My Journey Through 1970s TV: Monday Nights, 1976

Made-for-TV movies, like variety shows,  were a staple of network programming throughout the 1970s, as evidenced here by both NBC and ABC on Monday nights in 1976.

The reason networks scheduled weekly movies is that they were consistently popular, equaling or besting both sitcoms and drama series in the ratings. ABC’s Monday Night Movie ranked #3 for this season – a higher rating than Monday Night Football achieved in that same time slot.

Though most of the titles have been lost to the ages, the best of them are still fondly recalled by classic TV fans – Brian’s Song, Trilogy of Terror, Duel, The Night Stalker. Thankfully, YouTube and other online services have resurrected dozens from television oblivion, and they’re just as enjoyable now as they were 50 years ago.

How consistent was the quality? Here are just some of the titles ABC presented in the calendar year 1976:

Eleanor and Franklin (winner of 11 Emmy Awards)
Charlie’s Angels (the pilot movie for the series earned a remarkable 54 share)
Brenda Starr (Jill St. John as the famed reporter from the comic strip)
The New Daughters of Joshua Cabe (wonderful light-hearted western with Buddy Ebsen, Karen Valentine and Lesley Ann Warren)
The Love Boat (pilot for another hit series)
Look What Happened to Rosemary’s Baby (sequel – of sorts – to the classic horror film)
Smash-Up on Interstate Five (cheesy but fun disaster film with Robert Conrad that ranked #6 the week it aired)

What else did Monday nights in 1976 serve up? Let’s take a look.

ABC
The Captain & Tennille
ABC Monday Night Movie

All it took to get your own variety series in the ‘70s was a couple of hit records. As a television personality, Daryl Dragon was so stiff that even guest appearances by Charlie’s original Angels didn’t coax much of a smile from him. 

Still, the Captain & Tennille’s show was better than the Starland Vocal Band’s, though not as good Sonny and Cher’s. The musical performances were great, the comedy spots not so much, but there’s something about the glitzy charms of these vintage variety shows now that can still make one long for happier times.


NBC
Little House on the Prairie
NBC Monday Night Movie

Little House ranked #15 for the year in its third season, with NBC’s Monday Night Movie not far behind at #20. All in all, an impressive showing for the network that spent much of this decade behind its competitors.

CBS
Rhoda
Phyllis
Maude
All’s Fair
Executive Suite


CBS was the only network opting not to show a movie on Monday nights, which would seem like sound counter-programming strategy. But it didn’t work. All five shows in its lineup finished outside the top 30 in 1976.

This was the season in which Rhoda’s marriage fell apart, which may have depressed enough viewers who adored her that they didn’t stick around for the retooled Phyllis, canceled after this season.

Maude suffered a precipitous ratings drop, from #4 the previous year to #31. 

Part of that could be attributed to floundering lead-ins, but it has also been suggested that this was right about the time audiences were seeking out lighter, more escapist fare, instead of comedies in which issues were debated and everyone yelled at each other.

Which means All’s Fair could not have debuted at a worse time. The Washington DC-based sitcom starred Richard Crenna as a conservative political columnist in a relationship with a liberal news photographer, played by the apparently ageless Bernadette Peters. 

Episodes frequently featured current event political debates – just the kind of content that viewers seeking relief from such conflicts were trying to avoid.

Executive Suite was another early attempt at a prime time soap. I never saw it so on the “missed shows” list it goes. Not many people saw it in 1976 either apparently, as it didn’t last a full season. CBS would revisit the genre two years later with much greater success – you could even say they struck oil.

Shows Missed:
The Don Knotts Show (1970)
San Francisco International Airport (1970)
Nancy (1970)
The Headmaster (1970)
The Man and the City (1971)
Search (1972)
Assignment: Vienna (1972)
The Delphi Bureau (1972)
Jigsaw (1972)
The Little People (1972)
The Sixth Sense (1972)
Tenafly (1973)
Faraday & Company (1973)
Kodiak (1974)
The New Land (1974)
McCoy (1975)
Joe and Sons (1975)
Beacon Hill (1975)
Mobile One (1975)
Big Eddie (1975)
Executive Suite (1976)