SCHEDULES OF THE PAST: 1994-1995 Tuesdays

On Mondays, I take a look at schedules from yesteryear. Here's a look at Tuesdays in the 1994-95 season!

ABC	8:00	8:30	9:00	9:30	10:00
Sep	Full House	Me and the Boys	Home Improvement	Grace Under Fire	Various Programs
Oct					NYPD Blue
Nov
Dec
Jan
Feb
Mar		Thunder Alley
Apr				Various Programs
May

ABC made a big move in the Summer of 1994 in response to NBC's plans to move Frasier to the night. To take on NBC's young hit, they made the decision to swap Roseanne/Ellen with Home Improvement & Grace Under Fire. Roseanne had been a massive hit on Tuesdays for years but it was older and not as powerful as Home Improvement. More on how the move did for Frasier below but for Home Improvement, it resulted in a slight drop in the ratings but it was still the #3 show on TV. Earlier in the night, Full House continued to lead things off at 8pm but it was cancelled by ABC after eight seasons. The series was still a hit but it was an expensive show and a potential move to the young WB network didn't come to fruition. The show was given enough time to create a proper send-off and has of course remained very popular in the years since it left the air. Another new sitcom took over at 8:30pm after Phenom was a one-and-done show. The Dallas-set series starred Steve Harvey as a widower raising his three sons. Me and the Boys actually out-rated Full House for the season but it was cancelled because ABC perceived it as having too much of a "kid-friendly" audience. ABC didn't have any room on its TGIF lineup and it wanted to get hipper with its sitcom blocks on other nights so Me and the Boys didn't fit into the strategy. Late in the season, Thunder Alley aired at 8:30pm after it failed as a Wednesday lead-off show. It was cancelled after two seasons. After Home Improvement, Grace Under Fire continued to be a massive hit in its second season. This is a show that was so big for a couple years but has been mostly ignored and probably some of that is due to how it ended but more on that in future posts. NYPD Blue returned at 10pm after its buzzy and breakout first season. It dealt with some off-screen drama in its second season when series star David Caruso first asked for more money and then publicly decided to leave the series to focus on a movie career. He departed four episodes into the second season and Jimmy Smits was brought in as a co-lead with Dennis Franz. The move backfired for Caruso who received a lot of bad press and flopped as a movie actor though he did finally find success again on TV years later with CSI: Miami. Meanwhile, Blue kept right on humming along as it became more of an ensemble drama and Smits was a popular addition.

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

CBS continued with Rescue: 911 and a movie on Tuesdays to start the 1994-95 season. Rescue: 911 had been a reliable performer for several years but it was not as strong as it once was so CBS showed signs of unrest on the night with a new midseason drama temporarily taking the place of Rescue. Under One Roof was a gentle family drama starring James Earl Jones, Joe Morton and Vanessa Ball Calloway. The Seattle-set series received some critical acclaim but couldn't find a large audience. It was cancelled after six episodes though Jones was nominated for an Emmy Award for his work on the show. Jones has never returned to TV in a regular role since the cancellation of Under One Roof. Rescue: 911 was back on the night to end the season but CBS tried again with a new drama in the Fall of 1995. 

NBC	8:00	8:30	9:00	9:30	10:00
Sep	Wings	The Martin Short Show	Frasier	The John Larroquette Show	Dateline NBC
Oct		Various Programs
Nov
Dec		Something Wilder
Jan
Feb
Mar		Newsradio		Pride & Joy
Apr
May

Tuesdays were a complete mess for NBC in the 1993-94 season so they tried to stabilize the night in a big way by bringing over their two Thursday hits in the half hour slots as the new anchors. Wings took over at 8pm and Frasier was the big gun moving to 9pm fresh off an Emmy win for Outstanding Comedy Series. As mentioned, ABC tried to blunt this move with Home Improvement competition and while Home did beat Frasier in the ratings, Frasier held its own and exceeded expectations. It helped NBC have a reliable comedy presence on Tuesdays. Wings helped with that as well with both shows proving they could be in anchor slots. The half hour slots were a little messier but having two solid anchors was a big improvement from the previous season. There was an instant flop at 8:30pm with The Martin Short Show. The popular comedian tried his hand at a Dick Van Dyke Show-type sitcom where he played a comedian balancing his work and home life. Co-starring Jan Hooks, the series lasted just three weeks and was off the air before the calendar turned to October. After repeats through November Sweeps, Something Wilder came over to the night after bombing on Saturdays. The last 8:30pm show of the season was Newsradio, a show that did enough to get renewed for a second season thanks to some critical acclaim and a loyal audience. The series marked the second sitcom for Andy Dick in the season after the failed Get Smart revival on FOX. After a year competing against Roseanne, much to its star's chagrin, The John Larroquette Show moved to 9:30pm and got a much better lead-in from Frasier. Its ratings did improve but it didn't really break out. It did enough to get a third season. Late in the season, it was replaced by Pride & Joy, a sitcom about a Manhattan couple with a newborn baby and friends across the hall. Dateline NBC continued at 10pm.

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

After finding no answers to scripted programming on Tuesdays, FOX moved its movie from Mondays to Tuesdays. The movie didn't do great but Mondays were better for the scripted offerings so it was a win for FOX to move the movie.

UPN	8:00	9:00
Sep	No UPN Programming
Oct
Nov
Dec
Jan	Marker	The Watcher
Feb
Mar
Apr	Legend
May		Marker

UPN's second night of programming when it launched was on Tuesdays but it didn't have a show like Star Trek: Voyager to help the night get off the ground. Leading things off at 8pm was Marker, a drama set in (and filmed) in Hawaii about a man who receives "markers" from people connected to his late father. At 9pm was The Watcher, a Las Vegas-set anthology series featuring Sir Mix-a-Lot as a narrator watching the action of Vegas on monitors in his hotel room. You can't make this stuff up. Later in the season, Marker moved to 9pm and another new drama launched at 8pm. Legend was a sci-fi western that brought MacGyver's Richard Dean Anderson back to TV. The series received some better notices from critics than Marker and The Watcher but it ultimately met the same fate. All three dramas were cancelled after one season meaning Star Trek: Voyager was the only UPN show in its inaugural season to get a second season while five shows were cancelled.

Top Rated Tuesday Show of 1994-95: Home Improvement (#3)

Lowest Rated Tuesday Show of 1994-95: The Watcher (#137)

What would I have watched on Tuesdays in 1994-95?

I would have been more inclined to watch NBC than ABC when it comes to the comedy lineup. I would have watched Wings and Newsradio. I would have also probably picked Frasier over Home Improvement but may have taped Home. I also probably would have been in and out of Grace Under Fire and The John Larroquette Show. I also would have watched NYPD Blue and would have checked out Under One Roof.

Tomorrow: Top 10 Parks and Recreation Characters!

Next Monday: A look at Wednesdays in the 1994-95 season!