1985–86 United States network television schedule

The 1985–86 network television schedule for the three major English language commercial broadcast networks in the United States covers primetime hours from September 1985 through August 1986. The schedule is followed by a list per network of returning series, new series, and series cancelled after the 1984–85 season.

PBS is not included; member stations have local flexibility over most of their schedules and broadcast times for network shows may vary.

Each of the 30 highest-rated shows released in May 1986 is listed with its rank and rating as determined by Nielsen Media Research.^[1] Most of the ratings come from AmericanRadioHistory.com's PDF archive.^[2] This was the first television season wherein the Nielsen people meter technology was used for the nationwide audience measurement system, largely replacing the diaries system in place from the 1950-1951 television season.^[3]

Legend

•   Gray indicates encore programming.
•   Blue-gray indicates news programming.
•   Light green indicates sporting events.
•   Red indicates series being burned off and other regularly scheduled programs, including specials and movies.
•  highlight  Lime highlights indicates the number-one most watched program of the season.
•  highlight  Yellow highlights indicates the top-10 most watched programs of the season.
•  highlight  Cyan highlights indicates numbers 11-20 most watched programs of the season.
•  highlight  Magenta highlights indicates numbers 21-30 most watched programs of the season.
•  highlight  Highlights indicates that it falls in multiple of the above categories.

Schedule

• New series are highlighted in bold.
• Repeat airings or same-day rebroadcasts are indicated by (R).
• All times are U.S. Eastern and Pacific Time (except for some live sports or events). Subtract one hour for Central, Mountain, Alaska and Hawaii–Aleutian times.

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	Ripley's Believe It or Not!		MacGyver		The ABC Sunday Night Movie
	Winter	The Disney Sunday Movie
	Spring
	Summer
CBS	Fall	60 Minutes (4/23.9)		Murder, She Wrote (3/25.3)		Crazy Like a Fox		Trapper John, M.D.
	Winter					CBS Sunday Movie (12/20.5)
	Spring
	Summer
NBC	Fall	Punky Brewster	Silver Spoons	Amazing Stories	Alfred Hitchcock Presents	NBC Sunday Night at the Movies (21/18.5)
	Winter
	Spring	Silver Spoons	Fathers and Sons
	Late spring		Punky Brewster	Various programming[a]
	August			Dalton's Code of Vengeance		NBC Sunday Night at the Movies (21/18.5)

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	Hardcastle and McCormick		Monday Night Football (15/19.8)
	Winter			ABC Monday Night Movie
	Spring
	June	The Insiders
	Mid-summer	Monday Night Baseball
CBS		Scarecrow and Mrs. King (28/17.4)		Kate & Allie (14/20.0)	Newhart (16/19.6)	Cagney & Lacey
NBC	Fall	TV's Bloopers & Practical Jokes		NBC Monday Night at the Movies (22/18.3) (Tied with Hotel)
	Winter	You Again? (19/19.2)	Valerie (24/18.1) (Tied with Moonlighting and Falcon Crest)
	Spring	Valerie (24/18.1) (Tied with Moonlighting and Falcon Crest)	You Again? (19/19.2)
	Late spring		Amazing Stories

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? (10/21.1)	Growing Pains (17/19.5) (Tied with Knots Landing)	Moonlighting (24/18.1) (Tied with Falcon Crest and Valerie)		Our Family Honor
	Mid-fall					Spenser: For Hire
	Winter
	Spring		Perfect Strangers
	Mid-spring		Growing Pains (17/19.5) (Tied with Knots Landing)
	Summer		Perfect Strangers
	Mid-summer		Growing Pains (17/19.5) (Tied with Knots Landing)
CBS	Fall	Hometown		CBS Tuesday Night Movie
	Mid-fall	Various programming[b]
	Late fall	Stir Crazy
	Winter	Various programming[c]	Charlie & Co.	Trapper John, M.D.		Various programming[b]
	Mid-winter	Trapper John, M.D.		CBS Tuesday Night Movie
	Spring	Morningstar/Eveningstar		Mary	Foley Square	The Equalizer
	Mid-spring			Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer (R)
	Summer	Simon & Simon (R)		Magnum, P.I. (R)
NBC	Fall	The A-Team (30/16.9)		Riptide		Remington Steele
	Winter
	Spring			Hunter		Stingray
	Summer					1986

Notes:

• Melba was supposed to air on the 8:00 p.m. slot in January 1986, but was cancelled after its first episode aired. Episodes already produced aired during the summer.
• Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer consisted on repeats of the 1983–84 series.
• 1986 aired as a "preview" series in advance of the 1986–87 season.

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	The Insiders		Dynasty (7/21.8) (Tied with The Golden Girls)		Hotel (22/18.3) (Tied with The NBC Monday Movie)
	Winter	MacGyver
	Spring
	Summer			Hardcastle and McCormick (R)
	Mid-summer	Perfect Strangers (R)	Mr. Sunshine (R)	MacGyver
CBS	Fall	Stir Crazy		Charlie & Co.	George Burns Comedy Week	The Equalizer
	Mid-fall	Special programming
	Late fall	Mary	Foley Square
	Winter			Crazy Like a Fox
	Spring	Fast Times	Tough Cookies	CBS Wednesday Night Movie
	Mid-spring	West 57th
	Summer	Foley Square	Charlie & Co.	Airwolf (R)		West 57th
NBC	Fall	Highway to Heaven (13/20.1)		Hell Town		St. Elsewhere
	Winter			Blacke's Magic
	Spring
	Summer			Gimme a Break! (R)	You Again? (R)

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	The Fall Guy		Lady Blue		20/20
	Mid-fall	ABC Thursday Night Movie
	Late fall	Shadow Chasers		The Colbys
	Winter	Ripley's Believe It or Not!
	Spring
	Summer
CBS	Fall	Magnum, P.I.		Simon & Simon (29/17.2)		Knots Landing (17/19.5) (Tied with Growing Pains)
	Winter
	Spring	Simon & Simon (29/17.2)		Bridges to Cross
	Summer	Crazy Like a Fox (R)		Trapper John, M.D. (R)
	Mid-summer			CBS Thursday Night Movie
	Late summer	Price is Right Special		Crazy Like a Fox (R)		Trapper John, M.D.
NBC	Fall	The Cosby Show (1/33.7)	Family Ties (2/30.0)	Cheers (5/23.7)	Night Court (11/20.9)	Hill Street Blues
	Winter
	Late winter				All Is Forgiven
	Spring				Night Court (11/20.9)
	Summer				All Is Forgiven
	Mid-summer				Night Court (11/20.9)

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	Webster	Mr. Belvedere	Diff'rent Strokes	Benson	Spenser: For Hire
	Mid-fall					Our Family Honor
	Winter				He's the Mayor	The Fall Guy
	Spring			Mr. Sunshine	Joe Bash
	Mid-spring			The ABC Friday Night Movie
	Summer			Mr. Sunshine	Various programming[c]	The Love Boat (R)
	Late summer			Various programming[c]
CBS	Fall	The Twilight Zone		Dallas (6/21.9)		Falcon Crest (24/18.1) (Tied with Moonlighting and Valerie)
	Winter
	Spring	Charlie & Co.	Leo & Liz in Beverly Hills
	Summer	The Twilight Zone		CBS Friday Movie
NBC	Fall	Knight Rider		Misfits of Science		Miami Vice (9/21.3)
	Winter	Misfits of Science		Knight Rider
	Late winter	Riptide
	Spring			The Last Precinct
	Mid-spring	Knight Rider
	Summer			Miami Vice (9/21.3)		Stingray (R)
	Late summer	The A-Team (R)				Riptide (R)

Note:

• Diff'rent Strokes aired an one-hour season premiere on September 27 at 9:00pm.

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	Hollywood Beat		Lime Street		The Love Boat
	Mid-fall	The Fall Guy		Lady Blue
	Winter	The Redd Foxx Show	Benson	Fortune Dane
	Spring			The Love Boat (R)
	Mid-spring	Mr. Sunshine
	Summer	Diff'rent Strokes (R)		ABC Saturday Night Movie
CBS	Fall	Airwolf		CBS Saturday Night Movie
	Winter
	Spring	Crazy Like a Fox
	Mid-spring			Airwolf		Magnum, P.I.
	Summer	Various programming[d]
	August	Melba	CBS Saturday Night Movie
NBC	Fall	Gimme a Break!	The Facts of Life (27/17.7)	The Golden Girls (7/21.8) (Tied with Dynasty)	227 (20/18.8)	Hunter
	Winter
	Spring				All Is Forgiven	Remington Steele
	Mid-spring				227 (20/18.8)
	Summer	The Facts of Life (27/17.7)	227 (20/18.8)		Me & Mrs. C
	Late summer				Various programming[e]	Hunter

Notes:

• Due to the death of Samantha Smith and her father in a plane crash, ABC ceased production on Lime Street and was forced to move Lady Blue into its slot.
• The Love Boat had a number of 2-hour episodes throughout the season, airing from 9 to 11 p.m. Assorted repeats from previous seasons aired on the 9 p.m. slot during the spring.

By network

ABC

Returning series 20/20 The ABC Friday Night Movie ABC Monday Night Movie The ABC Sunday Night Movie The ABC Thursday Night Movie Benson Diff'rent Strokes (moved from NBC) Dynasty The Fall Guy Hardcastle and McCormick Hotel Life's Most Embarrassing Moments The Love Boat Mr. Belvedere Monday Night Baseball Monday Night Football Moonlighting Ripley's Believe It or Not! Webster Who's the Boss?

New series The Colbys * The Disney Sunday Movie * Fortune Dane * Growing Pains He's the Mayor * Hollywood Beat The Insiders Joe Bash * Lady Blue Lime Street MacGyver Mr. Sunshine * Our Family Honor Perfect Strangers * The Redd Foxx Show * Shadow Chasers * Spenser: For Hire

Not returning from 1984–85: Call to Glory Eye to Eye Finder of Lost Loves Foul-Ups, Bleeps & Blunders Glitter Hawaiian Heat Jessie MacGruder and Loud Matt Houston Me and Mom Off the Rack Paper Dolls People Do the Craziest Things Rock 'n' Roll Summer Action Street Hawk T. J. Hooker @ Three's a Crowd Wildside

CBS

Returning series 60 Minutes Airwolf Cagney & Lacey CBS Sunday Movie Crazy Like a Fox Dallas Falcon Crest Kate & Allie Knots Landing Magnum, P.I. Murder, She Wrote Newhart Scarecrow and Mrs. King Simon & Simon Trapper John, M.D.

New series Bridges to Cross * Charlie & Co. The Equalizer Fast Times * Foley Square * George Burns Comedy Week Hometown Leo & Liz in Beverly Hills * Mary * Melba * Morningstar/Eveningstar * Stir Crazy Tough Cookies * The Twilight Zone West 57th *

Not returning from 1984–85: AfterMASH Alice Charles in Charge (Moved to Syndication) Cover Up Detective in the House Double Dare Dreams The Dukes of Hazzard E/R I Had Three Wives The Jeffersons The Lucie Arnaz Show Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer + Otherworld

NBC

Returning series The A-Team Cheers The Cosby Show The Facts of Life Family Ties Gimme a Break! Highway to Heaven Hill Street Blues Hunter Knight Rider Miami Vice NBC Sunday Night Movie NBC Monday Night at the Movies Night Court Punky Brewster Remington Steele Riptide St. Elsewhere Silver Spoons TV's Bloopers & Practical Jokes

New series 1986 * 227 Alfred Hitchcock Presents All Is Forgiven * Amazing Stories Blacke's Magic * Dalton's Code of Vengeance * Fathers and Sons * The Golden Girls Hell Town The Last Precinct * Me & Mrs. C * Misfits of Science Stingray * Valerie * You Again? *

Not returning from 1984–85: Berrenger's The Best Times Code Name: Foxfire Diff'rent Strokes (moved to ABC) Double Trouble Half Nelson Hot Pursuit It's Your Move Motown Revue OceanQuest Our Time Partners in Crime Sara Spencer/Under One Roof V

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

^ Diff'rent Strokes switched networks for the 1985–1986 season.

+ Mike Hammer abruptly ended production after series star Stacy Keach was sentenced to six months in prison for cocaine possession. Production resumed during the 1986–1987 season.

@ T. J. Hooker continued production for CBS' late night schedule for the 1985–1986 season.

See also

• 1985–86 United States network television schedule (daytime)
• 1985–86 United States network television schedule (late night)

Notes

1. Between May and July 1986, NBC's Sunday night lineup between 8 and 11 p.m. consisted on NBC Sunday Night at the Movies with various repeats following at 10 or 10:30 p.m., or special programming during the entire three-hour block.
2. Various repeats and specials
3. Sitcom repeats and specials
4. CBS' Saturday night line-up between May and July 1986 consisted mostly on three-hour broadcasts of the CBS Saturday Night Movie, although some weeks featured various repeats and specials on the 8–8:30 or 8–9 p.m. period.
5. Sitcom repeats, specials and airings of unsold pilots