The 1984–85 network television schedule for the three major English language commercial broadcast networks in the United States covers primetime hours from September 1984 through August 1985. The schedule is followed by a list per network of returning series, new series, and series cancelled after the 1983–84 season.
PBS, the Public Broadcasting Service, was in operation but the schedule was set by each local station.
New series are highlighted in bold.
All times are U.S. Eastern 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.[1]
Legend edit
- Gray indicates encore programming.
- Dark blue 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 edit
| 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 | Fall | Ripley's Believe It or Not! | Hardcastle and McCormick | The ABC Sunday Night Movie (21/17.5) | |||||
| Late fall | The ABC Sunday Night Movie (21/17.5) / Specials / Miniseries | ||||||||
| CBS | Fall | 60 Minutes (4/22.2) | Murder, She Wrote (8/20.1) | The Jeffersons | Alice | Trapper John, M.D. (29/16.8) | |||
| Winter | Crazy Like a Fox (10/19.9) (Tied with Falcon Crest) | ||||||||
| NBC | Silver Spoons | Punky Brewster | Knight Rider | NBC Sunday Night at the Movies | |||||
Note: Beginning December 16, ABC's Sunday schedule between 8:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m. varied, consisting of three-hour broadcasts of The ABC Sunday Night Movie, two-hour broadcasts of The ABC Sunday Night Movie starting at 8:00 p.m. with specials airing at 10:00 p.m., specials airing at 8:00 p.m. followed by a two-hour broadcast of The ABC Sunday Night Movie starting at 9:00 p.m., or miniseries or sports programming during the entire three-hour block.
Monday edit
| 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 | Call to Glory | Monday Night Football (25/17.0) (Tied with Remington Steele and Webster) | ||||
| Late fall | Hardcastle and McCormick | ||||||
| Winter | The ABC Monday Night Movie | ||||||
| Summer | Monday Night Baseball | ||||||
| CBS | Scarecrow and Mrs. King (22/17.1) (Tied with TV's Bloopers & Practical Jokes and The Fall Guy) |
Kate & Allie (17/18.3) | Newhart (16/18.4) | Cagney & Lacey (28/16.9) | |||
| NBC | TV's Bloopers & Practical Jokes (22/17.1) (Tied with Scarecrow and Mrs. King and The Fall Guy) |
NBC Monday Night at the Movies (18/18.2) | |||||
Note: On ABC, Street Hawk was supposed to air 8:00-9:00 p.m., but production problems delayed the series' premiere.[2]
Tuesday edit
| 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 | Foul-Ups, Bleeps & Blunders | Three's a Crowd | Paper Dolls | Jessie | ||
| Late fall | Three's a Crowd | Who's the Boss? | Glitter | Paper Dolls | |||
| Winter | MacGruder and Loud | Call to Glory | |||||
| Late winter | Moonlighting | ||||||
| Summer | Foul-Ups, Bleeps & Blunders | Hail to the Chief | Life's Most Embarrassing Moments | ||||
| CBS | Fall | AfterMASH | E/R | The CBS Tuesday Night Movie | |||
| Winter | The Jeffersons | Alice | |||||
| Spring | The Lucie Arnaz Show | The Jeffersons | |||||
| Summer | The Jeffersons | Alice (R) | |||||
| NBC | The A-Team (6/21.9) | Riptide (14/19.2) | Remington Steele (25/17.0) (Tied with Monday Night Football and Webster) | ||||
Wednesday edit
| 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 Fall Guy (22/17.1) (Tied with Scarecrow and Mrs. King and TV's Bloopers & Practical Jokes) |
Dynasty (1/25.0) | Hotel (12/19.7) (Tied with Cheers) | |||
| Summer | Rock 'n' Roll Summer Action | ||||||
| CBS | Fall | Charles in Charge | Dreams | The CBS Wednesday Night Movie | |||
| Winter | E/R | ||||||
| Spring | Double Dare | ||||||
| Summer | I Had Three Wives | ||||||
| NBC | Fall | Highway to Heaven (19/17.7) | The Facts of Life | It's Your Move | St. Elsewhere | ||
| Winter | Sara | ||||||
| Spring | Double Trouble (R) | ||||||
Thursday edit
| 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 | People Do the Craziest Things | Who's the Boss? | Glitter | 20/20 | ||
| Winter | The ABC Thursday Night Movie | ||||||
| Spring | Wildside | Eye to Eye | |||||
| Mid-spring | Who's the Boss? | Mr. Belvedere | Street Hawk | ||||
| Summer | The ABC Thursday Night Movie | ||||||
| CBS | Magnum, P.I. (15/19.1) | Simon & Simon (7/21.8) | Knots Landing (9/20.0) | ||||
| NBC | The Cosby Show (3/24.2) | Family Ties (5/22.1) | Cheers (12/19.7) (Tied with Hotel) |
Night Court (20/17.6) | Hill Street Blues (30/16.6) | ||
Friday edit
| 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 | Benson | Webster (25/17.0) (Tied with Monday Night Football and Remington Steele) |
Hawaiian Heat | Matt Houston | ||
| Winter | Street Hawk | ||||||
| Late winter | Webster (25/17.0) (Tied with Monday Night Football and Remington Steele) |
Mr. Belvedere | Benson | Off the Rack | |||
| Spring | Me and Mom | ||||||
| Summer | The Comedy Factory | Webster (R) | |||||
| CBS | Fall | The Dukes of Hazzard | Dallas (2/24.7) | Falcon Crest (10/19.9) (Tied with Crazy Like a Fox) | |||
| Winter | Detective in the House | ||||||
| Spring | The Dukes of Hazzard (R) | ||||||
| NBC | Fall | V | Hunter | Miami Vice | |||
| Winter | Code Name: Foxfire | V | |||||
| Spring | The Best Times | Half Nelson | |||||
Saturday edit
| 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 | T. J. Hooker | The Love Boat | Finder of Lost Loves | ||||
| CBS | Fall | Airwolf | Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer | Cover Up | |||
| Winter | Otherworld | Airwolf | |||||
| Spring | Charles in Charge | E/R (R) | |||||
| Mid-spring | Cover Up | Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer | |||||
| Summer | Airwolf (R) | Various programming | |||||
| NBC | Fall | Diff'rent Strokes | Gimme a Break! | Partners in Crime | Hot Pursuit | ||
| Mid-fall | Double Trouble | Gimme a Break! | Spencer | Partners in Crime | |||
| Winter | It's Your Move | Berrenger's | |||||
| Spring | Under One Roof | Hunter | |||||
| Summer | Our Time | It's Your Move (R) | Mama's Family (R) | ||||
| Mid-summer | Diff'rent Strokes (R) | Our Time | |||||
| Late summer | Gimme a Break! (R) | The Facts of Life (R) | Our Time | ||||
By network edit
ABC edit
|
Returning Series
|
New Series
|
Not returning from 1983–84:
|
CBS edit
|
Returning Series
|
New Series
|
Not returning from 1983–84:
|
NBC edit
|
Returning Series
|
New Series
|
Not returning from 1983–84:
|
Note: The * indicates that the program was introduced in midseason.
References edit
- ^ 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.
- ^ "In Brief" (PDF). Broadcasting. September 3, 1984. p. 88. Retrieved November 20, 2023.