Chapter 581: Recapping the 1990-91 Network TV Season
Now, here's a recap of TTL's 1990-91 network TV season.
ABC:
ABC is doing strong, with freshman shows like Twin Peaks, Life Goes On, Family Matters, Doogie Howser, M.D. and America's Funniest Home Videos returning, new rookie hits for ABC were Streets of Oklahoma, a show about a fictional police squad at the Oklahoma City Police Department, from Steven Bochco, Music Street (TTL's version of Cop Rock, which outright succeeded unlike OTL, with much improved dialogue), a musical police show, and Going Places (IOTL it flopped after one season), a new sitcom from Miller-Boyett Productions, that was a vehicle for Allan Ruck. Also debuting were a new Sunday night vehicle America's Funniest People, which is based on America's Funniest Home Videos, which also happens to follow the program.
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CBS:
CBS is doing decently this season. Although hits like Knots Landing, Wolf, Murphy Brown and A Peaceable Kingdom returned, hit series Dallas and American Crime is looking to come to an end. New rookie shows include World Quest (TTL's version of E.A.R.T.H. Force, but with a slightly improved dialogue), WIOU, a show about a fictional television newsroom and The Flash, which is based on the DC Comics superhero. The other new shows were Evening Shade, a new comedy vehicle for Burt Reynolds and The Trials of Rosie O'Neill, a new starring vehicle for Sharon Gless (of Cagney & Lacey fame). World Quest and The Flash were the first CBS shows in the new Thursday lineup to draw viewers away from NBC's Thursday night sitcoms The Cosby Show and Cheers.
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NBC:
NBC is doing great, but freshman shows like The Young Family, Mancuso, F.B.I., Hardball and Hound Town returning, and other shows that looking to come back were The Golden Girls, A Different World, The Cosby Show and Cheers, both of them slipped in the ratings, bounced back and both of them underwent went retooling. New rookie hits were Blossom, a show that starred Mayim Bialik, Law & Order, a rookie crime show from Dick Wolf, who had starting to rise, and put them on the map, and Chicago's Last Night, another new rookie crime procedural show that was set in the suburbs of the Chicago Police Department, which came from television producer Stephen J. Cannell, who also succeeded with the show Hunter.
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FOX:
FOX is hitting big with the handsome return of both The Simpsons, Married...with Children and Hockey Night in Canada, both freshman programs, but one of the newest rookie hits were D.E.A. (Drug Enforcement Administration) (IOTL it flopped after one season and 13 episodes), which is a hybrid format of scripted and unscripted formats, Parker Lewis Can't Loose, another television sitcom that was set in high school, Beverly Hills, 90210, another high school-led drama and Against the Law (another OTL failed show), about a Boston lawyer who left to get his own firm.
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Our top 25 rated network TV programs of the 1990-91 season.
1. Cheers (NBC)
2. 60 Minutes (CBS)
3. Roseanne (ABC)
4. A Different World (NBC)
5. The Cosby Show (NBC)
6. Hound Town (NBC)
7. Murphy Brown (CBS)
8. World Quest (CBS)
9. Chicago's Last Night (NBC)
10. Monday Night Football (ABC)
11. America's Funniest Home Videos (ABC)
12. Hockey Night in Canada (FOX)
13. America's Funniest People (ABC)
14. Full House (ABC)
15. Family Matters (ABC)
16. The Flash (CBS)
17. A Peaceable Kingdom (CBS)
18. WIOU (CBS)
19. American Crime (CBS)
20. Streets of Oklahoma (ABC)
21. Against the Law (FOX)
22. Major Dad (CBS)
23. L.A. Law (NBC)
24. Doogie Howser, M.D. (ABC)
25. Matlock (NBC)
ABC:
ABC is doing strong, with freshman shows like Twin Peaks, Life Goes On, Family Matters, Doogie Howser, M.D. and America's Funniest Home Videos returning, new rookie hits for ABC were Streets of Oklahoma, a show about a fictional police squad at the Oklahoma City Police Department, from Steven Bochco, Music Street (TTL's version of Cop Rock, which outright succeeded unlike OTL, with much improved dialogue), a musical police show, and Going Places (IOTL it flopped after one season), a new sitcom from Miller-Boyett Productions, that was a vehicle for Allan Ruck. Also debuting were a new Sunday night vehicle America's Funniest People, which is based on America's Funniest Home Videos, which also happens to follow the program.
-
CBS:
CBS is doing decently this season. Although hits like Knots Landing, Wolf, Murphy Brown and A Peaceable Kingdom returned, hit series Dallas and American Crime is looking to come to an end. New rookie shows include World Quest (TTL's version of E.A.R.T.H. Force, but with a slightly improved dialogue), WIOU, a show about a fictional television newsroom and The Flash, which is based on the DC Comics superhero. The other new shows were Evening Shade, a new comedy vehicle for Burt Reynolds and The Trials of Rosie O'Neill, a new starring vehicle for Sharon Gless (of Cagney & Lacey fame). World Quest and The Flash were the first CBS shows in the new Thursday lineup to draw viewers away from NBC's Thursday night sitcoms The Cosby Show and Cheers.
-
NBC:
NBC is doing great, but freshman shows like The Young Family, Mancuso, F.B.I., Hardball and Hound Town returning, and other shows that looking to come back were The Golden Girls, A Different World, The Cosby Show and Cheers, both of them slipped in the ratings, bounced back and both of them underwent went retooling. New rookie hits were Blossom, a show that starred Mayim Bialik, Law & Order, a rookie crime show from Dick Wolf, who had starting to rise, and put them on the map, and Chicago's Last Night, another new rookie crime procedural show that was set in the suburbs of the Chicago Police Department, which came from television producer Stephen J. Cannell, who also succeeded with the show Hunter.
-
FOX:
FOX is hitting big with the handsome return of both The Simpsons, Married...with Children and Hockey Night in Canada, both freshman programs, but one of the newest rookie hits were D.E.A. (Drug Enforcement Administration) (IOTL it flopped after one season and 13 episodes), which is a hybrid format of scripted and unscripted formats, Parker Lewis Can't Loose, another television sitcom that was set in high school, Beverly Hills, 90210, another high school-led drama and Against the Law (another OTL failed show), about a Boston lawyer who left to get his own firm.
-
Our top 25 rated network TV programs of the 1990-91 season.
1. Cheers (NBC)
2. 60 Minutes (CBS)
3. Roseanne (ABC)
4. A Different World (NBC)
5. The Cosby Show (NBC)
6. Hound Town (NBC)
7. Murphy Brown (CBS)
8. World Quest (CBS)
9. Chicago's Last Night (NBC)
10. Monday Night Football (ABC)
11. America's Funniest Home Videos (ABC)
12. Hockey Night in Canada (FOX)
13. America's Funniest People (ABC)
14. Full House (ABC)
15. Family Matters (ABC)
16. The Flash (CBS)
17. A Peaceable Kingdom (CBS)
18. WIOU (CBS)
19. American Crime (CBS)
20. Streets of Oklahoma (ABC)
21. Against the Law (FOX)
22. Major Dad (CBS)
23. L.A. Law (NBC)
24. Doogie Howser, M.D. (ABC)
25. Matlock (NBC)