1970–71 United States network television schedule

The following is the 1970–71 network television schedule for the three major English language commercial broadcast networks in the United States. The schedule covers primetime hours from September 1970 through August 1971. The schedule is followed by a list per network of returning series, new series, and series cancelled after the 1969–70 season. All times are Eastern and Pacific, with certain exceptions, such as Monday Night Football.

This was the first time that the top rated show of the season aired on ABC.

New fall series are highlighted in bold.

Each of the 30 highest-rated shows is listed with its rank and rating as determined by Nielsen Media Research.


 * Yellow indicates the programs in the top 10 for the season.
 * Cyan indicates the programs in the top 20 for the season.
 * Magenta indicates the programs in the top 30 for the season.

PBS, the Public Broadcasting Service, was in operation by October 1970; however, schedules were set by each affiliated station.

In April 1970, Congress passed a law banning the advertising of cigarettes on television and radio, effective January 2, 1971.

This season would be the last one for the traditional 3½-hour prime time schedule.

Sunday
NOTE: On CBS, Comedy Playhouse was an anthology series composed of unsold television pilots.

Monday
Note: NBC Comedy Theater featured repeats of Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre, with new introductions by Jack Kelly.

Wednesday
Notes: Love on a Rooftop consisted of reruns of the series, which originally aired during the 1966-1967 season. The Men from Shiloh formerly was entitled The Virginian.

Thursday
Notes: The Dean Martin Summer Show Starring Your Host Vic Damone consisted entirely of reruns of the show of the same name from the summer of 1967. NBC Action Playhouse featured repeats of Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre, with new introductions by Peter Marshall.

ABC
Returning Series
 * The ABC Monday Night Movie
 * ABC Movie of the Week
 * The ABC Sunday Night Movie
 * Bewitched
 * The Brady Bunch
 * The Courtship of Eddie's Father
 * The F.B.I.
 * The Johnny Cash Show
 * The Lawrence Welk Show
 * Let's Make a Deal
 * Love, American Style
 * Marcus Welby, M.D.
 * The Mod Squad
 * Nanny and the Professor
 * The Newlywed Game
 * Room 222
 * That Girl
 * This Is Tom Jones

New Series
 * Alias Smith and Jones
 * Barefoot in the Park
 * Dan August
 * Danny Thomas in Make Room for Granddaddy
 * The Immortal
 * It Was a Very Good Year *
 * Matt Lincoln
 * Monday Night Football
 * The Most Deadly Game
 * The Odd Couple
 * The Partridge Family
 * The Pearl Bailey Show *
 * The Reel Game *
 * The Silent Force
 * The Smith Family *
 * The Val Doonican Show *
 * The Young Lawyers
 * The Young Rebels

Not returning from 1969–70:
 * Animal World (moved to CBS)
 * The Engelbert Humperdinck Show
 * The Flying Nun
 * The Ghost & Mrs. Muir
 * Harold Robbins' The Survivors
 * Here Come the Brides
 * The Hollywood Palace
 * It Takes a Thief
 * Jimmy Durante Presents the Lennon Sisters
 * Johnny Cash Presents the Everly Brothers Show
 * Land of the Giants
 * Mr. Deeds Goes to Town
 * The Music Scene
 * The New People
 * Now
 * Paris 7000
 * Pat Paulsen's Half a Comedy Hour
 * The Smothers Brothers Show

CBS
Returning Series
 * 60 Minutes
 * Animal World (moved from ABC)
 * The Beverly Hillbillies
 * The Carol Burnett Show
 * CBS Thursday Night Movie
 * The CBS Friday Night Movies
 * The Doris Day Show
 * The Ed Sullivan Show
 * Family Affair
 * The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour
 * The Governor & J.J.
 * Green Acres
 * Gunsmoke
 * Hawaii Five-O
 * Hee Haw
 * Here's Lucy
 * Hogan's Heroes
 * The Jim Nabors Hour
 * Lassie
 * Mannix
 * Mayberry R.F.D.
 * Medical Center
 * Mission: Impossible
 * My Three Sons
 * Suspense Playhouse
 * To Rome with Love

New Series
 * All in the Family *
 * Arnie
 * The CBS Newcomers *
 * Comedy Playhouse *
 * Headmaster
 * The Ice Palace *
 * The Interns
 * The Mary Tyler Moore Show
 * The New Andy Griffith Show *
 * The Six Wives of Henry VIII *
 * The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour *
 * Storefront Lawyers
 * The Tim Conway Comedy Hour

Not returning from 1969–70:
 * The 21st Century
 * CBS News Adventure
 * CBS Playhouse
 * Comedy Tonight
 * Get Smart
 * The Good Guys
 * The Jackie Gleason Show
 * Lancer
 * The Leslie Uggams Show
 * Petticoat Junction
 * The Tim Conway Show
 * Where's Huddles?

NBC
Returning Series
 * Adam-12
 * The Andy Williams Show
 * The Bill Cosby Show
 * Bonanza
 * The Bold Ones
 * Bracken's World
 * Columbo
 * The Dean Martin Show
 * The Des O'Connor Show
 * The High Chaparral
 * Ironside
 * Jambo
 * Julia
 * Kraft Music Hall
 * The Men from Shiloh
 * Monday Night Baseball
 * The Name of the Game
 * NBC Action Playhouse
 * NBC Comedy Theater
 * NBC Monday Night at the Movies
 * The NBC Mystery Movie
 * NBC Saturday Night at the Movies
 * Night Gallery
 * The Red Skelton Show
 * Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In
 * Strange Report
 * Wild Kingdom
 * The Wonderful World of Disney

New Series
 * The Don Knotts Show
 * The Flip Wilson Show
 * Four in One
 * From a Bird's Eye View *
 * Make Your Own Kind of Music *
 * McCloud
 * Nancy
 * The Psychiatrist *
 * San Francisco International Airport

Not returning from 1969–70:
 * Andy Williams Presents Ray Stevens
 * Daniel Boone
 * Dean Martin Presents the Golddiggers in London
 * The Debbie Reynolds Show
 * Dragnet 1970
 * I Dream of Jeannie
 * Letters to Laugh-In
 * My World and Welcome to It
 * Then Came Bronson

Note: The * indicates that the program was introduced in midseason.

Additional sources

 * Castleman, H. & Podrazik, W. (1982). Watching TV: Four Decades of American Television. New York: McGraw-Hill. 314 pp.
 * McNeil, Alex. Total Television. Fourth edition. New York: Penguin Books. ISBN 0-14-024916-8.
 * Brooks, Tim & Marsh, Earle (1985). The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network TV Shows (3rd ed.). New York: Ballantine. ISBN 0-345-31864-1.