SCHEDULES OF THE PAST: 1985-1986 Wednesdays

Here's a look at Wednesdays in the 1985-86 season!

ABC	8:00	9:00	10:00
Sep	The Insiders	Dynasty	Hotel
Oct
Nov
Dec
Jan	MacGyver
Feb
Mar
Apr
May

ABC was in good shape on Wednesdays heading into 1985-86 because they had the reigning #1 show on TV at 9pm - Dynasty. In the time of Reagan-era opulent 1980s soaps, Dynasty stood on top of the mountain. It also ended the previous season on a massive cliffhanger - "The Moldavian Massacre" that was seen by over 25 million viewers. However, that was the peak of Dynasty's popularity. The 1985-86 season started on an ominous note with star Joan Collins missing the first episode back due to tense contract negotiations. The follow-up to the cliffhanger, while even more highly viewed, was seen as a creative disappointment that left a bad taste in viewers' mouths. Dynasty was still popular, but it fell to #7 in the ratings. For a third season in a row, Dynasty was followed by Hotel. Another opulent, though less ridiculous, soap opera, Hotel was known for being a more serious version of The Love Boat with a weekly parade of guest stars. The night started off with a new drama, The Insiders. Centered on magazine reporters investigating criminal organizations, the show tried awfully hard to be hip and was ABC's answer to Miami Vice, but it didn't find a big audience. It was yanked from the schedule in December and replaced by MacGyver, another freshman series that had been finding more success on Sunday nights. It did better than The Insiders, but was not really a fit with the rest of the night and it headed off to Mondays after its first season.

CBS	8:00	8:30	9:00	9:30	10:00
Sep	Stir Crazy		Charlie & Company	George Burns Comedy Week	The Equalizer
Oct
Nov	Various Programs
Dec	Mary	Foley Square
Jan			Crazy Like A Fox
Feb
Mar	Fast Times	Tough Cookies	Wednesday Night Movie
Apr
May	West 57th

CBS introduced a whopping eight new shows on Wednesday nights over the course of the season and only one of them survived. They made a pretty bold move of starting the season with an entirely new lineup. At 8pm was Stir Crazy, an hour long dramedy (more comedy than drama) about two escaped convicts who were wrongfully convicted. A comedy block followed at 9pm led by Charlie &  Company which brought Flip Wilson back to TV after his successful 1970s variety show. The family co-starred Gladys Knight and a young Jaleel White and was very clearly CBS's attempt at trying to replicate the success of The Cosby Show. It was followed by George Burns Comedy Week, which touted the legendary comedian at age 89 as the oldest start of a weekly TV show. But Burns basically just introduced each story that had many big name guest stars. Stir Crazy was a big flop that lasted just a few weeks while the comedies made it to Christmas before CBS revamped the first two hours of the night. Lasting longer was The Equalizer, a new drama about an intelligence agent with a mysterious past. It lasted until March on Wednesdays and then moved to Tuesdays. It was the only new Wednesday show that got renewed. A new comedy block took over the 8pm slot in December, an odd time to launch new comedies. But it was still a big bet because they brought Mary Tyler Moore back to TV for her first sitcom since her legendary 1970s title show. Moore starred in Mary as a divorcee working at a Chicago tabloid. Co-starring John Astin, the show perhaps suffered from being too similar to her previous hit. It was followed by Foley Square, a legal sitcom starring Margaret Colin and Hector Elizondo. Both shows lasted until the end of February when they were pulled. They resurfaced on Tuesdays and only lasted three more weeks with Mary perhaps one of the bigger disappointments of the season. Check out this Wednesday for a One Season Wonder post on Mary! During the runs of the comedies, Crazy Like a Fox moved over from Sundays to Wednesdays. A third new comedy block appeared in March and it was a younger skewing one starting with Fast Times, based on the legendary teen comedy movie Fast Times at Ridgemont High. Featuring a young Courtney Thorne-Smith and Patrick Dempsey among others, the show suffered from seeming like a watered down version of the movie and not being able to push boundaries nearly as far. It was followed by Tough Cookies, a workplace sitcom starring Robby Benson and Lainie Kazan. The third and final comedy block lasted six weeks and then the return of newsmagazine West 57th finished out the season while a movie had started occupying the rest of the night in March.

NBC	8:00	9:00	10:00
Sep	Highway to Heaven	Hell Town	St. Elsewhere
Oct
Nov
Dec
Jan		Blacke’s Magic
Feb
Mar
Apr
May

Like ABC, NBC had a mostly stable drama lineup on Wednesday night with the same shows opening and closing the night all season. At 8pm was the second season of Highway to Heaven, a gentle drama starring Michael Landon that had enjoyed a pretty successful first season. It did even better in season two becoming one of NBC's top shows outside of Thursdays. NBC went straight from Heaven to Hell with the new Hell Town at 9pm. Despite the title, it was somewhat of a tonal fit with Heaven as it starred Robert Blake as a Catholic priest leading his church in a tough Los Angeles neighborhood. Complete with a completely ridiculous theme song, Hell Town aired for the first half of the season before it was cancelled and the final episode aired on Christmas. It was replaced by Blacke's Magic, which marked the return of Hal Linden and Harry Morgan to TV. Linden played a magician who helped solve crimes with his father, played by Morgan. It also lasted just half a season before being cancelled. The 10pm hour was stable with season four of St. Elsewhere. It was never a huge ratings hit, but it was a critical darling that managed to have a solid run. This season it aired a very critically acclaimed two part episode about the history of the Boston hospital the show is centered on that won it an Emmy for writing.

Top Rated Wednesday Show in 1985-86: Dynasty (#7)
Lowest Rated Wednesday Show in 1985-86: Stir Crazy (#74)

What would I have watched on Wednesdays in 1985-86?
St. Elsewhere. I definitely would have tuned into Mary and might have given Charlie & Company and Foley Square a try too.

Tomorrow: Top 10 TV Teachers/Coaches!

Next Monday: Thursdays in 1985-86!