1976–77 United States network television schedule

The following is the 1976–77 network television schedule for the three major English language commercial broadcast networks in the United States. The schedule covers primetime hours from September 1976 through August 1977. The schedule is followed by a list per network of returning series, new series, and series cancelled after the 1975–76 season. All times are Eastern and Pacific, with certain exceptions, such as Monday Night Football.

New fall series are highlighted in bold.

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, the Public Broadcasting Service, was in operation, but the schedule was set by each local station.

The Muppet Show (syndicated in the U.S.) premiered this season.

Monday
Note: The Brady Bunch Hour previously aired on a sporadic basis starting in November 1976, before becoming a weekly series in February 1977.

Tuesday
Note: On ABC, the 1977 summer miniseries Rich Man, Poor Man consisted of reruns of the 1976 miniseries. On CBS, The Family Holvak consisted of reruns of the 1975 NBC series before being replaced by a four-week run of The Jack Benny Show (with Phyllis in the 8:30 slot), featuring episodes from its 1963-64 season.

Wednesday
NOTE: On NBC, Comedy Time was a summer anthology series coposed of unsold television pilots that aired on Wednesdays in July and on Thursdays on July 21 and 28, August 25, and September 1.

Thursday
Notes: NBC originally planned to air Snip (a sitcom starring David Brenner) on Thursdays at 9:30 with The Practice preceding it at 9:00. On August 28, NBC announced a "massive reshuffling" of its schedule and pulled Snip, which never aired.

Comedy Time was a summer anthology series coposed of unsold television pilots that aired on NBC on Wednesdays in July and on Thursdays on July 21 and 28, August 25, and September 1.

Friday
Note: A special program, Campaign '76, aired on CBS from 7:30 to 8:00 p.m. from September to early November in preparation for the 1976 presidential election.

ABC
Returning Series
 * The ABC Friday Night Movie
 * The ABC Monday Night Movie
 * ABC NFL Monday Night Football
 * The ABC Sunday Night Movie
 * Baretta
 * Barney Miller
 * The Bionic Woman
 * Donny & Marie
 * Family
 * Happy Days
 * Laverne & Shirley
 * Monday Night Baseball
 * Starsky & Hutch
 * The Six Million Dollar Man
 * The Streets of San Francisco
 * Welcome Back, Kotter

New Series
 * The ABC Tuesday Night Movie
 * Blansky's Beauties *
 * The Brady Bunch Hour *
 * The Captain and Tennille
 * Charlie's Angels
 * Cos
 * Dog and Cat *
 * Eight Is Enough *
 * The Feather and Father Gang *
 * Fish *
 * Future Cop *
 * The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries *
 * Holmes & Yoyo
 * How the West Was Won *
 * Mr. T and Tina
 * Most Wanted
 * The Nancy Walker Show
 * Rich Man, Poor Man Book II
 * Sugar Time!
 * Three's Company *
 * The Tony Randall Show
 * Westside Medical *
 * What's Happening!!
 * Wonder Woman *

Not returning from 1975–76:
 * Almost Anything Goes
 * Barbary Coast
 * Bert D'Angelo/Superstar
 * Good Heavens
 * Harry O
 * Marcus Welby, M.D.
 * Matt Helm
 * Mobile One
 * On the Rocks
 * Rich Man, Poor Man
 * The Rookies
 * Saturday Night Live with Howard Cosell
 * S.W.A.T.
 * The Swiss Family Robinson
 * That's My Mama
 * When Things Were Rotten
 * Viva Valdez

CBS
Returning Series
 * 60 Minutes
 * All in the Family
 * Barnaby Jones
 * The Blue Knight
 * The Bob Newhart Show
 * The Carol Burnett Show
 * Doc
 * Good Times
 * Hawaii Five-O
 * The Jacksons
 * The Jeffersons
 * Kojak
 * M*A*S*H
 * The Mary Tyler Moore Show
 * Maude
 * One Day at a Time
 * Phyllis
 * Rhoda
 * The Sonny and Cher Show
 * Switch
 * The Tony Orlando and Dawn Rainbow Hour
 * The Waltons

New Series
 * Alice
 * All's Fair
 * The Andros Targets *
 * Ball Four
 * Busting Loose *
 * Code R *
 * Delvecchio
 * The Diahann Carroll Show *
 * Executive Suite
 * Hunter *
 * The Keane Brothers Show *
 * Loves Me, Loves Me Not *
 * The Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis, Jr. Show
 * Nashville 99 *
 * The Shields and Yarnell Show *
 * Spencer's Pilots
 * Starland Vocal Band Show *
 * Szysznyk *
 * Who's Who *
 * A Year at the Top *

Not returning from 1975–76:
 * Beacon Hill
 * Big Eddie
 * Bronk
 * The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Show
 * Cannon
 * CBS Thursday Night Movie
 * Cher
 * Ivan the Terrible
 * I've Got a Secret
 * Joe and Sons
 * Johnny Cash and Friends
 * Kate McShane
 * The Kelly Monteith Show
 * Medical Center
 * Popi
 * Sara
 * Three for the Road

NBC
Returning Series
 * Chico and the Man
 * Columbo
 * Emergency!
 * Little House on the Prairie
 * McCloud
 * McMillan & Wife
 * The NBC Sunday Mystery Movie
 * NBC Monday Night at the Movies
 * NBC Saturday Night at the Movies
 * Police Story
 * Police Woman
 * The Practice
 * The Rockford Files
 * Sanford and Son
 * The Wonderful World of Disney

New Series
 * 3 Girls 3 *
 * Baa Baa Black Sheep
 * The Big Event
 * Comedy Time *
 * C.P.O. Sharkey *
 * The Fantastic Journey *
 * Gemini Man
 * Gibbsville *
 * The Kallikaks *
 * Kingston: Confidential *
 * Lanigan's Rabbi *
 * The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams *
 * The McLean Stevenson Show *
 * NBC's Best Sellers *
 * The Quest
 * Quincy, M.E. *
 * Quinn Martin's Tales of the Unexpected *
 * Serpico
 * Sirota's Court *
 * Van Dyke and Company

Not returning from 1975–76:
 * City of Angels
 * Comedy Theatre (returned in 1979)
 * The Cop and the Kid
 * Doctors' Hospital
 * The Dumplings
 * Ellery Queen
 * The Family Holvak
 * Fay
 * Grady
 * The Invisible Man
 * Jigsaw John
 * Joe Forrester
 * The John Davidson Show
 * The Mac Davis Show
 * McCoy
 * Medical Story
 * The Montefuscos
 * Movin' On
 * Petrocelli
 * The Rich Little Show

Note: The * indicates that the program was introduced in midseason.

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.