Time Slot Hits

[kalbir]

For a show that resulted in so many time slot hits and even poked fun at NBC for it, Seinfeld itself could have very easily been a time slot hit looking at its scheduling history.

NBC broadcast the pilot episode of Seinfeld on Wednesday July 5, 1989 @ 9 pm but it doesn't get picked up for Fall 1989.

Thursday May 31, 1990 @ 9:30 pm, Seinfeld premieres as a summer series and the run is four episodes.

Wednesday January 23, 1991 @ 9:30 pm, Seinfeld returns as a midseason series and the run is twelve episodes. Episodes 1-4, 12 Wednesday 9:30 pm (Night Court lead out). Episodes 5-11 Thursday 9:30 pm (Cheers lead out). Finishes below the Top 30.

1991/92: Seinfeld returns for its first full season. Episodes 1-11, 15, 18 Wednesday 9:30 pm (Night Court lead out). Episodes 12-14, 16, 17, 19-23 Wednesday 9 pm. Finishes below the Top 30.

1992/93: Episodes 1-3, 5-15 Wednesday 9 pm where its head-to-head w/ Home Improvement. Episode 4 Wednesday 9:30 pm. Episodes 16-22 Thursday 9:30 pm (Cheers lead out). Episode 23 Thursday 8 pm. Episode 24 Thursday 8:30 pm. Moves up to 25th.

1993/94: Moves to Thursday 9 pm where it remains until final season 1997/98. Finishes 3rd, #1, 2nd, 2nd, #1.

During the final 5 seasons of Cheers, it seems as though NBC used Thursday 9:30 pm as a testing ground. Looking at the 1992/93 weekly ratings, Seinfeld got a boost from episodes 16-22 being the Cheers lead out and episodes 23 and 24 being broadcast the same night as Cheers series finale, although moving away from being head-to-head w/ Home Improvement was also a big factor. If Seinfeld had Thursday 9:30 pm as its time slot from its first full season, who knows what kind of ratings it would have gotten.

Edited November 25, 2022 by kalbir

[kalbir]

Another show that resulted in so many time slot hits that could have been one itself was Friends.

1994/95: NBC new Thursday lineup is 8 pm Mad About You, 8:30 pm new comedy Friends (replacing Wings, which moved to Tuesday 8 pm), 9 pm Seinfeld, 9:30 pm new comedy Madman of the People (replacing Frasier, which moved to Tuesday 9 pm, head-to-head w/ Home Improvement), 10 pm new drama ER (replacing L.A. Law, which ended Spring 1994). February 1995, Friends moves to 9:30 pm when Madman of the People is pulled from the schedule and new comedy Hope and Gloria premieres at 8:30 pm. Seinfeld moves up from 3rd to #1, ER is 2nd, Friends is 8th, Mad About You moves up from below the Top 30 to 11th (its highest finish ever), Madman of the People is 12th but is cancelled, Hope and Gloria is 14th, Frasier drops from 7th to 15th, Wings drops from 18th (tied w/ NYPD Blue) to 26th.

1995/96: NBC new Thursday lineup is 8 pm Friends (replacing Mad About You, which moved to Sunday 8 pm), 8:30 pm new comedy The Single Guy (replacing Hope and Gloria, which moved to Sunday 8:30 pm then Saturday 9 pm), 9 pm Seinfeld, 9:30 pm new comedy Caroline in the City, 10 pm ER. ER moves up to #1, Seinfeld drops to 2nd, Friends moves up to 3rd, Caroline in the City finishes 4th, The Single Guy finishes 6th, Mad About You falls below the Top 30, Hope and Gloria falls below the Top 30 and is cancelled.

1996/97 to final season 2003/04: Friends remains Thursday 8 pm and it finishes 4th (tied w/ The Naked Truth), 4th, 2nd, 5th, 5th (tied w/ Monday Night Football and Everybody Loves Raymond), #1, 2nd, 4th.

NBC struggled with Thursday 8 pm in the years between the end of The Cosby Show and the move of Friends to that time slot. Looking at the 1994/95 weekly ratings, Friends did get a boost from the final 8 episodes of its first season being hammocked between Seinfeld and ER. Fortunately for NBC the move of Friends to Thursday 8 pm paid off for them.

Edited November 25, 2022 by kalbir

[Paul Raven]

My Sister Sam debuts Mon 8.30 behind Kate & Allie

Kate finishes #19 Sam is #21.

The following season CBS moves it to a Saturday hellhole to make way for critical darling Frank's Place which was originally scheduled for Sat. Sam is off the air within weeks.

Riptide on NBC was scheduled as mid season replacement after The A Team as Bare Essence and Remington Steele didn't hold enough of A Teams audience.

83-84 A Team # 4 Riptide #18

84-85 A team # 6 Riptide #14

For the 85/86 season ABC programmed Who's The Boss/Growing Pains up against A Team which fell to #30 Riptide was out of the Top 30. NBC moved Hunter into Riptides 9pm slot and moved Riptide to 8pm Friday where it flopped and was cancelled.

[kalbir]

Also 1985/86 Riptide was head-to-head w/ Moonlighting, which was showing growth that season.