Benjamonster's TV

On Tuesdays, I take a look at schedules from yesteryear. Here's a look at Sundays in the 1998-99 season! ABC 7:00 8:00 9:00 10:00 Sep The Wonderful World of Disney 20/20 The Practice Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May ABC had successfully relaunched The Wonderful World of Disney in the 1997-98 season and it returned for the 1998-99 season with a mixture of new and classic Disney films. They didn't have anything as high profile as Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella among their originals so it didn't make as much of a splash in the ratings. ABC decided they didn't need two movies on Sunday night so they got rid of their Sunday night movie, the first of the big three networks to do so permanently (though it had been tried occasionally over the years). Yet another edition of 20/...

On Tuesdays, I take a look at schedules from yesteryear. Here's a look at Saturdays in the 1998-99 season! ABC 8:00 9:00 10:00 Sep America’s Funniest Home Videos Fantasy Island Cupid Oct Nov Dec Jan Saturday Night Movie Fantasy Island Feb Various Programs Mar Apr The Big Moment Saturday Night Movie May Various Programs Despite year after year of failures with scripted programming, ABC gave it the old college try again in 1998-99 with two new series and a new slot for America's Funniest Home Videos . Videos was in its second and final year of the John Fugelsang & Daisy Fuentes era and was pretty much an afterthought for the network at the time. At 9pm was Fantasy Island , the first remake of the iconic 1977-1984 series. The original series ...

On Tuesdays, I take a look at schedules from yesteryear. Here's a look at Fridays in the 1998-99 season! ABC 8:00 8:30 9:00 9:30 10:00 Sep Two of a Kind Boy Meets World Sabrina the Teenage Witch Brother’s Keeper 20/20 Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr Sabrina the Teenage Witch Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place May Home Improvement Sabrina the Teenage Witch ABC took care of the new competing CBS family lineup in 1997-98 but the battle seemed to leave ABC's once powerful TGIF lineup in a weaker state. They tried to liven up the night by bringing the Olsen Twins back to the night for their first TV show since Full House went off the air in 1995. It seemed like a good bet because the Olsen Twins were still quite well known in pop cult...

On Tuesdays, I take a look at schedules from yesteryear. Here's a look at Thursdays in the 1998-99 season! ABC 8:00 9:00 9:30 10:00 Sep Various Programs Thursday Night Movie Oct Vengeance Unlimited Nov Dec Jan Cupid Various Programs Feb Mar America’s Funniest Home Videos The Drew Carey Show Spin City Apr May Thursday Night Movie ABC stuck with its plan it used for the second half of the 1997-98 season on Thursdays to start the 1998-99 season with a drama leading into a movie. New drama Vengeance Unlimited took the 8pm slot. Vengeance Unlimited was a crime drama starring Michael Madsen and Kathleen York and it centered on a stranger serving justice to those ignored by the law. Check back tomorrow for a One Season Wonder post on Vengeance U...

Welcome back to the blog after Spring Break! On Tuesdays, I take a look at schedules from yesteryear. Here's a look at Wednesdays in the 1998-99 season! ABC 8:00 8:30 9:00 9:30 10:00 Sep Dharma & Greg Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place The Drew Carey Show The Secret Lives of Men 20/20 Oct Nov Dec Whose Line is it Anyway? Jan Feb Mar It’s Like, You Know… The Norm Show Apr May Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place ABC sent Spin City back to Tuesdays for the 1998-99 season because they had a show ready to take over the 8pm slot. Dharma & Greg had been a breakout freshman hit for the network and took over at 8pm while The Drew Carey Show remained a Top 20 show at 9pm. The half hour slots were a little more unsteady. Two Guys, a ...

On Tuesdays, I take a look at schedules from yesteryear. Here's a look at Tuesdays in the 1998-99 season! Also, after this week, the blog will be taking a two week break for Spring Break. New posts will return on April 4. ABC 8:00 8:30 9:00 9:30 10:00 Sep Home Improvement The Hughleys Spin City Sports Night Various Programs Oct NYPD Blue Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Strange World Apr NYPD Blue May ABC was a mess on Tuesdays in the 1997-98 season except for Home Improvement and NYPD Blue , but the night stabilized quite a bit for them in the 1998-99 season though trouble was on the horizon with the ending of Home Improvement . One of the most popular shows in the 1990s, Home Improvement moved up an hour to air at 8pm on Tuesdays. Stars Tim Allen an...

On Tuesdays, I take a look at schedules from yesteryear. Here's a look at Mondays in the 1998-99 season! ABC 8:00 8:30 9:00 10:00 Sep Monday Night Blast Monday Night Football Oct Nov Dec Jan 20/20 Monday Night Movie Feb Mar Apr May After years of failed shows leading into Monday Night Football , ABC decided to just abandon a lead-in show for the 1998-99 season. They went with a brief pregame show called Monday Night Blast hosted by Chris Berman and then the game started at 8:20pm. The team at Monday Night Football did not include Frank Gifford for the first time since the inaugural season in 1970. Gifford was replaced (unwillingly) by Boomer Esiason, who joined Al Michaels and Dan Dierdorf in the booth. After experimenting with no movie in the 1998 winter, a movie came back in Janua...

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 an...

On Tuesdays, I take a look at schedules from yesteryear. Here's a look at Saturdays in the 1997-98 season! ABC 8:00 9:00 10:00 Sep C-16 Total Security The Practice Oct Nov Dec Various Programs Jan Nothing Sacred Cracker ABC News Saturday Night Feb Saturday Night Movie Mar Various Programs Nothing Sacred Apr Saturday Night Movie May Despite many failed lineups on the night for years, ABC was at it again for 1997-98 with a trio of dramas to compete with CBS's winning lineup of dramas and NBC's "Thrillogy." Leading off at 8pm was C-16 , a new drama about a special unit of the FBI. The cast included a lot of solid names including Eric Roberts, Angie Harmon, D.B. Sweeney and Morris Chestnut. It was followed by anothe...