SCHEDULES OF THE PAST: 1996-1997 Fridays

On Tuesdays, I take a look at schedules from yesteryear. Here's a look at Fridays in the 1996-97 season!

ABC	8:00	8:30	9:00	9:30	10:00
Sep	Family Matters	Sabrina the Teenage Witch	Clueless	Boy Meets World	20/20
Oct
Nov		Boy Meets World	Sabrina the Teenage Witch	Clueless
Dec
Jan
Feb
Mar				Step by Step
Apr
May

After two years of a very steady lineup for ABC's TGIF, there were many changes for the 1996-97 season. Both Step by Step and Hangin' with Mr. Cooper were held for midseason (and Mr. Cooper didn't even air until summer). Family Matters continued at 8pm while Boy Meets World was slated to close out the block at 9:30pm. In between were two fairly high profile new shows. At 8:30pm was Sabrina the Teenage Witch which starred then-Nickelodeon star Melissa Joan Hart as the title character from the comic book. At 9pm was Clueless, based on the hit 1995 movie of the same name. The series was a rare single camera sitcom in an era where multi-cam sitcoms were pretty much the only format on TV. Some characters reprised their role on the show though star Alicia Silverstone did not make the jump with Rachel Blanchard taking the lead role. ABC was pinning its new TGIF revamp around Clueless expecting that show to be the big hit, but it was Sabrina that ultimately proved to be the new hit. After just a couple weeks, ABC shuffled the lineup around and made Sabrina the 9pm tentpole while Clueless got bumped to 9:30pm and Boy Meets World returned to 8:30pm. Clueless was cancelled by ABC after 18 episodes and was picked up by UPN for a second season. ABC started to regret the cancellation when Clueless began to repeat well in the summer. They couldn't get it back from UPN but they did prevent it from launching on UPN until September when the rest of the UPN lineup started in late August. Speaking of changing networks, it was the changing of the guard at the end of the season as the production company behind 

Family Matters and Step by Step (which returned after Clueless ended for the season) was feuding with ABC and its new corporate parent, Disney. So ABC ended the season with only Boy Meets World and Sabrina slated for another season. And of course, 20/20, which remained a big hit at 10pm.

CBS	8:00	8:30	9:00	10:00
Sep	Dave’s World	Everybody Loves Raymond	Mr. & Mrs. Smith	Nash Bridges
Oct
Nov
Dec			Various Programs
Jan			JAG
Feb
Mar	Various Programs
Apr	JAG		Orleans
May	Various Programs

CBS had one show returning to Friday nights from the previous season in Nash Bridges, which was a very late entry in the 1995-96 that got renewed after most freshmen were cancelled by CBS. It returned at 10pm and it settled into a solid Friday night performer for the network. A comedy block was tried again at 8pm after a quick failure with comedies the previous season. Dave's World was brought over from Wednesday but it had already lost a lot of its audience in a move from Monday to Wednesday and then it lost more in its move to Friday. It ultimately was cancelled after four seasons. Following Dave's World was a little show called Everybody Loves Raymond. The family comedy earned good reviews but most everyone expected it to fail. This was a situation where the critical love and a small bit of attention from viewers was enough to convince CBS to give it a try on another night. It moved to Mondays at midseason and the rest is history. One of the few shows saved from a terrible timeslot mainly because of critics at the time. At 9pm was Mr. & Mrs. Smith, a spy drama starring Scott Bakula and Maria Bello. The series marked Bakula's first return to TV since Quantum Leap, but lasted just a couple months before being cancelled. Check back tomorrow for a One Season Wonder post on Mr. & Mrs. Smith. Smith was replaced by JAG, which made the move to CBS after a one season run on NBC. JAG was a much better fit on CBS than NBC and it was obviously a great pickup by the network since NCIS and its family of shows are spinoffs from JAG and JAG itself lasted for nearly a decade on the network. Late in the season, JAG moved to 8pm and Orleans moved over from Wednesdays. Orleans remained a flop but JAG and Nash Bridges gave CBS more stability on Fridays though they were about to blow it up with an ill-fated sitcom lineup. But more on that next season.

NBC	8:00	9:00	10:00
Sep	Unsolved Mysteries	Dateline NBC	Homicide: Life on the Street
Oct
Nov
Dec
Jan
Feb
Mar			Crisis Center
Apr			Homicide: Life on the Street
May

NBC's Friday night lineup in 1996-97 stayed in tact for a third straight season for much of the year. Unsolved Mysteries was cancelled at the end of the season after nine seasons on NBC but CBS picked it up for a tenth season. Dateline NBC continued at 9pm and Homicide: Life on the Street continued at 10pm. For a brief time in the spring, Homicide was replaced by Crisis Center, a drama about a call center in San Francisco starring Kellie Martin. The series was mostly ignored for its six episode run but it wasn't pulled with episodes remaining so I guess that's something?

FOX	8:00	9:00
Sep	Sliders	The X-Files
Oct
Nov		Millennium
Dec
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May

FOX made a big move in the 1996-97 by sending The X-Files to Sunday nights, but it was given a short send-off on Fridays while waiting for baseball playoffs and the World Series to end. It was replaced by a show from the same creator, Chris Carter. Millennium was regarded as the creepiest new show of the 1996-97 season as it starred Lance Henriksen working for a mysterious organization and trying to get into the minds of criminals. Earlier in the night, Sliders continued at 8pm. The show had cheated death a couple times and still got renewed but this was the end of the road for its FOX run. However, the show itself cheated death again as it ended up being picked up by the Sci-Fi Channel (without star John Rhys-Davies) and it lasted two more seasons on the cable channel.

Top Rated Friday Show of 1996-97: 20/20 (#12)

Lowest Rated Friday Show of 1996-97: Sliders (#118)

What would I have watched on Fridays in 1996-97?

I was watching Nick at Nite at the time. But if I was watching network shows, definitely Everybody Loves Raymond and Homicide. Maybe I would have sampled Mr. & Mrs. Smith or Millennium. And I probably would have checked in on the TGIF shows from time to time but they wouldn't have been priority viewing.

Tomorrow: A One Season Wonder look at Mr. & Mrs. Smith!

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