1978–79 United States network television schedule

The following is the 1978–79 network television schedule for the three major English language commercial broadcast networks in the United States. The schedule covers primetime hours from September 1978 through August 1979. The schedule is followed by a list per network of returning series, new series, and series cancelled after the 1977–78 season. All times are Eastern and Pacific, with certain exceptions, such as Monday Night Football.

New fall series are highlighted in bold. Series ending their original runs are in italics.

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 is not included; member stations have local flexibility over most of their schedules and broadcast times for network shows may vary.

Sunday
Notes: On CBS, the premiere (and only) episode of Co-Ed Fever aired on February 4 from 10:30 to 11:00 p.m., after which the show was cancelled. Moses the Lawgiver was a rerun of the 1975 miniseries. Mr. Dugan was supposed to premiere March 11, 1979 between All in the Family and Alice but due to black Congressmembers' criticism of it after a preview for them, the show was never broadcast. On NBC, the Centennial miniseries aired as part of The Big Event.

Wednesday
Notes: The Wheels segment of NBC Novels for Television was a rerun of the 1978 miniseries. Laugh-In consisted of reruns of the 1977 television series.

Thursday
Notes: Mork & Mindy had a one-hour premiere on September 14, 1978.

Comedy Theatre, an anthology series of unsold television pilots for situation comedies last seen in the summer of 1976, returned for its second and last season.

The NBC Novels for Television segment The Innocent and the Damned was a rerun of the 1977 television miniseries Aspen.

Coasttocoast was supposed to air Thursdays 10:00-11:00PM, but NBC's new boss, Fred Silverman, canceled the show.

ABC
Returning Series
 * 20/20
 * The ABC Friday Night Movie
 * The ABC Sunday Night Movie
 * Barney Miller
 * Carter Country
 * Charlie's Angels
 * Donny & Marie
 * Eight Is Enough
 * Family
 * Fantasy Island
 * Happy Days
 * The Hardy Boys
 * How the West Was Won
 * Laverne & Shirley
 * Lucan
 * The Love Boat
 * Monday Night Baseball
 * Monday Night Football
 * Operation Petticoat
 * Soap
 * Starsky & Hutch
 * Three's Company
 * Welcome Back, Kotter
 * What's Happening!!

New Series
 * 13 Queens Boulevard *
 * Angie *
 * Apple Pie
 * Battlestar Galactica
 * Carol Burnett & Company *
 * Delta House *
 * Detective School *
 * Doctors' Private Lives *
 * Friends *
 * The MacKenzies of Paradise Cove *
 * Makin' It *
 * Mork & Mindy
 * The Ropers *
 * Salvage 1 *
 * Taxi
 * Vega$ *

Not returning from 1977–78:
 * The ABC Monday Night Movie
 * Baretta
 * Fish
 * Free Country
 * The Harvey Korman Show
 * A.E.S. Hudson Street
 * Having Babies
 * Mel & Susan Together
 * The Redd Foxx Comedy Hour
 * The San Pedro Beach Bums
 * The Six Million Dollar Man
 * Sugar Time!
 * Tabitha

CBS
Returning Series
 * 60 Minutes
 * Alice
 * All in the Family
 * The Amazing Spider-Man
 * Barnaby Jones
 * Dallas
 * Good Times
 * Hawaii Five-O
 * The Incredible Hulk
 * The Jeffersons
 * Lou Grant
 * M*A*S*H
 * One Day at a Time
 * The New Adventures of Wonder Woman
 * Rhoda
 * The Waltons

New Series
 * The American Girls
 * The Bad News Bears *
 * Billy *
 * The Chisholms *
 * Dear Detective *
 * Dorothy *
 * The Dukes of Hazzard *
 * Flatbush *
 * Flying High
 * Hanging In *
 * In the Beginning
 * Just Friends *
 * Kaz
 * Married: The First Year
 * Mary
 * The Mary Tyler Moore Hour *
 * Miss Winslow and Son *
 * The Paper Chase
 * Time Express *
 * The White Shadow *
 * WKRP in Cincinnati

Not returning from 1977–78:
 * Another Day
 * Baby I'm Back
 * The Betty White Show
 * The Bob Newhart Show
 * Busting Loose
 * The Carol Burnett Show
 * Celebrity Challenge of the Sexes
 * The Fitzpatricks
 * Husbands, Wives & Lovers
 * Kojak
 * Logan's Run
 * Maude
 * On Our Own
 * Rafferty
 * Sam
 * The Shields and Yarnell Show
 * Switch
 * Szysznyk
 * The Ted Knight Show
 * The Tony Randall Show
 * We've Got Each Other
 * Young Dan'l Boone

NBC
Returning Series
 * The Big Event
 * CHiPs
 * Comedy Theatre (returning from 1976)
 * Joe & Valerie
 * Laugh-In
 * Little House on the Prairie
 * NBC Monday Night at the Movies
 * Project U.F.O.
 * Quincy, M.E.
 * The Rockford Files
 * The Runaways
 * Weekend
 * The Wonderful World of Disney

New Series
 * B. J. and the Bear *
 * Brothers and Sisters *
 * Cliffhangers *
 * David Cassidy: Man Undercover
 * Dick Clark's Live Wednesday
 * Diff'rent Strokes *
 * The Duke *
 * The Eddie Capra Mysteries
 * Grandpa Goes to Washington
 * Harris and Company *
 * Hello, Larry *
 * Highcliffe Manor *
 * Hizzonner *
 * Lifeline
 * Kate Loves a Mystery *
 * Presenting Susan Anton *
 * Real People *
 * Supertrain *
 * $weepstake$ *
 * Sword of Justice
 * Turnabout *
 * W.E.B.
 * The Waverly Wonders
 * Who's Watching the Kids
 * Whodunnit? *

Not returning from 1977–78:
 * Black Sheep Squadron
 * Big Hawaii
 * The Bionic Woman
 * Chico and the Man
 * Chuck Barris Rah Rah Show
 * Columbo
 * C.P.O. Sharkey
 * The Hanna-Barbera Happy Hour
 * James at 15
 * The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams
 * Man from Atlantis
 * Mulligan's Stew
 * The Oregon Trail
 * Police Woman
 * Quark
 * The Richard Pryor Show
 * Richie Brockelman, Private Eye
 * Rollergirls
 * Rosetti and Ryan
 * Sanford Arms
 * What Really Happened to the Class of '65?

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.