1988–89 United States network television schedule

The 1988–89 network television schedule for the four major English language commercial broadcast networks in the United States covers primetime hours from September 1988 through August 1989. The schedule is followed by a list per network of returning series, new series, and series cancelled after the 1987–88 season.

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.

Each of the 30 highest-rated shows is listed with its rank and rating as determined by Nielsen Media Research.^[1]

Writers' strike impact

Main article: 1988 Writers Guild of America strike

The 1988 Writers Guild of America strike lasted between March 7 and August 7. During the strike, production on scripted television series across all of the major television networks was suspended. The writers' strike forced the networks to postpone the start of the fall 1988 schedule later than usual; rather than the traditional late-September/early-October start, new and returning series had their premieres delayed until late October and into November. In the interim, the networks had to rely on a hodgepodge of programming, including reruns, films, entertainment and news specials, program-length political advertising, and unscripted original series (e.g. CBS' High Risk); NBC and ABC also benefited from sports programming (NBC relied on the Summer Olympics in September and the World Series in October, while ABC had postseason baseball coverage and moved up the start time for the early weeks of Monday Night Football from 9 p.m. ET to 8 p.m. ET to replace MacGyver, which was not yet ready with new episodes at the time). Even though previous strikes of Hollywood employees occurred in 1980 and 1981, those strikes only had a minor effect on the production of television programs that aired in the 1980–81 and 1981–82 seasons. The 1988–89 television season was thus the first of four television seasons to have its start delayed due to issues outside of the control of the major networks; further instances occurred in the 2001–02 season (due to the networks' news coverage of the September 11 attacks), the 2020–21 season (due to the suspension of television productions as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic), and the 2023–24 season (due to the 2023 Hollywood labor disputes).

Legend

•   Light blue indicates local programming.
•   Gray indicates encore programming.
•   Blue-gray indicates news programming.
•   Light green indicates sporting events.
•   Red indicates series being burned off and other irregularly scheduled programs, including specials and movies.
•  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.

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	Incredible Sunday		Mission: Impossible		The ABC Sunday Night Movie
	Winter	Great Circuses of the World		Special programming
	Spring	Incredible Sunday		Moonlighting
	Summer			Have Faith (R)	The ABC Sunday Night Movie
	Late summer			MacGyver (R)		The ABC Sunday Night Movie
CBS		60 Minutes (5/21.9)		Murder, She Wrote (8/19.9)		CBS Sunday Movie (27/16.1) (Tied with Knots Landing)
Fox	Fall	21 Jump Street		America's Most Wanted	Married... with Children	It's Garry Shandling's Show	The Tracey Ullman Show	Duet	Local programming
	Winter
	Spring
	Summer				Totally Hidden Video	Married... with Children (R)	It's Garry Shandling's Show	The Tracey Ullman Show (R)	Duet (R)
NBC	Fall	The Magical World of Disney		Family Ties	Day by Day	NBC Sunday Night Movie (22/16.3) (Tied with The Hogan Family and The Wonder Years)
	Winter
	Spring
	Summer	The Jim Henson Hour		The Magical World of Disney
	Late summer	The Magical World of Disney		Family Ties	My Two Dads (R)

Notes:

• Quantum Leap had a two-hour premiere Sunday, March 26, 1989, on NBC.
• On ABC, A Fine Romance was supposed to air 8-9 p.m., but production delays amidst the strike forced the move to Thursdays.^[2]

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	Monday Night Football (15/17.5) (Tied with ALF)
	Mid-fall	MacGyver		Monday Night Football (15/17.5) (Tied with ALF)
	Winter			The ABC Monday Night Movie
	Mid-winter			The ABC Monday Mystery Movie* (29/15.4) (Tied with Dallas)
	Spring
	Summer
CBS	Fall	Newhart	The Cavanaughs	CBS Monday Night Movie
	Mid-fall		Coming of Age
	Winter		Kate & Allie	Murphy Brown	Designing Women	Almost Grown
	Spring	Live-In	Heartland			Newhart	Kate & Allie
	Summer	Kate & Allie					Doctor Doctor
	Mid-summer		Designing Women (R)			Murphy Brown (R)	Newhart
NBC	Fall	ALF (15/17.5) (Tied with Monday Night Football)	The Hogan Family (22/16.3) (Tied with the NBC Sunday Night Movie and The Wonder Years)	NBC Monday Night at the Movies (25/16.2) (Tied with Amen)
	Winter
	Spring		Nearly Departed
	Mid-spring		The Hogan Family (22/16.3) (Tied with the NBC Sunday Night Movie and The Wonder Years)
	Summer

(*) B.L. Stryker, Columbo, Gideon Oliver

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? (7/20.8)	Roseanne (2/23.8)	Moonlighting		Thirtysomething
	Winter		The Wonder Years (22/16.3) (Tied with The Hogan Family and the NBC Sunday Night Movie)	Roseanne (2/23.8)	Anything but Love (10/19.0)
	Spring				Have Faith
	Summer				Coach (R)
CBS	Fall	High Risk		CBS Tuesday Movie
	Late fall	TV 101
	Winter	Tour of Duty
	Spring
	Summer	CBS Summer Playhouse
NBC	Fall	Matlock (13/17.7)		NBC Tuesday Night at the Movies
	Mid-fall			In the Heat of the Night (18/17.3)		Midnight Caller
	Winter
	Spring
	Summer

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	Growing Pains (13/17.6) (Tied with L.A. Law)	Head of the Class (20/17.1)	The ABC Wednesday Night Movie
	Late Fall			The Wonder Years (22/16.3) (Tied with The Hogan Family and the NBC Sunday Night Movie)	Hooperman	China Beach
	Winter			Coach
	Spring				The Robert Guillaume Show
	Summer			Hooperman
	Late summer				Coach
CBS	Early fall	Live! Dick Clark Presents		The Equalizer		Wiseguy
	Fall	The Van Dyke Show	Annie McGuire
	Winter	TV 101
	Mid-winter	Hard Time on Planet Earth		Jake and the Fatman
	Spring
	Summer
	Late summer	The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour
NBC	Fall	Unsolved Mysteries (17/17.4)		Night Court (21/16.9)	Baby Boom	Tattingers
	Mid-fall				My Two Dads
	Winter					Nightingales
	Spring
	Mid-spring					Quantum Leap
	Summer					Miami Vice
	Mid-summer				Knight & Daye
	Late summer				FM	Special programming

• Notes: Seinfeld premiered July 5, 1989 at 9:30 p.m. on NBC. On Fox, Fox Night at the Movies premiered on May 17, 1989 with The Fly.

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	Special programming
	Mid-fall	Knightwatch		Dynasty		Special programming
	Winter	A Fine Romance				HeartBeat
	Spring	Special programming				ABC News Specials
	Summer	Thursday Night Baseball
	Late summer	A Man Called Hawk (R)		Mission: Impossible (R)		Primetime Live
CBS	Fall	48 Hours		CBS Thursday Night Movie
	Mid-fall			Paradise		Knots Landing (27/16.1) (Tied with The CBS Sunday Movie)
	Winter
	Spring			The Equalizer
	Summer			The Cavanaughs	Coming of Age	The Equalizer
	Mid-summer			The Equalizer		Knots Landing (27/16.1) (Tied with The CBS Sunday Movie)
NBC		The Cosby Show (1/25.6)	A Different World (3/23.0)	Cheers (4/22.3)	Dear John (11/18.5)	L.A. Law (13/17.6) (Tied with Growing Pains)

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	Perfect Strangers	Full House	Mr. Belvedere	Just the Ten of Us	20/20
	Winter
	Spring
	Summer
	Mid-summer				Various programming
	Late summer	Full House (R)	Mr. Belvedere (R)	Perfect Strangers (R)	Just the Ten of Us (R)
CBS	Fall	Beauty and the Beast		Dallas (29/15.4) (Tied with The ABC Monday Mystery Movie)		Falcon Crest
	Winter
	Spring
	Summer			CBS Friday Movie
NBC	Fall	Sonny Spoon		Something Is Out There		Miami Vice
	Winter	Father Dowling Mysteries		Miami Vice		Unsub
	Spring	The Jim Henson Hour		Quantum Leap
	Mid-spring			Miami Vice		Dream Street
	Summer	Highway to Heaven		NBC Friday Night at the Movies

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	Murphy's Law		ABC Saturday Night Movie
	Mid-fall	ABC Saturday Night Movie				Murphy's Law
	Winter	Mission: Impossible		A Man Called Hawk
	Spring					Men
	Mid-spring	A Man Called Hawk		ABC Saturday Night Movie
	Summer
CBS	Early fall	First Impressions	Frank's Place (R)	Special programming		West 57th
	Fall	Dirty Dancing	Raising Miranda	Simon & Simon
	Mid-fall	Live! Dick Clark Presents
	Winter	Dolphin Cove		Dirty Dancing	Raising Miranda
	Mid-winter			The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour
	Late winter	TV 101
	Spring	Paradise		Jesse Hawkes
	Summer			Tour of Duty
Fox	Fall	The Reporters		Beyond Tomorrow		Local programming
	Winter			COPS	Beyond Tomorrow
	Spring	COPS	The Reporters
	Summer
NBC	Fall	227	Amen (25/16.2) (Tied with The NBC Monday Movie)	The Golden Girls (6/21.4)	Empty Nest (9/19.2)	Hunter (19/17.2)
	Winter
	Spring	One of the Boys
	Mid-spring	227	One of the Boys
	Summer		Amen (25/16.2) (Tied with The NBC Monday Movie)
	Mid-summer	My Two Dads (R)
	Late summer	Amen (25/16.2) (Tied with The NBC Monday Movie)	13 East

Note: On CBS, Frank's Place consisted of reruns of the 1987-88 sitcom. On ABC, ABC Saturday Mystery Movie was supposed to air 9-11 p.m., but production delays amidst the strike force the move to Mondays.^[2]

By network

ABC

Returning Series 20/20 The ABC Monday Night Movie ABC Saturday Night Movie The ABC Sunday Night Movie China Beach Dynasty Full House Growing Pains Head of the Class HeartBeat + Hooperman Just the Ten of Us MacGyver Mr. Belvedere Monday Night Football Moonlighting Perfect Strangers Who's the Boss? The Wonder Years

New Series The ABC Monday Mystery Movie * Anything But Love * Coach * A Fine Romance * Great Circuses of the World * Have Faith * Incredible Sunday Knightwatch A Man Called Hawk * Men * Mission: Impossible Murphy's Law Police Story The Robert Guillaume Show * Roseanne Studio 5-B * Thursday Night Baseball *

Not returning from 1987–88: The ABC Thursday Night Movie Buck James The Charmings The Disney Sunday Movie Dolly Family Man Hotel Hothouse I Married Dora Just in Time Max Headroom Monday Night Baseball Ohara Once a Hero Probe Pursuit of Happiness Sable The "Slap" Maxwell Story Sledge Hammer! Spenser: For Hire Supercarrier The Thorns

CBS

Returning Series 48 Hours 60 Minutes Beauty and the Beast CBS Summer Playhouse CBS Sunday Movie The Cavanaughs + Coming of Age Dallas Designing Women The Equalizer Falcon Crest Jake and the Fatman + Kate & Allie Knots Landing Murder, She Wrote Newhart Simon & Simon The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour + Tour of Duty + West 57th Wiseguy

New Series Almost Grown Annie McGuire Dirty Dancing Doctor Doctor * Dolphin Cove * First Impressions Hard Time on Planet Earth * Heartland * High Risk Jesse Hawkes * Live! Dick Clark Presents Live-In * Murphy Brown Paradise Raising Miranda TV 101 The Van Dyke Show

Not returning from 1987–88: Blue Skies Cagney & Lacey Eisenhower & Lutz Everything's Relative Frank's Place High Mountain Rangers Houston Knights The Law & Harry McGraw Magnum, P.I. My Sister Sam The Oldest Rookie Trial and Error

Fox

Returning Series 21 Jump Street America's Most Wanted Duet It's Garry Shandling's Show Married... with Children The Tracey Ullman Show

New Series Beyond Tomorrow Cops * The Reporters Totally Hidden Video *

Not returning from 1987–88: Dirty Dozen: The Series Family Double Dare Mr. President The New Adventures of Beans Baxter Second Chance/Boys Will Be Boys Werewolf Women in Prison

NBC

Returning Series 227 ALF Amen Cheers The Cosby Show Day by Day A Different World Family Ties The Golden Girls Highway to Heaven + The Hogan Family @ Hunter In the Heat of the Night L.A. Law Matlock Miami Vice My Two Dads + NBC Sunday Night Movie NBC Monday Night at the Movies Night Court Sonny Spoon

New Series 13 East * Baby Boom Dear John Dream Street * Empty Nest Father Dowling Mysteries * The Jim Henson Hour * Knight & Daye * The Magical World of Disney Midnight Caller Nearly Departed * Nightingales * One of the Boys * Quantum Leap * Something is Out There Tattingers/Nick & Hillary Unsolved Mysteries Unsub *

Not returning from 1987–88: Aaron's Way Beverly Hills Buntz The Bronx Zoo Crime Story The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd The Facts of Life The Highwayman J.J. Starbuck Our House Private Eye Rags to Riches St. Elsewhere A Year in the Life

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

+ These shows returned as "backup" programming in midseason.

@ Formerly known as Valerie's Family.