SCHEDULES OF THE PAST: 1985-1986 Saturdays

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

ABC	8:00	8:30	9:00	10:00
Sep	Hollywood Beat		Lime Street	The Love Boat
Oct
Nov			Lady Blue
Dec	The Fall Guy
Jan	The Redd Foxx Show	Benson
Feb			Fortune Dane
Mar
Apr			Various Programs
May	Mr. Sunshine

Saturdays were a mess for ABC in 1985-86 but they were certainly trying with nine different shows airing and none of them living to see another season. The year started out with new dramas in the 8pm and 9pm hours. Hollywood Beat was a cop drama featuring former football player John Matuszak. Just like The Insiders, which premiered the same season, it seemed to be trying to replicate the style of Miami Vice. It lasted just eight episodes. At 9pm was a UK set family/action drama starring Robert Wagner that had tragedy strike before the season began. 13 year old co-star Samantha Smith was killed in a plane crash about a month before the show premiered and after only three episodes had been completed. The show tried to soldier on and dedicate it to Smith but that tragedy coupled with low ratings led to its cancellation after airing just one post-Smith episode. Lime Street was replaced by the violent Lady Blue, which had been airing on Thursdays while Hollywood Beat was replaced by The Fall Guy, which had been airing on Thursdays. Fall Guy moved again to Fridays and was replaced by a comedy block. The Redd Foxx Show brought Redd Foxx back to TV after his popular 1970s sitcom Sanford and Son. Co-starring Barry Van Dyke and Sinbad, The Redd Foxx Show could not replicate the success of Sanford and was cancelled after its 13 episode season and briefly replaced by Mr. Sunshine, which had not done well on Friday nights. It was followed by Benson, which had been airing on Friday nights. The network had requested that Benson, then in its seventh season, end on a cliffhanger but then ultimately cancelled their longest running comedy. When Lady Blue was cancelled at 9pm, it was replaced by Fortune Dane, a crime drama starring Carl Weathers that lasted just five episodes before being replaced by various specials to end the season. All through the season, The Love Boat aired at 10pm. The one time Top 10 show moved to 10pm after airing at 9pm for eight seasons. ABC's longest running scripted show was cancelled at the end of the season though it did resurface with a couple TV movies during the 1986-87 season.

CBS	8:00	9:00	10:00
Sep	Airwolf	Saturday Night Movie
Oct
Nov
Dec
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr	Crazy Like A Fox
May		Airwolf	Magnum P.I.

CBS was pretty steady and quiet on Saturday night. For most of the season, it was the same lineup with third year action/military drama Airwolf at 8pm and a movie at 9pm. Airwolf had been a modestly rated show and was cancelled at the end of the season by CBS. Star Jan-Michael Vincent was one of TV's highest paid stars but his offscreen troubles including severe alcoholism did not help matters. It was then picked up by USA Network for season four with a drastically reduced budget and an entirely different cast (without Vincent). It lasted just one more year on USA. In April, Crazy Like a Fox took over the 8pm slot, the third different night it aired during the season. It was cancelled after three seasons. A month after it aired at 8pm, the movie was dropped from the night and Airwolf resurfaced at 9pm followed by a new night for Magnum P.I.

NBC	8:00	8:30	9:00	9:30	10:00
Sep	Gimme A Break!	The Facts of Life	The Golden Girls	227	Hunter
Oct
Nov
Dec
Jan
Feb
Mar					Remington Steele
Apr				All is Forgiven
May				227

NBC was the dominant network on Saturday night thanks to the launch of a massive new hit. The previous season had seen a pretty unstable lineup but that changed with their new anchor. First though were two long running comedies. Gimme a Break! was in its fifth season and The Facts of Life, in season seven, was the longest running NBC show. It was a new night for Facts after airing on Wednesdays for five seasons and turned out to be star Charlotte Rae's final season with the show and also featured a young George Clooney. It was brought over to bolster NBC's new 9pm entry but it probably ended up working the other way around because the new 9pm show - The Golden Girls - was a breakout hit. The Miami-set show about a group of retired women was a Top 10 hit out of the gate and also a critical darling, winning the Outstanding Comedy Series Emmy Award for its first year. Can you imagine a show breaking out like that on Saturday nights now? The Golden Girls was probably TV's last huge Saturday night show. It was followed by another new sitcom, 227, starring Marla Gibbs fresh off a long run on The Jeffersons. While not as acclaimed or as popular as Golden Girls, the sitcom set at a Washington DC apartment building did do pretty well for itself airing in the lead-out slot. It went on a brief hiatus in the spring to make room for All is Forgiven, a family sitcom starring Bess Armstrong, Carol Kane and David Alan Grier among others. Despite getting a two episode tryout after Cheers on Thursdays before settling into a good Saturday slot, it couldn't do much of anything and was quickly cancelled. The 10pm hour was not as strong as the comedy block. For the first half of the season, it was season two of Hunter, a modestly rated police drama that ended up having a nice long run on NBC. It eventually flipped nights with Remington Steele and headed to Tuesdays with Steele coming to Saturdays.

Top Rated Saturday Show in 1985-86: The Golden Girls (#8)
Lowest Rated Saturday Show in 1985-86: The Fall Guy (#80)

What would I have watched on Saturdays in 1985-86?
Probably The Golden Girls and maybe 227. I may have caught Benson sometimes.

Tomorrow: Top 10 TV Bosses!

Next Monday: Sundays in 1985-86!