SCHEDULES OF THE PAST: 1995-1996 Sundays

On Tuesdays, I take a look at schedules from yesteryear. Here's a look at Sundays in the 1995-96 season!

ABC	7:00	7:30	8:00	9:00	10:00
Sep	America’s Funniest Home Videos	America’s Funniest Home Videos	Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman	Sunday Night Movie
Oct
Nov
Dec
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May

With lots of networks making big moves on Sunday nights in the 1995-96 season, ABC stuck with the status quo. America's Funniest Home Videos was double pumped in the 7pm hour but it was not much of a force anymore, dropping all the way to #70 after one time being in the Top 10. Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman continued at 8pm and was a darling of magazine covers and things like that but only modestly rated. The movie came in a distant third to the competing movies on CBS and NBC.

CBS	7:00	8:00	8:30	9:00	10:00
Sep	60 Minutes	Cybill	Almost Perfect	Sunday Night Movie
Oct
Nov
Dec
Jan
Feb
Mar			Bonnie
Apr			Various Programs
May		Murder, She Wrote

CBS made a big move to Sunday nights in their quest to appeal to younger audiences. Murder, She Wrote was kicked off the night despite still being a Top 10 show because it skewed older than pretty much any show on TV. It was sent to Thursdays and a comedy block aired at 8pm. Cybill was a big hit when it premiered after Murphy Brown midway through the 1994-95 season. CBS liked what it saw and gave it a bold Sunday lead-off slot for its second season. It was paired with Almost Perfect, a new comedy starring Nancy Travis and centered on the production staff of a fictional cop show. The CBS attempt to get younger pretty much failed across the board including on Sunday nights where the comedy hour was well, well below the numbers Murder, She Wrote had been getting. Both shows eventually found their way back to Monday where they did both get renewed (Almost Perfect was the sole renewal of the CBS fall freshman class of 11 shows). Before the comedy hour was abandoned, The Bonnie Hunt Show (retitled Bonnie) aired at 8:30pm briefly. Despite the troubles with the comedy hour, the movie was still tops among the Sunday night movies. Murder, She Wrote had failed on Thursday nights and was cancelled after 12 seasons but CBS at least did right by it at the end by returning it to its longtime home on Sundays for the final stretch of episodes.

NBC	7:00	7:30	8:00	8:30	9:00	10:00
Sep	Brotherly Love	Minor Adjustments	Mad About You	Hope & Gloria	Sunday Night Movie
Oct
Nov
Dec	Various Programs
Jan				Newsradio
Feb
Mar	Dateline NBC
Apr
May				Various Programs

It seemed like NBC wanted to put comedies wherever they possibly could in the Fall of 1995 so they abandoned dramas for the first two hours on Sundays and went with yet another comedy block though the two hours were quite different. 7pm was a family comedy hour with two new sitcoms that didn't really fit the brand of the rest of the NBC comedies. Brotherly Love aired at 7pm and starred the real life Lawrence siblings, including oldest brother Joey fresh off of Blossom. That was followed by Minor Adjustments, which starred comedian Rondell Sheridan as a child psychologist and family man. Both series only lasted a short time on Sunday nights before being pulled. NBC cancelled Adjustments and UPN quickly picked it up to air in the same season while Brotherly Love was cancelled at the end of the season and picked up by the WB for a second season. The big move for NBC was Mad About You moving from a cozy Thursday home to the lead-off slot on Sundays. Star Paul Reiser was not pleased and though the show held its own, it dropped pretty significantly from its Thursday ratings. It was paired with Hope & Gloria, which had aired after it on Thursdays for part of the 1994-95 season. Hope was moved to Saturdays in January and Newsradio came to the 8:30pm slot after getting bumped out of Tuesdays by 3rd Rock From the Sun. NBC ultimately stuck with comedies on Sunday nights for the 1996-97 season but Mad About You was pulled out of harms way after one season on Sundays. In March, NBC launched another edition of Dateline NBC with the intention of going after the long standing Sunday staple 60 Minutes on CBS. With Dateline an ever improving performer, NBC went on the offense though 60 Minutes still easily won the slot. NBC's movie at 9pm was in the middle of the pack as far as Sunday night movies go.

FOX	7:00	8:00	8:30	9:00	9:30
Sep	Space: Above and Beyond	Various Programs
Oct		The Simpsons	Too Something	Married… With Children	Misery Loves Company
Nov			Martin		Married… With Children
Dec					What’s So Funny?
Jan					Various Programs
Feb					Married… With Children
Mar			The Show		Local Heroes
Apr
May			The Simpsons		Married… With Children

For a second year, FOX had The Simpsons and Married... With Children as comedy anchors while the slots after them were a mess throughout the year. First up though was a new drama at 7pm. Space: Above and Beyond was a sci-fi drama set in the year 2063 aboard a space carrier. The series lasted the full year but was cancelled after one season. It didn't really develop the cult following either in the years since though I'm sure there are some sci-fi fans out there with good memories of the show. Following The Simpsons at first was Too Something, a sitcom about Manhattan roommates while Misery Loves Company followed Married. Misery was about four miserable friends and included a young Christopher Meloni in its cast. Both new shows were off the FOX lineup after about a month. Too Something eventually resurfaced for a brief run after the season ended (with the fan-voted new title New York Daze) while Misery was cancelled outright. FOX aired Martin in its only 8:30pm slot while unscripted fare like What's So Funny and reruns of Married... With Children occupied the 9:30pm slot until March. In March, FOX tried again with two new sitcoms. The Show aired at 8:30pm and was a comedy about a white man being the head writer on a black comedy show. Something tells me that premise would not fly today. Local Heroes aired at 9:30pm and was a Pittsburgh-set hangout comedy. The midseason comedies lasted ever so slightly longer than the new fall comedies and FOX was still stuck without anything remotely new on the night. They made a big change to Sunday nights for the 1996-97 season, but more on that in a future post.

WB	7:00	7:30	8:00	8:30	9:00	9:30
Sep	Pinky & The Brain	Sister, Sister	Kirk	Simon	Cleghorne!	First Time Out
Oct		Kirk	Sister, Sister	Cleghorne!	First Time Out	Simon
Nov
Dec
Jan		Simon		Kirk	Various Programs
Feb					Savannah
Mar		The Parent ‘Hood
Apr
May

The WB launched in January 1995 by only airing one night a week (Wednesdays). In August 1995, they expanded to a second night with a Sunday lineup. They kept their returning series on Wednesdays so Sundays were pretty much entirely new shows (aside from repeats of Sister, Sister which was airing new episodes on Wednesdays). At 7pm was Pinky & the Brain, a primetime spinoff of Animaniacs, which was a popular daytime show. The series didn't really fit into a primetime lineup but it ran for three more seasons in daytime. After the Sister, Sister encores was Kirk, which marked the return of Kirk Cameron to TV. The Growing Pains star played a character raising his younger siblings. It was followed by another show with a man's name for its title - Simon. Simon starred Harland Williams and Jason Bateman as brothers living in Harlem. At 9pm was Cleghorne!, which starred comedian Ellen Cleghorne as a single mom. Rounding out the night was First Time Out, a sitcom starring Jackie Guerra as a single woman in Los Angeles. Co-starring Leah Remini, it was billed as the first sitcom with a Latina lead. Check back tomorrow for a One Season Wonder post on First Time Out! The WB couldn't really get anything going on Sunday night as they didn't really have an early hit like FOX with Married... With Children or UPN with Star Trek: Voyager. After a couple weeks, all the shows except Pinky & the Brain changed timeslots. By January, First Time Out and Cleghorne! had been cancelled and Simon joined the list a few months later. Only Kirk survived to a second season in primetime of the Sunday comedies. In February they launched their first drama on the network. Savannah was a soap opera about female friends in Savannah, Georgia. It didn't do anything much but was the top performer for the WB in the 1995-96 season. It still wasn't that breakout hit the network was looking for though.

Top Rated Sunday Show of 1995-96: 60 Minutes (#9)

Lowest Rated Sunday Show of 1995-96: Simon (#160)

What would I have watched on Sundays in 1995-96?

I would definitely have watched Mad About You at 8pm but might have switched to CBS for Almost Perfect at 8:30pm. When Newsradio came to Sundays, I would have stuck with the NBC sitcom block. I might have tried some of the other new sitcoms but I don't think any would have become appointment viewing.

Tomorrow: A One Season Wonder look at First Time Out!

Next Tuesday: A look at Mondays in the 1996-97 season!