Schedule Rewind: A look back at the Prime Time schedule from seasons past and network decisions impacting sci fi and fantasy shows.
The 1978-79 season brought the premieres of iconic sci fi shows Battlestar: Galactica and Mork & Mindy with other well-known genre entries like The Incredible Hulk and Wonder Woman continuing from prior seasons. Sci fi TV offerings were pretty sparse in those days, and there were only three broadcast networks with programming during Prime Time (ABC, CBS, NBC). That particular season delivered several selections for genre fans to choose from, but by the end of the year, most of those shows would get sent to the network executioner.
ABC:
Battlestar: Galactica (Sundays 8 PM)
Salvage 1 (Mondays 8 PM)
Mork & Mindy (Thursdays 8 PM)
Fantasy Island (Saturdays 10 PM)
This network had the two biggest hits of the season among genre entries, though each of them charted very different paths. Battlestar: Galactica was a highly anticipated series, riding the Star Wars wave of popularity to the Prime Time schedule. Its three-hour debut movie ranked Number 5 in the ratings for its premiere week, and the show continued to pull decent numbers for the next few months. But CBS decided to do some counter-programming when Mary (the ill-fated variety show starring Mary Tyler Moore) tanked in the ratings. The network moved top-rated All in the Family against BSG, and the numbers for the sci fi series started to slip against the competition. BSG was the most expensive show on television to start the year ($1 million per episode), and when it dropped out of the Top 20, ABC execs apparently lost faith in it. But instead of trying a counter-programming move of their own, they ended up cancelling the show by season end. It would return briefly for the following year in the Galactica: 1980 incarnation, but that disappeared quickly (you can read more about BSG at this link).
The other big ABC show of the year was the alien-among-us comedy Mork & Mindy which was a spin-off of sorts from Happy Days (does that make the latter show sci fi ?). That one debuted on Thursday nights, when the competition from the other networks was not too strong, and turned into a huge hit for ABC. It ended the season as the third highest-rated show across all three networks and would go on to enjoy a four-season run. Interestingly, in the show’s second season, ABC tried some counter-programming of its own and moved Mork & Mindy to Sundays against Archie Bunker’s Place (the continuation of All in the Family without Edith Bunker). The sci fi comedy struggled to compete with the CBS show, and was eventually moved back to Thursdays. It would never return to the Top 10 through the rest of its four seasons.
Also on ABC that year was the quirky sci fi adventure series Salvage 1 which starred Andy Griffith. That one arrived on Monday nights in January where it had to contend with Top 15 performer Little House on the Prairie over on NBC. It did just well enough to get a second season renewal, but it would disappear from the schedule quickly the next year (you can read more about it at this link). ABC also had Fantasy Island airing that year which was in its second season and performing well as a Top 25 show. It may count as a “genre lite” entry, but it still made its mark on the television landscape (and you can read more about it at this link).
CBS:
The Incredible Hulk (Wednesdays 8 PM / Fridays 9 PM)
Time Express (Thursdays 8 PM)
The New Adventures of Wonder Woman (Fridays 8 PM)
The eye network had two returning shows on its schedule for the 1978-79 season as well as one new offering that disappeared quickly. The Incredible Hulk was back for its second season and performed steadily if not spectacularly on Friday nights at 9 PM EST and then Wednesdays at 8 PM EST (it got shifted to the latter timeslot when Dukes of Hazzard joined the schedule in January). That show would remain on the air for three more seasons (and you can read more about that one at this link). Also airing on Fridays (at 8 PM EST) was The New Adventures of Wonder Woman. That show was in its third season on CBS (after moving over from ABC in its second year), but it would end up getting cancelled in Spring of 79 when Linda Carter decided she wanted to pursue other opportunities (you can read more about the show at this link).
One curio that arrived on the CBS schedule late in the season was the anthology series Time Express. That one debuted in April and offered a Love Boat-style concept but set on a train that travels back in time and starred Vincent Price as the host (no, really). It aired against Mork & Mindy and Angie on ABC, both of which ended the season in the Top 5. Time Express quickly derailed against that competition and was off the schedule after only four episodes (you can read more about it at this link).
NBC:
Cliffhangers (Tuesdays 8 PM)
Supertrain (Wednesdays 8 PM)
Project UFO (Thursdays 8 PM)
Highcliffe Manor (Thursdays 8:30 PM)
Turnabout (Fridays 9 PM)
The peacock network was at a low point in the 1978-79 season with only three shows in the Top 30 (plus the Monday Night movie) and running significantly behind the other two nets as far as overall ratings. That led NBC to make some desperate moves in the season, all of which failed to pan out.
The most notorious failure for that network that season was Supertrain. Another Love Boat-style anthology (and it only barely counts as a genre entry), it took place on a high-tech train and focused on different guest stars each week. It debuted on Wednesdays at mid-season where it had to contend with strong-performer Eight is Enough on ABC. The competition was stiff (and the show was not very good), so it ran out of steam after nine episodes. (Which meant that the 1978-79 season delivered two failed train shows!)
A promising entry on NBC’s schedule was the movie serial inspired series Cliffhangers. That show had three different fifteen-minute segments (sci fi western The Secret Empire, supernatural drama The Curse of Dracula, and action-adventure entry Stop Susan Williams) each delivering an ongoing story arc over the season (a novel idea at the time). Network execs had the brilliant idea of scheduling it against top-rated Happy Days and Laverne & Shirley Tuesdays on ABC thinking those two sitcoms were past their prime and Cliffhangers would attract younger viewers. Not surprisingly, that strategy failed badly, and the show was gone by season end (and you can read more about it at this link).
Carried over from the prior season was alien-investigation procedural Project UFO which had been a Top 20 hit in its first year. But NBC moved it from its Sunday 8 PM EST timeslot (apparently fearing the competition from BSG) to Thursdays at 8 PM EST, an even worse hour. It had to contend with breakout hit Mork & Mindy and it was cancelled by mid-season (you can read more about it at this link). The network also tried out supernatural comedy Highcliffe Manor and sitcom Turnabout (where a husband and wife switch bodies), but both were put in difficult timeslots (against Top 5 Angie for the former and opposite Dukes of Hazzard for the latter) and neither lasted beyond seven episodes.
Ultimately, the 1978-79 season was not a particularly good one for sci fi TV as well as network decision-making with eight shows cancelled and only four continuing into the next season (though BSG did come back briefly as Galactica: 1980). And the presence of genre shows on the broadcast network Prime Time schedule would remain sparse throughout the ’80s and beyond (more on that at this link).
Sources:
Wikipedia: 1978–79 United States Network Television Schedule
TV Obscurities: A Tale of Two Galacticas
TV Obscurities: Cliffhangers: Overview
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