Media in 1973
- TELEVISION
- Elvis Presley - Aloha from Hawaii Concert - Broadcast Live Worldwide via Satellite January 14
- The Aloha from Hawaii concert is regarded as the most watched broadcast by an individual entertainer in television history.
The concert took place at the Honolulu International Center in Honolulu and aired in over 40 countries across Asia and Europe.
The concert was not broadcast live in the US because it occurred on the same day as Super Bowl VII.
The concert was aired on April 4 in the US. Elvis Presley Enterprises claimed that between 1 and 1.5 billion people viewed
the concert - however this figure is debatable and probably inflated. Biographers indicate that "only" several hundred
million would have tuned into the broadcast. The concert broadcast was the most expensive entertainment special at the time,
costing $2.5 Million.
- Watergate takes over daytime television May 17 - August 17
- Each network aired coverage in rotation every third day - ABC was first, then CBS, then NBC.
- 25th Emmy Awards: Waltons, All in the Family & Mary Tyler Moore are winners. May 20
- Most Popular Television Shows in 1973
- 1. All in the Family (CBS)
- 2. The Waltons (CBS)
- 3. Sanford and Son (NBC)
- 4. M*A*S*H (CBS)
- 5. Hawaii Five-O (CBS)
- 6. Maude (CBS)
- 7. Kojak (CBS)
- 8. Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour (CBS)
- 9. The Mary Tyler Moore Show (CBS)
- 10. Cannon (CBS)
- Other Popular Television Shows
- 6 Million Dollar Man
- 60 MInutes
- Adam 12
- American Bandstand
- Brady Bunch
- The Bob Newhart Show
- The Carol Burnett Show
- Columbo
- The Dick Cavett Show
- Emergency!
- Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids
- The FBI
- Flip Wilson
- Good Times
- Gunsmoke
- Here's Lucy
- Hollywood Squares
- Ironside
- Jeopardy (still playing)
- Kung Fu
- Love American Style
- Mannix
- Marcus Welby
- Maude
- McCloud
- McMillan and Wife
- Monday Night Football (still playing)
- The New Dick Van Dyke Show
- The Odd Couple
- The Partridge Family
- The Price Is Right (still playing)
- The Rookies
- Room 222
- Soul Train
- Streets of San Francisco
- The Today Show (still playing)
- The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson
- The Wide World of Sports
- The Wonderful World of Disney
- PBS:
- An American Family - One of the earliest reality TV shows
- Masterpiece Theatre
- Sesame Street
- Mini-Series in 1973:
- The Ascent of Man (BBC)
- Jane Eyre (BBC)
- Shows Debuting
- $10,000 Pyramid
- The 6 Million Dollar Man
- Adam's Rib
- Barnaby Jones
- HBO World Championship Boxing
- Kojak
- Match Game (70's revival)
- New Adventures of Perry Mason
- Police Story
- Schoolhouse Rock
- Shaft
- Star Trek Animated Series
- Thrill Seekers
- The Tomorrow Show with Tom Snyder (late night)
- World at War
- The Young and the Restless (still on daytime TV)
- New Year's Rockin' Eve produced by Dick Clark Debuted 12/31/72 on NBC
- Dick Clark hosted 33 straight shows. The first special was titled Three Dog Night's Year's Rockin' Eve 1973 and
was hosted by Three Dog Night featuring performances by Blood, Sweat & Tears, Helen Reddy and Al Green,
pre-recorded from the ballroom of the Queen Mary in Long Beach.
The Second Annual New Year's Rockin' Eve airs on NBC on 12/31/73, with performances by Tower of Power, Billy Preston and
The Pointer Sisters.
- Shows Tuning Out
- Bonanza (1959-73)
- Bridget Loves Bernie (1972-73)
- The Doris Day Show (1968-73)
- Laugh-in (1968-73)
- Love is a Many Splendored Thing (1967-73)
- Mission Impossible (1966-73)
- Mod Squad (1968-73)
- Runaround (1972-73)
- Where the Heart Is (1969-73)
- Commercials
- Burger King: "Have it your way...".
- Charmin Toilet Paper: Mr. Whipple - "Please don't squeeze the Charmin!"
- Life Savers: "A part of living".
- Master Lock: "Tough under fire", survives a direct hit from a marksman and is still secure.
- Miller Lite: the first light beer introduced in 1973, "Everything you ever wanted in a beer. And less".
- Noxzema: the first ever high profile Super Bowl ad with Joe Namath and Farrah Fawcett. It started a major trend of huge Super Bowls ads.
- Sugar Crisp: "Can't get enough of that Sugar Crisp, Sugar Crisp..."
- Super Bowl Advertising Costs:
- Super Bowl 30 second ad cost in 1973: $88,000
- Super Bowl 30 second ad cost in 2012: $3,500,000
- FILM
- Bruce Lee
- Martial arts legend Bruce Lee dies 6 days before Enter the Dragon was released.
Enter the Dragon was the first Chinese martial arts film to have been produced by a major Hollywood studio.
- The Exorcist
- The Exorcist reawakens the horror film genre and becomes one of the most popular and controversial films ever released.
It was named the scariest film of all time by Entertainment Weekly and Movies.com and by viewers of AMC in 2006, and was #3 on Bravo's 100 Scariest Movie Moments.
The success of The Exorcist was followed by a string of remakes, sequels and possession related films.
- Marlon Brando
- Marlon Brando turns down Oscar for Best Actor in the "Godfather" in support of the Indian movement. Brando boycotted the award ceremony, sending an American Indian Rights activist in his place. She stated Brando's objection to the depiction of American Indians by Hollywood and television. May 27
- National Film Registry
- 8 Films from 1973 selected for the National Film Registry for preservation in the Library of Congress. The National Film Registry selects films that are culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant films each year, showcasing the range and diversity of American film heritage.
- - American Graffiti
- - Badlands
- - Enter the Dragon
- - The Exorcist
- - Mean Streets
- - The Sting
- - Frank Films - animated short
- - No Lies - short subject
- Academy Awards for 1973 Films
- Best Picture: The Sting
- Best Director: George Roy Hill - The Sting
- Best Actor: Jack Lemon - Save the Tiger
- Best Actress: Glenda Jackson - A Touch of Class
- Best Supporting Actor: John Houseman - The Paper Chase
- Best Supporting Actress: Tatum O'Neal - Paper Moon
- Golden Globe Awards for 1973 Films
- Best Picture (Drama): The Exorcist
- Best Actor (Drama): Al Pacino - Serpico
- Best Actress (Drama): Marsha Mason - Cinderella Liberty
- Best Picture (Musical or Comedy): American Graffiti
- Best Actor (Musical or Comedy): George Segal - A Touch of Class
- Best Actress (Musical or Comedy): Glenda Jackson - A Touch of Class
- Best Director: William Friedken - The Exorcist
- Top Grossing Movies in 1973
- The Exorcist
- The Sting - 7 Oscars
- American Graffiti
- Enter the Dragon
- Papillon
- The Way We Were
- Magnum Force
- Last Tango in Paradise
- Live and Let Die
- Robin Hood
- Paper Moon
- Serpico
- Walking Tall
- World's Greatest Athlete
- Sleeper
- Other popular movies in 1973
- Badlands
- Bang the Drum Slowly
- Battle for the Planet of the Apes
- Blume in Love
- Cahill US Marshal
- Cinderella Liberty
- Cleopatra Jones
- Day for Night
- The Day of the Jackal
- Deliverance
- Executive Action
- Fantastic Planet
- The Getaway
- Godspell
- Godzilla vs Megalon
- Heavy Traffic
- High Plains Drifter
- Jesus Christ Superstar
- Jonathan Livingston Seagull
- Lady Sings the Blues
- The Last American Hero
- The Last Detail
- The Long Goodbye
- Lost Horizon
- Mean Streets (Scorsese's writing debut)
- The Paper Chase
- Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid
- The Poseidon Adventure
- Save the Tiger
- The Seven Ups
- The Sound of Music (reissue)
- Soylent Green
- That'll Be the Day
- The Three Musketeers
- A Touch of Class
- The Train Robbers
- The Werewolf of Washington
- Westworld
- LITERATURE
- Most Popular Books
- Fiction
- 1. "Jonathan Livingston Seagull" ... Richard Bach. Macmillan
- 2. "Once Is Not Enough" ... Jacqueline Susann. Morrow
- 3. "Breakfast of Champions" ... Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. Delacorte/ Lawrence
- 4. "The Odessa File" ... Frederick Forsyth. Viking
- 5. "Burr" ... Gore Vidal. Random House
- 6. "The Hollow Hills" ... Mary Stewart. Morrow
- 7. "Evening in Byzantium" ... Irwin Shaw. Delacorte
- 8. "The Matlock Paper" ... Robert Ludlum. Dial Press
- 9. "The Billion Dollar Sure Thing" ... Paul E. Erdman. Scribner
- 10. "The Honorary Consul" ... Graham Greene. Simon & Schuster
- ****************************************************************
- Nonfiction
- 1. "The Living Bible" ... Kenneth Taylor. Doubleday and Tyndale House
- 2. "Dr. Atkins' Diet Revolution" ... Robert C. Atkins. McKay
- 3. "I'm O.K., You're O.K." ... Thomas Harris. Harper & Row
- 4. "The Joy of Sex" ... Alex Comfort. Crown
- 5. "Weight Watchers Program Cookbook" ... Jean Nidetch. Hearthside
- 6. "How to Be Your Own Best Friend" ... Mildred Newman et al
Random
- 7. "The Art of Walt Disney" ... Christopher Finch. Harry N. Abrams
- 8. "Better Homes and Gardens Home Canning Cook Book" ... Meredith
- 9. "Alistair Cooke's America" ... Alistair Cooke. Knopf
- 10. "Sybil" ... Flora R. Schreiber. Reanery
- Other Books Published in 1973
- The Rachel Papers - Martin Amis
- The Gods Themselves - Isaac Asimov
- The Denial of Death - Ernest Becker
- Regiment of Women - Thomas Berger
- The Stone of Darkness and Dread - John Brunner
- Postern of Fate - Agatha Christie
- Rendezvous with Rama - Arthur C. Clarke
- From Evil's Pillow - Basil Copper
- There Is A Tree More Ancient Than Eden - Leon Forrest
- The Princess Bride - William Goldman
- Women and Children - Elisabeth Harvor
- A Touch of Danger - James Jones
- The Demon Seed - Dean R. Koontz
- The Devil Tree - Jerzy Kosinski
- Child of God - Cormac McCarth
- A Random Walk Down Wall Street - Buron Malkiel
- Burnt Offerings - Robert Marasco
- The Black Prince - Iris Murdoch
- The Rhyme of the Flying Bomb - Mervyn Peake (posthumously published)
- Temporary Kings - Anthony Powell
- Gravity's Rainbow - Thomas Pynchon
- Small is Beautiful - E.F. Schumacher
- The Gulag Archipelago - Alexander Solzhenitsyn
- Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72 - Hunter S. Thompson
- The Eye of the Storm - Patrick White
- Temptations of Big Bear - Rudy Wiebe
- Awards
- American Academy of Arts and Letters Gold Medal in Poetry - John Crowe Ransom
- Hugo Award: Isaac Asimov, The Gods Themselves
- Nebula Award: Arthur C. Clarke, Rendezvous with Rama
- Newbury Medal for children's literature: Jean Craighead George, Julie of the Wolves
- Pulitzer Prizes:
- Drama: Jason Miller, That Championship Season
- Fiction: Eudora Welty, The Optimist's Daughter
- Poetry: Maxine Kumin, Up Country
- Public Service: The Washington Post, for its investigation of the Watergate case.
- Local General or Spot News Reporting: The Chicago Tribune, for uncovering flagrant violations of voting procedures in the primary election of March 21, 1972.
- Local Investigative Specialized Reporting: The Sun Newspapers of Omaha, Nebraska, for uncovering the large financial resources of Boys Town, Nebraska, leading to reforms in this charitable organization's solicitation and use of funds contributed by the public.
- National Reporting: Robert Boyd and Clark Hoyt of Knight Newspapers, for their disclosure of Senator Thomas Eagleton's history of psychiatric therapy, resulting in his withdrawal as the Democratic Vice Presidential nominee in 1972
- International Reporting: Max Frankel of The New York Times, for his coverage of President Nixon's visit to China in 1972.
- Commentary: David S. Broder of The Washington Post, for his columns during 1972.
- Criticism: Ronald Powers of the Chicago Sun-Times, for his critical writing about television during 1972.
- Editorial Writing: Roger B. Linscott of The Berkshire Eagle, Pittsfield, Massachusetts, for his editorials during 1972.
- History: People of Paradox: An Inquiry Concerning the Origins of American Civilization by Michael Kammen (Knopf)
- Biography or Autobiography: Luce and His Empire by W.A. Swanberg (Scribner)
- General Non-Fiction: Fire in the Lake: The Vietnamese and the Americans in Vietnam by Frances FitzGerald (Little)
- General Non-Fiction: Children of Crisis, Vols. II and III by Robert Coles (Little)
- Letters: James Thomas Flexner, a special citation to George Washington, Vols. I-IV, by James Thomas Flexner.
