TV by the Decade :: May 16•22

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After 140 weeks of TV By The Decade, this is the first week in which no new series have premiered across seven decades. Of course we’re in the middle of May, a time when the networks traditionally bring the TV season to an end so that accounts for the dearth of new programming this week. So, with no new series celebrating an anniversary this week, let’s take a look at what TV shows earned their place in the Nielsen Top Ten in each TV season.

1951

NBC dominated the TV landscape with seven of the Top Ten shows on television for the 1950-1951 season. The season also included a precursor to shows like American Idol and America’s Got Talent with Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts. For the 1950-1951 season, 61% of all households in the US with televisions watched the Number 1 show.

Texaco Star Theater (NBC)
Fireside Theatre (NBC)
Philco TV Playhouse (NBC)
Your Show of Shows (NBC)
The Colgate Comedy Hour (NBC)
Gillette Cavalcade of Sports (NBC)
The Lone Ranger (ABC)
Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts (CBS)
Hopalong Cassidy (NBC)
Mama (CBS)

1961

A decade later, CBS sat on the ratings throne with six of the Top Ten shows on television. Compared to the 1950-1951 season, more households had televisions a decade later, with 37% of those viewers tuning in to the Number 1 of the season.

Gunsmoke (CBS)
Wagon Train (NBC)
Have Gun – Will Travel (CBS)
The Andy Griffith Show (CBS)
The Real McCoys (ABC)
Rawhide (CBS)
Candid Camera (CBS)
The Untouchables (ABC)
The Price Is Right (NBC)
The Jack Benny Show (CBS)

1971

With just three major networks and no DVRs, the networks evenly split the Top Ten this season. As more people began watching more TV, viewership for the Number 1 series dropped again, but the Top Ten shows for the 1970-1971 TV seasons captured between 23% and 30% of the viewing households. What’s surprising is that even ten years later, Gunsmoke is still a Top Five series (its run ended in 1975 after 20 seasons, at that time the longest running drama on television).

Marcus Welby, M.D. (ABC)
The Flip Wilson Show (NBC)
Here’s Lucy (CBS)
Ironside (NBC)
Gunsmoke (CBS)
ABC Movie of the Week (ABC)
Hawaii Five-O (CBS)
Medical Center (CBS)
Bonanza (NBC)
The F.B.I. (ABC)

1981

By the 1980-81 TV season, CBS was back on top with six of the ten most watched shows on television. Thanks to its third season ‘Who Shot J.R.?’ cliffhanger, the fourth season of Dallas captured the attention of 34.5% of TV households.

Dallas (CBS)
The Dukes of Hazzard (CBS)
60 Minutes (CBS)
M*A*S*H (CBS)
The Love Boat (ABC)
The Jeffersons (CBS)
Alice (CBS)
House Calls (CBS)
Three’s Company (ABC)
Little House on the Prairie (NBC)

1991

With NBC’s ‘must see’ shows on Thursdays and Saturdays, the network scored five of the Top Ten shows this season. Cheers and 60 Minutes battle it out for the top spot with Cheers capturing 21.3% of households to 60 Minutes’ 20.6%. But, 60 Minutes is only the second show to appear in the Top Five in two different decades.

Cheers (NBC)
60 Minutes (CBS)
Roseanne (ABC)
A Different World (NBC)
The Cosby Show (NBC)
Murphy Brown (CBS)
Empty Nest (NBC)
America’s Funniest Home Videos (ABC)
Monday Night Football (ABC)
The Golden Girls (NBC) / Designing Women (CBS) (TIE)

2001

With Who Wants To Be a Millionaire taking up three nights of programming real estate on ABC, and Monday Night Football scoring a touchdown with viewers, the network had just one scripted series in the Top Ten, which put it in the lead for this season. After drawing nearly 52% of the TV households for its 2000 season finale, Survivor held on to the Number 1 spot for the 2000-2001 season with an average of 17.4% (the season premiere nabbed 45% of TV households).

Survivor (CBS)
ER (NBC)
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire — Wednesday (ABC)
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire — Tuesday (ABC)
Friends (NBC)
Monday Night Football (ABC)
Everybody Loves Raymond (CBS)
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire — Sunday (ABC)
Law & Order (NBC)
The Practice (ABC)

2011

Five of the Top Ten shows this season were unscripted, with Fox hitting the top spot with American Idol and ABC close behind with Dancing With the Stars, both taking two nights each. Even in its ninth season, American Idol was still at the top of the ratings with 14.5% of households watching the performances show and 13.4% tuning in for the long, drawn out results episode. And taking its cue from Idol, Dancing With the Stars also aired two nights a week grabbing 13.8% of households for its performance shows and 11.8% for the equally drawn out results episodes.