1988–89 United States network television schedule
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This was the television schedule on all four networks for the fall season beginning in September 1988. All times are Eastern and Pacific, with certain exceptions, such as Monday Night Football.
Note: A writers' strike and the Seoul Olympics hindered the ability to start airing shows in a timely manner. New shows intended for a regular fall launch saw their debuts spread out between October and December. The debut month for each new series is noted as to when it actually premiered.
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.
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 | Incredible Sunday | Mission: Impossible | The ABC Sunday Night Movie | ||||||
| Mid-season | Studio 5-B | Specials | ||||||||
| Follow-up | Great Circuses of the World | |||||||||
| Spring | Incredible Sunday | Moonlighting | ||||||||
| Summer | Have Faith | The ABC Sunday Night Movie | ||||||||
| Follow-up | MacGyver | The ABC Sunday Night Movie | ||||||||
| CBS | 60 Minutes (#5/21.7) | Murder, She Wrote (#8/19.9) | CBS Sunday Movie (#27/16.1) (Tied with Knots Landing) | |||||||
| Fox | 21 Jump Street | America's Most Wanted | Married... with Children | The Tracey Ullman Show | It's Garry Shandling's Show | Duet | Local | |||
| NBC | The Magical World of Disney | Family Ties | Day by Day | NBC Sunday Night Movie (#22/16.3) (Tied with The Hogan Family and The Wonder Years) | ||||||
- Note: Quantum Leap had a two-hour premiere Sunday, March 26, 1989 on NBC.
- Note: The Jim Henson Hour briefly replaced The Magical World of Disney on May 14, 1989, and again between July 9-July 30.
Monday
| Network | 8:00 PM | 8:30 PM | 9:00 PM | 9:30 PM | 10:00 PM | 10:30 PM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ABC | Fall | MacGyver | ESPN Monday Night Football (#15/17.5) (Tied with ALF) | ||||
| Winter | The ABC Monday Night Movie | ||||||
| Mid-season | The ABC Monday Mystery Movie (#29/15.4) (Tied with Dallas) | ||||||
| CBS | Fall | Newhart | Coming of Age (October) | Local and Paid Political Programming | |||
| Follow-up | Kate & Allie (Dec.) | Murphy Brown | Designing Women | Almost Grown | |||
| Spring | Live-In | Heartland | Newhart | Kate & Allie | |||
| Summer | Kate & Allie | Doctor Doctor | |||||
| Follow-up | Kate & Allie | Newhart | Newhart | ||||
| NBC | Fall | ALF (#15/17.5) (Tied with ESPN Monday Night Football) |
The Hogan Family (#22/16.3) (Tied with the NBC Sunday Night Movie and The Wonder Years) |
NBC Monday Night at the Movies (#25/16.2) (Tied with Amen) | |||
| Spring | Nearly Departed | ||||||
| Follow-up | The Hogan Family (#22/16.3) (Tied with the NBC Sunday Night Movie and The Wonder Years) | ||||||
(*) B.L. Stryker, Columbo, Gideon Oliver
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? (#7/20.8) | Roseanne (#2/23.8) | Moonlighting | Thirtysomething | ||
| Winter | The Wonder Years (#22/16.3) (Tied with The Hogan Family and the NBC Sunday Night Movie) |
Roseanne (#2/23.8) | Anything But Love (#10/19.0) | ||||
| Spring | Have Faith | ||||||
| Summer | Coach | ||||||
| CBS | Preliminary | Local and Paid Political Programming | CBS Tuesday Movie | ||||
| Official | TV 101 | ||||||
| Mid-Season | Tour of Duty | ||||||
| Summer | CBS Summer Playhouse | ||||||
| NBC | Preliminary | Matlock (#13/17.7) | NBC Tuesday Night at the Movies | ||||
| Official | In the Heat of the Night (#18/17.3) | Midnight Caller | |||||
Wednesday
| Network | 8:00 PM | 8:30 PM | 9:00 PM | 9:30 PM | 10:00 PM | 10:30 PM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ABC | Fall | Growing Pains (#13/17.6) (Tied with L.A. Law) |
Head of the Class (#20/17.1) | The Wonder Years (#22/16.3) (Tied with The Hogan Family and the NBC Sunday Night Movie) |
Hooperman | China Beach | |
| Spring | Coach | ||||||
| Follow-up | The Robert Guillaume Show | ||||||
| Summer | Hooperman | ||||||
| CBS | Preliminary | Live! Dick Clark Presents | The Equalizer | Wiseguy | |||
| Official | The Van Dyke Show | Annie McGuire | |||||
| Mid-Season | TV 101 | ||||||
| Follow-up | Hard Time on Planet Earth | Jake and the Fatman | |||||
| NBC | Fall | Unsolved Mysteries (#17/17.4) | Night Court (#21/16.9) | Baby Boom | Tattingers | ||
| Follow-up | A Different World | ||||||
| Mid-season | My Two Dads | Nightingales | |||||
| Summer | Knight & Daye | Miami Vice | |||||
Thursday
| Network | 8:00 PM | 8:30 PM | 9:00 PM | 9:30 PM | 10:00 PM | 10:30 PM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ABC | Preliminary | Local and Paid Political Programming | The ABC Thursday Night Movie | ||||
| Official | Knightwatch | Dynasty | W5 | ||||
| Mid-Season | A Fine Romance | HeartBeat | |||||
| Summer | Thursday Night Baseball | ||||||
| CBS | Preliminary | 48 Hours | Local and Paid Political Programming | ||||
| Official | Paradise | Knots Landing (#27/16.1) (Tied with The CBS Sunday Movie) | |||||
| Mid-Season | The Equalizer | ||||||
| Summer | The Cavanaughs | Coming of Age | The Equalizer | ||||
| Follow-up | The Equalizer | The Best of Knots Landing | |||||
| NBC | The Cosby Show (#1/25.6) | A Different World (#3/23.0) | Cheers (#4/22.3) | Dear John (#11/18.5) | L.A. Law (#13/17.6) (Tied with Growing Pains) | ||
Friday
| Network | 8:00 PM | 8:30 PM | 9:00 PM | 9:30 PM | 10:00 PM | 10:30 PM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ABC | Fall | Perfect Strangers | Full House | Mr. Belvedere | Just the Ten of Us | 20/20 | |
| Summer | Full House | Mr. Belvedere | Perfect Strangers | ||||
| CBS | Fall | Beauty and the Beast | Dallas (#29/15.4) (Tied with The ABC Mystery Movie) |
Falcon Crest | |||
| Summer | CBS Friday Movie | ||||||
| NBC | Fall | Sonny Spoon | Something Is Out There | Miami Vice | |||
| Winter | Father Dowling Mysteries | Miami Vice | Unsub | ||||
| Spring | The Jim Henson Hour | Quantum Leap | |||||
| Follow-up | Miami Vice | Dream Street | |||||
| Summer | Highway to Heaven | NBC Friday Night at the Movies | |||||
Saturday
| Network | 8:00 PM | 8:30 PM | 9:00 PM | 9:30 PM | 10:00 PM | 10:30 PM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ABC | Fall | Murphy's Law | Police Story | ||||
| Mid-season | Mission: Impossible | A Man Called Hawk | Murphy's Law | ||||
| Follow-up | Men | ||||||
| CBS | Preliminary | Local and Paid Political Programming | Simon & Simon | West 57th | |||
| Follow-up | Live! Dick Clark Presents | ||||||
| Official | Dirty Dancing | Raising Miranda | |||||
| Mid-season | Dolphin Cove | The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour | |||||
| Follow-up | TV 101 | ||||||
| Follow-up | Paradise | CBS Saturday Movie | |||||
| Follow-up | Jesse Hawkes | West 57th | |||||
| Summer | Tour of Duty | ||||||
| Fox | Fall | The Reporters | Beyond Tomorrow | Local Programming | |||
| Spring | Cops | Beyond Tomorrow | |||||
| NBC | Fall | 227 | Amen (#25/16.2) (Tied with The NBC Monday Movie) |
The Golden Girls (#6/21.4) | Empty Nest (#9/19.2) | Hunter (#19/17.2) | |
| Summer | 13 East | ||||||
By network
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Returning Series
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New Series
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Not Returning From 1987-88
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Returning Series
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New Series
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Not Returning From 1987-88
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Note: The * indicates that the program was introduced in midseason.
@ Formerly known as Valerie's Family.
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.