The biggest mystery of the 1970's is how Laverne and Shirley was the.......... - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

TVFactFan · 07-02-2016, 12:42 PM

most watched TV show in the country over THree's Company????????

Skywalker · 07-02-2016, 03:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TVFactFan

most watched TV show in the country over THree's Company????????

Laverne and Shirley had more female viewers than TC. When L&S was the top show it has less competition than TC. TC was on the same time as MASH during the 77 season while. Laverne was competing with brand new shows that didn't last long.

TVFactFan · 07-02-2016, 03:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skywalker

Laverne and Shirley had more female viewers than TC. When L&S was the top show it has less competition than TC. TC was on the same time as MASH during the 77 season while. Laverne was competing with brand new shows that didn't last long.

This is the 78-79 season I referring to when TC was up against a Tuesday CBS Movie

Skywalker · 07-02-2016, 05:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TVFactFan

This is the 78-79 season I referring to when TC was up against a Tuesday CBS Movie

The cbs movie had to have more viewers than grandpa goes to washington and paper chase which aired at the same time as happy days and laverne that season. Both of those shows were cancelled in 79.

TVFactFan · 07-02-2016, 05:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skywalker

The cbs movie had to have more viewers than grandpa goes to washington and paper chase which aired at the same time as happy days and laverne that season. Both of those shows were cancelled in 79.

So what we are discovering is L&S had weak competition

Kasey · 07-02-2016, 05:57 PM

I was 8-11 years old when L&S was in its' ratings prime and back then not a lot of children my age were allowed to stay up past 9 and if they were, many were not permitted to watch a show as risqué as Three's Company--at least not where I grew up. (My mother didn't have any issue with us staying up to see it). So Happy Days and Laverne & Shirley got big ratings during "family" viewing time, but some of the grownups found TC a little too silly and slapstick so it likely lost some of the 9pm viewers.

Patty Duke · 07-02-2016, 09:32 PM

I have L&S on DVD and love it. I never liked Three's Company.

Sal · 07-02-2016, 10:42 PM

Solomon, I can't believe you can get so cranky now that football season has started.

The simple answer regarding Laverne and Shirley is that it was a good show and remained that way longer than Three's Company. It also enjoyed a longer period of stability among the cast and viewers were familiar with the characters from when they appeared on Happy Days. Of course, both shows were also better than The Jeffersons so that helped too.

Fun fact: During the 1970s, Rob Reiner was married to Penny Marshall. When All In The Family ended its record 5 year run at the top of the ratings, guess who ended the streak? First it was Happy Days and then Laverne & Shirley. No wonder they broke up!

TVFactFan · 07-02-2016, 10:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sal

Solomon, I can't believe you can get so cranky now that football season has started.

The simple answer regarding Laverne and Shirley is that it was a good show and remained that way longer than Three's Company. It also enjoyed a longer period of stability among the cast and viewers were familiar with the characters from when they appeared on Happy Days. Of course, both shows were also better than The Jeffersons so that helped too.

Fun fact: During the 1970s, Rob Reiner was married to Penny Marshall. When All In The Family ended its record 5 year run at the top of the ratings, guess who ended the streak? First it was Happy Days and then Laverne & Shirley. No wonder they broke up!

Football starts in 60 days

opus · 07-02-2016, 10:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TVFactFan

Football starts in 60 days

Sal's in Canada. He's watching the CFL. Go Blue Bombers!

JSP · 07-02-2016, 11:50 PM

Three's Company was 2nd to 60 Minutes in 1979-80 as well. Three's Company was more controversial than Laverne, and many parents would probably let their kids watch Laverne but not Three's Company. Just a guess.

James28 · 07-03-2016, 12:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kasey

I was 8-11 years old when L&S was in its' ratings prime and back then not a lot of children my age were allowed to stay up past 9 and if they were, many were not permitted to watch a show as risqué as Three's Company--at least not where I grew up. (My mother didn't have any issue with us staying up to see it). So Happy Days and Laverne & Shirley got big ratings during "family" viewing time, but some of the grownups found TC a little too silly and slapstick so it likely lost some of the 9pm viewers.

Could that (or anything) also explain how Three's Company would have been the #1 program in the Nielsen Ratings for the 1978-79 season, but in reality, it was still beaten by Laverne & Shirley (which was already #1 in the Nielsen Ratings for the 1977-78 season) by just two tenths of a ratings point? (TC's season average for 78-79 was 30.3, compared to L&S's 30.5.)

biffbronson · 07-03-2016, 09:35 AM

It's important to remember that Happy Days was a mega-hit for ABC, a phenomenally popular series -- and with a lead-in that strong, the next half-hour featuring L & S retained a big portion of the HD viewership. I don't even think it matters much that the series were related -- Happy Days was a smash hit that ensured anything following a built-in audience.

So simply put, people like me did not change the station following Happy Days in prime time. Most of my Three's Company viewing was in syndication.

TVFactFan · 07-03-2016, 12:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alan Brady's Hair

I think it's more complicated than saying Laverne & Shirley built on Happy Days' success. Ratings:

1974: Happy Days (Jan. replacement), #16
1974-75: HD #49
1975-76: HD #11; LS (Jan. replacement), #3
1976-77: HD #1; LS #2
1977-78: LS #1; HD #2
1978-79: LS #1; HD #3
1979-80: HD #17; LS out of top 30
1980-81: HD #15; LS #21
1981-82: HD #18; LS #20
1982-83: LS #25; HD #28
1983-84: HD #63

So it looks like Laverne and Shirley broke out to really high ratings first, and was probably feeding Happy Days at least as much as vice versa through 1978-79. Again, it's a little more complicated than that, because Happy Days had done it's complete makeover for 1975-76 and the Fonz was breaking out all over, so it may have been ranked 25th in September but near or at the top by the time Laverne and Shirley premiered in January.

Looks like L&S benefited from following HD and not having any competition from NBC or CBS at 8:30pm. You can see as soon as L&S moved to Thursday Nights that's when the ratings started to fall

JSP · 07-03-2016, 12:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TVFactFan

Looks like L&S benefited from following HD and not having any competition from NBC or CBS at 8:30pm. You can see as soon as L&S moved to Thursday Nights that's when the ratings started to fall

I agree.

07-02-2016, 09:32 PM	#7
Patty Duke Good night, John Boy Forum Regular Join Date: Feb 09, 2013 Location: The Land of Milk and Honey Posts: 788	I have L&S on DVD and love it. I never liked Three's Company.
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07-02-2016, 10:42 PM	#8
Sal Member Forum Veteran Join Date: Jul 20, 2001 Location: Oakville, Ont. Canada Posts: 6,182	Solomon, I can't believe you can get so cranky now that football season has started. The simple answer regarding Laverne and Shirley is that it was a good show and remained that way longer than Three's Company. It also enjoyed a longer period of stability among the cast and viewers were familiar with the characters from when they appeared on Happy Days. Of course, both shows were also better than The Jeffersons so that helped too. Fun fact: During the 1970s, Rob Reiner was married to Penny Marshall. When All In The Family ended its record 5 year run at the top of the ratings, guess who ended the streak? First it was Happy Days and then Laverne & Shirley. No wonder they broke up!
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07-02-2016, 12:42 PM	#1
TVFactFan Member Forum Junkie Join Date: Aug 17, 2002 Posts: 99,057	The biggest mystery of the 1970's is how Laverne and Shirley was the.......... most watched TV show in the country over THree's Company????????

07-02-2016, 05:57 PM	#6
Kasey Member Senior Member Join Date: Aug 22, 2004 Location: Ontario, Canada Posts: 1,143	I was 8-11 years old when L&S was in its' ratings prime and back then not a lot of children my age were allowed to stay up past 9 and if they were, many were not permitted to watch a show as risqué as Three's Company--at least not where I grew up. (My mother didn't have any issue with us staying up to see it). So Happy Days and Laverne & Shirley got big ratings during "family" viewing time, but some of the grownups found TC a little too silly and slapstick so it likely lost some of the 9pm viewers.

07-02-2016, 11:50 PM	#11
JSP Member Senior Member Join Date: Aug 19, 2003 Location: Austin, TX Posts: 2,735	Three's Company was 2nd to 60 Minutes in 1979-80 as well. Three's Company was more controversial than Laverne, and many parents would probably let their kids watch Laverne but not Three's Company. Just a guess.

07-03-2016, 09:35 AM	#13
biffbronson Sentimental Fool Forum Star Join Date: Aug 22, 2009 Location: Near Notre Dame Posts: 10,488	It's important to remember that Happy Days was a mega-hit for ABC, a phenomenally popular series -- and with a lead-in that strong, the next half-hour featuring L & S retained a big portion of the HD viewership. I don't even think it matters much that the series were related -- Happy Days was a smash hit that ensured anything following a built-in audience. So simply put, people like me did not change the station following Happy Days in prime time. Most of my Three's Company viewing was in syndication.