1987–88 United States network television schedule

Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates Template:USTV 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.

This is the first fall season in which Fox aired prime-time programming (while it debuted in October 1986, it would only cover late nights until April 1987), making this the first full season since 1958-59 in which a fourth commercial television network (NTA) was broadcasting. Fox would air only two days a week (Saturdays and Sundays) until the spring of 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. Series ending their network runs are highlighted in italics.

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.<ref name="BM2">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. Template:ISBN.</ref>

LegendEdit

Template:Plainlist

SundayEdit

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

Note: The Wonder Years premiered January 31, 1988 after Super Bowl XXII. It's Garry Shandling's Show consisted on edited reruns of the Showtime series.

MondayEdit

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

TuesdayEdit

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

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.

WednesdayEdit

Network		8:00 p.m.	8:30 p.m.	9:00 p.m.	9:30 p.m.	10:00 p.m.
ABC	Fall	Perfect Strangers	Head of the Class Template:Small	Hooperman	The Slap Maxwell Story	Dynasty (Stereo)
	Winter	Growing Pains Template:Small				Dynasty (Stereo)
	Spring					HeartBeat
	Mid-spring				Just in Time	HeartBeat
	Late spring				Just in Time	China Beach (Stereo)
	Summer		The Slap Maxwell Story		Just the Ten of Us	Spenser: For Hire
CBS	Fall	The Oldest Rookie		Magnum, P.I. (Stereo)		The Equalizer
	Winter	The Law & Harry McGraw		Magnum, P.I. (Stereo)
	Spring	The Smothers Brothers Show		Jake and the Fatman
	Summer	Jake and the Fatman		The Equalizer		Wiseguy (Stereo)
NBC	Fall	Highway to Heaven (Stereo)		A Year in the Life		St. Elsewhere
	Winter	Highway to Heaven (Stereo)		A Year in the Life		St. Elsewhere
	Spring	Aaron's Way Template:Small		Highway to Heaven (Stereo)		A Year in the Life
	Mid-spring			A Year in the Life		The Bronx Zoo
	Late spring			Highway to Heaven (Stereo)		St. Elsewhere
	Summer	Highway to Heaven (Stereo)		The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd	Sara Template:Small	The Bronx Zoo
	Mid-summer	Highway to Heaven (Stereo)		Night Court	The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd	St. Elsewhere

Note: Sara consisted entirely of reruns of the 1985 series.

ThursdayEdit

Network		8:00 p.m.	8:30 p.m.	9:00 p.m.	9:30 p.m.	10:00 p.m.
ABC	Fall	Sledge Hammer!	The Charmings	The ABC Thursday Night Movie (Occasionally in Stereo)
	Winter	The Charmings	Growing Pains Template:Small	The ABC Thursday Night Movie (Occasionally in Stereo)
	Spring	Probe		Hotel		Buck James
	Follow-up	Max Headroom		Hotel		Buck James
	Summer	The ABC Thursday Night Movie (Occasionally in Stereo)				Hothouse
CBS	Fall	Tour of Duty		Wiseguy (Stereo)		Knots Landing (Stereo)
	Winter	Tour of Duty		Simon & Simon
	Spring	48 Hours
	Summer	48 Hours				Cagney & Lacey
NBC	Fall	The Cosby Show (Stereo) Template:Small	A Different World (Stereo) Template:Small	Cheers Template:Small	Night Court Template:Small	L.A. Law (Stereo) Template:Small
	Winter				Night Court Template:Small
	Spring				The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd
	Mid-spring				Night Court Template:Small
	Late spring				The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd
	Summer				Night Court Template:Small

FridayEdit

Network		8:00 p.m.	8:30 p.m.	9:00 p.m.	9:30 p.m.	10:00 p.m.
ABC	Fall	Full House	I Married Dora	Max Headroom		20/20
	Mid-fall		I Married Dora	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 (Stereo)		Dallas (Stereo) Template:Small		Falcon Crest
	Winter
	Spring
	Summer			CBS Friday Movie (Occasionally in Stereo)
NBC	Fall	Rags to Riches		Miami Vice (Stereo)		Private Eye
	Winter	Night Court Template:Small	Family Ties (Stereo)			Sonny Spoon
	Spring	The Highwayman				Sonny Spoon
	Mid-spring	The Highwayman		Night Court Template:Small	Beverly Hills Buntz	Miami Vice (Stereo)
	Late spring	TV's Bloopers & Practical Jokes Template:Small		The Highwayman
	Summer			Sonny Spoon
	Mid-summer			Blacke's Magic Template:Small

Note: Full House premiered Tuesday September 22, 1987 at 8:30 pm on ABC. TV's Bloopers and Practical Jokes consisted on reruns of the 1984–86 series. Blacke's Magic consisted on reruns of the 1986 series.

SaturdayEdit

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