Looking back...Primetime Ratings from the 80's

[JoeCool]

WOW! So that episode was a repeat, it shows how strong Murder, She Wrote was!!

[kalbir]

1986/87 wrapped up during the weeks of May 4-10, 1987; May 11-17, 1987; and May 18-24, 1987.

Here's what happened on the season's Top 10 scripted shows and the four primetime soaps those weeks.

Cheers - I Do and Adieu (season 5 finale, May 7, rating 28.4, #1): Sam and Diane's wedding is coming up. Diane, who has always wanted to be a writer, is offered to have one of her novels published. The question is whether Diane can combine her work with marriage.

Family Ties - The Visit (season 5 finale, May 7, rating 27.8, 2nd): Elyse's sister Michelle, her obnoxious husband, and their bratty children come for a visit, and despite Steven's attempts to tolerate their presence, it eventually becomes too much.

The Cosby Show - Hillman (season 3 finale, May 7, rating 26.4, 3rd): The Huxtables visit Hillman College to celebrate the retirement of the school's president.

Moonlighting - To Heiress Human (season 3 finale, May 5, rating 21.0, 4th): Maddie tries to ignore the fact that she and David slept together the night before as they tackle a new case - a woman wants proof that her fiancé loves her and not her father's money.

Murder, She Wrote - Murder, She Spoke (season 3 finale, May 10, rating 20.4, 5th): A murder occurs while Jessica is recording one of her novels for the Mystery Books for the Blind series.

The Golden Girls - A Piece of Cake (May 9, rating 19.2, 8th): Through a series of flashbacks, the housemates reminisce about their past birthday celebrations.

Growing Pains - The Long Goodbye (May 5, rating 18.8, 9th): Maggie believes that the Seavers' handyman is getting too old and tries to convince Jason to let him go. Then they find out that somebody else was behind the mistakes.

Dallas - Two-Fifty (May 8, rating 18.3, 11th): J.R. must defend himself and Ewing Oil against Justice Department charges. Wendell obtains Mrs. Scottfield's cooperation. Pam warns Cliff.

Dynasty - Shadow Play (season 7 finale, May 6, rating 17.6, 14th): An emotional Alexis accidentally drives her car off a bridge. Following Adam and Dana's wedding, the entire Carrington family is held hostage at the mansion by a face from the past: Matthew Blaisdel.

Falcon Crest - Chain Reaction (May 8, rating 16.5, 17th): Kit defends Tony, to no avail. Chase and Maggie decide on a quick divorce.

Knots Landing - Do Not Fold, Spindle, or Mutilate (May 7, rating 16.3, 20th): Paige tries to find out if Greg is her father. Peter suffers the wrath of several women.

Night Court - Her Honor (Part 2) (season 4 finale, May 6, rating 15.2, 27th): While the newly appointed Christine begins her duties, Harry plans a colossal stunt, not realizing that Christine is working to get him reappointed.

Who's the Boss? was a repeat on May 5.

Dallas - Fall of the House of Ewing (season 10 finale, May 15): Bobby and Pam's dreams of a serene and happy future are shattered. The impending loss of Ewing Oil has a desperate J.R. fighting for his life.

Knots Landing - Cement the Relationship (season 8 finale, May 14): Abby covers up for Olivia and disposes of Peter's body. Val is convinced Ben won't return.

Falcon Crest - Desperation (season 6 finale, May 15): Melissa takes dangerous measures to keep the baby. Angela learns one of her children, who supposedly died during birth, is alive.

Who's the Boss? - Mona (May 12): Mona goes to visit her brother who bought an old hotel using her money, and discovers that the place is a money pit.

The Golden Girls - Empty Nests (season 2 finale, May 16): The women try to help a neighborhood couple patch up their faltering marriage.

Growing Pains was a repeat on May 12.

Growing Pains - Confidentially Yours (season 2 finale, May 19, rating 20.4, 4th): Maggie gets a job offer – from a womanizer who only wants to sleep with her.

Who's the Boss? - A Moving Episode (season 3 finale, May 19, rating 19.2, 6th): When Mona moves to New York, Tony takes over her apartment. While trying to convince his friends from the old neighborhood and himself that he's still the wild man he once was, Tony discovers that he's happier in his domestic role with Angela and the kids.

The final ratings for 1986/87 were 1. The Cosby Show, 2. Family Ties, 3. Cheers; 4. Murder, She Wrote; 5. The Golden Girls, 7. Night Court, 8. Growing Pains, 9. Moonlighting, 10. Who's the Boss?, 11. Dallas, 23. Falcon Crest, 24. Dynasty, 26. Knots Landing.

Edited May 16 by kalbir

[soapfan770]

I forget that throughout the 80’s the TV seasons were officially over in April. Not sure why that was the case but it wasn’t until the mid-90’s that May Sweeps became a real official thing. 

Because my teenage self stayed home often on Saturday nights in the early 90’s I watched Empty Nest just about every night to the bitter end, I do actually always felt a bit sad whenever I see that GG ep knowing that Rita’s character will die with that last line “Good night!”

For years I admit I had the Mandela effect that Mulligan was in the episode before I finally caught it again on Lifetime. 
 

And yes lol I don’t care for David Leisure’s character in the episode but somehow was funnier than anything on Empty Nest. Same when Charley crossed over for Dorothy’s Jeopardy dream. 

[kalbir]

It's been brought up that Empty Nest was a time slot hit. Here's Empty Nest schedule and seasonal rating in comparison to The Golden Girls.

1988/89: The Golden Girls Saturday 9 pm, 6th. Empty Nest Saturday 9:30 pm, 9th.

1989/90: The Golden Girls Saturday 9 pm, 6th. Empty Nest Saturday 9:30 pm, 9th.

1990/91: The Golden Girls Saturday 9 pm, 10th. Empty Nest Saturday 9:30 pm, 7th.

1991/92: The Golden Girls Saturday 8 pm, 30th (final season). Empty Nest Saturday 9 pm, 22nd. 

1992/93: Saturday 9 pm, below the Top 30.

1993/94: Saturday 9 pm, below the Top 30.

1994/95: Saturday 8:30 pm then 8 pm, below the Top 30, and cancelled.

Empty Nest 7 season run equaled the parent show The Golden Girls.

Edited May 18 by kalbir

[Soapsuds]

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[kalbir]

1980/81 Dallas was a killer show. 18/23 episodes finished #1 and the remaining five finished 2nd.

[Paul Raven]

Highest rated shows to be cancelled The Waltons, Lobo, BJ & The Bear, Checking In.

I think The Waltons had run it's course and would only had dropped further if given another year. One of the select group that never changed timeslots.

NBC should probably held onto Lobo as they didn't have many hits. It might have been useful programming Sat @8 paired with Barbara Mandrell or Friday opposite Dallas or left Tues @8 to be paired with Bret Maverick. Father Murphy could have been placed Thurs to attract The Waltons viewers.

As for Checking In it was only 4 eps and the placement resulted from the 1st ep bumping up overall numbers. A spin off from a spin off was too much.

Lowest rated renewals NBC Magazine and Hill St Blues. NBC had no luck getting a news show to work. They tried Weekend, Prime Time and the Magazine -still to come were Monitor and First Camera.

Hill St caused a stir and raves from the critics so they wisely renewed it and it paid off.

Like Flo the season before Private Benjamin/Two of Us couldn't maintain the ratings they garnered as late season short flight entries.

[soapfan770]

Thanks for this. I probably remember Empty Nest more fondly than a lot of folks, even in our age group. I remember mainly watching the later seasons whenever I was home on Sat nights simply because Sophia was added to the cast, even though the show seriously lost its momentum after Kristy McNichol left. Always surprised how long NBC just let it run and disappointed on how it became lost/forgotten over time. A few years back once was discussing old tv shows with some folks and they brought how they remembered Kristy McNichol in Family, but none of them remembered Empty Nest until I pushed pertinent details on them. 
 

Fun fact, Grace Zabriskie, best known for her  work on Twin Peaks, appeared in both the series premiere and series finale.

(BTW @kalbir I’ve come across some very interesting 1995-96 weekly ratings & commentary look out for them in the next couple days in the 90’s ratings thread!)

The 1980-81 season was NBC’S nadir for everything wasn’t it? Primetime was a disaster, daytime was in the toilet, News & Today show were forgotten about, SNL nearly on its last ropes etc. think Johnny Carson was the one thing pushing NBC through and even his show went from 90 mins to 60 mins.

Glad they did give Hill Street Blues a Chance though. 

Strange CBS Friday nights the Incredible Hulk was only at #46 leading into the #3 and #1 shows. Benson didn’t look too great either. The 8:00/7:00 Fri night slot really was cursed for the duration of the 80’s and 90’s wasn’t it, save for Full House?

NBC wouldn’t have a successful newsmagazine until Dateline in what 1991, 1992? Funny though as of 2025 only the original recipe 60 Minutes still does well, as its competitors 20/20, Dateline, Primetime Live or companion shows like 48 Hours are either dead or useless junk to fill out a schedule.

[Paul Raven]

Dukes of Hazzard had a good run when it moved to 8pm but even when that was failing ABC and NBC couldn't come up with a hit show to dominate  that timeslot.

NBC sent The A Team, Knight Rider and Riptide there for their final seasons and CBS did the same with Scarecrow & Mrs King.

Otherwise it was a barrage of new shows that never worked.

[kalbir]

Pre-TGIF, ABC most successful 1980s Friday 8 pm comedy I'd say was Webster.

Full House wasn't a hit its first two seasons but it started showing growth in its third season which overlapped with the launch of TGIF. Funny thing is, Full House became a Top 10 show with the 1991/92 move to Tuesday.

[Wendy]

Maybe because 60 Minutes has kept the same formula for almost 57 years? Usually, there is more than one interview/topic discussed, like a real magazine.

Dateline, 20/20, and so many others have all fallen to the one-subject formula: True crime. I mean, I'm a Forensic Files junkie and loved original America's Most Wanted back in the day, but even I think the TV market has been over-saturated with all crime, all the time. There was still that element when these shows began, but they were a segment of an episode, not the entire episode. Maybe the audience is just getting bored with such a fixed formula.

If stories were intermixed with crime, some feel-good segment, and maybe something to do with lifestyle/music/and yes, as much as I have come to hate it, political issues, maybe these shows could rally. As they are - again, minus 60 Minutes - they have become tired and predictable.

[Paul Raven]

It 's obviously cheaper to go the true crime route.

Having different reporters and production teams covering a variety of topics costs more.

The networks are delivering budget programming these days.

[Khan]

I know I'm exaggerating, but it seems like they were hardly any Waltons left by the time the show was finished, lol.

[Franko]

Slightly OT. Somehow I ended up following Kami Cotler (Elizabeth, the youngest one) on Facebook, or her posts just show on my feed. She's got some great info. about the ins and outs of retro TV production.