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

Paul Raven

By Paul Raven
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Soapsuds Grand Master

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Since it's Super Bowl day here are ratings for it

1986-1987 season 

1. Super Bowl XXI  45.8

2. Cosby Show 41.3

3. Family Ties 39.2

4. Cheers 30.7

5. Golden Girls 26.4

6. Moonlighting 24.4

7.  Who's The Boss  24.2

8. Growing Pains 24.2

9. Newhart  22.9

10. Dallas 22.3

 

20. Dynasty 19.6

29. Falcon Crest  17.4

50. The Colbys  13.4

 

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Khan Grand Master

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It's always sad to think how "Moonlighting" went from such amazing highs to such amazing lows.  AFAIC, that series was GOLD.  Bruce and Cybill were both too stupid to realize it.

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kalbir Grand Master

kalbir

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In contrast to CBS primetime being a mess from 1986/87 to 2000/01, we saw NBC Thursday dominating primetime from 1984/85 (the start of The Cosby Show which revived both the sitcom genre and NBC primetime on the whole) to 2003/04 (the end of Friends). It's crazy how NBC's Thursday night dominance lasted 20 years.

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Khan Grand Master

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I think that's because NBC had firm leadership for most of that time.  They seemed to know that the way to stay number-one was to keep growing new shows that could supplant the older ones as they faded.

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Soapsuds Grand Master

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On February 9 1989 ABC put Dynasty up against Knots Landing

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Knots Landing 14.5

Dynasty 7.0

Ouch!!

February 12 1989

Family Ties vs MSW

Murder She Wrote  22.2

Family Ties  13.3

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kalbir Grand Master

kalbir

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NBC was so indebted to Bill Cosby for saving their primetime lineup that they gave A Different World the lead out time slot from The Cosby Show, thus Family Ties moving to Sunday where it got clobbered by Murder She Wrote. Family Ties was 2nd in 1986/87, dropped to 17th in 1987/88 after the time slot change, and was below the Top 30 in its final season 1988/89.

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Khan Grand Master

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Well, TBF, the times were a-changin' for shows like "Family Ties."  Grittier shows, such as "Roseanne" and "Married...with Children," were on the horizon, making FT look quaint and passe by comparison.  Heck, even "Cosby" struggled in the ratings, once the conservative '80's gave way to the more liberal '90's.

Still, if I had been in Brandon Tartikoff's shoes, I would have tried my best to convince Michael J. Fox and Gary David Goldberg to spin Alex off onto his own show, one that would have centered on his exploits on Wall Street, as I think there was still a lot of life left in that character.

Honestly, it wasn't much of a match, especially if the alternative was the threat of having to watch more scenes with Nick and Mallory.  (God, I hated those idiots.)

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Paul Raven Grand Master

Paul Raven

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I think Cosby and the producers insisted that ADW play at 8.30 as evidenced by the fact that it never moved from that timeslot, when other 8.30 and 9.30 slots were used to launch and build new shows that could move to other nights to bolster ratings.

I would imagine that Family Ties was expected to drop in the ratings by moving from behind the #1 show.It did far better in that timeslot than previous comedies and probably skewed much younger than MSW.

That was one off due to a presidential address interrupting programming that night.

Dynasty has already been thrown to the wolves that season at 9pm Thursday. Knots was still quite popular.

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kalbir Grand Master

kalbir

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Going back to NBC Thursday night dominance of 1984-2004, ER was the only one of the 10 pm dramas to crack the Top 10.

Hill Street Blues was in its fifth season in 1984/85 which was the last season it was in the Top 30 (Hill Street Blues best finish was 21st in 1982/83), and it's time slot changed in December 1986 to Tuesday 9 pm. Hill Street Blues ended May 1987.

L.A. Law pilot in September 1986 was aired on a Monday and the series premiered as part of NBC's new Friday night lineup in October 1986. The A-Team moved from Tuesday 8 pm to Friday 8 pm, Miami Vice moved up 1 hour to 9 pm, and L.A. Law at 10 pm. That Friday lineup didn't work (The A-Team fell below the Top 30 and it was cancelled, Miami Vice fell out of the Top 10) and in December 1986, L.A Law got moved to Thursday 10 pm, where it would remain until it's end in May 1994. L.A. Law best finish was 12th in 1987/88, tied w/ Moonlighting.

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kalbir Grand Master

kalbir

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During the NBC 20 year dominance of Thursday night, The Cosby Show was #1 for 5 consecutive seasons (1985/86 to 1989/90), Cheers #1 for 1 season (1990/91), Seinfeld #1 for 2 seasons (1994/95 and 1997/98), ER #1 for 3 seasons (1995/96, 1996/97, 1998/99), and Friends #1 for 1 season (2001/02).

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