The following is the 1973–74 network television schedule for the three major English language commercial broadcast networks in the United States. The schedule covers primetime hours from September 1973 through August 1974. The schedule is followed by a list per network of returning series, new series, and series cancelled after the 1972–73 season. All times are Eastern and Pacific, with certain exceptions, such as Monday Night Football.
New fall series are highlighted in bold.
Each of the 30 highest-rated shows is listed with its rank and rating as determined by Nielsen Media Research.[1]
Yellow indicates the programs in the top 10 for the season.
Cyan indicates the programs in the top 20 for the season.
Magenta indicates the programs in the top 30 for the season.
PBS, the Public Broadcasting Service, was in operation, but the schedule was set by each local station.
| Network | 7:30 PM | 8:00 PM | 8:30 PM | 9:00 PM | 9:30 PM | 10:00 PM | 10:30 PM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ABC | The F.B.I. | The ABC Sunday Night Movie (23/20.7) (Tied with Adam-12) | Local | |||||
| CBS | Fall | The New Perry Mason | Mannix | Barnaby Jones (17/21.4) (Tied with Good Times) | ||||
| Winter | Apple's Way | |||||||
| Summer | 60 Minutes | |||||||
| NBC | The Wonderful World of Disney (12/22.3) (Tied with The Bob Newhart Show) | NBC Sunday Mystery Movie (Columbo / McCloud / McMillan and Wife / Hec Ramsey) (14/22.2) | ||||||
Note: 60 Minutes aired at 6:00-7:00 pm on CBS from January to June 1974.
| Network | 8:00 PM | 8:30 PM | 9:00 PM | 9:30 PM | 10:00 PM | 10:30 PM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ABC | Fall | The Rookies (25/20.3) | Monday Night Football (19/21.2) (Tied with The CBS Friday Night Movie) | ||||
| Winter | ABC Monday Movie (26/20.2) | ||||||
| CBS | Gunsmoke (15/22.1) | Here's Lucy (29/20.0) | The New Dick Van Dyke Show | Medical Center | |||
| NBC | Fall | Lotsa Luck | Diana | NBC Monday Night at the Movies | |||
| Winter | The Magician | ||||||
| Summer | The Baseball World of Joe Garagiola (8:00) / Monday Night Baseball (8:15) | ||||||
| Network | 8:00 PM | 8:30 PM | 9:00 PM | 9:30 PM | 10:00 PM | 10:30 PM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ABC | Fall | The New Temperatures Rising Show | ABC Tuesday Movie of the Week (21/21.0) | Marcus Welby, M.D. | |||
| Winter | Happy Days (16/21.5) | ||||||
| CBS | Maude (6/23.5) | Hawaii Five-O (5/24.0) | The New CBS Tuesday Night Movies / Hawkins / Shaft | ||||
| NBC | Fall | Chase | The Magician | Police Story | |||
| Winter | Adam-12 (23/20.7) (Tied with The ABC Sunday Night Movie) | NBC Tuesday Mystery Movie Banacek / Tenafly / Faraday and Company / The Snoop Sisters | |||||
| Network | 8:00 PM | 8:30 PM | 9:00 PM | 9:30 PM | 10:00 PM | 10:30 PM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ABC | Fall | Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice | ABC Wednesday Movie of the Week | Owen Marshall, Counselor at Law | |||
| November | Dick Clark Presents the Rock and Roll Years | ||||||
| Winter | The Cowboys | Doc Elliot | |||||
| CBS | Fall | The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour (7/23.3) (Tied with Kojak) | Cannon (9/23.1) (Tied with The Mary Tyler Moore Show) | Kojak (7/23.3) (Tied with The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour) | |||
| Summer | The Bobbie Gentry Show | ||||||
| Follow-up | Tony Orlando & Dawn | ||||||
| August | The Hudson Brothers Show | ||||||
| NBC | Fall | Adam-12 (23/20.7) (Tied with The ABC Sunday Night Movie) | NBC Wednesday Mystery Movie Banacek / Tenafly / Faraday & Company / The Snoop Sisters | Love Story | |||
| Winter | Chase | NBC Wednesday Night at the Movies | |||||
| Network | 8:00 PM | 8:30 PM | 9:00 PM | 9:30 PM | 10:00 PM | 10:30 PM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ABC | Fall | Toma | Kung Fu (27/20.1) (Tied with The Carol Burnett Show) | The Streets of San Francisco (22/20.8) | |||
| Winter | Chopper One | Firehouse | |||||
| Summer | Temperatures Rising | ||||||
| August | Just for Laughs | ||||||
| CBS | The Waltons (2/28.1) | CBS Thursday Night Movie (30/19.9) | |||||
| NBC | Fall | The Flip Wilson Show | Ironside | NBC Follies | |||
| Winter | Music Country USA | ||||||
| Summer | The Mac Davis Show | The Dean Martin Comedy World | |||||
| Network | 8:00 PM | 8:30 PM | 9:00 PM | 9:30 PM | 10:00 PM | 10:30 PM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ABC | Fall | The Brady Bunch | The Odd Couple | Room 222 | Adam's Rib | Love, American Style | |
| Winter | The Six Million Dollar Man (11/22.7) | The Odd Couple | Toma | ||||
| CBS | Fall | Calucci's Department | Roll Out! | The CBS Friday Night Movie (19/21.2) (Tied with Monday Night Football) | |||
| Winter | Dirty Sally | Good Times (17/21.4) (Tied with Barnaby Jones) | |||||
| Summer | Your Hit Parade | ||||||
| NBC | Fall | Sanford and Son (3/27.5) | The Girl with Something Extra | Needles and Pins | The Brian Keith Show | The Dean Martin Show | |
| Winter | Lotsa Luck | The Girl with Something Extra | |||||
| Summer | The Brian Keith Show | NBC Friday Night at the Movies | |||||
(*) Formerly The Little People
| Network | 8:00 PM | 8:30 PM | 9:00 PM | 9:30 PM | 10:00 PM | 10:30 PM | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ABC | Fall | The Partridge Family | ABC Suspense Movie | Griff | ||||
| January | ||||||||
| CBS | Fall | All in the Family (1/31.2) | M*A*S*H (4/25.7) | The Mary Tyler Moore Show (9/23.1) (Tied with Cannon) | The Bob Newhart Show (12/22.3) (Tied with The Wonderful World of Disney) | The Carol Burnett Show (27/20.1) (Tied with Kung Fu) | ||
| Summer | Barnaby Jones | |||||||
| NBC | Emergency! | NBC Saturday Night at the Movies | ||||||
Returning Series
New Series
Not returning from 1972–73:
Assignment Vienna / The Delphi Bureau / Jigsaw
Returning Series
New Series
Not returning from 1972–73:
Returning Series
New Series
Not returning from 1972–73:
Note: The * indicates that the program was introduced in midseason.