As NBC & Jack Webb took a look at forest rangers with Sierra, ABC went out and tried a different tack.
Kodiak brought Clint Walker (ex-Cheyenne) back to series television after he'd made a few movies, including an ABC Movie of The Week, "Killdozer". He even hooked up with his old employers at Warner Bros., which packaged Kodiak for ABC.
One problem, and it was a big one. Kodiak was slotted opposite NBC's Sanford & Son. Game over. Kodiak was also filling the Friday lead-off slot where The Brady Bunch had been, but with the prime time block now three hours on Monday-Saturday due to changes in programming regulations, Kodiak was supposed to be a warm-up act for The Six Million Dollar Man. Unfortunately, Kodiak was cancelled after the first episode aired, but three more were shown before ABC finally pulled the plug and overhauled the Friday block, as Jack Elam's sitcom, The Texas Wheelers, also got a quick hook. Another WB property, Kung Fu, with David Carradine, was tried out on Fridays before moving back to Saturdays for the winter.
All that's available is this sample clip with guest star Robby Benson.
No rating. My folks watched Sanford & Son before flipping the channel for Six Million Dollar Man.
Kodiak ranked 83rd out of 84 shows airing that season with a 9.9 rating. Sanford and Son was #2 that season with a 29.6 rating.
ReplyDeleteEnough said there.
ReplyDeleteThe other show in that timeslot, CBS's Planet of the Apes, did not fare much better than Kodiak, as it ranked 67th for the season, with a 14.8 rating.
ReplyDeleteWhereas Sanford and Son was the #2 show on television that season, with a 29.6 rating.
ReplyDelete