SCHEDULES OF THE PAST: 1991-1992 Mondays

On Mondays, I take a look at schedules from yesteryear. Here's a look at Mondays in the 1991-92 season!

ABC	8:00	8:30	9:00	10:00
Sep	MacGyver		Monday Night Football
Oct
Nov
Dec
Jan	FBI: The Untold Stories	American Detective	Monday Night Movie
Feb
Mar
Apr
May

ABC started the 1991-92 season with the same Monday lineup it started with each season going back to 1986: MacGyver at 8pm and Monday Night Football at 9pm. However, MacGyver was in its seventh season and getting a little long in the tooth plus star Richard Dean Anderson expressed his desire to move on. The show had never been a huge ratings hit but had always been seen as a compatible partner for Monday Night Football. When Football ended for the season, ABC also pulled MacGyver and put it on hiatus. MacGyver did not resurface until after the season ended and it aired a few more episodes before ending its run after seven seasons and 139 episodes. Of course it stayed in the public consciousness, first with TV movies then with parodies and finally with a reboot on CBS that premiered in 2016 and was a surprisingly durable player on Friday nights. Replacing MacGyver in the 8pm Monday slot as a lead-in to the movie was the unscripted duo of FBI: The Untold Stories and American Detective, which were low-cost options that had been airing on Thursdays.

CBS	8:00	8:30	9:00	9:30	10:00
Sep	Evening Shade	Major Dad	Murphy Brown	Designing Women	Northern Exposure
Oct
Nov
Dec
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May

CBS didn't make any changes to its Monday lineup for 1991-92. In fact, there were no new shows on any network on Mondays for Fall 1991. The Monday lineup was CBS's most coherent and successful one as all five shows finished in the Top 15 of the ratings. The night also included the Emmy winners for comedy (Murphy Brown) and drama (Northern Exposure) so it was both a popular and prestige night for the network. The 8pm hour of Evening Shade and Major Dad was less buzzy but still a successful pairing. Murphy Brown moved all the way up to #3 in the ratings with a season-long story about Murphy's journey through pregnancy and birth as a single mother. That story famously drew critique from then Vice President Dan Quayle in a speech about family values. The speech came at the end of the season and buoyed Murphy through the summer and into its Emmy win (the series also won for directing and star Candace Bergen). At 9:30pm, Designing Women was going through a major overhaul as two of the stars departed: Jean Smart (amicably) and Delta Burke (contentiously). The series replaced them with Julia Duffy and Jan Hooks. While the cast replacements ultimately hastened the demise of the series (Duffy departed after one season and the show only lasted one additional season), the immediate effect of the changes plus the lead-in from Murphy gave Designing Women its highest rated season ever. Northern Exposure had gone from a niche show to a full blown hit as the 1991-92 season was its third overall but first that was longer than 8 episodes.

NBC	8:00	8:30	9:00	10:00
Sep	The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air	Blossom	Monday Night Movie
Oct
Nov
Dec
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May

NBC returned its same lineup from 1990-91 for 1991-92 on Monday nights. The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air had a lot of attention when it premiered in the Fall of 1990 but had been a little disappointing in the ratings. With fresh showrunners though and ever growing popularity for Will Smith, the series became a Top 20 hit. Blossom was not as big a hit but also appealed to younger audiences and was a good fit with Fresh Prince. Will Smith even crossed over to appear in Blossom early in the 1991-92 season as NBC tried to solidify the lineup. A movie continued at 9pm.

FOX	8:00	9:00
Sep	Monday Night Movie
Oct
Nov
Dec
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May

FOX continued to run movies on Monday nights as programming attentions were on other nights for the young network.

Top Rated Monday Show of 1991-92: Murphy Brown (#3)

Lowest Rated Monday Show of 1991-92: MacGyver (#64)

What would I have watched on Mondays in 1991-92?

The entire CBS lineup (except maybe not Major Dad) and Monday Night Football when it was a good game!

Tomorrow: Top 10 The Munsters/The Addams Family Characters!

Next Monday: A look at Tuesdays in the 1991-92 season!