(Why Was This) Seen on TV - Viva Laughlin (CBS)

Sitcom Scorecard: May 6-17

Usually, these cards are delivered weekly loaded full of ratings to discuss.  Given COVID-19 shut down productions, few scrapings of original programming remain.  ABC finished out its Wednesday sitcoms on May 6 and 13, CBS Thursdays continues to burn off its cancelled showings of Man With a Plan and Broke on May 7 and 14, and FOX Sundays delivered its closing episodes on May 10 ad 17.  Another awkward jolt to the season is 12 days ago began an annual time known as upfronts which the networks announce what is staying, going and coming.  Only CBS delivered their results aggressively, handing The Neighborhood, Bobishola and The Unicorn renewals while shooting red cancellation bullets at Broke, Man With a Plan and Carol's Second Act.

Beyond that, it has been crickets besides FOX handing Bob's Burgers and Family Guy expected renewals.  NBC either renewed its stronger players or retired, leaving only Indebted and Perfect Harmony likely to sail on.  That leaves ABC the greatest mystery as none of its eight remaining 8 sitcoms' fates announced.  Save for The Conners, all run a risk factor.  The Goldbergs has suffered the usual seasonal drops, is in its 7th season, outsourced to Sony and dropped in quality.  Schooled seems to have managed retaining enough of its lead-in but like its parent mentioned in the last sentence is outsourced and marginally rated.  Bless This Mess is one of the few sitcoms breaking ABC's overdone family sitcom model but hemorrhaging too much of The Conners' numbers.

Mixedish received it's parent sitcom Blackish' prime development bed and has managed to pummel the slot down to new lows.  Single Parents proved it sinks fast after double episodes were sandwiched around American Housewife, tying ABC's sitcom series low with Galavant with a 0.4.  Speaking of cement shoes, Blackish sank to that same low being ousted from its timeslot for its 6th season.  Though critically heralded, its low ratings have left it in uncertain territory.  And American Housewife, certainly ABC's most marketable sitcom, suffered too many moves and delivered mediocrity after assuming Modern Family's (once) prized timeslot.  All mentions could be wiped out in the blink of an eye.

Working in these shows' favors is ABC seems to be out of luck with scheduling options.  Would ABC suffer through another low-rated seasons as there's little to replace it with?  Or would they trim down the number of sitcoms offered to as low as four?  Another week of mysteries is underway as networks remain quiet about what is coming and going.  Though only Thursday night burnoffs remain the only original scripted options to report, The Sitcom Scorecard will continue to publish until 90% of the 33 shows' fates are reported.  11 have been announced as renewed, 4 cancelled and another 4 already declared their final seasons.  That leaves 14 on deck hanging in limbo so stay tuned.

During summer months when there is nary a new sitcom rating to see, check out the RATINGS HISTORY LIBRARY as it contains 7 decades of ratings data to explore, including the sitcoms mentioned in the chart below.

1966-67 Ratings History

Written Flying the Bat Signal at ABC's Cooling Ratings by Bridger Cunningham (former TVRG Writer) 

Behold a rare treasure trove of illusive sitcom data.  As promised, TV Ratings Guide continues its ongoing efforts to deliver comprehensive ratings data as it becomes available.  Previously, data before 1984 was non-existent in a comprehensive table or list.  September 2, 2017 bulldozed that Nielsen wall, breaking into the 1983-84 data.  The overall Ratings History will follow shortly, but not before reporting another leading development in TVRG's ongoing ratings anthology series.  After thoroughly researching the internet for ratings, a Star Trek fan check site unveiled valuable data which resurrected a new chain of ratings to report, as they located valued Nielsen Rankings from the 30th-70th Nielsen rankings from an August 1967 article from American Television history.  When peering further, not only did this article possess the data from 1966-67, but also had 1964-66 data intact.  Nielsen ratings are not revealed, but ranks and shares are reported.  This finding, along with a listing of renewed and cancelled shows for the season, crafted enough data for TVRG to compose a Sitcom Scorecard and Ratings History for the year.  

Please note this data is incomplete, as ranks 1-31 have ratings points, ranks 30-70 have shares, and 71-101 have no data except seasons and status.  Given TVRG possesses the majority of the data, a Ratings History Card can be conceptually crafted.  

CBS emerged the victor for this season for a 12th consecutive run, NBC in 2nd and ABC losing ground in 3rd.  CBS dominated 60% of the top 20 shows, NBC 30% and ABC with 10%.  Ranking above 60th place gave television programming a higher chance for survival, with only 7 shows surviving the remaining 41 ranks.  Figure out if any of these television titles ring familiar, as this season broadcast more than 50 years ago. 

To check out other years' ratings, visit the Ratings History Library.

Trending Hot -- CBS sitcoms proved to be the surviving staple folks recall more than half a century later.  Conversely, westerns were popular in the 50's and 60's and are only remembered via title.  Variety shows continued to proliferate all three flagships.  Law Enforcement shows such as Dragnet, Mission: Impossible, I Spy and Get Smart became popular staples in the lineup.  

Trending Tepid -- ABC sensations such as Peyton Place and Batman's duplicate showings cooled down this season after reigning prior years.  Science Fiction fantasy pieces fared with mixed results, including Star Trek which landed at 52nd place.  Movie evenings also experienced similar fortunes.  

Trending Cold -- Save for Get Smart, NBC sitcoms pitted the lineup with poor results.  Older shows from the 40's and 50's of all genres met their ending, particularly longstanding gameshows. 

  

Sources: 

 1. http://fbibler.chez.com/tvstats/by_5_yr_period/top_programs_1965-1970.html 2. American Television History, August 1967 -- http://americanradiohistory.com/Archive-Television-Magazine/Television-1967-Aug.pdf 3. http://startrekfactcheck.blogspot.com/2014/07/the-truth-about-star-trek-and-ratings.html 

1965-66 Ratings History

Written Asking Where the Ratings Monsters Went by Bridger Cunningham (former TVRG Writer) 

Behold a rare treasure trove of illusive sitcom data.  As promised, TV Ratings Guide continues its ongoing efforts to deliver comprehensive ratings data as it becomes available.  Previously, data before 1984 was non-existent in a comprehensive table or list. The September 2, 2017 bulldozed that Nielsen wall, breaking into the 1983-84 data.  The overall Ratings History will follow shortly, but not before reporting another leading development in TVRG's ongoing ratings anthology series.  After thoroughly researching the internet for ratings, a Star Trek fan check site unveiled valuable data which resurrected a new chain of ratings to report, as they located valued Nielsen Rankings from the 30th-70th Nielsen rankings from an August 1967 article from American Television history.  When peering further, not only did this article possess the data from 1966-67, but also had 1964-66 data intact.  Nielsen ratings are not revealed, but ranks and shares are reported.  This finding, along with a listing of renewed and cancelled shows for the season, crafted enough data for TVRG to compose a Sitcom Scorecard and Ratings History for the year.  

To check out other years' ratings, visit the Ratings History Library.

Trending Hot -- CBS sitcoms proved to be the surviving staple folks recall more than half a century later.  Conversely, westerns were popular in the 50's and 60's and are only remembered via title.  Variety shows continued to proliferate all three flagships.    

Trending Tepid -- ABC sensation such as Peyton Place cooled down after igniting the Nielsens the previous year with Mia Farrow.  Movie evenings also experienced similar fortunes.  

Trending Cold - Monster shows and middling sitcoms left the air after 2-3 seasons.  NBC sitcoms did not fare well, and gameshows began to descend downward in the ratings. 

  

Sources  
1. http://fbibler.chez.com/tvstats/by_5_yr_period/top_programs_1965-1970.html 
2. American Television History, 1967 -- http://americanradiohistory.com/Archive-Television-Magazine/Television-1967-Aug.pdf 3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1965%E2%80%9366_United_States_network_television_schedule 

1964-65 Ratings History

Written in The First Season of Color by Bridger Cunningham (former TVRG Writer)

Behold a rare treasure trove of illusive sitcom data.  As promised, TV Ratings Guide continues its ongoing efforts to deliver comprehensive ratings data as it becomes available.  Previously, data before 1984 was non-existent in a comprehensive table or list. The September 2, 2017 bulldozed that Nielsen wall, breaking into the 1983-84 data.  After thoroughly researching the internet for ratings, a Star Trek fan check site unveiled valuable data which resurrected a new chain of ratings to report, as they located valued Nielsen Rankings from the 30th-70th Nielsen rankings from an August 1967 article from American Television history.  When peering further, not only did this article possess the data from 1966-67, but also had 1964-66 data intact.  Nielsen ratings are not revealed, but ranks and shares are reported.  This finding, along with a listing of renewed and cancelled shows for the season, crafted enough data for TVRG to compose a Sitcom Scorecard and Ratings History for the year.  

To check out other years' ratings, visit the Ratings History Library.

 

Trending Hot -- Almost anything ABC touched turned to gold.  Thanks to Bewitched landing a then-unprecedented network record of 2nd Place, it's sitcom roster perked up.  Add a few cutting edge dramas like The Fugitive and Combat, as well as new soap sensation Peyton Place, and the network fired on all cylinders and showed signs it could overtake NBC for 2nd.  It would have to wait 11 years for that victory, but this season showed it was a distinct possibility.  CBS also belted out another successful year with its sitcom blocks of silliness.  Alchemy and dark humor took hold of CBS and ABC as Bewitched and copycat franchises The Addams Family and The Munsters showcased modern families with odd powers.  Overall, this was the era to be a sitcom on TV as ABC and CBS had the craft nearly perfected.  

Trending Tepid -- Westerns still registered high in the roster, though they began to fade as the 60's raged on.  Multiple showing and serialized programming made the rounds this season, thanks to Peyton Place's multiple showings on ABC.  Shopping around for network discards panned out with mixed results.  Movie nights gained prominence, particularly on NBC.  Variety and Gameshows also continued to display with mixed results.  

Trending Cold -- NBC, though still in 2nd place, seemed to experience a rougher time in the mid-60's.  It only nicked 5 places in the Top 30 and covered most of its roster in the Middle of the Pack.  Animated shows also began to lose steam this season, and 50's fares began to fall down the ratings ladder or fall off the roster. 

Sources 

1. http://americanradiohistory.com/Archive-Television-Magazine/Television-1967-Aug.pdf 

2.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1964%E2%80%9365_United_States_network_television_schedule