1989–90 United States network television schedule

The 1989–90 network television schedule for the four major English language commercial broadcast networks in the United States covers primetime hours from September 1989 through August 1990. The schedule is followed by a list per network of returning series, new series, and series cancelled after the 1988–89 season.

Beginning this season, Fox started their prime time expansion starting with Mondays.

This is the first season to feature entirely closed captioning programs on the Big Four networks.

This was the first time that two programs were tied for the no. 1 spot in the Nielsen ratings.

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 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.

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
Note: In Living Color premiered Sunday April 15 at 9:30 PM on Fox.

Wednesday
Notes: Seinfeld premiered July 5, 1989 at 9:30 p.m. on NBC. FM aired at 9:30 p.m. on NBC from August 23 to September 6, 1989. Glory Days aired at 8:00 p.m. on Fox from July 25 to August 2, 1990. Molloy aired at 9:00 p.m. on Fox from July 25 until August 15, 1990. Fox aired movies at 8:00 p.m. on an irregular basis.

Thursday
Notes: The Eddie Capra Mysteries, which CBS aired from July 26 to August 30, consisted of reruns of episodes from the 1978-79 NBC series. FM premiered August 17, 1989 at 9:30 p.m. on NBC and aired its fifth episode on September 14.

Saturday
Note: Comic Strip Live aired at 11:00 p.m.-12:00 a.m. on Fox.

ABC

 * Returning series
 * 20/20
 * The ABC Monday Night Movie
 * ABC Mystery Movie (moved from Monday to Saturday)
 * The ABC Sunday Night Movie
 * Anything but Love
 * China Beach
 * Coach
 * Father Dowling Mysteries (moved from NBC)
 * Full House
 * Growing Pains
 * Head of the Class
 * Just the Ten of Us
 * MacGyver
 * Mission: Impossible
 * Mr. Belvedere
 * Monday Night Football
 * Perfect Strangers
 * Roseanne
 * Thirtysomething
 * Who's the Boss?
 * The Wonder Years


 * New series
 * America's Funniest Home Videos *
 * Brewster Place *
 * Capital News *
 * Chicken Soup
 * Doogie Howser, M.D.
 * Elvis *
 * Equal Justice *
 * Family Matters
 * Free Spirit
 * H.E.L.P. *
 * Homeroom
 * Life Goes On
 * Living Dolls
 * The Marshall Chronicles *
 * Monopoly *
 * New Attitude *
 * Primetime Live
 * Sunset Beat *
 * Super Jeopardy! *
 * Tim Conway's Funny America *
 * Twin Peaks *
 * The Young Riders

Not returning from 1988–89:
 * ABC Saturday Night Movie
 * Dynasty
 * A Fine Romance
 * Great Circuses of the World
 * Have Faith
 * HeartBeat
 * Hooperman
 * Incredible Sunday
 * Knightwatch
 * A Man Called Hawk
 * Men
 * Moonlighting
 * Murphy's Law
 * Police Story
 * The Robert Guillaume Show
 * Studio 5-B
 * Thursday Night Baseball

CBS

 * Returning series
 * 48 Hours
 * 60 Minutes
 * Beauty and the Beast
 * CBS Sunday Movie
 * Dallas
 * Designing Women
 * Doctor Doctor
 * Falcon Crest
 * Jake and the Fatman
 * Knots Landing
 * Murder, She Wrote
 * Murphy Brown
 * Newhart
 * Paradise
 * Tour of Duty
 * Wiseguy


 * New series
 * Bagdad Cafe *
 * The Bradys *
 * City *
 * The Dave Thomas Comedy Show *
 * The Famous Teddy Z
 * Grand Slam *
 * His & Hers *
 * Island Son
 * Major Dad
 * Max Monroe: Loose Cannon *
 * Normal Life *
 * Northern Exposure *
 * A Peaceable Kingdom
 * The People Next Door
 * Prime Time Pets *
 * Rescue 911
 * Room for Romance *
 * Saturday Night with Connie Chung
 * Small Talk *
 * Snoops
 * Sugar and Spice *
 * Sydney *
 * Top Cops *
 * Top of the Hill
 * Wish You Were Here *
 * Wolf

Not returning from 1988–89:
 * Almost Grown
 * Annie McGuire
 * The Cavanaughs
 * CBS Summer Playhouse
 * Coming of Age
 * Dirty Dancing
 * Dolphin Cove
 * The Equalizer
 * First Impressions
 * Hard Time on Planet Earth
 * Heartland
 * High Risk
 * Jesse Hawkes
 * Kate & Allie
 * Live! Dick Clark Presents
 * Live-In
 * Raising Miranda
 * Simon & Simon
 * The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour
 * TV 101
 * The Van Dyke Show
 * West 57th

Fox

 * Returning series
 * 21 Jump Street
 * America's Most Wanted
 * Beyond Tomorrow
 * Cops
 * Fox Night at the Movies
 * It's Garry Shandling's Show
 * Married... with Children
 * The Reporters
 * Totally Hidden Video
 * The Tracey Ullman Show


 * New series
 * Alien Nation
 * Booker
 * Comic Strip Live
 * Glory Days *
 * In Living Color *
 * Molloy *
 * Open House
 * The Outsiders *
 * The Simpsons *

Not returning from 1988–89:
 * Duet

NBC

 * Returning series
 * 13 East
 * 227
 * ALF
 * Amen
 * Cheers
 * The Cosby Show
 * Dear John
 * A Different World
 * Empty Nest
 * The Golden Girls
 * The Hogan Family
 * Hunter
 * In the Heat of the Night
 * L.A. Law
 * The Magical World of Disney
 * Matlock
 * Midnight Caller
 * My Two Dads +
 * NBC Sunday Night Movie
 * NBC Monday Night at the Movies
 * Night Court
 * Quantum Leap
 * Unsolved Mysteries


 * New series
 * Ann Jillian *
 * Baywatch
 * Brand New Life
 * Carol & Company *
 * Down Home *
 * A Family for Joe *
 * FM
 * Grand *
 * Hardball
 * Mancuso, F.B.I.
 * Nasty Boys *
 * The Nutt House
 * Real Life with Jane Pauley *
 * Seinfeld *
 * Shannon's Deal *
 * Singer & Sons *
 * Sister Kate
 * True Blue *
 * Wings *
 * Working Girl *

Not returning from 1988–89:
 * Baby Boom
 * Day by Day
 * Dream Street
 * Family Ties
 * Father Dowling Mysteries (moved to ABC)
 * Highway to Heaven
 * The Jim Henson Hour
 * Knight & Daye
 * Miami Vice
 * Nearly Departed
 * Nightingales
 * One of the Boys
 * Something Is Out There
 * Sonny Spoon
 * Tattingers/Nick & Hillary
 * Unsub

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

+ These shows returned as "backup" programming in midseason