The 2001–02 network television schedule for the six major English language commercial broadcast networks in the United States covers the primetime hours from September 2001 to August 2002. The schedule is followed by a list per network of returning series, new series, and series canceled after the 2000–01 season.
PBS is not included; member stations have local flexibility over most of their schedules and broadcasts times for network shows may vary. Also not included are stations affiliated with Pax TV, as its schedule is composed mainly of syndicated reruns although it also carried a limited schedule of first-run programs.
Each of the 30 highest-rated shows released in May 2002 is listed with its rank and rating as determined by Nielsen Media Research.[1]
From February 8 to 24, 2002, all of NBC's primetime programming was preempted in favor of coverage of the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.
See main article: List of entertainment affected by the September 11 attacks. During the week of September 11, 2001, the major television networks aired continuous news coverage of the September 11 attacks. The news coverage preempted the networks' primetime schedules between September 11 and September 15, with regular programming resuming on September 16. As a result of the preemptions, the programs that were set to begin airing new seasons in mid-September had their premieres delayed until late September and early October. The Amazing Race was the first program to premiere in the 2001–02 season; the show's first season premiered on September 5, but had its second episode postponed from September 12 to September 19 due to the aforementioned news coverage. As a result of the scheduling oddities that were necessitated by the news coverage, the 2001–02 season was the second of four instances where the start of the season was delayed due to issues outside of the control of the major television networks; the other instances were the 1988–89 season (due to the 1988 Writers Guild of America strike), the 2020–21 season (due to a suspension of television productions as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic), and the 2023–24 season (due to a series of strikes that affected both the Writers Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA). The next major disruption to the primetime television schedules of the major television networks would not occur until the 2007–08 season, which was affected by the 2007–08 Writers Guild of America strike.
The 53rd Primetime Emmy Awards, which were planned for September 16, were initially postponed to October 7, but news coverage of the United States invasion of Afghanistan prompted the awards to be postponed for a second time; the awards would be eventually held on November 4.
| 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 | The Wonderful World of Disney | Alias | The Practice | |||||||||
| CBS | Fall | 60 Minutes | The Education of Max Bickford | CBS Sunday Movie | ||||||||
| Spring | Touched by an Angel | |||||||||||
| Summer | Everybody Loves Raymond | Becker | ||||||||||
| Fox | Fall | Futurama | King of the Hill | The Simpsons | Malcolm in the Middle | The X-Files | Local programming | |||||
| Winter | The Chamber | |||||||||||
| Spring | Looking for Love: Bachelorettes in Alaska | |||||||||||
| Mid-spring | The X-Files | |||||||||||
| Summer | King of the Hill | Malcolm in the Middle | ||||||||||
| NBC | Fall | Dateline NBC | The Weakest Link | |||||||||
| Spring | NBA on NBC | Various programming | ||||||||||
| Late spring | Dateline NBC | Law & Order: Crime & Punishment | ||||||||||
| Summer | Various programming | |||||||||||
| The WB | Fall | Ripley's Believe It or Not! | The Steve Harvey Show | Men, Women & Dogs | Nikki | Off Centre | Local programming | |||||
| Mid-fall | Off Centre | Nikki | ||||||||||
| Late fall | Nikki | Men, Women & Dogs | ||||||||||
| Winter | The Steve Harvey Show | The Steve Harvey Show | The Jamie Kennedy Experiment | For Your Love | ||||||||
| Late winter | No Boundaries | The Jamie Kennedy Experiment | ||||||||||
| Spring | Flix from the Frog | The Jamie Kennedy Experiment | Off Centre | |||||||||
| Late spring | Angel | |||||||||||
| Summer | For Your Love | Charmed | ||||||||||
| Mid-summer | Charmed | |||||||||||
NOTE: Fox aired 2 episodes of The Chamber in mid-January 2002. During the fall, Futurama and King of the Hill were preempted by overruns of NFL games. On The WB, Lost in the USA was supposed to air at 7–8, but it was cancelled due to 9/11 problems.
| 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 Wants to Be a Millionaire | NFL Monday Showcase | Monday Night Football | |||
| Winter | The ABC Monday Night Movie | ||||||
| Spring | America's Funniest Home Videos | The Bachelor | Once and Again | ||||
| Mid-spring | The ABC Monday Night Movie | ||||||
| Summer | Special programming | ||||||
| CBS | Fall | The King of Queens | Yes, Dear | Everybody Loves Raymond | Becker | Family Law | |
| Winter | Yes, Dear | Baby Bob | |||||
| Spring | The King of Queens | Yes, Dear | 48 Hours | ||||
| Fox | Fall | Boston Public | Ally McBeal | Local programming | |||
| Winter | The American Embassy | ||||||
| Spring | Ally McBeal | ||||||
| Summer | Titus | ||||||
| Mid-summer | Boston Public | ||||||
| NBC | Fall | The Weakest Link | Dateline NBC | Crossing Jordan | |||
| Mid-fall | Third Watch | ||||||
| Winter | Fear Factor | ||||||
| Spring | Dog Eat Dog | ||||||
| Summer | Meet My Folks | ||||||
| UPN | The Hughleys | One on One | The Parkers | Girlfriends | Local programming | ||
| The WB | 7th Heaven | Angel | |||||
| 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 | Dharma & Greg | What About Joan? | Bob Patterson | Spin City | Philly | |
| Mid-fall | Spin City | NYPD Blue | |||||
| Winter | The Chair | ||||||
| Late winter | Dharma & Greg | Spin City | |||||
| Spring | The Court | ||||||
| Mid-spring | Special programming | NYPD Blue | |||||
| Summer | According to Jim | The Mole | Houston Medical | ||||
| Mid-summer | Monk | Widows | |||||
| CBS | JAG | The Guardian | Judging Amy | ||||
| Fox | Fall | That '70s Show | Undeclared | Love Cruise | Local programming | ||
| Mid-fall | 24 | ||||||
| Winter | Andy Richter Controls the Universe | ||||||
| Spring | That '70s Show | ||||||
| Late spring | That '70s Show | American Idol: The Search for a Superstar | |||||
| Summer | That '70s Show | Grounded for Life | |||||
| NBC | Fall | Emeril | Three Sisters | Frasier | Scrubs | Dateline Tuesday | |
| Winter | Frasier | ||||||
| Late winter | Watching Ellie | ||||||
| Spring | Special programming | ||||||
| Summer | Spy TV | Spy TV | |||||
| Mid-summer | Just Shoot Me! | The Rerun Show | |||||
| UPN | Fall | Buffy the Vampire Slayer | Roswell | Local programming | |||
| Winter | Various programming | ||||||
| Spring | As If | The Random Years | |||||
| Mid-spring | Roswell | ||||||
| Summer | Under One Roof | ||||||
| Mid-summer | Various programming | ||||||
| The WB | Gilmore Girls | Smallville | |||||
Note: Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Roswell moved to UPN from The WB this season.
| 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 | My Wife & Kids | According to Jim | The Drew Carey Show | Whose Line is it Anyway? | 20/20 Downtown | |
| Winter | The Job | ||||||
| Spring | George Lopez | ||||||
| Mid-spring | According to Jim | ||||||
| Late spring | My Adventures in Television | ||||||
| Early summer | The Drew Carey Show | ||||||
| Summer | My Wife & Kids | ||||||
| CBS | Fall | 60 Minutes II | The Amazing Race | Wolf Lake | |||
| Mid-fall | Special programming | ||||||
| Winter | CBS Wednesday Movie | ||||||
| Late winter | The Amazing Race | 48 Hours | |||||
| Spring | CBS Wednesday Movie | ||||||
| Summer | Big Brother | 48 Hours | |||||
| Fox | Fall | Malcolm in the Middle | Grounded for Life | Various programming | Local programming | ||
| Mid-fall | The Bernie Mac Show | Titus | |||||
| Winter | That '80s Show | ||||||
| Spring | Greg the Bunny | ||||||
| Mid-spring | Various programming | ||||||
| Late spring | American Idol: The Search for a Superstar | ||||||
| Summer | 30 Seconds to Fame | Special programming | |||||
| Mid-summer | 30 Seconds to Fame | ||||||
| NBC | Fall | Ed | The West Wing | Law & Order | |||
| Summer | Special programming | ||||||
| UPN | Fall | Special Unit 2 | Local programming | ||||
| Winter | Special programming | ||||||
| Spring | Wolf Lake | ||||||
| Mid-spring | Various programming | ||||||
| Late spring | Wolf Lake | ||||||
| Summer | Buffy the Vampire Slayer | ||||||
| The WB | Fall | Dawson's Creek | Felicity | ||||
| Winter | Glory Days | ||||||
| Spring | Felicity | ||||||
| Late spring | Dawson's Creek | ||||||
| Summer | WB Wednesday Movie | ||||||
NOTE: When ABC announced their 2001 Fall Schedule, originally the plan was for The Job to air after The Drew Carey Show starting in mid-September and NYPD Blue would air in the 10pm ET timeslot after 20/20 Downtown returned to Friday nights in late December.[2] However, after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, ABC decided to not air The Job until 2002 because the show was set in New York City. In October, when the sitcom Bob Patterson was not doing well in the ratings on Tuesday nights, they moved the show to the Wednesday 9:30pm ET timeslot and put NYPD Blue in the Tuesday 9pm ET timeslot.
| 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 | Whose Line Is It Anyway? | Whose Line Is It Anyway? | Who Wants to Be a Millionaire | Primetime | ||
| Summer | ABC Big Picture Show | ||||||
| CBS | Fall | Survivor | The Agency | ||||
| Winter | Various programming | ||||||
| Late winter | Survivor | ||||||
| Spring | The Price is Right Salutes | ||||||
| Summer | Big Brother | ||||||
| Fox | Fall | Special programming | Local programming | ||||
| Mid-fall | Family Guy | The Tick | Temptation Island | ||||
| Winter | Family Guy | ||||||
| Late winter | King of the Hill | Futurama | |||||
| Spring | Fox Thursday Night Movie | ||||||
| Summer | The Pulse | ||||||
| NBC | Fall | Friends | Inside Schwartz | Will & Grace | Just Shoot Me! | ER | |
| Mid-fall | Various programming | ||||||
| Late fall | Inside Schwartz | ||||||
| Winter | Will & Grace | ||||||
| Late winter | Leap of Faith | ||||||
| Spring | Friends | ||||||
| Late spring | Various programming | ||||||
| Summer | Scrubs | ||||||
| Mid-summer | The Rerun Show | ||||||
| Late summer | Various programming | ||||||
| UPN | WWE Thursday Night SmackDown! | Local programming | |||||
| The WB | Fall | Popstars | Charmed | ||||
| Late fall | Popstars | Maybe It's Me | |||||
| Winter | Various programming | ||||||
| Spring | Gilmore Girls | ||||||
| Late spring | The Jamie Kennedy Experiment | ||||||
| Summer | Reba | The Jamie Kennedy Experiment | Off Centre | ||||
| 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 | The Mole: The Next Betrayal | Thieves | Once and Again | ||||||
| Mid-fall | America's Funniest Home Videos | |||||||||
| Late fall | Special programming | |||||||||
| Winter | 20/20 | |||||||||
| Spring | Various programming | |||||||||
| Summer | Whose Line Is It Anyway? | |||||||||
| CBS | Fall | The Ellen Show | Danny | That's Life | 48 Hours | |||||
| Mid-fall | Various programming | The Ellen Show | ||||||||
| Late fall | Special programming | |||||||||
| Winter | JAG | First Monday | ||||||||
| Spring | Various programming | |||||||||
| Late spring | 48 Hours | CBS Friday Night Movie | ||||||||
| Summer | Various programming | |||||||||
| Fox | Fall | Dark Angel | Pasadena | Local programming | ||||||
| Mid-fall | 24 | |||||||||
| Winter | That '70s Show | Various programming | Dark Angel | |||||||
| Spring | Dark Angel | The X-Files | ||||||||
| Summer | Invasion of the Hidden Cameras | |||||||||
| NBC | Fall | Providence | Dateline NBC | |||||||
| Spring | Dateline Friday | |||||||||
| Summer | Dateline NBC | |||||||||
| UPN | Fall | UPN's Night at the Movies | Local programming | |||||||
| Winter | ||||||||||
| Spring | Various programming | Under One Roof | ||||||||
| Mid-spring | UPN's Night at the Movies | |||||||||
| Summer | ||||||||||
| The WB | Fall | Sabrina the Teenage Witch | Maybe It's Me | Reba | Raising Dad | |||||
| Winter | Raising Dad | Maybe It's Me | ||||||||
| Summer | Sabrina the Teenage Witch | Raising Dad | ||||||||
NOTE: Fox aired The Chamber on January 25, 2002, after two preview airings on past Sunday nights. The show was cancelled after its Friday night airing.
| 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 | ABC Saturday Night Movie | |||||||
| CBS | Fall | Touched by an Angel | Citizen Baines | The District | ||||
| Mid-fall | Various programming | |||||||
| Summer | Big Brother | The District | The Agency | |||||
| Fox | COPS | COPS | America's Most Wanted: America Fights Back | Local programming | ||||
| NBC | Special programming | NBC Saturday Night Movie | ||||||
Returning series
New series
Not returning from 2000–01:
Returning series
New series
Not returning from 2000–01:
Returning series
New series
Not returning from 2000–01:
Returning series
New series
Not returning from 2000–01:
Returning series
New series
Not returning from 2000–01:
Returning series
New series
Not returning from 2000–01:
Note: The * indicates that the program was introduced in midseason.