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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 started their prime time expansion starting with 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, Alaska and Hawaii–Aleutian times.
Each of the 30 highest-rated shows is listed with its rank and rating as determined by Nielsen Media Research.
Legend
- Light blue indicates local programming.
- Gray indicates encore programming.
- Blue-gray indicates news programming.
- Light green indicates sporting events.
- Light purple indicates movies.
- Red indicates series being burned off and other regularly scheduled programs, including specials.
- Yellow indicates the top-10 most watched programs of the season.
- Cyan indicates the top-20 most watched programs of the season.
- Magenta indicates the top-30 most watched programs of the season.
Sunday
| Network | 7:00 p.m. | 7:30 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 | Life Goes On | America's Funniest Home Videos (7/16.7) | America's Funniest People (13/16.3) | The ABC Sunday Night Movie | |||||
| CBS | Fall | 60 Minutes (7/19.7) | Murder, She Wrote (12/16.4) | CBS Sunday Movie (19/15.0) | |||||
| Summer | All in the Family (R) | Sunday Dinner | Murder, She Wrote (8/17.2) | The Trials of Rosie O'Neill | |||||
| Fox | Fall | True Colors | Parker Lewis Can't Lose | In Living Color | Get a Life | Married... with Children | Good Grief | Against the Law | |
| Mid-fall | Comic Strip: Live | ||||||||
| Spring | Top of the Heap | The Sunday Comics | |||||||
| NBC | Fall | Hull High | Lifestories | NBC Sunday Night Movie | |||||
| Winter | Sunday Best | Real Life with Jane Pauley | Expose | ||||||
| Spring | The 100 Lives of Black Jack Savage | Expose | Real Life with Jane Pauley | ||||||
Monday
| Network | 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 | MacGyver | Monday Night Football (10/16.8) | ||||
| Winter | The ABC Monday Night Movie | ||||||
| CBS | Fall | Uncle Buck | Major Dad (21/14.9) | Murphy Brown (6/16.9) | Designing Women (7/17.5) | The Trials of Rosie O'Neill | |
| Mid-fall | Evening Shade | ||||||
| Spring | Northern Exposure | ||||||
| Summer | Major Dad (21/14.9) | The Family Man | |||||
| Fox | Fox Night at the Movies | Local programming | |||||
| NBC | Fall | The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air | Ferris Bueller | NBC Monday Night at the Movies | |||
| Winter | Blossom | ||||||
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
| Network | 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 | Who's the Boss? (19/15.0) | Head of the Class (26/14.5) | Roseanne (3/18.1) | Coach (18/15.3) | Thirtysomething | |
| Winter | Davis Rules (27/14.3) | ||||||
| Spring | Eddie Dodd | ||||||
| Follow-up | Baby Talk (27/14.3) | Who's the Boss? (19/15.0) | Stat | Thirtysomething | |||
| Summer | Who's the Boss? (19/15.0) | Head of the Class (26/14.5) | Coach (18/15.3) | ||||
| Mid-summer | Full House (14/15.9) | Who's the Boss? (19/15.0) | |||||
| CBS | Rescue 911 | CBS Tuesday Night Movie | |||||
| NBC | Fall | Matlock (17/15.5) | In the Heat of the Night (21/14.9) | Law & Order | |||
| Spring | Shannon's Deal | ||||||
| Summer | Law & Order | ||||||
Wednesday
| Network | 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 Wonder Years (30/14.2) | Growing Pains (27/14.3) | Doogie Howser, M.D. (24/14.7) | Married People | Cop Rock | |
| Winter | Equal Justice | ||||||
| Mid-winter | Anything but Love | ||||||
| Spring | My Life and Times | Gabriel's Fire | |||||
| Mid-spring | Anything but Love | American Detective | |||||
| Summer | The Man in the Family | ||||||
| Mid-summer | Davis Rules (27/14.3) | ||||||
| Late summer | Dinosaurs | The Wonder Years (R) | Anything but Love | Married People | |||
| CBS | Fall | Lenny | Doctor Doctor | Jake and the Fatman | WIOU | ||
| Late fall | 48 Hours | ||||||
| Winter | Northern Exposure | ||||||
| Summer | The Hogan Family | The Family Man | 48 Hours | ||||
| Mid-summer | Police Squad! (R) | Morton & Hayes | Top Cops | ||||
| NBC | Fall | Unsolved Mysteries (16/15.7) | The Fanelli Boys | Dear John | Hunter | ||
| Mid-fall | Dear John | The Fanelli Boys | |||||
| Late fall | Working It Out | ||||||
| Winter | Night Court | Seinfeld | |||||
| Spring | Dear John | Quantum Leap | |||||
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
| Network | 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 | Father Dowling Mysteries | Gabriel's Fire | Primetime Live | |||
| Spring | Twin Peaks | ||||||
| CBS | Fall | Top Cops | The Flash | Doctor Doctor | Knots Landing (30/13.7) (Tied with Rescue 911) | ||
| Winter | Good Sports | ||||||
| Mid-winter | Top Cops | The Flash | |||||
| Spring | The Antagonists | ||||||
| Summer | Over My Dead Body | Broken Badges | |||||
| Late summer | The Trials of Rosie O'Neill | Golden Years | |||||
| Fox | Fall | The Simpsons | Babes | Beverly Hills, 90210 | Local programming | ||
| Summer | True Colors | ||||||
| NBC | Fall | The Cosby Show (5/17.1) | A Different World (4/17.5) | Cheers (1/21.3) | Grand (25/14.6) | L.A. Law (23/14.8) | |
| Winter | Wings | ||||||
| Spring | Seinfeld | ||||||
On CBS, Sons and Daughters was supposed to premiere on October 25, 1990, while The Flash is supposed to start at 8:00-9:00 p.m., but the show was shelved.
Friday
| Network | 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 | Full House (14/15.9) | Family Matters (15/15.8) | Perfect Strangers | Going Places | 20/20 | |
| Spring | Baby Talk | ||||||
| Mid-spring | Dinosaurs | Family Matters (15/15.8) | Perfect Strangers | ||||
| Summer | Family Matters (15/15.8) | Perfect Strangers | Going Places | ||||
| Mid-summer | Hi Honey, I'm Home! | ||||||
| Late summer | Family Matters (15/15.8) | Growing Pains | |||||
| CBS | Fall | Evening Shade | Bagdad Café | Over My Dead Body | Dallas | ||
| Mid-fall | Uncle Buck | ||||||
| Winter | Guns of Paradise | Dallas | Sons and Daughters | ||||
| Spring | True Detectives | ||||||
| Fox | Fall | America's Most Wanted | DEA | Local programming | |||
| Mid-fall | Against the Law | ||||||
| Spring | DEA | ||||||
| NBC | Fall | Quantum Leap | Night Court | Wings | Midnight Caller | ||
| Winter | Dark Shadows | ||||||
| Spring | Hull High | Hunter | Dark Shadows | ||||
| Mid-spring | The 100 Lives of Black Jack Savage | Midnight Caller | |||||
Saturday
| Network | 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 Young Riders | China Beach | Twin Peaks | |||
| Winter | Under Cover | ||||||
| Spring | The ABC Saturday Night Movie | ||||||
| CBS | Fall | The Family Man | The Hogan Family | E.A.R.T.H. Force | 48 Hours | ||
| Late fall | Northern Exposure (R) | Broken Badges | Wiseguy | ||||
| Early winter | You Take the Kids | Lenny | CBS Saturday Movie | ||||
| Winter | Uncle Buck | ||||||
| Spring | The Flash | ||||||
| Fox | Fall | Totally Hidden Video | Haywire | COPS | American Chronicles | Local programming | |
| Winter | COPS (R) | ||||||
| Mid-winter | Totally Hidden Video | ||||||
| Spring | Yearbook | ||||||
| Summer | COPS | COPS (R) | Totally Hidden Video | Babes (R) | |||
| NBC | Fall | Parenthood | Working It Out | The Golden Girls (9/17.1) | Empty Nest (7/16.7) | Carol & Company | American Dreamer |
| Winter | Amen | The Fanelli Boys | |||||
| Mid-winter | Dear John | ||||||
| Spring | Down Home | ||||||
| Summer | American Dreamer | Sisters | |||||
By network
ABC
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Not returning from 1989–90:
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CBS
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Not returning from 1989–90:
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Fox
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Not returning from 1989–90:
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NBC
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Not returning from 1989–90:
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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.
- Rosenfeld, Megan (1990-07-31). "A PREGNANT PAUSE FOR CHUNG?". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2023-11-28.
- "Top of the Week" (PDF). Broadcasting. 1990-10-08. Retrieved 2021-09-12.
| United States network television schedules | |
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