1978–79 United States network television schedule

The following is the 1978–79 network television schedule for the three major English language commercial broadcast networks in the United States. The schedule covers primetime hours from September 1978 through August 1979. The schedule is followed by a list per network of returning series, new series, and series cancelled after the 1977–78 season. All times are Eastern and Pacific, with certain exceptions, such as Monday Night Football.

New fall series are highlighted in bold. Series ending their original runs are in italics.

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

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 Hardy Boys		Battlestar Galactica		The ABC Sunday Night Movie (#16/22.7)
	Winter	The Osmond Family Hour
	Spring	Friends
	May	The Osmond Family Hour
	Summer			Salvage 1
CBS	Fall	60 Minutes (#8/25.4)		Mary		All in the Family (#9/25.2)	Alice (#13/23.8)	Kaz
	October			All in the Family (#9/25.2)	Alice (#13/23.8)	Kaz		Dallas
	Winter					CBS Sunday Night Movie (#23/20.7) (Tied with Vega$ and Just Friends)
	Spring				One Day at a Time (#18/21.6) (Tied with Soap)	Alice (#13/23.8)	Just Friends (#23/20.7) (Tied with Vega$ and the CBS Sunday Night Movie)	The Mary Tyler Moore Hour
	Summer						The Jeffersons	Moses the Lawgiver
	Follow-up							Kaz
NBC	Fall	The Wonderful World of Disney		The Big Event				Lifeline
	Winter							Weekend

Notes: On CBS, the premiere (and only) episode of Co-Ed Fever aired on February 4 from 10:30 to 11:00 p.m., after which the show was cancelled. Moses the Lawgiver was a rerun of the 1975 miniseries. Mr. Dugan was supposed to premiere March 11, 1979 between All in the Family and Alice but due to black Congressmembers' criticism of it after a preview for them, the show was never broadcast. On NBC, the Centennial miniseries aired as part of The Big Event; the show itself reached #28 at the end of the season, with 20.3 rating.

Monday

Network		8:00 PM	8:30 PM	9:00 PM	9:30 PM	10:00 PM	10:30 PM
ABC	Fall	Welcome Back, Kotter	Operation Petticoat	Monday Night Football
	October	Lucan
	Winter	Salvage 1		How the West Was Won
	Summer	Monday Night Baseball
CBS	Fall	WKRP in Cincinnati	People	M*A*S*H (#7/25.4)	One Day at a Time (#18/21.6) (Tied with Soap)	Lou Grant
	November	The White Shadow
	Winter	Billy	Flatbush		WKRP in Cincinnati
	Spring	The White Shadow
NBC		Little House on the Prairie (#14/23.3)		NBC Monday Night at the Movies (#21/21.0)

Tuesday

Network		8:00 PM	8:30 PM	9:00 PM	9:30 PM	10:00 PM	10:30 PM
ABC	Fall	Happy Days (#3/29.1)	Laverne & Shirley (#1/30.6)	Three's Company (#2/30.2)	Taxi (#11/24.9) (Tied with Eight is Enough)	Starsky & Hutch
	Spring					The Ropers (#6/25.6)	13 Queens Boulevard (#26/20.5) (Tied with Barnaby Jones)
	Summer		Detective School
CBS	Preliminary	The Amazing Spider-Man		CBS Tuesday Night Movie
	Official	The Paper Chase
NBC	Fall	Grandpa Goes to Washington		The Big Event
	Winter	Cliffhangers: Stop Susan Williams / The Secret Empire / The Curse of Dracula
	Summer	The Runaways

Wednesday

Network		8:00 PM	8:30 PM	9:00 PM	9:30 PM	10:00 PM	10:30 PM
ABC		Eight Is Enough (#11/24.9) (Tied with Taxi)		Charlie's Angels (#10/25.0)		Vega$ (#23/20.7) (Tied with Just Friends and the CBS Sunday Night Movie)
CBS	Fall	The Jeffersons	In the Beginning	CBS Wednesday Night Movie
	Follow-up		Good Times
	Winter	The Incredible Hulk		One Day at a Time (#18/21.6) (Tied with Soap)	The Jeffersons	Kaz
	Follow-up	The Amazing Spider-Man
	Spring	Married: The First Year
	Follow-up	The Jeffersons	Miss Winslow and Son	Dear Detective
	Summer	All in the Family (#9/25.2)	Good Times	CBS Wednesday Night Movie
	Follow-up	Dorothy	Hanging In
NBC	Fall	Dick Clark's Live Wednesday		NBC Wednesday Night at the Movies
	Winter	Supertrain		NBC Novels for Television: From Here to Eternity/Studs Lonigan/Wheels
	Spring	Real People
	Summer	Laugh-In		Various

Notes: The Wheels segment of NBC Novels for Television was a rerun of the 1978 miniseries. Laugh-In consisted of reruns of the 1977 television series.

Thursday

Network		8:00 PM	8:30 PM	9:00 PM	9:30 PM	10:00 PM	10:30 PM
ABC	Fall	Mork & Mindy (#4/28.5)	What's Happening!! (#29/20.1) (Tied with CHiPs)	Barney Miller (#15/22.8)	Soap (#18/21.6) (Tied with One Day at a Time)	Family
	Winter		Angie (#5/27.1)
	Spring					Doctors' Private Lives
	Follow-up					Family
	Summer					20/20
CBS	Fall	The Waltons		Hawaii Five-O		Barnaby Jones (#26/20.5) (Tied with 13 Queens Boulevard)
	Spring	The Chisholms
	Follow-up	Time Express
	Summer	The Waltons
NBC	Fall	Project U.F.O.		Quincy, M.E.		W.E.B.
	Follow-up					David Cassidy: Man Undercover
	Winter	Little Women				Mrs. Columbo
	Spring	Harris and Company
	April	Whodunnit?	Highcliffe Manor			Presenting Susan Anton
	May	Hizzonner	Whodunnit?
	Follow-up		Comedy Theatre			NBC Novels for Television: The Innocent and the Damned
	Summer	Project U.F.O.				David Cassidy: Man Undercover

Notes: Mork & Mindy had a one-hour premiere on September 14, 1978.

Comedy Theatre, an anthology series of unsold television pilots for situation comedies last seen in the summer of 1976, returned for its second and last season.

The NBC Novels for Television segment The Innocent and the Damned was a rerun of the 1977 television miniseries Aspen.

Coasttocoast was supposed to air Thursdays 10:00-11:00PM, but NBC's new boss, Fred Silverman, canceled the show.

Friday

Network		8:00 PM	8:30 PM	9:00 PM	9:30 PM	10:00 PM	10:30 PM
ABC	Fall	Donny & Marie		The ABC Friday Night Movie
	Winter	Makin' It	What's Happening!! (#29/20.1) (Tied with CHiPs)
	Spring	Family
	Follow-up	The MacKenzies of Paradise Cove
	Summer	Operation Petticoat	Welcome Back, Kotter
CBS	Fall	The New Adventures of Wonder Woman		The Incredible Hulk		Flying High
	Winter			The Dukes of Hazzard (#20/21.1)		Dallas
	Summer	The Incredible Hulk
NBC	Fall	The Waverly Wonders	Who's Watching the Kids?	The Rockford Files		The Eddie Capra Mysteries
	November	Diff'rent Strokes
	Winter		Joe & Valerie
	February		Brothers and Sisters	Turnabout	Hello, Larry	$weepstake$
	March		Hello, Larry	Brothers and Sisters	Turnabout
	Spring			The Rockford Files		The Duke
	Summer					The Eddie Capra Mysteries

Saturday

Network		8:00 PM	8:30 PM	9:00 PM	9:30 PM	10:00 PM	10:30 PM
ABC	Fall	Carter Country	Apple Pie	The Love Boat (#17/22.1)		Fantasy Island (#22/20.8)
	October	Welcome Back, Kotter	Carter Country
	Winter	Delta House	Welcome Back, Kotter
	Spring	What's Happening!! (#29/20.1) (Tied with CHiPs)	Delta House
	Summer	Battlestar Galactica
	August	Carol Burnett & Company
CBS	Fall	Rhoda	Good Times	The American Girls		Dallas
	Winter	The White Shadow		CBS Movie
	Spring	The Bad News Bears	Billy
NBC	Fall	CHiPs (#29/20.1) (Tied with What's Happening!!)		Various programming		Sword of Justice
	Winter			B. J. and the Bear		The Rockford Files
	Spring					Supertrain

By network

ABC

Returning Series 20/20 The ABC Friday Night Movie The ABC Sunday Night Movie Barney Miller Carter Country Charlie's Angels Donny & Marie Eight Is Enough Family Fantasy Island Happy Days The Hardy Boys How the West Was Won Laverne & Shirley Lucan The Love Boat Monday Night Baseball Monday Night Football Operation Petticoat Soap Starsky & Hutch Three's Company Welcome Back, Kotter What's Happening!!

New Series 13 Queens Boulevard * Angie * Apple Pie Battlestar Galactica Carol Burnett & Company * Delta House * Detective School * Doctors' Private Lives * Friends * The MacKenzies of Paradise Cove * Makin' It * Mork & Mindy The Ropers * Salvage 1 * Taxi Vega$

Not returning from 1977–78: The ABC Monday Night Movie Baretta Fish Free Country The Harvey Korman Show A.E.S. Hudson Street Having Babies Mel & Susan Together The Redd Foxx Comedy Hour The San Pedro Beach Bums The Six Million Dollar Man Sugar Time! Tabitha

CBS

Returning Series 60 Minutes Alice All in the Family The Amazing Spider-Man Barnaby Jones Dallas Good Times Hawaii Five-O The Incredible Hulk The Jeffersons Lou Grant M*A*S*H One Day at a Time The New Adventures of Wonder Woman Rhoda The Waltons

New Series The American Girls The Bad News Bears * Billy * The Chisholms * Dear Detective * Dorothy * The Dukes of Hazzard * Flatbush * Flying High Hanging In * In the Beginning Just Friends * Kaz Married: The First Year Mary The Mary Tyler Moore Hour * Miss Winslow and Son * The Paper Chase Time Express * The White Shadow WKRP in Cincinnati

Not returning from 1977–78: Another Day Baby I'm Back The Betty White Show The Bob Newhart Show Busting Loose The Carol Burnett Show Celebrity Challenge of the Sexes The Fitzpatricks Husbands, Wives & Lovers Kojak Logan's Run Maude On Our Own Rafferty Sam The Shields and Yarnell Show Switch Szysznyk The Ted Knight Show The Tony Randall Show We've Got Each Other Young Dan'l Boone

NBC

Returning Series The Big Event CHiPs Comedy Theatre (returning from 1976) Joe & Valerie Laugh-In Little House on the Prairie NBC Monday Night at the Movies Project U.F.O. Quincy, M.E. The Rockford Files The Runaways Weekend The Wonderful World of Disney

New Series B. J. and the Bear * Brothers and Sisters * Cliffhangers * David Cassidy: Man Undercover * Dick Clark's Live Wednesday Diff'rent Strokes The Duke * The Eddie Capra Mysteries Grandpa Goes to Washington Harris and Company * Hello, Larry * Highcliffe Manor * Hizzonner * Lifeline Kate Loves a Mystery * Presenting Susan Anton * Real People * Supertrain * $weepstake$ * Sword of Justice Turnabout * W.E.B. The Waverly Wonders Who's Watching the Kids Whodunnit? *

Not returning from 1977–78: Black Sheep Squadron Big Hawaii The Bionic Woman Chico and the Man Chuck Barris Rah Rah Show Columbo C.P.O. Sharkey The Hanna-Barbera Happy Hour James at 15 The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams Man from Atlantis Mulligan's Stew The Oregon Trail Police Woman Quark The Richard Pryor Show Richie Brockelman, Private Eye Rollergirls Rosetti and Ryan Sanford Arms What Really Happened to the Class of '65?

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