1997–98 United States network television schedule

The following is the 1997–98 network television schedule for the six major English language commercial broadcast networks in the United States. The schedule covers primetime hours from September 1997 through August 1998. The schedule is followed by a list per network of returning series, new series, and series cancelled after the 1996–97 season. All times are Eastern and Pacific, with certain exceptions, such as Monday Night Football.

New series highlighted in bold.

Each of the 30 highest-rated shows is listed with its rank and rating as determined by Nielsen Media Research. and


 * 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.

Other 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.

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

From February 7 to 22, 1998, all of CBS' primetime programming was preempted in favor of coverage of the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano.

For new series debuting during the season, it would ultimately prove to be one of the weakest seasons in American television history, as only ten shows would be picked up for a second season. Of those ten shows, only five (Dharma & Greg, Two Guys and a Girl, Ally McBeal, For Your Love and Dawson's Creek) would last beyond three seasons, and would all end their runs within six seasons.

For its tenth and final season, onetime CBS powerhouse Murphy Brown was moved from its lifelong home of Monday nights to Wednesday, where it lost a significant number of viewers. For its last block of episodes in the spring, the show was put back into the familiar timeslot that it had once used to anchor the CBS Monday night lineup.

Thursday
NOTE: On Fox, Rewind was supposed to air 8-8:30, but it was cancelled due to production troubles.

ABC

 * Returning series
 * 20/20
 * ABC Saturday Night Movie
 * The ABC Sunday Night Movie
 * The ABC Thursday Night Movie
 * America's Funniest Home Videos
 * Boy Meets World
 * The Drew Carey Show
 * Ellen
 * Grace Under Fire
 * Home Improvement
 * Monday Night Football
 * NYPD Blue
 * The Practice
 * Primetime Live
 * Sabrina the Teenage Witch
 * Something So Right (moved from NBC)
 * Soul Man
 * Spin City


 * New series
 * ABC News Saturday Night
 * C-16: FBI
 * Cracker
 * Dharma & Greg
 * Hiller and Diller
 * Maximum Bob *
 * Nothing Sacred
 * Over the Top
 * Prey *
 * Push *
 * Teen Angel
 * That's Life *
 * Timecop
 * Total Security
 * Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place *
 * The Wonderful World of Disney
 * You Wish

Not returning from 1996–97:
 * The ABC Monday Night Movie
 * Arsenio
 * Clueless (moved to UPN)
 * Coach
 * Common Law
 * Dangerous Minds
 * Family Matters (moved to CBS)
 * Gun
 * Hangin' with Mr. Cooper
 * High Incident
 * Leaving L.A.
 * Life's Work
 * Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman
 * Murder One
 * Relativity
 * Roseanne (revived and returned for 2017–18 for one season)
 * Second Noah
 * Spy Game
 * Step by Step (moved to CBS)
 * Townies
 * Turning Point
 * Vital Signs

CBS

 * Returning series
 * 48 Hours
 * 60 Minutes
 * Candid Camera
 * CBS Sunday Movie
 * Chicago Hope
 * Cosby
 * Cybill
 * Diagnosis Murder
 * Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman
 * Early Edition
 * Everybody Loves Raymond
 * Family Matters (moved from ABC)
 * JAG
 * Murphy Brown
 * The Nanny
 * Nash Bridges
 * Promised Land
 * Step by Step (moved from ABC)
 * Touched by an Angel
 * Unsolved Mysteries (moved from NBC)
 * Walker, Texas Ranger


 * New series
 * Brooklyn South
 * The Closer *
 * Dellaventura
 * Four Corners *
 * George and Leo
 * The Gregory Hines Show
 * Kids Say the Darndest Things *
 * The Magnificent Seven *
 * Meego
 * Michael Hayes
 * Public Eye with Bryant Gumbel
 * The Simple Life *
 * Style & Substance *

Not returning from 1996–97:
 * Almost Perfect
 * Dave's World
 * EZ Streets
 * Ink
 * Life... and Stuff
 * Mr. & Mrs. Smith
 * Moloney
 * Orleans
 * Pearl
 * Public Morals
 * Temporarily Yours
 * Feds

Fox

 * Returning series
 * America's Most Wanted: America Fights Back
 * Beverly Hills, 90210
 * Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction
 * Cops
 * Fox Tuesday Night Movie
 * King of the Hill
 * Living Single
 * Melrose Place
 * Millennium
 * New York Undercover
 * Party of Five
 * The Simpsons
 * The X-Files


 * New series
 * 413 Hope St.
 * Ally McBeal
 * Ask Harriet *
 * Between Brothers
 * Damon *
 * Fox Files *
 * Fox Wednesday Night Movie
 * Getting Personal *
 * Rewind
 * Significant Others *
 * The Visitor
 * The World's Funniest!
 * World's Wildest Police Videos *

Not returning from 1996–97:
 * Big Deal
 * Lawless
 * Love and Marriage
 * Lush Life
 * Married... with Children
 * Martin
 * Ned and Stacey
 * Pacific Palisades
 * Party Girl
 * Pauly
 * Roar
 * Sliders

NBC

 * Returning series
 * 3rd Rock from the Sun
 * Caroline in the City
 * Dateline NBC
 * ER
 * Fired Up
 * Frasier
 * Friends
 * Homicide: Life on the Street
 * Just Shoot Me!
 * Law & Order
 * Mad About You
 * Men Behaving Badly
 * The Naked Truth
 * NBC Sunday Night Movie
 * NewsRadio
 * The Pretender
 * Profiler
 * Seinfeld
 * Suddenly Susan


 * New series
 * Built to Last
 * For Your Love *
 * House Rules *
 * Jenny
 * LateLine *
 * Players
 * Sleepwalkers
 * Stressed Eric *
 * The Tony Danza Show
 * Union Square
 * Veronica's Closet
 * Working

Not returning from 1996–97:
 * Boston Common
 * Chicago Sons
 * Crisis Center
 * Dark Skies
 * The Jeff Foxworthy Show
 * The John Larroquette Show
 * Mr. Rhodes
 * Prince Street
 * The Single Guy
 * Something So Right (moved to ABC)
 * Unsolved Mysteries (moved to CBS)
 * Wings

UPN

 * Returning series
 * Clueless (moved from ABC)
 * In the House
 * Malcolm & Eddie
 * Moesha
 * The Sentinel
 * Sparks
 * Star Trek: Voyager


 * New series
 * Good News
 * Head Over Heels
 * Hitz
 * Love Boat: The Next Wave *

Not returning from 1996–97:
 * The Burning Zone
 * Goode Behavior
 * Homeboys in Outer Space
 * Social Studies

The WB

 * Returning series
 * 7th Heaven
 * Buffy the Vampire Slayer
 * The Jamie Foxx Show
 * Nick Freno: Licensed Teacher
 * The Parent 'Hood
 * Sister, Sister
 * Smart Guy
 * The Steve Harvey Show
 * Unhappily Ever After
 * The Wayans Bros.


 * New series
 * Alright Already
 * Dawson's Creek *
 * Invasion America *
 * Kelly Kelly *
 * Three *
 * The Tom Show
 * You're the One *

Not returning from 1996–97:
 * Brotherly Love
 * Kirk
 * Life with Roger
 * Savannah

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