SCHEDULES OF THE PAST: 1997-1998 Fridays

On Tuesdays, I take a look at schedules from yesteryear. Here's a look at Fridays in the 1997-98 season!

ABC	8:00	8:30	9:00	9:30	10:00
Sep	Sabrina the Teenage Witch	Boy Meets World	You Wish	Teen Angel	20/20
Oct
Nov		Teen Angel	Boy Meets World	Various Programs
Dec		Boy Meets World	Sabrina the Teenage Witch	Teen Angel
Jan
Feb
Mar				Hiller and Diller
Apr				Boy Meets World
May

It was an era of change for ABC's famed TGIF lineup. Gone from the lineup were longtime staples Family Matters and Step by Step as they had both been scooped up by CBS (more on that below). ABC leaned into the success of Sabrina the Teenage Witch the previous season by launching two more fantasy sitcoms with Sabrina as the lead-off to the night. You Wish was the I Dream of Jeannie to Sabrina's Bewitched. It centered on a genie who lived with a family with a single mom. Teen Angel was about a high school boy who dies after eating a six month old hamburger and comes back as a guardian angel to his best friend. The three fantasy shows, along with the odd show out - Boy Meets World, famously did a crossover event in early November that took each show to a different decade. That was the end of the road though for You Wish, which was pulled from the lineup after that night. Teen Angel limped along for a few more months and Hiller and Diller made a brief appearance on the night. But by the end of the season, ABC was just airing reruns of Sabrina and Boy Meets World alongside new episodes and it was clear that TGIF was losing its power. As usual, the top show on the night was 20/20 at 10pm.

CBS	8:00	8:30	9:00	9:30	10:00
Sep	Family Matters	Meego	The Gregory Hines Show	Step by Step	Nash Bridges
Oct
Nov	Various Programs		Family Matters
Dec
Jan	Kids Say the Darndest Things	The Gregory Hines Show
Feb		Candid Camera	Various Programs
Mar
Apr			Unsolved Mysteries
May

CBS must have seen ABC's TGIF lineup as weakening because they tried to deliver a death blow in the Fall of 1997 with their own family comedy block that included two former TGIF shows. Family Matters and Step by Step both came from the Miller-Boyett Company and they were in a contract battle with new ABC corporate parent, the Walt Disney Company. They eventually ended up on CBS with a $40 million deal for 22 episode seasons of each show. They took over as the bookends on the night with two new sitcoms in between. Meego brought Bronson Pinchot back to TV as an alien in a role that was very similar to the role that made him famous, Balki on Perfect Strangers. The Gregory Hines Show was a highly anticipated comedy starring Hines as a widower raising a 12 year old son. The ratings or the entire block were disappointing. Meego was cancelled quickly and The Gregory Hines Show bounced around the lineup before being off the air at the end of January. Check back tomorrow for a One Season Wonder look at The Gregory Hines Show! In January, Family Matters moved to 9pm and the new 8pm entry was an updated version of Kids Say the Darndest Things hosted by Bill Cosby. The series was a surprise Friday night success for the network. Eventually, all the scripted comedies were gone from the night with a new edition of Candid Camera and Unsolved Mysteries, which had moved from NBC to CBS. Nash Bridges continued to be a solid 10pm performer. All the sitcoms were cancelled by the end of the season. The CBS "Block Party" gamble on Friday nights did not work out for them in the short term but they did find success with Kids Say and it could be argued that it weakened TGIF enough to lead to its demise a couple years later which in turn led to CBS having a run of dominance on the night.

NBC	8:00	9:00	10:00
Sep	Various Programs
Oct	Players	Dateline NBC	Homicide: Life on the Street
Nov
Dec
Jan
Feb	Dateline NBC	Friday Night Movie
Mar	Players	Dateline NBC	Homicide: Life on the Street
Apr	Various Programs
May

Unsolved Mysteries was gone from NBC and its longtime Friday slot heading into the 1997-98 season. Dateline NBC remained at 9pm and Homicide: Life on the Street continued its quiet but critically acclaimed run at 10pm. The new entry at 8pm was Players, a crime drama starring Ice-T, Costas Mandylor and Frank John Hughes as three ex-cons working for the FBI. The series did not do well in the ratings but it lasted for much of the season in the 8pm hour. It was cancelled at the end of the season but co-creator Dick Wolf reunited with Ice-T just a couple years later to start their long partnership on Law & Order: SVU. 

FOX	8:00	9:00
Sep	The Visitor	Millennium
Oct
Nov
Dec
Jan	Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction?
Feb
Mar
Apr
May

FOX had the creepy Millennium returning to Friday nights for the 1997-98 season but they needed a new 8pm show with Sliders finally cancelled. The new entry was The Visitor, a sci-fi drama starring John Corbett as a man who had been abducted by aliens 50 years prior and escaped back to Earth. The show was notable for being the first to have simultaneous webisodes in the early days of fandom on the internet. The series lasted half a season before being cancelled. It was replaced with another sci-fi tinged shows but this time, it was an unscripted one. Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction? was a cheap option that aired the rest of the season in the slot. Meanwhile, Millennium continued to do alright at 9pm and got renewed again, but it was clear it was not the next coming of The X-Files.

Top Rated Friday Show of 1997-98: 20/20 (#20)

Lowest Rated Friday Show of 1997-98: Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction? (#120)

What would I have watched on Friday nights in 1997-98?

I was watching Nick at Nite at the time (but I do remember watching the crossover night of TGIF). If it were now, I don't think I would have been super interested in the ABC or CBS comedy lineups though I would have definitely checked out The Gregory Hines Show. And I definitely would have watched Homicide at 10pm.

Tomorrow: A One Season Wonder look at The Gregory Hines Show!

Next Tuesday: A look at Saturdays in the 1997-98 season!