SCHEDULES OF THE PAST: 1986-1987 Thursdays

Here's a look at Thursdays in the 1986-87 season!

ABC	8:00	9:00	10:00
Sep	Our World	The Colbys	20/20
Oct
Nov
Dec
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr		Jack and Mike
May

ABC had a pretty quiet Thursday night lineup in 1986-87 as the night was bookended by newsmagazines. At 8pm was Our World, a show focused on a specific period of history with archival footage and was hosted by Linda Ellerbee and Ray Gandolf. It had some critical acclaim but could struggled mightily to find in audience. In fact, it was the lowest rated show on TV of the shows that qualified for the end of year ratings. Not surprisingly, it was cancelled at the end of the season. 20/20 continued to air at 10pm. At 9pm was season two of The Colbys. The Dynasty spinoff came probably a little too late because primetime soap operas were starting to decline and had some offscreen drama with star Barbara Stanwyck departing before the beginning of season two. With continued critical derision and diminishing ratings, it was cancelled at the end of the season and some of the cast members returned to Dynasty. The Colbys was a pretty high profile failure as far as spinoffs go. Late in the season, it was replaced by reruns of Tuesday failure Jack and Mike.

CBS	8:00	8:30	9:00	9:30	10:00
Sep	Simon & Simon		Knots Landing		Kay O’Brien
Oct
Nov
Dec	The Twilight Zone	Simon & Simon		Designing Women	Knots Landing
Jan	Shell Game		Simon & Simon
Feb
Mar	The Wizard
Apr
May	Scarecrow and Mrs. King

Thursdays were a mess for CBS with eight shows airing on the night and Simon & Simon being in three different slots over the course of the season. Most of the season had a trio of dramas. At the beginning of the year there were two veteran dramas returning to the night: Simon & Simon and Knots Landing. Both shows were getting up there in years but still solid entries. The new drama on the night was Kay O'Brien at 10pm. Set in a Manhattan hospital, the medical drama lasted just eight episodes before being yanked though star Patricia Kalember found success a few years later in Sisters. In December, CBS went with a very unusual lineup. They started with a sci-fi anthology, The Twilight Zone, at 8pm then went with a drama (Simon & Simon) at the odd time of 8:30pm followed by a comedy in Designing Women and then another drama with Knots Landing moving to 10pm. This strange lineup lasted less than a month before  Twilight was yanked and Women moved to Sundays (before moving back to Mondays). Simon & Simon moved to its old (and more normal) slot at 9pm and the new Shell Game launched at 8pm. Shell Game was a dramedy about two former con artists. It lasted just six episodes. If it had been a hit though, Marg Helgenberger would not have moved onto her breakout role in China Beach and the Broadway nerd in me knows Chip Zien might not have been able to be The Baker in Into the Woods. Shell Game was replaced by The Wizard, which was airing in its fourth different slot and third different night in the season. The last 8pm entry in the season was the last stretch of episodes of Scarecrow and Mrs. King, which was cancelled after a four year run.

NBC	8:00	8:30	9:00	9:30	10:00
Sep	The Cosby Show	Family Ties	Cheers	Night Court	Hill Street Blues
Oct
Nov
Dec					L.A. Law
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr				Nothing in Common
May

Just as it had the previous couple seasons, NBC dominated Thursday nights. The top three shows for the whole year were part of NBC's comedy block and all four sitcoms were nominated for Outstanding Comedy Series at the Emmys (though they all lost to The Golden Girls). TV's top two shows remained The Cosby Show and Family Ties and they occupied the 8pm hour. Cheers moved up to the #3 slot but had a major change at the end of the season when star Shelley Long announced her departure. Of course we all know now that worked out for Cheers but at that time, it was a huge deal and questionable whether the show could survive since the back and forth between Ted Danson's Sam and Long's Diane was at the heart of the show. Night Court continued at 9:30pm for much of the season but was moved to Wednesdays towards the end to make room for Nothing in Common, a little remembered sitcom based on a 1986 Tom Hanks film. Despite the high profile slot after Cheers, it could not retain enough of the audience and was cancelled after seven episodes. It was the last TV show directed and written by Garry Marshall who of course went on to have feature film success in the 1990s and 2000s. The 10pm slot started with Hill Street Blues as it had for many years but the veteran drama was on its last legs. It had never been a huge success in the ratings but was also not as acclaimed anymore. NBC decided in December to send Blues to Tuesday and give the high profile Thursday 10pm slot to a drama that had been promising on Friday - L.A. Law. Law was from the same creator, Steven Bochco, though Bochco was no longer involved in Hill Street. The move proved to be a great decision as Law became the next big 10pm anchor. The critically acclaimed drama broke out once it got to Thursdays and was a hit with viewers and the critics, winning the Outstanding Drama Series Emmy for its first season.

Top Rated Thursday Show in 1986-87: The Cosby Show (#1)
Lowest Rated Thursday Show in 1986-87: Our World (#83)

What would I have watched on Thursdays in 1986-87?
The Cosby Show, Family Ties, Cheers, Hill Street Blues. I think at the time I would have been into Night Court and L.A. Law too. I would have watched Designing Women for its short time on the night too.

Tomorrow: Top 10 Thanksgiving Episodes (1995-Present)!

Monday in 2 Weeks: A look at Fridays in 1986-87!