Moving shows around the schedule in the search for better numbers was part and parcel of programming.

In the Tank Jobs/Sabotage thread we've discussed how/why this was done when programmers lost faith in a show for any number of reasons.

In this thread let's look at timeslot changes that actually benefitted a show.

One example was Dallas. Originally on Sunday night it did well, but CBS saw how it suffered when up against strong movies on ABC/NBC. So it got moved to Saturday night for 78/79. Bit with a weak lead in (American Girls) and strong competition it floundered. So CBS tried Fri@9 following new show Dukes of Hazzard. The ratings picked up and the rest is history.

Six Million Dollar Man was struggling Friday nights in it's first season but once ABC moved it to Sun@8 it hit the Top 10.

Beverly Hills 90210 moving to Wednesdays in the summer of 1992, which was originally only meant to be temporary until Melrose Place got properly launched.

Then Melrose Place moving to Mondays in the 1994-95 season after Fox having abandoned the nights to movies after having cancelled all their dramas following the 1989-90 season, including the Monday line-up of 21 Jump Street (a failed move, but it did one season in syndication afterwards) and Alien Nation.

IDK whether this qualifies, but...

Despite signing her and then-husband Grant Tinker to a deal for her own sitcom, CBS had zero faith that "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" would succeed, largely because Mary would be playing a divorced woman (which was later changed to unmarried, but leaving a live-in boyfriend when he refused to marry her after finishing medical school...because that's less scandalous than divorced, lol?) and they were afraid viewers would think "Laura Petrie" had left Rob. So, they attempted to bury her show on some night - I think Wednesdays? - with the hope that it would die a quick death.

Then, Fred Silverman replaced Mike Dann as CBS' programming VP. He watched the MTMS pilot and believed it fitted in with his overall strategy to "de-ruralize" the network's lineup and put on shows that would appeal to more upscale audiences instead. That's when he switched MTMS from its' original night to Saturdays - before the first episode had aired, but weeks after its' original time slot had been announced to the trades, including TV Guide.

The rest, as they say, is history.

Edited 1 hour ago1 hr by Khan