1990–91 United States network television schedule

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.^[1]

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 (12/16.5)	America's Funniest People (13/16.3)	The ABC Sunday Night Movie
CBS	Fall	60 Minutes (2/20.6)		Murder, She Wrote (8/17.2)		CBS Sunday Movie (26/14.3)
	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 (20/15.0)	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 (20/15.0)	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 (21/15.4)
	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.^[2]

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? (23/14.9)	Head of the Class (29/13.8)	Roseanne (3/18.1)	Coach (18/15.3)	Thirtysomething
	Winter		Davis Rules
	Spring					Eddie Dodd
	Follow-up	Baby Talk	Who's the Boss? (23/14.9)		Stat	Thirtysomething
	Summer	Who's the Boss? (23/14.9)	Head of the Class (29/13.8)		Coach (18/15.3)
	Mid-summer	Full House (14/16.0)	Who's the Boss? (23/14.9)
CBS		Rescue 911 (30/13.7) (Tied with Knots Landing)		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 (27/14.2)	Growing Pains	Doogie Howser, M.D.	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
	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 (28/14.0)	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 (24/14.6)	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.^[3]

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 (12/16.6)	Carol & Company	American Dreamer
	Winter	Amen	The Fanelli Boys
	Mid-winter						Dear John
	Spring		Down Home
	Summer		American Dreamer			Sisters

By network

ABC

Returning series 20/20 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 Growing Pains Head of the Class Life Goes On MacGyver Monday Night Football Perfect Strangers Primetime Live Roseanne Thirtysomething Twin Peaks Who's the Boss? The Wonder Years The Young Riders

New series America's Funniest People * Baby Talk * 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 Just the Ten of Us Living Dolls The Marshall Chronicles Mission: Impossible Mr. Belvedere Monopoly Sunset Beat Super Jeopardy! Tim Conway's Funny America

CBS

Returning series 48 Hours 60 Minutes Bagdad Café CBS Sunday Movie Dallas 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 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 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 Falcon Crest The Famous Teddy Z Grand Slam His & Hers Island Son Max Monroe: Loose Cannon Newhart Normal Life 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 Top of the Hill Tour of Duty Wolf

Fox

Returning series America's Most Wanted Comic Strip Live Cops FOX Night at the Movies In Living Color Married... with Children The Simpsons 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

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 The Cosby Show Dear John A Different World Down Home Empty Nest The Golden Girls Grand Hunter In the Heat of the Night L.A. Law Matlock Midnight Caller NBC Sunday Night Movie NBC Monday Night at the Movies Night Court Quantum Leap Real Life with Jane Pauley Seinfeld Shannon's Deal Unsolved Mysteries Wings

New series The 100 Lives of Black Jack Savage * American Dreamer Blossom * Dark Shadows * Expose * The Fanelli Boys Ferris Bueller The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air Hull High Lifestories Law & Order Parenthood Sisters * Sunday Best * Working It Out

Not returning from 1989–90: 13 East 227 ALF Ann Jillian Baywatch (moved to syndication in September 1991) Brand New Life Carol and Company A Family for Joe 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

1. 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.
2. Rosenfeld, Megan (1990-07-31). "A PREGNANT PAUSE FOR CHUNG?". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2023-11-28.
3. "Top of the Week" (PDF). Broadcasting. 1990-10-08. Retrieved 2021-09-12.