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

[Khan]

Exactly.  "Cosby" didn't exactly put an end to the way family sitcoms had been produced before; it just added an upwardly mobile, African-American family to the mix.  "Roseanne," on the other hand, was the first sitcom of any era to show what it REALLY meant to be a family in America.  That's why I always gravitated toward "Roseanne" more than I did toward "Cosby."  Even though I'm African-American, "Roseanne" just did a better job of depicting families like mine and my peers'.

Edited February 22 by Khan

[soapfan770]

I think it was mentioned in the 90’s ratings thread, but ABC was trying to replicate TGIF on Saturday nights in the fall of 1991 and give NBC a a run for its money. It backfired in spectacular fashion. 
 

Thank god that show ended when it did. The world didn’t need to see Alex P. Keaton turn into a rabid Rush Limbaugh listener in the 90’s. 

[kalbir]

@soapfan770 Of all the big 1980s family sitcoms, Family Ties embodied Reagan-era ideals the most so its quite telling that the final season was also the season Reagan left office.

[DRW50]

If we should just start an obscure TV thread instead of placing some shows here, I will, but for now I thought some might be interested in having another show to talk about with ratings. An episode of Our Family Honor. The channel may upload more. A ton of soap names in this as well - Ray Liotta, Michael Woods (I'm guessing he may have left GL for this show), Sheree J. Wilson, Georgann Johnson.

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Edited February 28 by DRW50

[Paul Raven]

@DRW50 thanks for posting. Don't thjnk a new thread is necessary.

OFH had a good cast and an interesting premise but couldn't hold on to Moonlighting's ratings

In Wk1 OFH was #51 coming off Moonlighting #22 Remington Steele on NBC was #20.

Wk 2 saw OFH fall to #62 while Remington was #30 and CBS movie #35

Moonlighting won its timeslot up against Riptide and the movie but viewers were switching over at 10.

ABC quickly swapped OFH with Spencer for Hire ,which had been languishing on Fri night.

Moonlighting was #19 and Spenser jumped to #41 way better than what OFH had been doing.

Remington dropped to #39 as a result.

 

[kalbir]

ABC Tuesday rebounded 1985/86 with Who's the Boss taking off, new comedy Growing Pains being a hit, Moonlighting showing growth and had their comeback in 1986/87 with Growing Pains, Moonlighting, Who's the Boss all finishing in the Top 10. For whatever reason ABC could not find a successful Tuesday 10 pm show in those two seasons.

[Paul Raven]

Tuesday was an interesting night from a scheduling point of view

ABC dominated for years with the comedy block but let those shows age with no refreshing. The hit shows they introduced in protected slots  eg Taxi, Too Close for Comfort and 9 to 5 were moved elsewhere.

NBC by design or luck launched the A Team when ABC was fading and NBC immediately had  8pm in the bag. Still#3 they didn't have much else to offer, Bare Essence couldn't capitalize on A Team's ratings and Remington Steele did slightly better.

Next season NBC placed Riptide @9 which complemented A Team and sent 3's Company out of the Top 10. ABC could only offer Just Our Luck which flopped @8. It looked like NBC had a stranglehold on Tues, especially when ABC scheduled Paper Dolls.

But ABC saw A Team was fading and moved Who's The Boss which boosted the night-then Growing Pains and Moonlighting. A team fell to #30 and Riptide even further.

ABC was back, but NBC weren't finished yet ...Matlock and In The Heat of the Night to come...

[kalbir]

The A-Team was still a Top 10 show in 1984/85, finishing 6th.

1984/85 ABC Tuesday originally was 8 pm Foul-Ups, Bleeps, and Blunders, 8:30 pm Three's a Crowd, then 8 pm Three's a Crowd, 8:30 pm Who's the Boss. Three's a Crowd was one season and done. Who's the Boss did not finish in the Top 30. Foul-Ups, Bleeps, and Blunders filled space in the schedule during the season and in the summer it was done.

1985/86 Who's the Boss moved to Tuesday 8 pm where it took off and we know the rest.

[Paul Raven]

As the 84/75 season progressed the A Team held strong but  WTB was growing.

eg by April 85 A Team was #16 WTB was #27 and 3s A Crowd was #36

Wk ending May 5 A Team was back to #10 but WTB was up to #16 3s A Crowd was #36 so WTB was on fire.

Interestingly when ABC announced their fall line up Diff'rent Strokes scheduled for 8pm Tues

He's The Mayor 8.30 WTB Tues 9pm and Growing Pains 9.30

Changing the Tues lineup worked for ABC. In the new season WTB/Pains/Moonlighting beat A Team/Riptide from the get go.

 

[te.]

Our Family Honour always sounded mega-soapy from the description alone, so it'll be interesting to watch this later. It debuted in the season when soaps seemingly started to falter after a five year dominance, so it looks like it's an example of something coming onto the scene way too late.

ETA: Mark of Cain was the 9th episode out of 13. 

The ratings are interesting - it had a random spike in late December with the 12th episode, presumably because Falcon Crest was off for the week:

https://tvtango.com/series/our_family_honor/episodes

Edited March 4 by te.

[DRW50]

Around 12 minutes in you get a behind the scenes look at Off the Rack, which ABC threw at Dallas. It's pretty obvious the producers weren't thrilled. 

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[Soapsuds]

It lasted all of six episodes before it was canceled.

[Paul Raven]

Never saw Off the Rack so can't speak to the quality but if it was any good ABC would have been better off leaving it there and hope it grew in the ratings. Throwing one show after another at Dallas only helped CBS really.

[kalbir]

ABC did not have a regular Friday 9 pm series beat Dallas until Mr. Belvedere in 1989.

I broke down Dallas time slot losses to regular series in its thread. 

[Paul Raven]

I think the only show that had any impact on Dallas in it's mega years was Knight Rider. It was the first show to achieve some sort of decent rating and hype so NBC moved it to Sunday.

I always wonder what might have happened if NBC had kept it Fri @9 for it's second season.

Edited March 16 by Paul Raven