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The following is the 1978–79 network television schedule for the three major English language commercial broadcast networks in the United States. The schedule covers primetime hours from September 1978 through August 1979. The schedule is followed by a list per network of returning series, new series, and series cancelled after the 1977–78 season. All times are Eastern and Pacific, with certain exceptions, such as Monday Night Football.
New fall series are highlighted in bold. Series ending their original runs are in italics.
Each of the 30 highest-rated shows is listed with its rank and rating as determined by Nielsen Media Research.
- Yellow indicates the programs in the top 10 for the season.
- Cyan indicates the programs in the top 20 for the season.
- Magenta indicates the programs in the top 30 for the season.
PBS is not included; member stations have local flexibility over most of their schedules and broadcast times for network shows may vary.
Sunday
| Network | 7:00 PM | 7:30 PM | 8:00 PM | 8:30 PM | 9:00 PM | 9:30 PM | 10:00 PM | 10:30 PM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ABC | Fall | The Hardy Boys | Battlestar Galactica | The ABC Sunday Night Movie (15/22.6) (Tied with Barney Miller) | |||||
| Winter | The Osmond Family Hour | ||||||||
| Spring | Friends | ||||||||
| May | The Osmond Family Hour | ||||||||
| Summer | Salvage 1 | ||||||||
| CBS | Fall | 60 Minutes (6/25.5) | Mary | All in the Family (9/24.9) (Tied with Taxi) |
Alice (13/23.2) | Kaz | |||
| October | All in the Family (9/24.9) (Tied with Taxi) |
Alice (13/23.2) | Kaz | Dallas | |||||
| Spring | One Day at a Time (18/21.6) | Alice (13/23.2) | Just Friends (26/20.2) | The Mary Tyler Moore Hour | |||||
| Summer | The Jeffersons | Moses the Lawgiver | |||||||
| Follow-up | Kaz | ||||||||
| NBC | Fall | The Wonderful World of Disney | The Big Event | Lifeline | |||||
| Winter | Weekend | ||||||||
Notes: On CBS, the premiere (and only) episode of Co-Ed Fever aired on February 4 from 10:30 to 11:00 p.m., after which the show was cancelled. Moses the Lawgiver was a rerun of the 1975 miniseries. Mr. Dugan was supposed to premiere March 11, 1979 between All in the Family and Alice but due to black Congressmembers' criticism of it after a preview for them, the show was never broadcast. On NBC, the Centennial miniseries aired as part of The Big Event.
Monday
| Network | 8:00 PM | 8:30 PM | 9:00 PM | 9:30 PM | 10:00 PM | 10:30 PM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ABC | Fall | Welcome Back, Kotter | Operation Petticoat | Monday Night Football (28/19.8) (Tied with What's Happening!!) | |||
| October | Lucan | ||||||
| Winter | Salvage 1 | How the West Was Won | |||||
| Summer | Monday Night Baseball | ||||||
| CBS | Fall | WKRP in Cincinnati | People | M*A*S*H (7/25.4) | One Day at a Time (18/21.6) | Lou Grant (30/19.7) | |
| November | The White Shadow | ||||||
| Winter | Billy | Flatbush | WKRP in Cincinnati | ||||
| Spring | The White Shadow | ||||||
| NBC | Little House on the Prairie (14/23.1) | NBC Monday Night at the Movies (21/20.9) | |||||
Tuesday
| Network | 8:00 PM | 8:30 PM | 9:00 PM | 9:30 PM | 10:00 PM | 10:30 PM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ABC | Fall | Happy Days (3/28.6) (Tied with Mork & Mindy) |
Laverne & Shirley (1/30.5) | Three's Company (2/30.3) | Taxi (9/24.9) (Tied with All in the Family) |
Starsky & Hutch | |
| Spring | The Ropers (8/25.2) | 13 Queens Boulevard | |||||
| Summer | Detective School | ||||||
| CBS | Preliminary | The Amazing Spider-Man | The CBS Tuesday Night Movies | ||||
| Official | The Paper Chase | ||||||
| NBC | Fall | Grandpa Goes to Washington | The Big Event | ||||
| Winter | Cliffhangers: Stop Susan Williams/The Secret Empire/The Curse of Dracula | ||||||
| Summer | The Runaways | ||||||
Wednesday
| Network | 8:00 PM | 8:30 PM | 9:00 PM | 9:30 PM | 10:00 PM | 10:30 PM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ABC | Eight Is Enough (11/24.8) | Charlie's Angels (12/24.4) | Vega$ (23/20.6) | ||||
| CBS | Fall | The Jeffersons | In the Beginning | The CBS Wednesday Night Movies | |||
| Follow-up | Good Times | ||||||
| Winter | The Incredible Hulk | One Day at a Time (18/21.6) | The Jeffersons | Kaz | |||
| Follow-up | The Amazing Spider-Man | ||||||
| Spring | Married: The First Year | ||||||
| Follow-up | The Jeffersons | Miss Winslow and Son | Dear Detective | ||||
| Summer | All in the Family | Good Times | The CBS Wednesday Night Movies | ||||
| Follow-up | Dorothy | Hanging In | |||||
| NBC | Fall | Dick Clark's Live Wednesday | NBC Wednesday Night at the Movies | ||||
| Winter | Supertrain | NBC Novels for Television: From Here to Eternity/Studs Lonigan/Wheels | |||||
| Spring | Real People | ||||||
| Summer | Laugh-In | Various | |||||
Notes: The Wheels segment of NBC Novels for Television was a rerun of the 1978 miniseries. Laugh-In consisted of reruns of the 1977 television series.
Thursday
| Network | 8:00 PM | 8:30 PM | 9:00 PM | 9:30 PM | 10:00 PM | 10:30 PM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ABC | Fall | Mork & Mindy (3/28.6) (Tied with Happy Days) |
What's Happening!! (28/19.8) (Tied with Monday Night Football) |
Barney Miller (15/22.6) (Tied with The ABC Sunday Night Movie) |
Soap (19/21.3) | Family | |
| Winter | Angie (5/26.7) | ||||||
| Spring | Doctors' Private Lives | ||||||
| Follow-up | Family | ||||||
| Summer | 20/20 | ||||||
| CBS | Fall | The Waltons | Hawaii Five-O | Barnaby Jones (24/20.5) | |||
| Spring | The Chisholms | ||||||
| Follow-up | Time Express | ||||||
| Summer | The Waltons | ||||||
| NBC | Fall | Project U.F.O. | Quincy, M.E. | W.E.B. | |||
| Follow-up | David Cassidy: Man Undercover | ||||||
| Winter | Little Women | Mrs. Columbo | |||||
| Spring | Harris and Company | ||||||
| April | Whodunnit? | Highcliffe Manor | Presenting Susan Anton | ||||
| May | Hizzonner | Whodunnit? | |||||
| Follow-up | Comedy Theatre | NBC Novels for Television: The Innocent and the Damned | |||||
| Summer | Project U.F.O. | David Cassidy: Man Undercover | |||||
Notes: Mork & Mindy had a one-hour premiere on September 14, 1978.
Comedy Theatre, an anthology series of unsold television pilots for situation comedies last seen in the summer of 1976, returned for its second and last season.
The NBC Novels for Television segment The Innocent and the Damned was a rerun of the 1977 television miniseries Aspen.
Coasttocoast was supposed to air Thursdays 10:00-11:00PM, but NBC's new boss, Fred Silverman, canceled the show.
Friday
| Network | 8:00 PM | 8:30 PM | 9:00 PM | 9:30 PM | 10:00 PM | 10:30 PM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ABC | Fall | Donny & Marie | The ABC Friday Night Movie | ||||
| Winter | Makin' It | What's Happening!! (28/19.8) (Tied with Monday Night Football) | |||||
| Spring | Family | ||||||
| Follow-up | The MacKenzies of Paradise Cove | ||||||
| Summer | Operation Petticoat | Welcome Back, Kotter | |||||
| CBS | Fall | The New Adventures of Wonder Woman | The Incredible Hulk | Flying High | |||
| Winter | The Dukes of Hazzard (20/21.0) | Dallas | |||||
| Summer | The Incredible Hulk | ||||||
| NBC | Fall | The Waverly Wonders | Who's Watching the Kids? | The Rockford Files | The Eddie Capra Mysteries | ||
| November | Diff'rent Strokes (27/19.9) | ||||||
| Winter | Joe & Valerie | ||||||
| February | Brothers and Sisters | Turnabout | Hello, Larry | $weepstake$ | |||
| March | Hello, Larry | Brothers and Sisters | Turnabout | ||||
| Spring | The Rockford Files | The Duke | |||||
| Summer | The Eddie Capra Mysteries | ||||||
Saturday
| Network | 8:00 PM | 8:30 PM | 9:00 PM | 9:30 PM | 10:00 PM | 10:30 PM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ABC | Fall | Carter Country | Apple Pie | The Love Boat (17/22.1) | Fantasy Island (22/20.8) | ||
| October | Welcome Back, Kotter | Carter Country | |||||
| Winter | Delta House | Welcome Back, Kotter | |||||
| Spring | What's Happening!! (28/19.8) (Tied with Monday Night Football) |
Delta House | |||||
| Summer | Battlestar Galactica | ||||||
| August | Carol Burnett & Company | ||||||
| CBS | Fall | Rhoda | Good Times | The American Girls | Dallas | ||
| Winter | The White Shadow | CBS Movie | |||||
| Spring | The Bad News Bears | Billy | |||||
| NBC | Fall | CHiPs (25/20.3) | Various | Sword of Justice | |||
| Winter | B. J. and the Bear | The Rockford Files | |||||
| Spring | Supertrain | ||||||
By network
ABC
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Returning Series
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New Series
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Not returning from 1977–78:
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CBS
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Returning Series
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New Series
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Not returning from 1977–78:
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NBC
Note: The * indicates that the program was introduced in midseason.
References
- 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. ISBN 978-0-345-49773-4.
Additional sources
- Castleman, H. & Podrazik, W. (1982). Watching TV: Four Decades of American Television. New York: McGraw-Hill. 314 pp.
- McNeil, Alex. Total Television. Fourth edition. New York: Penguin Books. ISBN 0-14-024916-8.
- Brooks, Tim & Marsh, Earle (1985). The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network TV Shows (3rd ed.). New York: Ballantine. ISBN 0-345-31864-1.
| United States network television schedules | |
|---|---|