NBC really had the most new TV shows in the fall of 1973. There were 8 new shows, 7 of which lasted just one season.
- Lotsa Luck was a copy of a hit British TV show (On the Buses). It starred Dom DeLuise as a clerk in the Lost and Found Department of a New York City bus company. Shows more often centered on his home life that he shared with his widowed mother, unemployed brother-in-law and cry-baby sister.
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Diana Rigg in Diana, 1973
Diana was a comedy starring Diana Rigg. Her character was a divorced fashion coordinator in a Manhattan department store. I only lasted 15 episodes.
- Chase was a show developed by Jack Webb. It involved an undercover police agency to crack tough cases. Webb’s other series lasted a lot longer than this series.
- The Magician starred Bill Bixby. I loved everything he did and I thought this was a good one. Other people must not have shared my feeling. Bixby played a magician that would also solve crimes. He had to perform at least magic trick per show and magician Mark Wilson was the magic coordinator for the series.
- Love Story. This had nothing to do with the book nor the movie of the same name. No information on any episodes. Gone by Jan. 1974.
- NBC Follies was variety show with musical acts, dancing, comedy sketches, monologues,etc. Sammy Davis Jr. and Mickey Rooney appeared in all 7 episodes that this show lasted.
- Needle and Pins was half hour sitcom set in the New York garment district. In the cast were Norman Fell, Louis Nye and Bernie Kopell. They and everyone else forgot about this show after 14 episodes.
The only show that NBC had that was a success was Police Story. It was created by Joseph Wambaugh who had been police officer in Los Angeles. With his advice the stories were a lot more realistic than any police drama of that time. Each week would be a new cast. One episode would end up being a pilot foe Angie Dickinson’s series Police Woman. Police Story would run for 4 seasons for a total of 88 episodes. The next year there would 8 episodes as “specials.” In 1976, the show won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series. It was also among the shows nominated for that award in 1974, 1975, and 1977.
The series didn’t have an opening theme. Instead there was a closing theme by Jerry Goldsmith. In this video there are 4 variations of that short theme.