1996–97 United States network television schedule
The 1996–1997 United States network television schedule is for the United States broadcast television on all six commercial television networks for the fall season beginning in September 1996. All times are Eastern and Pacific, with certain exceptions, such as Monday Night Football.
New series highlighted in bold.
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.
PBS is not included; member stations have local flexibility over most of their schedules and broadcast times for network shows may vary.
Sunday
Monday
Note: On CBS, the debut of Ink was delayed by a month due to production problems, resulting in another new sitcom, Pearl, which aired temporarily in its slot before moving to its own originally designated Wednesday time period in late October.
Tuesday
| Network | 8:00 PM | 8:30 PM | 9:00 PM | 9:30 PM | 10:00 PM | 10:30 PM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ABC | Fall | Roseanne | Life's Work | Home Improvement (#9/14.0) | Spin City (#17/11.7) | NYPD Blue (#13/12.5) | |
| Winter | Ellen (#29/10.6) | ||||||
| Spring | Home Improvement (repeats) | Soul Man | The Practice | ||||
| Summer | Roseanne | Life's Work | NYPD Blue (#13/12.5) | ||||
| CBS | Promised Land | CBS Tuesday Movie | |||||
| Fox | Fox Tuesday Night Movie | Local Programming | |||||
| NBC | Mad About You (#23/11.0) (Tied with Walker, Texas Ranger, Caroline in the City and The NBC Monday Movie) |
Something So Right | Frasier (#16/11.8) | Caroline in the City (#23/11.0) (Tied with Walker, Texas Ranger Mad About You and The NBC Monday Movie) |
Dateline Tuesday (#20/11.4) | ||
| UPN | Fall | Moesha | Homeboys in Outer Space | The Burning Zone | Local Programming | ||
| Spring | Social Studies | ||||||
| Follow-up | Homeboys in Outer Space | ||||||
Wednesday
Note: On CBS, due to the effect of the debut delay of Ink on Monday, the first month of the new season on this night aired Almost Perfect at 8:30 p.m., followed by CBS Wednesday Movies at 9 p.m. The originally planned fall Wednesday lineup took shape at the end of October with Pearl taking over at 8:30 p.m., Almost Perfect moving to 9 p.m., Public Morals debuting at 9:30 p.m., and EZ Streets debuting at 10 p.m. This lasted for only one week in late October. CBS cancelled Public Morals after it aired the 1st, and only, episode. This meant Almost Perfect would soon be cancelled. EZ Streets would be given a 2nd chance in the spring.
Thursday
| Network | 8:00 PM | 8:30 PM | 9:00 PM | 9:30 PM | 10:00 PM | 10:30 PM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ABC | Fall | High Incident | Murder One | Turning Point | |||
| Winter | The ABC Thursday Night Movie | ||||||
| Spring | Vital Signs | Turning Point | |||||
| CBS | Diagnosis: Murder | Moloney | 48 Hours | ||||
| Fox | Martin | Living Single | New York Undercover | Local Programming | |||
| NBC | Fall | Friends (#4/16.8) (Tied with The Naked Truth) |
The Single Guy (#8/14.1) | Seinfeld (#2/20.5) | Suddenly Susan (#3/17.0) | ER (#1/21.2) | |
| Winter | The Naked Truth (#4/16.8) (Tied with Friends) | ||||||
| Spring | Suddenly Susan (#3/17.0) | Law & Order (#27/10.8) (Tied with 3rd Rock from the Sun) | |||||
| Follow-Up | Fired Up (#6/16.5) | ER (#1/21.2) | |||||
Friday
| Network | 8:00 PM | 8:30 PM | 9:00 PM | 9:30 PM | 10:00 PM | 10:30 PM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ABC | Fall | Family Matters | Sabrina the Teenage Witch | Clueless | Boy Meets World | 20/20 (#12/12.8) | |
| Follow-up | Boy Meets World | Sabrina the Teenage Witch | Clueless | ||||
| Spring | Step by Step | ||||||
| CBS | Fall | Dave's World | Everybody Loves Raymond | Mr. & Mrs. Smith | Nash Bridges | ||
| Winter | JAG | ||||||
| Spring | JAG | Orleans | |||||
| Summer | Dave's World | Life... and Stuff | JAG | ||||
| Fox | Sliders | Millennium | Local Programming | ||||
| NBC | Fall | Unsolved Mysteries | Dateline Friday (#30/10.5) (Tied with Chicago Hope and Cybill) |
Homicide: Life on the Street | |||
| Follow-up | Crisis Center | ||||||
| Spring | Homicide: Life on the Street | ||||||
Saturday
| Network | 8:00 PM | 8:30 PM | 9:00 PM | 9:30 PM | 10:00 PM | 10:30 PM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ABC | Fall | Second Noah | Coach | Common Law | Relativity | ||
| Winter | The ABC Saturday Night Movie | ||||||
| Spring | Dangerous Minds | The ABC Saturday Night Movie | |||||
| Midseason | Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman | Leaving L.A. | Gun | ||||
| Summer | Family Matters | Hangin' with Mr. Cooper | Dangerous Minds | Spy Game | |||
| CBS | Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman | Early Edition | Walker, Texas Ranger (#23/11.0) (Tied with Mad About You, Caroline in the City and The NBC Monday Movie) | ||||
| Fox | Fall | COPS | COPS | Married... with Children | Love and Marriage | Local Programming | |
| Winter | America's Most Wanted | ||||||
| Spring | America's Most Wanted | Lawless | |||||
| Late spring | COPS | America's Most Wanted | |||||
| NBC | Dark Skies | The Pretender | Profiler | ||||
Note: America's Most Wanted would debut in November at 9:00 on Fox. Married... with Children moved to Sundays at 7-8pm in November, Mondays at 9:30 in January, and Mondays at 9pm in February. Lawless was canceled after one episode.
By network
ABC
CBS
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Fox
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NBC
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UPN
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The WB
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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.