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.^[1]

  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.

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

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

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.

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.

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

• 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.