1967: The inagural Super Bowl is telecast on both CBS and NBC. The Rolling Stones appear on The Ed Sullivan Show.
In an event that predates the birth of most Jericho fans, as well as their 21st century escapades: the long-running western Gunsmoke is renewed for the fall 1967 season, after widespread viewer protest. After CBS planned to cancel the aging Saturday-night series, outcry as far up as the United States Congress led the network to move Gunsmoke to the early evening on Mondays. To make room,Gilligan’s Island, which had been renewed for next season, is canceled.
Notable TV premieres of the year: The Flying Nun (ABC), The Carol Burnett Show (CBS), Mannix (CBS), Ironside (NBC). Notable TV finales of the year: What’s My Line?, and Gilligan’s Island.
Top 20 Prime Time Broadcast Programs, October 1966-April 1967:
| RANK | PROGRAM | NETWORK | HH RATING | HH SHARE | |
| 1 | Bonanza | NBC | 29.1 | 45 | |
| 2 | The Red Skelton Hour | CBS | 28.2 | 43 | |
| 3 | The Andy Griffith Show | CBS | 27.4 | 42 | |
| 4 | The Lucy Show | CBS | 26.2 | 40 | |
| 5 | The Jackie Gleason Show | CBS | 25.3 | 43 | |
| 6 | Green Acres | CBS | 24.6 | 38 | |
| 7 | Daktari | CBS | 23.4 | 38 | |
| 8 | Bewitched | ABC | 23.4 | 37 | |
| 9 | The Beverly Hillbillies | CBS | 23.4 | 36 | |
| 10 | Gomer Pyle USMC | CBS | 22.8 | 37 | |
| 11 | The Virginian | NBC | 22.8 | 36 | |
| 12 | The Lawrence Welk Show | ABC | 22.8 | 36 | |
| 13 | The Ed Sullivan Show | CBS | 22.8 | 35 | |
| 14 | The Dean Martin Show | CBS | 22.6 | 41 | |
| 15 | Family Affair | CBS | 22.6 | 36 | |
| 16 | Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour | CBS | 22.2 | 33 | |
| 17 | Friday Night Movies | CBS | 21.8 | 40 | |
| 18 | Hogan’s Heroes | CBS | 21.8 | 37 | |
| 19 | Walt Disney’s World of Color | NBC | 21.5 | 35 | |
| 20 | Saturday Night At The Movies | NBC | 21.4 | 37 |
The 1966-67 top 20 list is filled with personality driven variety shows with 6 of the top 20 (The Red Skelton Hour, The Jackie Gleeson Show, The Lawrence Welk Show, The Ed Sullivan Show, The Dean Martin Show, Smother Brothers Comedy Hour)
3 regular movies in the top 20 (Friday Night Movies, Walt Disney’s World of Color, Saturday Night at the Movies).
2 Westerns (Bonanza, The Virginian)
6 Sitcoms (The Lucy Show, Green Acres, Bewitched, The Beverly Hillbillies, Family Affair, Hogan’s Heroes)
CBS ruled the top 20 list with 14 shows, NBC had 4, and ABC just 2.
For a bit of perspective, the top rated show this season, Tuesday’s American Idol, Season To Date HH rating is 16.1 and its share is 24. Don’t forget that a HH ratings point today means a lot more households than it did in the past.
Bonanza title card courtesy of Wikipedia.
Nielsen TV Ratings Data: ©2005 Nielsen Media Research, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Super Bowl I was NOT simulcast. Both CBS and NBC did their own separate telecasts. This was done because NBC had the old AFL and CBS broadcast the NFL.
EJHill, Good information, I will correct, thanks.
Bill, two things…<br><br>One, you have the same name as the longtime Mayor of my hometown.<br><br>Two, do you know of any source with Nielsen's full list of shows for the year. Meaning complete ratings from the number one show to the lowest rated?
The Hollywood Reporter usually comes out with a full list at the end of each season. <a href="http://ABCmedianet.com">ABCmedianet.com</a> also has season-to-date ratings released every Tuesday, but that list includes quite literally everything that aired (even once) during the television season. So it's about 300 items long.
Liberal Superhero,<br><br>When the Gormans left Ireland, we came here in force. We are everywhere.
And William has been no less popular than the #20 name for males in the last 100 years. My guess is that the William Gorman's of America could fill Yankee Stadium.<br><br>Doug beat me to the post. We have complete show data for the last couple years only, prior to that we have just the top 20, which is what I use to generate these "We Look Back" lists.