SCHEDULES OF THE PAST: 1991-1992 Tuesdays

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

ABC	8:00	8:30	9:00	9:30	10:00
Sep	Full House	Home Improvement	Roseanne	Various Programs	Homefront
Oct				Coach
Nov
Dec
Jan
Feb
Mar					Civil Wars
Apr				Room for Two
May				Coach	Various Programs

ABC Tuesdays ruled the roost in the late 1980s but by 1991, they were showing some signs of slowing down so they made big moves to the night in 1991-92 which mostly paid off. The biggest move was bringing Full House over from Fridays. The family sitcom had aired there for four seasons and was a key part of launching the TGIF lineup. But Fridays now had Family Matters as a lead off show and Tuesdays needed a jolt. Moving a show like that could have backfired but it didn't. Full House vaulted into the Nielsen Top 10 for the first time ever and had its highest rated season. It also proved to be a great launching pad for the new 8:30pm show, Home Improvement. The family sitcom was a vehicle for stand-up comedian Tim Allen and proved to be a breakout hit for the network. At a time where Broadcast TV was taking a lot of flack in the media for diminishing returns (how silly that seems now because it was still a huge cornerstone of the TV landscape compared to present day), this was the first breakout hit since America's Funniest Home Videos in Spring 1990. At 9pm, Roseanne continued to be ABC's top show and it was actually up quite a bit in the ratings from the previous season as it likely benefited from having a huge success in front of it. Coach continued as the lead-out and was always successful when it was following Roseanne. Late in the season, Coach went on a short hiatus to try out a new sitcom in the post-Roseanne slot. Room for Two was a sitcom starring Linda Lavin and Patricia Heaton as a mother and daughter living and working together. The series did well enough in its cozy timeslot to get a second season but it did prove to be a fraud in its second season. ABC had cancelled Thirtysomething after four years in the Tuesday 10pm slot and replaced it with the 1940s era drama Homefront, centered on small Ohio town in the post-World War II era. It was one of three 40s-50s period shows that premiered on the networks in Fall 1991 along with Brooklyn Bridge on CBS and I'll Fly Away on NBC. The series had some significant critical acclaim but struggled in the ratings (like so many period dramas). It was pulled from the Tuesday lineup in the spring but was renewed for a second season, more based on reviews than ratings. It was replaced by Civil Wars, a new drama that had been airing on Wednesdays and was renewed for a second season despite middling ratings.

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

CBS continued with its tried and true Tuesday lineup of Rescue: 911 and a movie. They were the only network airing a movie on the night compared to Monday where three networks were at least for part of the season.

NBC	8:00	9:00	10:00
Sep	Various Programs		Law & Order
Oct	I’ll Fly Away	In the Heat of the Night
Nov
Dec
Jan	In the Heat of the Night	Law & Order	Various Programs
Feb			Reasonable Doubts
Mar
Apr			Dateline NBC
May

NBC continued to air a trio of dramas on Tuesday night in the Fall of 1991. Matlock had been saved for midseason (though it ended up reappearing on Fridays quickly). Taking its place was I'll Fly Away, a critically acclaimed drama set in the US South in the 1950s. Starring Regina Taylor and Sam Waterston, the show definitely had its share of supporters but like fellow period drama Homefront on ABC, it struggled to find a mass audience. It was moved off the night in January and sent to Fridays where it did manage to squeak out a second season. The 9pm and 10pm slots continued to be occupied by crime dramas In the Heat of the Night and Law & Order. Both were solid performers but not runaway hits. The each slid up an hour in January and another crime drama, Reasonable Doubts, which had been airing on Fridays, aired at 10pm for a short time. But NBC found an actual sustained success late in the season when they launched Dateline NBC, a new newsmagazine hosted by Jane Pauley and Stone Phillips. NBC had 17 failed newsmagazines to its name dating back over twenty years but Dateline finally broke the streak. The series started as a simple primetime news show for NBC but eventually became a multi-night sensation for the network in the late 1990s and of course it is still on the air decades later.

Top Rated Tuesday Show of 1991-92: Roseanne (#2)

Lowest Rated Tuesday Show of 1991-92: Civil Wars (#74)

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

I would have been all in on Homefront and I'll Fly Away. I would have watched the rest of the ABC lineup too and probably Law & Order.

Tomorrow: Top 10 Chicago Fire Characters!

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