SCHEDULES OF THE PAST: 1997-1998 Sundays

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

ABC	7:00	8:00	9:00	10:00
Sep	The Wonderful World of Disney		Sunday Night Movie
Oct
Nov
Dec
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May

ABC revamped their Sunday nights for the 1997-98 season with America's Funniest Home Videos taking a break after going from one of TV's top rated shows to an afterthought. With Disney purchasing ABC, the time was right for the return of The Wonderful World of Disney. The franchise had aired in one form or another, sometimes under different names and across all big three networks, since the 1950s. It had not aired as a regular weekly event since The Magical World of Disney left the NBC airwaves in 1990. ABC got off to a big start with the network television premiere of Toy Story and then the heavily hyped updated version of Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella airing in November Sweeps. Like any film night, ratings fluctuated wildly based on what they were showing but some, like Cinderella, were dominant ratings performers. Despite the improved ratings in the first two hours, ABC's movie at 9pm trailed behind CBS and NBC's movies as well as The X-Files on FOX.

CBS	7:00	8:00	9:00	10:00
Sep	60 Minutes	Touched By An Angel	Sunday Night Movie
Oct
Nov
Dec
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May

CBS continued to dominate on Sunday nights with its trio of 60 Minutes, Touched by an Angel and their movie. Angel was the highest rated show on TV in 1997-98 that wasn't a part of NBC's Thursday lineup while 60 Minutes and the movie were also both in the Top 10 for the year.

NBC	7:00	8:00	8:30	9:00	10:00
Sep	Dateline NBC	Men Behaving Badly	Jenny	Sunday Night Movie
Oct
Nov
Dec		Dateline NBC
Jan		Various Programs
Feb
Mar
Apr
May

NBC kept trying to make comedies work on Sunday nights. They had tried Mad About You/Hope & Gloria in 1995-96 and then 3rd Rock From the Sun/Boston Common in 1996-97. They tried again for 1997-98 but it was even less successful than the previous two attempts. Dateline NBC continued to start things off and a movie closed the night. At 8pm was Men Behaving Badly, a marginally rated show that had gotten renewed for a second season. I'm not sure what NBC was thinking because it certainly wasn't strong enough to be a lead off show nor did the content make sense for Sundays at 8pm. The series was re-tooled and became more of a vehicle for Rob Schneider with co-stars Ron Eldard and Justine Bateman dropped from the series. At 8:30pm was the new comedy Jenny, a sitcom starring popular MTV personality Jenny McCarthy as a woman who tries to make it big in Hollywood after inheriting a lot of money. Both series were off the lineup by the end of November Sweeps though Jenny resurfaced briefly on Mondays (and was in talks to get picked up by UPN though that didn't come to fruition). For the rest of the season, NBC did not have a regular 8pm occupant. Sometimes it was Dateline NBC, sometimes they started their movie early, sometimes there were specials.

FOX	7:00	8:00	8:30	9:00
Sep	The World’s Funniest	The Simpsons	King of the Hill	The X-Files
Oct
Nov
Dec
Jan
Feb
Mar			Damon
Apr			King of the Hill
May

FOX had been all over the place on Sunday nights for several seasons with a few key anchors, but those anchors stayed in place to give FOX their most stable Sunday night season in years. With America's Funniest Home Videos off the night, FOX tried to fill the void with The World's Funniest, an unscripted video series hosted by James Brown. The series had a little bit of an erratic airing schedule with football overruns but it held down the fort in the hour. The rest of the night was gangbusters for FOX though with The Simpsons, King of the Hill and The X-Files all placing in the Top 20. The top performer was The X-Files, which continued to be a very buzzy and popular show. King of the Hill was also a breakout from the previous season and even outperformed The Simpsons in the ratings. FOX had a night of huge success and not just "success by FOX standards" but genuine hits. They briefly aired a few episodes of Damon in the spring to give it a good start in the ratings. It didn't help matters when it moved to Monday nights though.

WB	7:00	7:30	8:00	8:30	9:00	9:30
Sep	Nick Freno: Licensed Teacher	The Parent ‘Hood	The Jamie Foxx Show	Unhappily Ever After	The Tom Show	Alright Already
Oct
Nov				The Tom Show	Unhappily Ever After
Dec			The Parent ‘Hood	The Jamie Foxx Show
Jan		The Tom Show
Feb
Mar
Apr		The Parent ‘Hood	Sister, Sister			You’re the One
May		Kelly Kelly				Alright Already

The WB continued with three hours of comedy on Sunday nights though nothing really popped as they started to find success with their dramas on other nights. At 7pm was the second season of Nick Freno: Licensed Teacher. The series was one of the lowest rated shows on TV in the 1996-97 season but still got a reprieve. In 1997-98, it was the actual lowest rated show on TV and was cancelled at the end of the season. Three veteran shows followed with The Parent 'Hood, The Jamie Foxx Show and Unhappily Ever After continuing to plug along. Two new shows followed in the 9pm hour. The Tom Show marked Tom Arnold's third attempt at a network sitcom after the failed early 90s shows The Jackie Thomas Show and Tom. This one featured him as a divorced dad moving back home to St. Paul, Minnesota and also starred Ed McMahon. At 9:30pm was Alright Already, a sitcom created by and starring Carol Leifer as a woman running an optometry shop in Miami. Despite some good reviews for Alright Already, neither new comedy made it to a second season. Check back tomorrow for a One Season Wonder post on Alright Already! The WB shuffled around the sitcoms quite a bit throughout the season with Sister, Sister also joining the night later in the season and The Tom Show bouncing around to three different timeslots. Late in the season, two new comedies joined the lineup. Kelly Kelly moved over after a very brief run on Mondays while You're the One was a new comedy that briefly replaced Alright Already at 9:30pm. You're the One was about a man and a woman from very different backgrounds who fell in love. It lasted just three weeks. When all was said and done, most of the veteran shows (except Nick Freno) were renewed again while none of the new shows got a second season.

Top Rated Sunday Show of 1997-98: Touched by an Angel (#5)

Lowest Rated Sunday Show of 1997-98: Nick Freno: Licensed Teacher (#172)

What would I have watched on Sundays in 1997-98?

Despite a lot of options, not much would have interested me. I would have watched the good entries on Wonderful World of Disney and maybe sometimes I would have checked out Touched by an Angel. I would have also been interested in checking out Alright Already.

Tomorrow: A One Season Wonder look at Alright Already!

Next Tuesday: A look at Mondays in the 1998-99 season!