“He's plague, he's smallpox, he's typhoid. I don't want to follow his goddamn show. I want out of that 8 o'clock spot. I've got enough troubles without Howard Beale as a lead-in. You guys scheduled me up against 'Tony Orlando and Dawn,' NBC's got 'Little House on the Prairie,' ABC's got 'The Bionic W…”
— Paddy Chayefsky, Laureen Hobbs, Marlene Warfield, imdb.com