1987–88 United States network television schedule

Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates Template:USTV The 1987–88 network television schedule for the four major English language commercial broadcast networks in the United States covers primetime hours from September 1987 through August 1988. The schedule is followed by a list per network of returning series, new series, and series cancelled after the 1986–87 season.

This is the first fall season in which Fox aired prime-time programming (while it debuted in October 1986, it would only cover late nights until April 1987), making this the first full season since 1958-59 in which a fourth commercial television network (NTA) was broadcasting. Fox would air only two days a week (Saturdays and Sundays) until the spring of 1989.

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. Series ending their network runs are highlighted in italics.

All times are U.S. Eastern Time and Pacific Time (except for some live sports or events). Subtract one hour for Central, Mountain, Alaska and Hawaii–Aleutian times.

From February 13 to 28, 1988, all of ABC's primetime programming was preempted in favor of coverage of the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary.

Each of the 30 highest-rated shows is listed with its rank and rating as determined by Nielsen Media Research.<ref name="BM2">Highest-rated series is based on the annual top-rated programs list compiled by Nielsen Media Research and reported in: Brooks, Tim & Marsh, Earle (2007). The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network TV Shows (9th ed.). New York: Ballantine. Template:ISBN.</ref>

Legend

Template:Plainlist

Schedule

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, Alaska and Hawaii–Aleutian times.

Sunday

Network		7:00 p.m.	8:00 p.m.	8:30 p.m.	9:00 p.m.	9:30 p.m.	10:00 p.m.	10:30 p.m.
ABC	Fall	The Disney Sunday Movie	Spenser: For Hire		Dolly		Buck James
	Winter	The Disney Sunday Movie			The ABC Sunday Night Movie
	Spring	The Disney Sunday Movie	Supercarrier
	Mid-spring		Template:Small
	Summer		MacGyver Template:Small
CBS		Template:Highlight	Murder, She Wrote Template:Small		Template:Highlight
Fox	Fall	21 Jump Street	Married... with Children	Template:Small	The Tracey Ullman Show	Mr. President	Template:Small
	Mid-fall		Werewolf	Married... with Children	The Tracey Ullman Show	Duet	Template:Small
	Winter		Werewolf		It's Garry Shandling's Show		The Tracey Ullman Show	Template:Small
	Spring		America’s Most Wanted					Werewolf
	Summer		America’s Most Wanted					Werewolf
NBC	Fall	Our House	Family Ties Template:Small	My Two Dads Template:Small	Template:Highlight
	Winter			My Two Dads Template:Small
	Spring			Day by Day Template:Small
	Summer	Rags to Riches Template:Small		My Two Dads Template:Small

Notes:

The Wonder Years premiered on January 31, 1988 after Super Bowl XXII.
It's Garry Shandling's Show consisted of edited reruns of the Showtime series.

Monday

Network		8:00 p.m.	8:30 p.m.	9:00 p.m.	9:30 p.m.	10:00 p.m.
ABC	Fall	MacGyver		Template:Highlight
	Winter			The ABC Monday Night Movie
	Spring			The ABC Monday Night Movie
	Summer	Monday Night Baseball
CBS	Fall	Frank's Place	Kate & Allie	Newhart Template:Small	Designing Women	Cagney & Lacey
	Mid-fall	Kate & Allie	Frank's Place		Designing Women	Cagney & Lacey
	Winter		Designing Women		Frank's Place	Wiseguy
	Spring				Eisenhower and Lutz	Wiseguy
	Mid-spring				Eisenhower and Lutz	Cagney & Lacey
	Summer	Blue Skies		Kate & Allie	Designing Women	Magnum, P.I. Template:Small
	Mid-summer	Newhart Template:Small	The Cavanaughs	Kate & Allie	Designing Women	Magnum, P.I. Template:Small
NBC		ALF Template:Small	Valerie's Family Template:Small	Template:Highlight

Tuesday

Network		8:00 p.m.	8:30 p.m.	9:00 p.m.	9:30 p.m.	10:00 p.m.
ABC	Fall	Who's the Boss? Template:Small	Growing Pains Template:Small	Moonlighting Template:Small		Thirtysomething
	Winter		The Wonder Years Template:Small
	Spring		Just the Ten of Us
	Summer		Perfect Strangers Template:Small
	Mid-summer		Full House Template:Small
CBS	Fall	Houston Knights		Jake and the Fatman		The Law & Harry McGraw
	Winter	48 Hours		Jake and the Fatman		Cagney & Lacey
	Spring	Trial and Error	My Sister Sam	Coming of Age	Frank's Place	Cagney & Lacey
	Mid-spring	Houston Knights		The CBS Tuesday Night Movie
	Summer	CBS Summer Playhouse		The CBS Tuesday Night Movie
NBC	Fall	Matlock Template:Small		J.J. Starbuck		Crime Story
	Mid-fall			Hunter Template:Small
	Winter			Hunter Template:Small
	Spring			In the Heat of the Night Template:Small
	Mid-spring			NBC Tuesday Night at the Movies
	Summer			J.J. Starbuck		NBC Summer Showcase
	Mid-summer			In the Heat of the Night Template:Small		NBC Summer Showcase

Notes:

Full House premiered on September 22 at 8:30 pm on ABC.
The Dictator was supposed to premiere March 15, 1988 at 8:30-9:00 on CBS, but My Sister Sam replaced it at the last minute due to the 1988 Writers Guild of America strike.

Wednesday

Network		8:00 p.m.	8:30 p.m.	9:00 p.m.	9:30 p.m.	10:00 p.m.
ABC	Fall	Perfect Strangers	Head of the Class Template:Small	Hooperman	The Slap Maxwell Story	Dynasty
	Winter	Growing Pains Template:Small				Dynasty
	Spring					HeartBeat
	Mid-spring				Just in Time	HeartBeat
	Late spring				Just in Time	China Beach
	Summer				The Slap Maxwell Story	Spenser: For Hire Template:Small
	Late summer				The Slap Maxwell Story	China Beach
CBS	Fall	The Oldest Rookie		Magnum, P.I.		The Equalizer
	Winter	The Law & Harry McGraw		Magnum, P.I.
	Spring	The Smothers Brothers Show		Jake and the Fatman
	Summer	Jake and the Fatman		The Equalizer		Wiseguy Template:Small
NBC	Fall	Highway to Heaven		A Year in the Life		St. Elsewhere
	Winter	Highway to Heaven		A Year in the Life		St. Elsewhere
	Mid-winter	Aaron's Way Template:Small		Highway to Heaven		A Year in the Life
	Spring			A Year in the Life		The Bronx Zoo
	Mid-spring			Highway to Heaven		St. Elsewhere
	Summer	Highway to Heaven		The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd	Sara Template:Small	The Bronx Zoo
	Mid-summer	Template:Small		George Schlatter's Funny People		St. Elsewhere
	Late summer	George Schlatter's Funny People		The NBC Wednesday Night Movie

Note:

Sara consisted entirely of reruns of the 1985 series.

Thursday

Network		8:00 p.m.	8:30 p.m.	9:00 p.m.	9:30 p.m.	10:00 p.m.
ABC	Fall	Sledge Hammer!	The Charmings	The ABC Thursday Night Movie
	Winter	The Charmings	Growing Pains Template:Small	The ABC Thursday Night Movie
	Spring	Probe		Hotel		Buck James
	Summer	The ABC Thursday Night Movie				Hothouse
CBS	Fall	Tour of Duty		Wiseguy		Knots Landing
	Winter	Tour of Duty		Simon & Simon
	Spring	48 Hours
	Summer	48 Hours				Cagney & Lacey Template:Small
NBC	Fall	The Cosby Show Template:Small	A Different World Template:Small	Cheers Template:Small	Night Court Template:Small	L.A. Law Template:Small
	Winter				Night Court Template:Small
	Spring				The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd
	Mid-spring				Night Court Template:Small
	Summer				Night Court Template:Small

Friday

Network		8:00 p.m.	8:30 p.m.	9:00 p.m.	9:30 p.m.	10:00 p.m.
ABC	Fall	Full House	I Married Dora	Max Headroom		20/20
	Mid-fall		I Married Dora	Mr. Belvedere	Pursuit of Happiness
	Winter		Mr. Belvedere	The Thorns	Sledge Hammer!
	Late winter	Perfect Strangers	Full House	Mr. Belvedere	The Thorns
	Spring				Family Man
	Summer				I Married Dora
CBS	Fall	Beauty and the Beast		Dallas Template:Small		Falcon Crest
	Winter
	Spring
	Summer			CBS Friday Movie
NBC	Fall	Rags to Riches		Miami Vice		Private Eye
	Winter	Template:Small				Sonny Spoon
	Late winter	The Highwayman				Sonny Spoon
	Spring	The Highwayman		Night Court Template:Small	Beverly Hills Buntz	Miami Vice
	Mid-spring	TV's Bloopers & Practical Jokes Template:Small		The Highwayman
	Summer			Sonny Spoon
	Mid-summer			Blacke's Magic Template:Small

Notes:

TV's Bloopers and Practical Jokes consisted on reruns of the 1984–86 series.
Blacke's Magic consisted on reruns of the 1986 series.

Saturday

Network		8:00 p.m.	8:30 p.m.	9:00 p.m.	9:30 p.m.	10:00 p.m.
ABC	Fall	Once a Hero		Ohara		Hotel
	Mid-fall	Sable		Ohara
	Late fall	Ohara		Sable
	Winter	Dolly		Ohara		Spenser: For Hire
	Spring	Dolly
	Summer	Probe Template:Small
	Mid-summer	Supercarrier Template:Small				Hotel
	Late summer	Supercarrier Template:Small		Template:Small		Spenser: For Hire
CBS	Fall	My Sister Sam	Everything's Relative	Leg Work		West 57th
	Mid-fall	The CBS Saturday Night Movie
	Winter	High Mountain Rangers		Houston Knights
	Mid-winter			Tour of Duty
	Spring
	Summer	Kate & Allie Template:Small	Frank's Place Template:Small
	Late summer	First Impressions	Frank's Place Template:Small
Fox	Fall	Werewolf	The New Adventures of Beans Baxter	Second Chance	Duet	Template:Small
	Mid-fall	Mr. President	Women in Prison	The New Adventures of Beans Baxter	Second Chance
	Winter	Boys Will Be Boys	Women in Prison	The New Adventures of Beans Baxter	Mr. President
	Spring	Family Double Dare	Boys Will Be Boys	Werewolf	Werewolf Template:Small
	Mid-spring		Boys Will Be Boys	Dirty Dozen: The Series
	Summer		Family Double Dare	Dirty Dozen: The Series
	Mid-summer	The Reporters		Template:Small
NBC	Fall	The Facts of Life	227 Template:Small	The Golden Girls Template:Small	Amen Template:Small	Hunter Template:Small
	Late fall					J.J. Starbuck
	Winter					J.J. Starbuck
	Spring					Hunter Template:Small
	Summer					Hunter Template:Small