.

Frenky · 01-22-2015, 05:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSP

Yeah, from what I read, NBC was really banking on "The Partners" to be a big hit.

In fact, it scared Fred Silverman at CBS so much that he claims that's the reason he moved "All In The Family" to Saturdays at 8.

"All In The Family" destroyed "The Partners", probably to much frustration to the folks at NBC, who thought they had a sure-fire hit.

Someday I'd like to see "The Partners" get released to DVD. But from what I've heard Universal says there's not enough interest. A relative of one of the cast members told me this on YouTube once.

If NBC had high hopes for The Partners then they should have moved it to Friday after Sanford and Son, you can't go against show with 50 share but even CBS didn't expect AITF to become such huge hit.

JSP · 01-22-2015, 06:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Frenky

If NBC had high hopes for The Partners then they should have moved it to Friday after Sanford and Son, you can't go against show with 50 share but even CBS didn't expect AITF to become such huge hit.

It debuted before Sanford and Son. Maybe they could have moved it to Fridays after Sanford debuted mid-season, but they didn't.

Coffeecup · 01-24-2015, 10:13 PM

Was the Partners a show with Don Knotts and Rupert ?? If it was , i saw it and didn't think much of it.

JSP · 01-25-2015, 12:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Coffeecup

Was the Partners a show with Don Knotts and Rupert ?? If it was , i saw it and didn't think much of it.

Don Adams and Rupert Crosse

KurtfromPitts · 02-04-2015, 12:18 PM

The Partners did return briefly to NBC in summer 1972 in S&S' time slot with five episodes. Not sure if they were reruns or as yet unaired shows.

KurtfromPitts · 03-11-2015, 11:24 AM

Thought I'd add a little sidebar. Larry Hagman in a book he wrote circa 1996-the title escapes me-claimed that his 1971 show "The Good Life", which followed "The Partners" at 8:30, was on opposite "All In The Family". It actually ran opposite "Funny Face" with Sandy Duncan. Maybe he misremembered the scheduling or something.

James28 · 03-29-2015, 10:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by visaman666

One does wonder though, if it did have the late time slot, would the show have been allowed to be even more racy than it was already?

I think probably as racy as the CBS standards and practices department would have allowed it to be at the time. Would that kind of raciness have been enough for it to be applied a TV-14 content rating if it were reran today? I have no idea.

Also, if AitF had been cancelled after Season 2 due to low ratings in that late-Monday slot, would The Mary Tyler Moore Show have become CBS's new flagship sitcom instead, maybe even soaring to #1 in the Nielsen Ratings for a couple of years?

James28 · 09-11-2023, 04:16 PM

Hey, look at what Broadcasting magazine reported in its November 8. 1971 issue:

"CBS is said to be considering a move of My Three Sons from Monday (10-10:30) to Saturday at 8:30 to replace Funny Face should that show be forced off the schedule at midseason. "

Why would CBS consider something like having tired-a$$ (ratings-wise) My Three Sons in the timeslot after All in the Family when younger options were available? Bad idea. Frankly, it was a good idea for CBS to put The Mary Tyler Moore Show in the hammock slot between AitF and The New Dick Van Dyke Show after Funny Face was terminated after its lead, Sandy Duncan, underwent eye surgery. Arnie was also young (debuting in the same year as The MTM Show); What if that one had been put in the post-AitF timeslot? I'm guessing whatever followed AitF at that time would've had ratings exceeding, like, 26.0 every week no matter what.

biffbronson · 09-11-2023, 05:24 PM

Maybe CBS had more respect for shows like M3S and Gunsmoke than you do. "Tired" is your opinion, which you've stated at least 3 times now for those series. I get that you dislike them. What I don't get is why you want to persist with "tired-a$$" and "tired-a$$ed" practically every time you refer to them. It's unnecessary and offensive.

M3S is my all-time favorite series. I really get weary of people putting down the late seasons. Beverly Garland was only in her 3rd season of M3S when it was cancelled, and Ronne Troup in only her second. Yes, it was an old series. But there was enough going on that it wasn't "tired" in my opinion. The 3 seasons prior to what proved to be the final one all finished no lower than #19 in the rankings -- very strong showings considering how old the series was by then.

End of rant. You may resume.

James28 · 09-11-2023, 06:56 PM

^^"Unnecessary and offensive"? Man, why should I care?

I'm thinking you must have wanted My Three Sons to get the post-All in the Family timeslot in the middle of the 1971-72 season. The point I'm making here is CBS wouldn't have needed to do that (because it would have meant The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Arnie getting held back), and a fresh and young program would be a far better choice for a lead-out than MTS. I guess CBS had to do something to bury My Three Sons during that '71-'72 season, and some CBS execs must not have wanted MTS to stay first-run after Spring 1972, especially in light of the Rural Purge a year prior.

If MTS really did air on Saturdays at 8:30 after All in the Family, how much would its ratings have risen?

TVFactFan · 09-23-2023, 05:19 PM

My Three Sons did look to be about done because it was moved to Thursday nights after December and finishing #42

01-06-2015, 02:51 AM	#1
James28 Member Forum 3000 Club Member Join Date: Apr 14, 2007 Posts: 3,977	"All in the Family" and "My Three Sons" – Original Plan for Fall of 1971 When CBS unveiled its Fall of 1971 prime time schedule in March of 1971, they originally planned to have All in the Family occupy the Mondays at 10:30 timeslot, My Three Sons on Saturday at 8:00, and Arnie on Mondays at 10:00. But in August of 1971, CBS decided to reposition AitF, MTS and Arnie to new timeslots. AitF was relocated to Saturdays at 8:00, MTS was moved to Mondays at 10:00, and Arnie was switched to Mondays at 10:30. It was said in an old issue of Broadcasting Magazine that the purpose of the moves was to give the network sequential family programming on Monday nights, and AitF "presumably would inject a jarring break in this sequence of programming". What do you think? How would all three of AitF, MTS and Arnie have fared if CBS had stuck with its original plan for Fall of 1971? AitF getting low ratings on Mondays at 10:30 and ending up cancelled after Season 2? An old, tired show like MtS starting off Saturdays at 8:00?
	__________________ "When the run of a network TV show has ended, some go out with a bang, some with a whimper, but all are...Future Endeavored." "Stay Safe"? More like "Stay Sad". #2020Hurts Last edited by James28; 06-11-2016 at 09:00 PM.

01-06-2015, 03:04 AM	#2
visaman666 Member Forum Regular Join Date: Jan 06, 2007 Posts: 818	If ATF was on Mondays at 10:30, then I wouldn't have been allowed to watch it, as I was 6 years old at the time. As it was on Saturday, my parents allowed me to watch it. Generation X was born from that move by CBS. One does wonder though, if it did have the late time slot, would the show have been allowed to be even more racy than it was already?

01-21-2015, 12:10 PM	#3
KurtfromPitts Member Senior Member Join Date: Feb 10, 2006 Location: Carnegie PA Posts: 1,533	If AITF had run on Mondays, there's no telling what would have happened to the comedies that ran at 8:00 Saturday on the other networks, "The Partners" [NBC], which I liked, and "Getting Together" [ABC]. At least one of them probably would've lasted the season and maybe saw a second one.

01-24-2015, 10:13 PM	#7
Coffeecup coffeecup. Forum 3000 Club Member Join Date: Jan 17, 2003 Location: snoozeville Posts: 3,181	Was the Partners a show with Don Knotts and Rupert ?? If it was , i saw it and didn't think much of it.

02-04-2015, 12:18 PM	#9
KurtfromPitts Member Senior Member Join Date: Feb 10, 2006 Location: Carnegie PA Posts: 1,533	The Partners did return briefly to NBC in summer 1972 in S&S' time slot with five episodes. Not sure if they were reruns or as yet unaired shows.

03-11-2015, 11:24 AM	#10
KurtfromPitts Member Senior Member Join Date: Feb 10, 2006 Location: Carnegie PA Posts: 1,533	Thought I'd add a little sidebar. Larry Hagman in a book he wrote circa 1996-the title escapes me-claimed that his 1971 show "The Good Life", which followed "The Partners" at 8:30, was on opposite "All In The Family". It actually ran opposite "Funny Face" with Sandy Duncan. Maybe he misremembered the scheduling or something.

09-11-2023, 04:16 PM	#12
James28 Member Forum 3000 Club Member Join Date: Apr 14, 2007 Posts: 3,977	Hey, look at what Broadcasting magazine reported in its November 8. 1971 issue: "CBS is said to be considering a move of My Three Sons from Monday (10-10:30) to Saturday at 8:30 to replace Funny Face should that show be forced off the schedule at midseason. " Why would CBS consider something like having tired-a$$ (ratings-wise) My Three Sons in the timeslot after All in the Family when younger options were available? Bad idea. Frankly, it was a good idea for CBS to put The Mary Tyler Moore Show in the hammock slot between AitF and The New Dick Van Dyke Show after Funny Face was terminated after its lead, Sandy Duncan, underwent eye surgery. Arnie was also young (debuting in the same year as The MTM Show); What if that one had been put in the post-AitF timeslot? I'm guessing whatever followed AitF at that time would've had ratings exceeding, like, 26.0 every week no matter what.

09-11-2023, 05:24 PM	#13
biffbronson Sentimental Fool Forum Star Join Date: Aug 22, 2009 Location: Near Notre Dame Posts: 10,457	Maybe CBS had more respect for shows like M3S and Gunsmoke than you do. "Tired" is your opinion, which you've stated at least 3 times now for those series. I get that you dislike them. What I don't get is why you want to persist with "tired-a$$" and "tired-a$$ed" practically every time you refer to them. It's unnecessary and offensive. M3S is my all-time favorite series. I really get weary of people putting down the late seasons. Beverly Garland was only in her 3rd season of M3S when it was cancelled, and Ronne Troup in only her second. Yes, it was an old series. But there was enough going on that it wasn't "tired" in my opinion. The 3 seasons prior to what proved to be the final one all finished no lower than #19 in the rankings -- very strong showings considering how old the series was by then. End of rant. You may resume.

09-11-2023, 06:56 PM	#14
James28 Member Forum 3000 Club Member Join Date: Apr 14, 2007 Posts: 3,977	^^"Unnecessary and offensive"? Man, why should I care? I'm thinking you must have wanted My Three Sons to get the post-All in the Family timeslot in the middle of the 1971-72 season. The point I'm making here is CBS wouldn't have needed to do that (because it would have meant The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Arnie getting held back), and a fresh and young program would be a far better choice for a lead-out than MTS. I guess CBS had to do something to bury My Three Sons during that '71-'72 season, and some CBS execs must not have wanted MTS to stay first-run after Spring 1972, especially in light of the Rural Purge a year prior. If MTS really did air on Saturdays at 8:30 after All in the Family, how much would its ratings have risen?

09-23-2023, 05:19 PM	#15
TVFactFan Member Forum Junkie Join Date: Aug 17, 2002 Posts: 99,043	My Three Sons did look to be about done because it was moved to Thursday nights after December and finishing #42