The 1990–91 network television schedule for the four major English language commercial
broadcast networks in the United States covers
primetime hours from September 1990 through August 1991. The schedule is followed by a
list per network of returning series, new series, and series cancelled after the
1989–90 season.
Beginning this season,
Fox began broadcasting on Thursdays and Fridays.
PBS is not included; member stations have local flexibility over most of their schedules and broadcast times for network shows may vary.
New series are highlighted in bold.
All times are
U.S. Eastern Time and
Pacific Time (except for some live sports or events). Subtract one hour for
Central,
Mountain
A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher t ...
,
Alaska
Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...
and
Hawaii–Aleutian times.
Each of the 30 highest-rated shows is listed with its rank and rating as determined by
Nielsen Media Research
Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rat ...
.
[Highest-rated series is based on the annual top-rated programs list compiled by ]Nielsen Media Research
Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rat ...
and reported in: Brooks, Tim & Marsh, Earle (2007). ''The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network TV Shows'' (9th ed.). New York: Ballantine. .
Legend
Sunday
Note: ''All in the Family'' consisted in assorted episodes of the 1970s series.
Monday
Note: On CBS, ''
Face to Face with Connie Chung'' was to have aired 10-11 p.m., but it was replaced by ''
The Trials of Rosie O'Neill'' at the last minute due to
Connie Chung's personal health commitments.
Tuesday
Wednesday
Note:
Top Cops aired at 10:00 PM on CBS from July to October 1990. ''
Police Squad!'' on CBS consisted of reruns of the 1982 ABC series.
Thursday
On CBS, ''
Sons and Daughters'' was supposed to premiere on October 25, 1990, while ''
The Flash
The Flash is the name of several superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Harry Lampert, the original Flash first appeared in ''Flash Comics'' #1 (cover date, cover-dated Jan ...
'' is supposed to start at 8:00-9:00 p.m., but the show was shelved.
Friday
Saturday
By network
ABC
;Returning series
*''
20/20''
*''The ABC Monday Night Movie''
*''The ABC Saturday Night Movie''
*''
The ABC Sunday Night Movie''
*''
America's Funniest Home Videos''
*''
Anything but Love''
*''
China Beach''
*''
Coach''
*''
Doogie Howser, M.D.''
*''
Equal Justice''
*''
Family Matters''
*''
Father Dowling Mysteries''
*''
Full House
''Full House'' is an American television sitcom created by Jeff Franklin for American Broadcasting Company, ABC. The show is about the recently widowed father Danny Tanner who enlists his brother-in-law Jesse Katsopolis and childhood best friend ...
''
*''
Growing Pains''
*''
Head of the Class''
*''
Life Goes On''
*''
MacGyver
Angus "Mac" MacGyver is the title character and the protagonist in the TV series ''MacGyver''. He is played by Richard Dean Anderson in the MacGyver (1985 TV series), 1985 original series. Lucas Till portrays a younger version of MacGyver in Mac ...
''
*''
Monday Night Football''
*''
Perfect Strangers''
*''
Primetime Live''
*''
Roseanne''
*''
Thirtysomething''
*''
Twin Peaks
''Twin Peaks'' is an American Surrealist cinema, surrealist Mystery film, mystery-Horror film, horror Drama (film and television), drama television series created by Mark Frost and David Lynch. It Pilot (Twin Peaks), premiered on American Broad ...
''
*''
Who's the Boss?''
*''
The Wonder Years''
*''
The Young Riders''
;New series
*''
America's Funniest People'' *
*''
Baby Talk
Baby talk is a type of speech associated with an older person speaking to a child or infant. It is also called caretaker speech, infant-directed speech (IDS), child-directed speech (CDS), child-directed language (CDL), caregiver register, parente ...
'' *
*''
Cop Rock''
*''
Davis Rules''
*''
Dinosaurs'' *
*''
Eddie Dodd'' *
*''
Gabriel's Fire''
*''
Going Places''
*''
Hi Honey, I'm Home!'' *
*''
The Man in the Family'' *
*''
Married People''
*''
My Life and Times'' *
*''
Stat'' *
*''
Under Cover'' *
Not returning from
1989–90:
*''
The ABC Mystery Movie''
*''
Brewster Place''
*''
Capital News''
*''
Chicken Soup''
*''
Elvis''
*''
Free Spirit''
*''
H.E.L.P.''
*''
Homeroom
A homeroom, tutor group, form class, or form is a brief administrative period that occurs in a classroom assigned to a student in primary school and in secondary school. Within a homeroom period or classroom, administrative documents are distri ...
''
*''
Just the Ten of Us''
*''
Living Dolls''
*''The Marshall Chronicles''
*''
Mission: Impossible''
*''
Mr. Belvedere''
*''
Monopoly
A monopoly (from Greek language, Greek and ) is a market in which one person or company is the only supplier of a particular good or service. A monopoly is characterized by a lack of economic Competition (economics), competition to produce ...
''
*''
Sunset Beat''
*''
Super Jeopardy!''
*''
Tim Conway's Funny America''
CBS
;Returning series
*''
48 Hours''
*''
60 Minutes
''60 Minutes'' is an American television news magazine broadcast on the CBS television network. Debuting in 1968, the program was created by Don Hewitt and Bill Leonard, who distinguished it from other news programs by using a unique style o ...
''
*''
Bagdad Café''
*''
CBS Sunday Movie''
*''
Dallas
Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...
''
*''
Designing Women''
*''
Doctor Doctor''
*''
Guns of Paradise'' (formerly known as ''Paradise'')
*''
The Hogan Family'' (moved from
NBC)
*''
Jake and the Fatman''
*''
Knots Landing''
*''
Major Dad''
*''
Murder, She Wrote
''Murder, She Wrote'' is an American crime drama television series, created by Peter S. Fischer, Richard Levinson and William Link, starring Angela Lansbury, and produced and distributed by Universal Television for the CBS network. The series f ...
''
*''
Murphy Brown''
*''
Northern Exposure''
*''
Rescue 911''
*''
Wiseguy''
;New series
*''
The Antagonists'' *
*''
Broken Badges'' *
*''
E.A.R.T.H. Force''
*''
Evening Shade''
*''
The Family Man''
*''
The Flash
The Flash is the name of several superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Harry Lampert, the original Flash first appeared in ''Flash Comics'' #1 (cover date, cover-dated Jan ...
''
*''
Golden Years''
*''
Good Sports'' *
*''
Lenny''
*''
Morton & Hayes'' *
*''
Over My Dead Body''
*''
Sons and Daughters'' *
*''
Sunday Dinner'' *
*''
The Trials of Rosie O'Neill''
*''True Detectives'' *
*''
Uncle Buck''
*''
WIOU''
*''
You Take the Kids'' *
Not returning from
1989–90:
*''
Beauty and the Beast''
*''
The Bradys''
*''
City
A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...
''
*''
Falcon Crest''
*''
The Famous Teddy Z''
*''
Grand Slam''
*''
His & Hers''
*''
Island Son''
*''
Max Monroe: Loose Cannon''
*''
Newhart''
*''
Normal Life
''Normal Life'' is a 1996 American Crime film, crime drama film based on the real lives of husband-and-wife bank robbers, Jeffrey and Jill Erickson. The film stars Ashley Judd and Luke Perry and was directed by John McNaughton. The original scr ...
''
*''
A Peaceable Kingdom''
*''
The People Next Door''
*''Prime Time Pets''
*''Room for Romance''
*''Saturday Night with Connie Chung''
*''Small Talk''
*''
Snoops''
*''
Sugar and Spice''
*''
Sydney
Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...
''
*''
Top of the Hill''
*''
Tour of Duty''
*''
Wolf
The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the grey wolf or gray wolf, is a Canis, canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of Canis lupus, subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, includin ...
''
Fox
;Returning series
*''
America's Most Wanted''
*''
Comic Strip Live''
*''
Cops''
*''FOX Night at the Movies''
*''
In Living Color''
*''
Married... with Children''
*''
The Simpsons
''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening, James L. Brooks and Sam Simon for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It is a Satire (film and television), satirical depiction of American life ...
''
*''
Totally Hidden Video''
;New series
*''
Against the Law''
*''
American Chronicles''
*''
Babes''
*''
Beverly Hills, 90210''
*''
DEA''
*''
Get a Life''
*''
Good Grief''
*''
Haywire''
*''
Parker Lewis Can't Lose''
*''
The Sunday Comics'' *
*''
Top of the Heap'' *
*''
True Colors''
*''
Yearbook
A yearbook, also known as an annual, is a type of Annual publication, a book published annually. One use is to record, highlight, and commemorate the past year of a school. The term also refers to a book of statistics or facts published annually ...
''
Not returning from
1989–90:
*''
21 Jump Street'' (moved to syndication)
*''
Alien Nation''
*''
Beyond Tomorrow''
*''
Booker''
*''
It's Garry Shandling's Show''
*''
Glory Days''
*''
Molloy''
*''
Open House''
*''
The Outsiders''
*''
The Reporters''
*''
The Tracey Ullman Show''
NBC
;Returning series
*''
Amen''
*''
Cheers
''Cheers'' is an American television sitcom, created by Glen and Les Charles, Glen Charles & Les Charles and James Burrows, that aired on NBC for eleven seasons from September 30, 1982, to May 20, 1993. The show was produced by Charles/Burrows/C ...
''
*''
The Cosby Show''
*''
Dear John''
*''
A Different World''
*''
Down Home''
*''
Empty Nest''
*''
The Golden Girls
''The Golden Girls'' is an American sitcom created by Susan Harris that aired on NBC from September 14, 1985, to May 9, 1992, with a total of 180 half-hour episodes, spanning seven seasons. The show's ensemble cast stars Beatrice Arthur, Betty ...
''
*''
Grand''
*''
Hunter''
*''
In the Heat of the Night''
*''
L.A. Law
''L.A. Law'' is an American legal drama television series created by Steven Bochco and Terry Louise Fisher for NBC. It ran for eight seasons and List of L.A. Law episodes, 172 episodes from September 15, 1986, to May 19, 1994.
The series cente ...
''
*''
Matlock''
*''
Midnight Caller''
*''
NBC Sunday Night Movie''
*''
NBC Monday Night at the Movies''
*''
Night Court''
*''
Quantum Leap''
*''
Real Life with Jane Pauley''
*''
Seinfeld
''Seinfeld'' ( ) is an American television sitcom created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld that originally aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, with a total of nine seasons consisting of List of Seinfeld episodes, 180 episodes. It ...
''
*''
Shannon's Deal''
*''
Unsolved Mysteries''
*''
Wings''
;New series
*''
The 100 Lives of Black Jack Savage'' *
*''
American Dreamer''
*''
Blossom'' *
*''
Dark Shadows
''Dark Shadows'' is an American Gothic fiction, Gothic soap opera that aired weekdays on the American Broadcasting Company, ABC television network from June 27, 1966, to April 2, 1971. The show depicted the lives, loves, trials, and tribulatio ...
'' *
*''Expose'' *
*''
The Fanelli Boys''
*''
Ferris Bueller''
*''
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air''
*''
Hull High''
*''
Lifestories''
*''
Law & Order''
*''
Parenthood''
*''
Sisters
A sister is a woman or a girl who shares parents or a parent with another individual; a female sibling. The male counterpart is a brother. Although the term typically refers to a familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to r ...
'' *
*''Sunday Best'' *
*''
Working It Out''
Not returning from
1989–90:
*''13 East''
*''
227''
*''
ALF''
*''
Ann Jillian''
*''
Baywatch
''Baywatch'' is an American Drama (film and television), drama television series about lifeguards who patrol the beaches of Los Angeles County, California, and Hawaii, starring David Hasselhoff. It was created by Michael Berk, Douglas Schwartz ...
'' (moved to syndication in September 1991)
*''
Brand New Life''
*''
Carol and Company''
*''
A Family for Joe
''A Family for Joe'' is an American sitcom that starred Robert Mitchum in the title role. It started out as a television movie that aired NBC on February 25, 1990, before turning it into a series that lasted from March 24 until August 19, 1990. Ni ...
''
*''
FM''
*''
Hardball''
*''
The Hogan Family'' (moved to
CBS)
*''
The Magical World of Disney'' (moved to
ABC)
*''
Mancuso, F.B.I.''
*''
My Two Dads''
*''
Nasty Boys''
*''
The Nutt House''
*''
Singer & Sons''
*''
Sister Kate''
*''
True Blue''
*''
Working Girl''
Note: The * indicates that the program was introduced in midseason.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:1990-91 United States network television schedule
United States primetime network television schedules
1990 in American television
1991 in American television