Ratings War I
According to A.C. Nielsen, for its network premiere, Mudd’s Women (on Star Trek®) was No. 1 from 8:30 to 9 p.m., followed by My Three Sons, then The Dating Game. From 9 to 9:30, Star Trek® tied for first place with the movie on CBS. Bewitched, ABC’s biggest hit, came in at No. 3. Was this a fluke? Not at all. When Mudd’s Women was repeated in May of 1967, Star Trek® again placed at No. 1, followed by the movie on CBS in second place and, coming in last, That Girl on ABC. So why was NBC always looking to cancel the series, despite its having the highest volume of fan mail of any series on television (even beating out The Monkees)? For the answer to that question, and for the exact ratings numbers for this episode and all the episodes of Star Trek®, read These are the Voyages – TOS, Season One, to be published by Jacobs/Brown Press in July 2013.
Watch for These are the Voyages — TOS, Seasons Two and Three, set for publication by Jacobs/Brown Press later in 2013.
