1987–88 United States network television schedule explained

The 1987–88 network television schedule for the four major English language commercial broadcast networks in the United States 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.

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 are U.S. Eastern Time and Pacific Time (except for some live sports or events). Subtract one hour for Central, Mountain, Alaska and Hawaii-Aleutian 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]

Sunday

Network		7:00 p.m.	7:30 p.m.	8:00 p.m.	8:30 p.m.	9:00 p.m.	9:30 p.m.	10:00 p.m.	10:30 p.m.
ABC	Fall	The Disney Sunday Movie				Dolly		Buck James
	Winter	The Disney Sunday Movie				The ABC Sunday Night Movie
	Spring	The Disney Sunday Movie		Supercarrier
	Mid-spring			Specials
	Summer			MacGyver
CBS		60 Minutes		Murder, She Wrote		CBS Sunday Movie
Fox	Fall	21 Jump Street		Married... with Children	Various programming	The Tracey Ullman Show	Mr. President	Local programming
	Mid-fall			Werewolf	Married... with Children		Duet
	Winter					It's Garry Shandling's Show		The Tracey Ullman Show	Local programming
	Spring			America’s Most Wanted					Werewolf
NBC	Fall	Our House		Family Ties	My Two Dads	NBC Sunday Night at the Movies
	Spring				Day by Day
	Summer	Rags to Riches			My Two Dads

• Note: The Wonder Years premiered January 31, 1988 after Super Bowl XXII.

Monday

Network		8:00 p.m.	8:30 p.m.	9:00 p.m.	9:30 p.m.	10:00 p.m.	10:30 p.m.
ABC	Fall	MacGyver		Monday Night Football
	Winter			The ABC Monday Night Movie
	Summer	Monday Night Baseball
CBS	Fall	Frank's Place	Kate & Allie	Newhart	Designing Women	Cagney & Lacey
	Mid-fall	Kate & Allie	Frank's Place
	Winter		Designing Women		Frank's Place	Wiseguy
	Spring				Eisenhower and Lutz
	Mid-spring					Cagney & Lacey
	Summer	Blue Skies		Kate & Allie	Designing Women	Magnum, P.I.
NBC		ALF	Valerie's Family	NBC Monday Night at the Movies

Tuesday

Network		8:00 p.m.	8:30 p.m.	9:00 p.m.	9:30 p.m.	10:00 p.m.	10:30 p.m.
ABC	Fall	Who's the Boss?	Growing Pains	Moonlighting		Thirtysomething
	Winter		The Wonder Years
	Spring		Just the Ten of Us
	Summer		Perfect Strangers
	Mid-summer		Full House
CBS	Fall	Houston Knights		Jake and the Fatman		The Law & Harry McGraw
	Winter	48 Hours				Cagney & Lacey
	Spring	My Sister Sam	Trial and Error	Frank's Place	Coming of Age
	Mid-spring	Houston Knights		The CBS Tuesday Night Movie
	Summer	CBS Summer Playhouse
NBC	Fall	Matlock		J.J. Starbuck		Crime Story
	Mid-fall			Hunter
	Spring			In the Heat of the Night
	Mid-spring			NBC Tuesday Night at the Movies
	Summer			J.J. Starbuck		NBC Summer Showcase
	Mid-summer			In the Heat of the Night

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 p.m.	8:30 p.m.	9:00 p.m.	9:30 p.m.	10:00 p.m.	10:30 p.m.
ABC	Fall	Perfect Strangers	Head of the Class	Hooperman	The Slap Maxwell Story	Dynasty
	Winter	Growing Pains
	Spring					HeartBeat
	Mid-spring				Just in Time
	Late spring					China Beach
	Summer		The Slap Maxwell Story		Just the Ten of Us
CBS	Fall	The Oldest Rookie		Magnum, P.I.		The Equalizer
	Winter	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		Highway to Heaven		A Year in the Life
	Mid-spring			A Year in the Life		The Bronx Zoo
	Late spring			Highway to Heaven		St. Elsewhere
	Summer	Highway to Heaven		The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd	Sara	The Bronx Zoo
	Mid-summer	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 p.m.	8:30 p.m.	9:00 p.m.	9:30 p.m.	10:00 p.m.	10:30 p.m.
ABC	Fall	Sledge Hammer!	The Charmings	The ABC Thursday Night Movie
	Winter	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
	Winter			Simon & Simon
	Spring	48 Hours
	Summer					Cagney & Lacey
NBC	Fall	The Cosby Show	A Different World	Cheers	Night Court	L.A. Law
	Spring				The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd
	Mid-spring				Night Court

Friday

Network		8:00 p.m.	8:30 p.m.	9:00 p.m.	9:30 p.m.	10:00 p.m.	10:30 p.m.
ABC	Fall	Full House	I Married Dora	Max Headroom		20/20
	Mid-fall			Mr. Belvedere	Pursuit of Happiness
	Winter		Mr. Belvedere	The Thorns	Sledge Hammer!
	Late winter	Perfect Strangers	Full House	Mr. Belvedere	The Thorns
	Spring				Family Man
	Summer				I Married Dora
CBS	Fall	Beauty and the Beast		Dallas		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
	Mid-spring			Night Court	Beverly Hills Buntz	Miami Vice
	Late spring	TV's Bloopers & Practical Jokes		The Highwayman
	Summer			Sonny Spoon
	Mid-summer			Blacke's Magic

Note: Full House premiered Tuesday September 22, 1987 at 8:30 pm on ABC.

Saturday

Network		8:00 p.m.	8:30 p.m.	9:00 p.m.	9:30 p.m.	10:00 p.m.	10:30 p.m.
ABC	Fall	Once a Hero		Ohara		Hotel
	Mid-fall	Sable
	Late fall	Ohara		Sable
	Winter	Dolly		Ohara
	Spring	Probe
	Summer	Supercarrier				Hotel
CBS	Fall	My Sister Sam	Everything's Relative	Leg Work		West 57th
	Mid-fall	The CBS Saturday Night Movie
	Winter	High Mountain Rangers		Houston Knights
	Mid-winter			Tour of Duty
	Summer	Kate & Allie	Frank's Place
Fox	Fall	Werewolf	The New Adventures of Beans Baxter	Second Chance	Duet	Local programming
	Mid-fall	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
	Mid-spring			Dirty Dozen: The Series
	Summer		Family Double Dare
	Mid-summer	The Reporters		Mr. President	Women in Prison
NBC	Fall	The Facts of Life	227	The Golden Girls	Amen	Hunter
	Late fall					J.J. Starbuck
	Spring					Hunter

By network

ABC

Returning Series

• 20/20
• The ABC Monday Night Movie
• The ABC Sunday Night Movie
• The ABC Thursday Night Movie
• The Charmings
• The Disney Sunday Movie
• Dynasty
• Growing Pains
• Head of the Class
• Hotel
• MacGyver
• Max Headroom
• Mr. Belvedere +
• Monday Night Baseball
• Monday Night Football
• Moonlighting
• Ohara
• Perfect Strangers
• Sledge Hammer!
• Who's the Boss?

New Series

• Buck James
• China Beach *
• Dolly
• Family Man *
• Full House
• HeartBeat *
• Hooperman
• Hothouse *
• I Married Dora
• Just in Time *
• Just the Ten of Us *
• Once a Hero
• Probe *
• Pursuit of Happiness
• Sable
• The "Slap" Maxwell Story
• Supercarrier *
• The Thorns *
• The Wonder Years *
• thirtysomething

Not returning from 1986–87:

• The ABC Friday Night Movie
• The ABC Saturday Night Movie
• The Colbys
• Dads
• The Ellen Burstyn Show
• Gung Ho
• Harry
• Heart of the City
• Jack & Mike
• Life with Lucy
• Mariah
• Our World
• Sidekicks
• Starman
• Webster ^

An ^ indicates a show that came back in first-run syndication after a network cancellation.

CBS

Returning Series

• 60 Minutes
• Cagney & Lacey
• Candid Camera
• The Cavanaughs +
• CBS Summer Playhouse
• CBS Sunday Movie
• Dallas
• Designing Women
• The Equalizer
• Falcon Crest
• Houston Knights
• Kate & Allie
• Knots Landing
• Magnum, P.I.
• Murder, She Wrote
• My Sister Sam
• Newhart
• Simon & Simon +
• West 57th

New Series

• 48 Hours *
• Beauty and the Beast
• Blue Skies
• Coming of Age *
• Eisenhower and Lutz *
• Everything's Relative
• Frank's Place
• High Mountain Rangers *
• Jake and the Fatman
• The Law & Harry McGraw
• The Oldest Rookie
• The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour *
• Tour of Duty
• Trial and Error *
• Wiseguy

Not returning from 1986–87:

• Better Days
• Downtown
• Hard Copy
• Kay O'Brien
• The New Mike Hammer
• Outlaws
• The Popcorn Kid
• Roxie
• Scarecrow and Mrs. King
• Shell Game
• Spies
• Take Five
• Together We Stand/Nothing Is Easy
• The Twilight Zone
• The Wizard

Fox

Returning Series

• 21 Jump Street
• Duet
• It's Garry Shandling's Show
• Married... with Children
• Mr. President
• The New Adventures of Beans Baxter
• The Tracey Ullman Show
• Werewolf

New Series

• America's Most Wanted *
• Dirty Dozen: The Series *
• Family Double Dare *
• Second Chance/Boys Will Be Boys
• The Reporters
• Women in Prison

Not returning from 1986–87:

• Down and Out in Beverly Hills
• Karen's Song

NBC

Returning Series

• 227
• ALF
• Amen
• The Bronx Zoo +
• Cheers
• The Cosby Show
• Crime Story
• The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd +
• The Facts of Life
• Family Ties
• The Golden Girls
• Highway to Heaven
• Hunter
• L.A. Law
• Matlock
• Miami Vice
• NBC Sunday Night Movie
• NBC Monday Night at the Movies
• Night Court
• Our House
• Rags to Riches
• St. Elsewhere
• Valerie's Family @

New Series

• Aaron's Way *
• Beverly Hills Buntz
• Day by Day *
• A Different World
• George Schlatter's Funny People *
• The Highwayman *
• In the Heat of the Night *
• J.J. Starbuck
• Mama's Boy
• My Two Dads
• Private Eye
• Sonny Spoon *
• A Year in the Life

Not returning from 1986–87:

• 1986
• The A-Team
• Amazing Stories
• Easy Street
• Gimme a Break!
• Hill Street Blues
• Me & Mrs. C
• Nothing in Common
• Remington Steele
• Roomies
• Stingray
• Sweet Surrender
• The Tortellis
• You Again?

Note: The * indicates that the program was introduced in midseason.

+ These shows returned as "backup" programming in midseason

@ Formerly Valerie.

Notes and References

1. 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. .