SCHEDULES OF THE PAST: 1993-1994 Thursdays

On Mondays, I take a look at schedules from yesteryear. Here's a look at Thursdays in the 1993-94 season!

ABC	8:00	9:00	10:00
Sep	Missing Persons	Matlock	Primetime Live
Oct
Nov
Dec
Jan
Feb
Mar	The Byrds of Paradise
Apr		Birdland
May		Matlock

ABC's Thursdays in 1993-94 started with a new drama featuring a familiar Thursday night face. Missing Persons marked the return of Daniel J. Travanti to TV six years after the end of his critically acclaimed Hill Street Blues. The drama was centered on a missing persons unit in Chicago. Travanti didn't experience the same success with this show. It made it to February but was then cancelled and replaced by The Byrds of Paradise. Starring Timothy Busfield and featuring a young Seth Green and Jennifer Love Hewitt, Byrds was about a family that moves from Connecticut to Hawaii after the death of their wife and mother. It was not any more successful than Missing Persons. Matlock moved back an hour to 9pm in its second season on ABC. It was an old skewing alternative to NBC's demo friendly lineup. It was briefly replaced for burnoff episodes of failed Wednesday drama Birdland. Throughout the season, Primetime Live aired at 10pm and was easily ABC's highest rated show of the night.

CBS	8:00	9:00	10:00
Sep	In the Heat of the Night	Eye to Eye with Connie Chung	Angel Falls
Oct			Various Programs
Nov
Dec			Second Chances
Jan	How’d They Do That?
Feb	Various Programs
Mar	Various Programs	Eye to Eye with Connie Chung	Various Programs
Apr	Christy		Traps
May		Various Programs	Eye to Eye with Connie Chung

For the first time in 14 years, CBS Thursdays did not include Knots Landing in 1993-94 after the long running soap called it quits the previous season. Things were a mess for CBS on the night throughout the season so they probably wished they had ordered a 15th season of Knots. The original lineup was long running drama In the Heat of the Night followed by newsmagazine Eye to Eye with Connie Chung and new drama Angel Falls. But Falls had basically the same fate as Wednesday's The Trouble with Larry where it launched early and then was in such ratings trouble by the time the season started that it was off the air almost immediately. The series was a gentle drama about a woman moving back to her Montana hometown. It aired four episodes before the official start to the season and then only two episodes during the season before it was gone. As for Eye to Eye, it was continuing after a summer launch at the same time Connie Chung famously became co-anchor with Dan Rather for the CBS Evening News. It did alright but was not one of the top newsmagazines in a season with a bunch of them. The whole night had no regular scheduled programming at various points during the season. The next regular occupant at 10pm was Second Chances, a soapy drama about a murder involving many connected people. The series wasn't doing well and then an earthquake destroyed its sets in January 1994. That issue coupled with the fact that two stars were pregnant led CBS to cancel the series and bring some of the characters (including one played by Jennifer Lopez) to a new series called Hotel Malibu in the summer of 1994. When In the Heat of the Night moved to Wednesdays, CBS briefly aired How'd They Do That? but the next regular scripted show didn't arrive until April. Christy was based on a 1967 novel and successful TV movie and starred Kellie Martin as a teacher in Cutter Gap, Tennessee. The show was a modest ratings performer but was renewed for a second season and had its fan from the family values crowd. Also in April, there was a new drama at 10pm. Traps starred George C. Scott as a retired Seattle police chief who consulted on cases. It was the least successful of the many new dramas, airing just three episodes. CBS had a lot of work to do with Thursday nights.

NBC	8:00	8:30	9:00	9:30	10:00
Sep	Mad About You	Wings	Seinfeld	Frasier	Various Programs
Oct					L.A. Law
Nov
Dec
Jan					Homicide: Life on the Street
Feb					L.A. Law
Mar
Apr
May

After an off year in 1992-93, NBC started to get back to dominance on Thursday nights in 1993-94. After a year of languishing on Wednesdays and Saturdays, NBC moved Mad About You to the lead-off slot on Thursdays and it responded with a nice uptick in the ratings as well as increasing critical acclaim. Wings continued at 8:30pm and was always a decent performer but never in the same critical class as many of its fellow Thursday comedies. After the long run of Cheers came to a high profile end in May 1993, it was time for a new 9pm anchor for the first time in a decade. Seinfeld was fresh off an Outstanding Comedy Series win at the Emmys and had slowly grown in stature over its first four seasons. It was definitely ready to be an anchor as it ended up ranking #3 for the season and was becoming a pop culture phenomenon. Following Seinfeld was a new show with a familiar character. Frasier was the follow-up to Cheers featuring Kelsey Grammar reprising his role. While it seems like an obvious success story now since it had its own 11 season run, Frasier was far from a sure thing heading into the 1993-94 season. Cheers was so beloved and spinoffs had a spotty track record before (and since). But the ratings were big, the critical acclaim was strong and Frasier settled into a very long run on NBC. At 10pm was L.A. Law in its eighth season. The show was far removed from its heyday of Emmy wins and big audiences and in fact, there was a fair amount of critical scorn for the show this late into its run. The series was cancelled at the end of the season without given a proper chance to wrap up its storylines as a one-time powerhouse ended with a whimper. It was able to tie up some loose ends years later in a 2002 TV movie. L.A. Law was briefly replaced in January by Homicide: Life on the Street. The critically acclaimed cop drama had won a Peabody Award and got renewed following its modestly rated freshman run, but it was only renewed for four episodes, a very unusual move. NBC also demanded some changes to the show which were met with criticism from some of the stars. The very short season included a guest appearance by Robin Williams in the season premiere and it did well enough to finally get a full season, albeit with more changes demanded by NBC. It was rumored to be taking over the 10pm Thursday slot full time but a little pilot called ER had other things to say.

FOX	8:00	8:30	9:00	9:30
Sep	The Simpsons	The Sinbad Show	In Living Color	Herman’s Head
Oct
Nov
Dec
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May		The Simpsons		Various Programs

FOX continued to lead off Thursday nights with its highest rated show, The Simpsons. The animated comedy continued to be the only primetime animated show to work at that time. It was followed by The Sinbad Show, a show that jumped on the trend of giving comedians their own show. Sinbad played a bachelor who adopted two orphans. The series lasted a full season but was then cancelled. Check back Wednesday for a One Season Wonder post on The Sinbad Show! In Living Color continued at 9pm. The show had lost all the Wayans brothers involved in front of and behind the camera and was a shell of its former self. Keenan Ivory Wayans left over creative control and brothers Damon and Marlon also quit in solidarity. With a mostly new cast, the series couldn't recapture the zeitgeist and it was cancelled at the end of the season. At 9:30pm was Herman's Head, a series that had its set of cult fans but could never find a wide audience. It was also cancelled at the end of the season after three seasons. After getting some traction on Thursdays, three shows were cancelled on the night and FOX made the decision to re-start the night, sending The Simpsons to Sundays for the 1994-95 season.

Top Rated Thursday Show of 1993-94: Seinfeld (#3)

Lowest Rated Thursday Show of 1993-94: Herman's Head (#94)

What would I have watched on Thursdays in 1993-94?

I would have been all about NBC on this night, watching all the shows. As far as the other networks, I might have checked out Missing Persons, The Byrds of Paradise or Christy, but none of them seemed particularly appealing.

Tomorrow: Top 10 Superstore Characters!

Next Monday: A look at Fridays in the 1993-94 season!