1987–88 United States network television schedule
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The following is the 1987–88 network television schedule for the four major English language commercial broadcast networks in the United States. The schedule covers primetime hours from September 1987 through August 1988. The schedule is followed by a list per network of returning series, new series, and series cancelled after the 1986–87 season. All times are Eastern and Pacific, with certain exceptions, such as Monday Night Football.
Note: This is the first fall season for Fox, and the first year since 1958-59 that a fourth commercial television network (NTA) was broadcasting. Fox would air only two days a week until 1989.
PBS is not included; member stations have local flexibility over most of their schedules and broadcast times for network shows may vary.
New series are highlighted in bold.
All times given are in U.S. Eastern Time and Pacific Time (except for some live events or specials). Subtract one hour for Central and Mountain times. From February 13 to 28, 1988, all of ABC's primetime programming was preempted in favor of coverage of the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary.
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.
Sunday
| Network | 7:00 PM | 7:30 PM | 8:00 PM | 8:30 PM | 9:00 PM | 9:30 PM | 10:00 PM | 10:30 PM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ABC | Fall | The Disney Sunday Movie | Spenser: For Hire | The Bugs Bunny Show | Dolly | Buck James | |||
| Winter | The Disney Sunday Movie | The ABC Sunday Night Movie | |||||||
| Spring | The Disney Sunday Movie | Supercarrier | |||||||
| Follow-up | Specials | ||||||||
| Summer | MacGyver | ||||||||
| CBS | 60 Minutes (#8/20.6) | Murder, She Wrote (#9/20.2) | CBS Sunday Movie (#18/17.2) | ||||||
| Fox | Fall | 21 Jump Street | Married... with Children | Various programs | The Tracey Ullman Show | Mr. President | Local Programming | ||
| Follow-up | Werewolf | Married... with Children | Duet | ||||||
| Spring | It's Garry Shandling's Show | The Tracey Ullman Show | Local programming | ||||||
| Follow-up | America’s Most Wanted | Werewolf | |||||||
| NBC | Fall | Our House | Family Ties (#17/17.3) | My Two Dads (#20/16.9) (Tied with Valerie's Family) |
NBC Sunday Night at the Movies (#23/16.7) (Tied with Head of the Class) | ||||
| Spring | Day by Day (#28/16.2) | ||||||||
| Summer | Rags to Riches | My Two Dads (#20/16.9) (Tied with Valerie's Family) | |||||||
- Note: The Wonder Years premiered January 31, 1988 after Super Bowl XXII.
Monday
| Network | 8:00 PM | 8:30 PM | 9:00 PM | 9:30 PM | 10:00 PM | 10:30 PM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ABC | Fall | MacGyver | Monday Night Football (#16/17.4) | ||||
| Mid-season | The ABC Monday Night Movie | ||||||
| Summer | Monday Night Baseball | ||||||
| CBS | Fall | Frank's Place | Kate & Allie | Newhart (#25/16.5) | Designing Women | Cagney & Lacey | |
| Follow-up | Kate & Allie | Frank's Place | |||||
| Mid-season | Designing Women | Frank's Place | Wiseguy | ||||
| Spring | Eisenhower and Lutz | ||||||
| Follow-up | Cagney & Lacey | ||||||
| Summer | Blue Skies | Kate & Allie | Designing Women | Wiseguy | |||
| NBC | ALF (#10/18.8) (Tied with The Wonder Years) |
Valerie's Family (#20/16.9) (Tied with My Two Dads) |
NBC Monday Night at the Movies (#26/16.4) | ||||
Tuesday
| Network | 8:00 PM | 8:30 PM | 9:00 PM | 9:30 PM | 10:00 PM | 10:30 PM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ABC | Fall | Who's the Boss? (#6/21.2) | Growing Pains (#5/21.3) | Moonlighting (#12/18.3) (Tied with L.A. Law) |
thirtysomething | ||
| Mid-season | The Wonder Years (#10/18.8) (Tied with ALF) | ||||||
| Spring | Just the Ten of Us | ||||||
| Summer | Perfect Strangers | ||||||
| Follow-up | Full House | ||||||
| CBS | Fall | Houston Knights | Jake and the Fatman | The Law & Harry McGraw | |||
| Mid-season | 48 Hours | Cagney & Lacey | |||||
| Spring | My Sister Sam | Trial and Error | Frank's Place | Coming of Age | |||
| Follow-up | Houston Knights | The CBS Tuesday Night Movie | |||||
| Summer | CBS Summer Playhouse | ||||||
| NBC | Fall | Matlock (#14/17.8) | J.J. Starbuck | Crime Story | |||
| Follow-up | Hunter (#28/16.1) | ||||||
| Spring | In the Heat of the Night (#19/17.0) | ||||||
| Follow-up | NBC Tuesday Night at the Movies | ||||||
| Summer | J.J. Starbuck | NBC Summer Showcase | |||||
| Follow-up | In the Heat of the Night (#19/17.0) | ||||||
Note: The Dictator was supposed to premiere March 15, 1988 at 8:30-9:00 on CBS, but My Sister Sam replaced it at the last minute due to the 1988 Writers Guild of America strike.
Wednesday
| Network | 8:00 PM | 8:30 PM | 9:00 PM | 9:30 PM | 10:00 PM | 10:30 PM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ABC | Fall | Perfect Strangers | Head of the Class (#23/16.7) (Tied with The NBC Sunday Night Movie) |
Hooperman | The Slap Maxwell Story | Dynasty | |
| Mid-season | Growing Pains (#5/21.5) | ||||||
| Spring | HeartBeat | ||||||
| Follow-up | Just in Time | ||||||
| Follow-up | China Beach | ||||||
| Summer | Just the Ten of Us | The Slap Maxwell Story | Spenser: For Hire | ||||
| CBS | Fall | The Oldest Rookie | Magnum, P.I. | The Equalizer | |||
| Mid-season | The Law & Harry McGraw | ||||||
| Spring | The Smothers Brothers Show | Jake and the Fatman | |||||
| Summer | Jake and the Fatman | The Equalizer | Wiseguy | ||||
| NBC | Fall | Highway to Heaven | A Year in the Life | St. Elsewhere | |||
| Spring | Aaron's Way (#30/16.0) | Highway to Heaven | A Year in the Life | ||||
| Follow-up | A Year in the Life | The Bronx Zoo | |||||
| Follow-up | Highway to Heaven | St. Elsewhere | |||||
| Summer | Highway to Heaven | The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd | Sara | The Bronx Zoo | |||
| Follow-up | Night Court | The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd | St. Elsewhere | ||||
Note: Sara consisted entirely of reruns of the 1985 series.
Thursday
| Network | 8:00 PM | 8:30 PM | 9:00 PM | 9:30 PM | 10:00 PM | 10:30 PM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ABC | Fall | Sledge Hammer! | The Charmings | The ABC Thursday Night Movie | |||
| Mid-season | The Charmings | Growing Pains | |||||
| Spring | Probe | Hotel | Buck James | ||||
| Follow-up | Max Headroom | ||||||
| Summer | The ABC Thursday Night Movie | Hothouse | |||||
| CBS | Fall | Tour of Duty | Wiseguy | Knots Landing | |||
| Mid-season | Simon & Simon | ||||||
| Spring | 48 Hours | ||||||
| Summer | Cagney & Lacey | ||||||
| NBC | Fall | The Cosby Show (#1/27.8) | A Different World (#2/25.0) | Cheers (#3/23.4) | Night Court (#7/20.8) | L.A. Law (#12/18.3) (Tied with Moonlighting) | |
| Spring | The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd | ||||||
| Follow-up | Night Court (#7/20.8) | ||||||
Friday
| Network | 8:00 PM | 8:30 PM | 9:00 PM | 9:30 PM | 10:00 PM | 10:30 PM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ABC | Fall | Full House | I Married Dora | Max Headroom | 20/20 | ||
| Follow-up | Mr. Belvedere | Pursuit of Happiness | |||||
| Winter | Mr. Belvedere | The Thorns | Sledge Hammer! | ||||
| Follow-up | Perfect Strangers | Full House | Mr. Belvedere | The Thorns | |||
| Spring | Family Man | ||||||
| Summer | I Married Dora | ||||||
| CBS | Fall | Beauty and the Beast | Dallas (#22/16.8) | Falcon Crest | |||
| Summer | CBS Friday Movie | ||||||
| NBC | Fall | Rags to Riches | Miami Vice | Private Eye | |||
| Winter | Night Court | Family Ties | Sonny Spoon | ||||
| Spring | The Highwayman | ||||||
| Follow-up | Night Court (#7/20.8) | Beverly Hills Buntz | Miami Vice | ||||
| Midseason | TV's Bloopers & Practical Jokes | The Highwayman | |||||
| Summer | Sonny Spoon | ||||||
| Follow-up | Blacke's Magic | ||||||
Note: Full House premiered Tuesday September 22, 1987 at 8:30 pm on ABC.
Saturday
| Network | 8:00 PM | 8:30 PM | 9:00 PM | 9:30 PM | 10:00 PM | 10:30 PM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ABC | Fall | Once a Hero | Ohara | Hotel | |||
| Follow-up | Sable | ||||||
| Follow-up | Ohara | Sable | |||||
| Winter | Dolly | Ohara | Spenser: For Hire | ||||
| Spring | Probe | ||||||
| Summer | Supercarrier | Hotel | |||||
| CBS | Fall | My Sister Sam | Everything's Relative | Leg Work | West 57th | ||
| Follow-up | The CBS Saturday Night Movie | ||||||
| Winter | High Mountain Rangers | Houston Knights | |||||
| Follow-up | Tour of Duty | ||||||
| Summer | Kate & Allie | Frank's Place | |||||
| Fox | Fall | Werewolf | The New Adventures of Beans Baxter | Second Chance | Duet | Local Programming | |
| Follow-up | Mr. President | Women in Prison | The New Adventures of Beans Baxter | Second Chance | |||
| Winter | Boys Will Be Boys | Mr. President | |||||
| Spring | Family Double Dare | Boys Will Be Boys | Werewolf | Werewolf | |||
| Follow-up | Dirty Dozen: The Series | ||||||
| Summer | Family Double Dare | ||||||
| Follow-up | The Reporters | Mr. President | Women in Prison | ||||
| NBC | Fall | The Facts of Life | 227 (#27/16.3) | The Golden Girls (#4/21.8) | Amen (#15/17.5) | Hunter (#29/16.1) | |
| Follow-up | J.J. Starbuck | ||||||
| Spring | Hunter (#28/16.1) | ||||||
By network
An ^ indicates a show that came back in first-run syndication after a network cancellation.
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Returning Series
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New Series
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Not returning from 1986–87:
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Note: The * indicates that the program was introduced in midseason.
+ These shows returned as "backup" programming in midseason
@ Formerly Valerie.
References
- ^ Highest-rated series is based on the annual top-rated programs list compiled by Nielsen Media Research and reported in: Brooks, Tim & Marsh, Earle (2007). The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network TV Shows (9th ed.). New York: Ballantine. ISBN 978-0-345-49773-4.