Members Khan Posted May 22, 2023 Members Share Posted May 22, 2023 I agree. IMO, "Cheers" and "Frasier" were the last two, non-family-oriented sitcoms that emphasized storytelling (and longer scenes) over just gags and (white) folks behaving badly. Once "Seinfeld" and "Friends" became the new thing, it seemed like sitcom plots were variations of, "So-and-so's got a new boyfriend, but how is she gonna handle him not being circumcised!?" 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kalbir Posted May 22, 2023 Author Members Share Posted May 22, 2023 (edited) 1993/94 Home Improvement peaked, Seinfeld blew up, NYPD Blue premiered. 1994/95 Seinfeld reached #1, ER and Friends premiered and they were the breakout hits of the season, NYPD Blue peaked. ER also became the highest-rated drama across the broadcast networks and it would remain so until 2000/01. 1995/96 ER reached #1 and Friends blew up. ER was the first drama since Dallas to have three seasons as the #1 show. Fun fact, the three #1 seasons of Dallas and ER are each separated by 15 years: Dallas #1 1980/81, 1981/82, 1983/84; ER #1 1995/96, 1996/97, 1998/99. NBC Thursday 20 year dominance of primetime I divide in two eras: Cosby/Cheers era and Seinfeld/ER/Friends era. I hold the Cosby/Cheers era in much higher regard than the Seinfeld/ER/Friends era. The Cosby Show saved both NBC as a network and sitcoms as a genre. As I've pointed out before, NBC was very fortunate in the Seinfeld/ER/Friends era that both CBS and ABC had primetime mess eras and that's how NBC was able to get away with scheduling forgettable shows at Thursday 8:30 pm and Thursday 9:30 pm that still finished in the Top 10. Edited May 23, 2023 by kalbir 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Soapsuds Posted June 8, 2023 Members Share Posted June 8, 2023 Dallas related Please register in order to view this content 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Khan Posted June 8, 2023 Members Share Posted June 8, 2023 How strange to see "A Different World" and not "The Cosby Show" listed among the top 10 most watched shows for that week, lol. Had TCS been preempted? Did they air a repeat? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kalbir Posted June 8, 2023 Author Members Share Posted June 8, 2023 May 2, 1991 was The Cosby Show season 7 finale, Theo and the Kids (Part 2). Rating 15.2, 15th for the week. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kalbir Posted June 9, 2023 Author Members Share Posted June 9, 2023 The Dallas finale was the highest-rated episode since October 9, 1987: Gone with the Wind, rating 20.2. Prior to the finale, the last Dallas episode to finish ahead of a new episode of Murder, She Wrote was October 23, 1987: Tough Love, rating 18.2. Prior to the finale, the last Dallas episode to finish ahead of a new episode of The Cosby Show was February 22, 1985: Shattered Dreams, rating 25.8. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members soapfan770 Posted June 10, 2023 Members Share Posted June 10, 2023 A year after Dallas’ end, CBS celebrated a brief resurgence: For the first time in television history, a network has gone from third place to first in a single season. CBS dethroned longtime ratings champion NBC by winning the 1991-92 season by a relatively substantial margin. CBS averaged a 13.8 rating and a 22 share, 12 percent ahead of NBC (12.3/20), 13 percent in front of ABC (12.2/20) and 66 percent in front of Fox (8.0/13).(Fox was the other big winner, however. Those numbers represent a 25 percent increase in ratings and an 18 percent increase in shares over last season.) The Big Eye also claimed five of the top 10 shows and eight of the top 15, including No. 1 "60 Minutes." It was CBS's first season win since the 1984-85 season. The network won 22 of 30 weeks during the regular season, including last week when the NCAA tournament title game was the most-watched show. Even better than ranking No. 1 was the fact that CBS increased its audience by 12 percent over last season, while NBC fell 3 percent and ABC 2 percent. "This was the greatest season-to-season percent rating increase of any network since ABC's 14 percent during the 1976-77 season," said David Poltrack, CBS's senior vice president of planning and research. Much has been made of the boost that CBS got this season from the World Series, the Super Bowl, the Winter Olympics and the NCAA basketball tournament. And while those highly rated sports events made the gap wider, CBS would have finished first without them. Among regular series, CBS averaged a 13.3 rating, NBC a 12.1 and ABC an 11.7. And while CBS has long been derided because its audience "skews old" - it tends to attract older viewers, the network finished first among women 18-49, women 25-54, men 18-49 and men 25-54. NBC, which had won the 30-week regular season for six straight seasons, was particularly classless in defeat. Instead of congratulating CBS on its victory, in an official statement, NBC announced that it "would no longer recognize mid-April as the end of the television season. (Funny, it hasn't seemed to bother them the past six seasons. Talk about a corporate cry-baby.) NBC will declare a winner in the middle of September, after a 52-week TV season. But it isn't going to help - CBS will still come out the winner. THE TOP 20: 1. "60 Minutes," CBS; 2. "Roseanne," ABC; 3. "Murphy Brown," CBS; 4. "Cheers," NBC; 5. "Home Improvement," ABC; 6. "Designing Women," CBS; 7. "Coach," ABC; 8. "Full House," ABC; 9. "Murder, She Wrote," CBS; 10. "Major Dad," CBS; 11. "Monday Night Football," ABC; 12. "Unsolved Mysteries," NBC; 13. "CBS Sunday Night Movie"; 14. "Evening Shade," CBS; 15. "Northern Exposure," CBS; 16. "A Different World," NBC; 17. "The Cosby Show," NBC; 18. "Wings," NBC; 19. "20/20," ABC; 20. "America's Funniest Home Videos," ABC. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kalbir Posted June 10, 2023 Author Members Share Posted June 10, 2023 1991/92 CBS owned Sunday (60 Minutes; Murder, She Wrote) and Monday (Murphy Brown, Designing Women, Major Dad), and ABC owned Tuesday (Roseanne, breakout hit Home Improvement, Full House, Coach). NBC Thursday and Saturday had weakened in 1991/92. Cheers was still going strong but The Cosby Show, A Different World, The Golden Girls, and Empty Nest all fell out of the Top 10. NBC also made the mistake of changing the time slots of The Golden Girls (9 pm to 8 pm) and Empty Nest (9:30 pm to 9 pm). 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members soapfan770 Posted June 10, 2023 Members Share Posted June 10, 2023 Fox knew exactly what they were doing by counter programming The Simpsons against Cosby. NBC made a mistake by keeping The Golden Girls separate from spinoffs Empty Nest & Nurses instead of at least building a block for for the three shows while multiple shows failed between that. Not to mention Marc Cherry era of the Golden Girls completely changed the tone of the show. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kalbir Posted June 10, 2023 Author Members Share Posted June 10, 2023 Roseanne was the first show that threatened The Cosby Show's dominance but it was The Simpsons that finished off The Cosby Show. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members soapfan770 Posted June 10, 2023 Members Share Posted June 10, 2023 Indeed. At the time so called “industry experts” were surprised Fox made such a move at the start of the season but it’s pretty obvious Fox was the shark that saw blood in the water. The momentum didn’t last though as Tisch’s CBS made some strange oddball moves. More on that later. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Soapsuds Posted June 10, 2023 Members Share Posted June 10, 2023 (edited) It ranked as the #6 show for the week. In the episode Pam's bandages are removed and she vanishes. Dallas still had life in it. It's too bad a few important pieces were missing. Show Net Viewers (millions) HH Rating HH Share Monday, October 5, 1987 ALF NBC 27.2 18.5 30 Frank's Place CBS 15.5 13.7 22 MacGyver ABC 13.3 12.2 20 Valerie's Family NBC 24.2 17.6 27 Kate & Allie CBS 19.1 15.1 23 Newhart CBS 26.9 19.5 30 Haunted by Her Past NBC 20.6 16.7 27 49ers/Giants ABC 12.5 13.8 25 Designing Women CBS 24.7 18.6 29 Cagney & Lacey CBS 18.9 15.7 27 Tuesday, October 6, 1987 Who's the Boss? ABC 30.5 21.9 36 Houston Knights CBS 14.7 12.7 20 N.L. Pre-game NBC 12.8 10.7 19 Giants/Cardinals NBC 17.9 15.5 26 Growing Pains ABC 30.9 23.1 37 Moonlighting ABC 28.0 21.8 34 Jake and the Fatman CBS 20.9 14.8 23 thirtysomething ABC 18.7 15.9 38 The Law & Harry McGraw CBS 15.4 13.6 24 Wednesday, October 7, 1987 Perfect Strangers ABC 21.3 17.0 28 A.L. Pre-game NBC 14.2 12.3 22 The Oldest Rookie CBS 16.9 12.2 19 Tigers/Twins NBC 20.2 17.2 28 Head of the Class ABC 21.7 18.7 29 Magnum, P.I. CBS 22.9 18.6 28 Hooperman ABC 18.0 16.8 26 ``Slap'' Maxwell ABC 15.4 14.9 23 Dynasty ABC 14.6 15.4 26 The Equalizer CBS 16.9 14.2 24 Thursday, October 8, 1987 The Cosby Show NBC 41.6 28.2 45 Tour of Duty CBS 16.4 12.0 19 Sledge Hammer! ABC 14.2 9.3 15 Tigers/Twins NBC 21.1 18.7 32 The Charmings ABC 20.8 13.2 21 Wiseguy CBS 19.7 13.8 22 Star 80 ABC 12.8 10.6 17 Knots Landing CBS 19.1 16.5 28 Friday, October 9, 1987 Beauty and the Beast CBS 17.5 13.0 23 Full House ABC 16.9 11.4 21 N.L. Pre-game NBC 12.6 10.1 20 Cardinals/Giants NBC 19.0 14.6 27 I Married Dora ABC 15.5 11.6 20 Dallas CBS 28.3 20.2 35 Max Headroom ABC 11.0 7.1 12 Falcon Crest CBS 20.8 16.4 31 20/20 ABC 15.2 10.8 20 Saturday, October 10, 1987 My Sister Sam CBS 17.4 10.1 19 N.L. Pre-game NBC 14.3 9.6 19 Carol Burnett Special ABC 10.5 7.8 14 Cardinals/Giants NBC 19.2 14.5 27 Everything's Relative CBS 16.8 10.0 18 Ohara ABC 13.7 10.5 19 Leg Work CBS 14.8 8.6 16 Hotel ABC 16.2 11.9 24 West 57th CBS 10.8 7.6 15 Sunday, October 11, 1987 60 Minutes CBS 22.3 18.5 32 Cardinals/Giants NBC - 14.6 28 Disney Movie ABC 17.2 11.3 19 Murder, She Wrote CBS 30.2 23.3 36 For Hire ABC 16.8 12.1 19 A.L. Pre-game NBC 17.6 11.9 20 Twins/Tigers NBC 22.4 16.8 28 After the Promise CBS 26.4 19.2 30 Dolly ABC 25.9 15.1 23 Buck James ABC 17.4 10.9 20 Edited June 10, 2023 by Soapsuds 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kalbir Posted June 10, 2023 Author Members Share Posted June 10, 2023 (edited) The Simpsons was on Thursdays from 1990/91 to 1993/94. It did the job that Fox wanted it to do (finish off The Cosby Show) but notice how the final Thursday season was the same season that Seinfeld blew up. I think Fox sensed that NBC Thursday was about to make a comeback so The Simpsons returned to Sunday in Fall 1994. Imagine The Simpsons head-to-head with Friends during the second half of the 1990s. The 1992/93 attempt to compete with TGIF? We know the 1997/98 Block Party was an epic failure. Edited June 10, 2023 by kalbir 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kalbir Posted July 30, 2023 Author Members Share Posted July 30, 2023 1995/96, ER reaches #1 and Friends blows up. The rest of the broadcast network primetime lineups that weren't NBC Thursday, not looking so good. Who Lives and Who Dies on TV - The New York Times (nytimes.com) 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Faulkner Posted July 30, 2023 Members Share Posted July 30, 2023 Very interesting. LOL at the two new “hits” being The Single Guy and Caroline in the City. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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