SCHEDULES OF THE PAST: 1990-91 Tuesdays

On Mondays, I take a look at schedules from yesteryear. Here's a look at Tuesdays in the 1990-91 season!

ABC	8:00	8:30	9:00	9:30	10:00
Sep	Who’s the Boss?	Head of the Class	Roseanne	Coach	Thirtysomething
Oct
Nov
Dec
Jan
Feb		Davis Rules
Mar					Eddie Dodd
Apr		Baby Talk		Stat	Thirtysomething
May

ABC had a lot of strong pieces returning to its Tuesday lineup for 1990-91. Roseanne had tied for the #1 show on TV the previous season and though it slipped to #3 this season, it was still a dominant presence. It started to be more divisive though especially after Roseanne Barr's mangling of the national anthem at a Padres game in the Summer of 1990. Leading off the night yet again was Who's the Boss?. The show made a classic move for an older show about kids by bringing a younger kid into the cast but he never really gelled and was written out of the show at the end of the season. This was also the final season that Boss aired on Tuesdays as it was starting to slip in the ratings and was sent off to Saturdays after this season. At 8:30pm was Head of the Class, which had been airing on Wednesdays but was undergoing a major transition as series star Howard Hesseman had left the show. His teacher role was replaced by comedian Billy Connolly but the show couldn't survive the transition and was cancelled after five seasons and 114 episodes. It was yanked from the lineup in January and returned in burnoff mode in the summer. A spinoff series starring Connolly's character and titled Billy aired in the 1991-92 season. Replacing it on Tuesdays was Davis Rules, which got the coveted post-Super Bowl slot. This had worked for The Wonder Years on ABC a few years prior but the case was different for Davis Rules. The family comedy starring Randy Quaid and Jonathan Winters struggled to catch on in the ratings but ABC still renewed it for midseason. However, CBS ended up buying it from ABC and running it in midseason 1992 before cancelling it. The final Tuesday 8:30pm entry was Baby Talk, which moved over from Fridays. It did a little bit better than Davis Rules and was renewed for a second season despite some behind the scenes turmoil. Following Roseanne for much of the season was Coach and it always did well when it had a good lead-in. Coach was briefly replaced by Stat, a cark comedy that was a remake of the 1977 series A.E.S. Hudson Street and set in a New York City hospital. It lasted just six episodes. Thirtysomething remained at 10pm but had never been a huge ratings hit and had also had lost some advertisers over gay-themed storylines (remember, this was 1990). It aired for most of the year but was cancelled at the end of the season after four seasons and 85 episodes. The cancellation was somewhat of a surprise at the time and a wrap up movie was planned for the following season but that never materialized. The show continued to be an Emmys magnet, winning two acting awards after its cancellation. It was briefly replaced in the spring by Eddie Dodd, a legal drama starring Treat Williams and Annabelle Gurwitch. It lasted just four episodes in its slot before adding two more as a summer burnoff. So while Tuesdays still had a lot of success, ABC was bracing for big changes on the night for 1991-92.

CBS	8:00	9:00	10:00
Sep	Rescue: 911	Tuesday Night Movie
Oct
Nov
Dec
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May

CBS kept the same lineup as it had for the second half of the previous season with the unscripted Rescue: 911 leading things off and a movie airing the rest of the night. Rescue was a solid performer but nothing special while the movie did well thanks to a large number of theatrical films that CBS claimed before HBO and Showtime, which were usually the first place new films aired. It was a night that CBS didn't have to worry about at a time where they were springing leaks elsewhere.

NBC	8:00	9:00	10:00
Sep	Matlock	In the Heat of the Night	Various Programs
Oct			Law & Order
Nov
Dec
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr			Shannon’s Deal
May

NBC continued to have a trio of dramas on Tuesday night with the 8-10pm hour remaining in tact. Matlock continued at 8pm and In the Heat of the Night was at 9pm. Both were solid but old skewing shows. They were renewed for 1991-92 despite Andy Griffith announcing to TV Guide in the fall that he was done with the show and would not return. Whether it was a negotiating tactic or just a change of heart, Griffith returned and the show continued on. At 10pm was a new drama that got a few weeks on Thursday before taking over the Tuesday slot. We all know Law & Order now as a franchise and institution but in the Fall of 1990, it was a modest performer with a very unique storytelling style. The idea of giving half of the episode to the law side of things and the other half to the order side was a very different type of show back then. After being passed over by both FOX and CBS, Law & Order landed at NBC. It might seem like the most standard procedural now and while it would be a stretch to call it groundbreaking, it was certainly something different. The show, which proudly stated that it was "ripped from the headlines," did not have icons of the franchise like Jerry Orbach and Sam Waterston in the original cast. The first year's most prominent members were Chris Noth and long time cast member Steven Hill. It was the highest rated new drama of the 1990-91 season. Law & Order ended its season early and was replaced by Shannon's Deal, which had been a surprise renewal from the previous season. It lasted just a few weeks before being cancelled.

Top Rated Tuesday Show of 1990-91: Roseanne (#3)

Lowest Rated Tuesday Show of 1990-91: Eddie Dodd (#91)

What would I have watched on Tuesdays in 1990-91?

Most of the ABC lineup except I probably wouldn't have been interested in some of the midseason replacements. Also Law & Order.

Tomorrow: Top 10 Schitt's Creek Characters!

Next Monday: A look at Wednesdays in the 1990-91 season!