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SCHEDULES OF THE PAST: 1987-1988 Mondays

On Mondays, I take a look at schedules from yesteryear. Here's a look at Mondays in the 1987-88 season!

ABC

8:00

9:00

10:00

Sep






MacGyver



Monday Night Football

Oct

Nov

Dec

Jan




Monday Night Movie

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

There isn't too much to say about ABC's Monday night lineup in 1987-88. It was the same exact lineup as the previous season with MacGyver leading into Monday Night Football and then the Monday Night Movie once the football season ended. It might be easy to think now that MacGyver was a massive success given that it became part of the lexicon and was spoofed then rebooted. But in fact, it was never a huge hit in its original run. It just worked really well with Football because of its male skewing audience and that's why it lasted so long on Monday nights.

CBS

8:00

8:30

9:00

9:30

10:00

Sep






Kate & Allie



Frank’s Place






Newhart



Designing Women



Cagney & Lacey

Oct

Nov

Dec

Jan



Wiseguy

Feb



Designing Women

Frank’s Place

Mar


Eisenhower & Lutz

Apr


Cagney & Lacey

May

CBS continued with a comedy block on Monday but the anchor shows were getting pretty old and showing some significant declines. At 8pm was Kate & Allie, a show now in its fifth season. It suffered a pretty big drop in the ratings this season. It was followed by Frank's Place. The New Orleans set sitcom starred Tim Reid as a college professor who inherits a restaurant. Although it couldn't find a mass audience, it was well-liked by critics and in fact still holds the distinction of being the most recent one and done show to be nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series. Frequently mentioned among the "cancelled too soon" conversations, it has never been released on DVD or turned up elsewhere in part due to the music rights. Newhart was the 9pm anchor and the highest rated show of the block but was also getting old in its sixth season. At 9:30pm was Designing Women, which had escaped death after a modest first season and soon became a pretty strong contributor to the night. In February, Designing Women and Frank's Place switched slots but Frank's Place was soon on the move to Tuesdays and the new 9:30pm entry was Eisenhower & Lutz, a legal sitcom starring Scott Bakula shortly before he hit it big on Quantum Leap. It lasted just 13 episodes. The 10pm slot had belonged to Cagney & Lacey for several years. The police drama had a slow start but became a hit show and darling of the critics. However, the ratings were falling and the show was cancelled after seven seasons. At the 1988 Emmys, Tyne Daly won for Lead Actress in a Drama Series, marking the sixth straight year that one of the two lead actresses won in the category, a very impressive feat. Cagney & Lacey started and ended the year on Monday nights but was moved for a little while in the middle of the year for Wiseguy, a show that was showing some promise on Thursday nights and one that CBS wanted to give a boost to.

NBC

8:00

8:30

9:00

10:00

Sep






ALF






Valerie’s Family






Monday Night Movie

Oct

Nov

Dec

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

NBC continued with the lineup it had ended the previous season with but there was a pretty significant change within the 8:30pm show. First up at 8pm was ALF, a show that broke out in its second season. It shot up to #11 in the ratings and was one of NBC's highest rated shows not on Thursday. This was a show that burned hot but quick. At 8:30pm was the show formerly known as Valerie. Star Valerie Harper was fired from the show after a highly publicized dispute with the producers that ended up in court. The show was retitled Valerie's Family for the 1987-88 season and Sandy Duncan joined the cast as a surrogate mother for the family (Harper's character had been killed off). After going through a season as Valerie's Family, the title was changed again for reruns in the summer of 1988. It had been retitled The Hogan Family in part due to on-going court battles with Harper (by the way, Harper was ultimately successful in her battle against the producers for wrongful termination but her public image took a hit for a time). A movie continued at 9pm and was slightly ahead of ABC's movie that aired in the same slot from January to May.

Top Rated Monday Show in 1987-88: ALF (#11)
Lowest Rated Monday Show in 1987-88: Frank's Place (#62)

What would I have watched on Mondays in 1987-88?
Monday Night Football, Newhart, Designing Women. I would have been interested in Frank's Place (in fact, I am interested in it now!). I might have given up on Valerie's Family without Valerie Harper in the show.

Tomorrow: Top 10 Episodes of 2020!
Next Monday: Tuesdays in 1987-88!
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