Sonny Corinthos

Today, we can make our own TV schedule. With DVRs, DVDs and on-demand streaming, television shows are at our beck and call. Obviously, this was not always the case. There were a handful of channels and we were at their whim. That wasn't so bad. There were loads of great series to watch. Still, television is a hit-or-miss business, which means for every I Love Lucy there might have been a Yancy Derringer that same evening.

Sometimes, however, the stars align. A network bundles a handful of shows that go on to be classics — or at least perfectly capture an era with quality storytelling. We looked over the lineups of ABC, CBS, NBC and the relative newcomers, from the early 1950s to today, and picked our favorite evenings ever assembled by a broadcast network.

There were some near misses, like NBC's action Tuesdays in the early '80s that thrilled us as kids (or the kids in us) with The A-Team, Remington Steele, Hunter, etc. Then there was the wild spirit of the budding Fox network on Sunday nights in 1989 with The Simpsons, The Bundys, Tracy Ullman and Garry Shandling. Or how about the popcorn-ready ABC Tuesdays of 1978 with Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley, Three's Company, Taxi, Starsky and Hutch?

With over half a century of television to choose from, there is plenty to pick. This is what we settled on. Tell us your all time favorite single night of television by one network!

1. CBS Saturday 1974–75: Redefining the sitcom
All in the Family – The Jeffersons – Mary Tyler Moore – The Bob Newhart Show – The Carol Burnett Show

It's hard to believe we were ever spoiled with these riches. Before Norman Lear and Mary Tyler Moore, sitcoms were largely candy colored and engineered for punchlines. These shows revolutionized writing in television. Boundaries were pushed. Characters became more human. Drama mixed with laughter. This is comedy television 101.

2. NBC Thursday 1984–85: The birth of Must-See TV
The Cosby Show – Family Ties – Cheers – Night Court – Hill Street Blues

If you notice, NBC didn't sneak onto this list for three decades. Then, suddenly, a bundle of sitcoms rocketed the network into "Must See TV" territory. It started here. The mold — four modern sitcoms leading into a gritty drama — was set with this stellar block.

3. CBS Saturday 1959–60: True grit in black & white
Perry Mason – Wanted: Dead or Alive – Mr. Lucky – Have Gun - Will Travel – Gunsmoke Cowboys and crime. Murder mystery, tumbleweed-strew westerns and Blake Edwards' noir. This is one of the coolest, hardest-boiled, manliest nights in history. There's a reason we still air all of these classics.

4.NBC Thursday 1993–94: Irony and chalk outlines in 1990s
Mad About You – Wings – Seinfeld – Frasier – Homicide

For about two decades, NBC struggled to find a show to bridge the gap between its bell cow sitcom and its prestige hour-long drama on Thursday nights. The battlefield is littered with fodder like Stark Raving Mad and The Single Guy. This lineup came the closest to perfection. While Wings is not exactly M*A*S*H, it was solid entertainment with a good cast. Homicide was ahead of its time, bringing a dash of The Wire to primetime.

5. Fox Sunday 1999–2000: The cartoon grows up
Futurama – King of the Hill – The Simpsons – Malcolm in the Middle – The X-Files

True "Animation Domination," Fox turned cartoons into adult entertainment. King of the Hill remains underrated for its drier humor, and Malcolm in the Middle has grown in stature in hindsight after the maturation of Bryan Cranston. Then, of course, there was Moulder and Scully. Friends may have influenced more haircuts, but children of the 1990s found a deeper connection here.

6.ABC Thursday 1972-73: Existential action
The Mod Squad – Kung Fu – The Streets of San Francisco

So this is what Quentin Tarantino was watching as a child. The mood of the nation grew a little darker, the action grew more topical, more cinematic, while maintaining its funky pizzazz. It was escapism, but not dodging the issues of the day. Just compare this to what was filling the same slots just five years earlier.

7. ABC Thursday 1966–67: Pow! Bang! Zonk!
Batman – F Troop – The Dating Game – Bewitched – That Girl

The Sixties were a sea change in pop culture — in bright colors. Few evening better capture the groovy mood of the psychedelic era. The Joker! A witch! Rock & roll bands in the Civil War! A single girl with a swingin' pad in New York! The following season saw the injection of The Flying Nun and Peyton Place into the progressive, playful hodgepodge.

8. CBS Sunday 1956–57: Live with studio audience
Lassie – The Jack Benny Program – The Ed Sullivan Show – General Electric Theater – Alfred Hitchcock Presents – The $64,000 Challenge – What's My Line?

The whole family was gathering around their new set, so there was something for everyone. A loyal dog for the kids. Elvis on Ed Sullivan for the teens. Ronald Reagan for the parents. A little suspense before bed for the grown-ups – and some levity to keep the nightmares away. There wasn't much in the way of competition, so the talent was packed in.

9. ABC Friday 1971–72: C'mon, get happy
The Brady Bunch – The Partridge Family – Room 222 – The Odd Couple – Love, American Style

Put this in a time capsule with shag carpeting and Pet Rocks. A wide array of comedy — and bubblegum pop — for the family here. Felix and Oscar added more sophisticated laughs. In February of '72, Love introduced us to Richie and the Cunninghams. Room 222 seems like the weak link here, but it won some Emmys.

10. CBS Friday 1979–1980: A whole lot of green
The Incredible Hulk – The Dukes of Hazzard – Dallas

While nobody will confuse these shows for The Sopranos, it's hard to argue with success. This block held fort for a few years in the early 1980s and foreshadowed so much of modern television. Comic book heroes? Check. Car chases? Check. Family soap sagas? Check. These shows could all be on Fox or The CW right now.

http://www.metv.com/lists/what-was-t...on-lineup-ever

Trevor

Neat idea, although from the thread title I thought you were going for one single date. For that, wasn't the day of OJ's White Bronco chase also a day with several championship sporting events?

For your topic, I'm too young for a few, but agree with your numbers 1, 2, 4, and 5 being tops.

majorjoe23

The Knicks were playing the Rockets in the NBA finals that night. I was a big basketball fan at the time and it bugged me that they cut away. The only other major sport with a championship around that time is hockey, but it looks like the Stanley Cup ended a few days earlier than the chase.

EDIT: Turns out there was more going on:

The drama devoured everything. June 17 was also the start of World Cup in America. Arnold Palmer played his final heart-tugging round in a U.S. Open. The Rangers celebrated their first Stanley Cup in 54 years with a victory parade through downtown New York.

http://www.foxsports.com/other/story...-finals-061714

resinrats

Clearly whatever day Walker Texas Ranger debuted on.

Nth Power

There was a night in my adolescence when the porn channel came through unscrambled.

But if I have to pick from the list, I'd say when Seinfeld was airing.

Michael Corvin

There was a 30 for 30 about it. Hockey was over but I believe the parade was that morning. Here you go:


- Arnold Palmer playing his final round at the U.S. Open.
- The commencement of the FIFA World Cup.
- The New York Rangers celebrating their win at the Stanley Cup Finals with a ticker-tape parade on Broadway.
- Game 5 of the NBA Finals between the Houston Rockets and the New York Knicks.
- Ken Griffey, Jr. tying Babe Ruth's record of the most home runs (30) before June 30th.

Michael Corvin

4.NBC Thursday 1993–94: Irony and chalk outlines in 1990s
Mad About You – Wings – Seinfeld – Frasier – Homicide

Also according to wiki, Homicide split time with LA Law which was also huge.


Kinda odd to look at NBC's 90's "Must See" lineups. There was always one :30 clunker in the bunch every year. Despite that they still dominated, especially counting the 10:00 hour once er hit.

Mike86

There's shows I love from all the periods listed in the original post but the one that stands out to me most is Fox's Sunday lineup from 1999-2000. I watched all those shows and while I didn't come to appreciate some of them until later (King of the Kill) they all are still favorites to this day.

astrochimp

The greatest night of TV ever for me was:

ABC Tuesday, late 70's: Happy Days, Laverne and Shirley, Three's Company, Taxi, Starsky and Hutch.

Geofferson

Not sure what year or what the combo is, but figure HBO Sunday nights deserves to be on there somewhere.

cdollaz

What night was Galactica 1980 on?

Troy Stiffler

For me, it was recent. 30 Rock, Community, The Office, Parks and Rec on NBC. 30 Rock and Community stayed strong till the end (though I struggled a little with the 30 Rock's final season ... but love it now). The Office tanked out. With Parks and Rec in the middle.

Oddly, NBC chose to not follow it up with more great 30 minute comedies. I couldn't tell you what played on NBC Thursdays post-30 Rock. I craved 30 Rock and Community (and the Michael Scott years of The Office). Looks like The Blacklist (which I know people love) and Heroes Reborn replaced it.

Fox Sundays have been pretty great for a long time. Though I don't think Family Guy has much left.

Decker

Don't forget the Sundays on HBO in the early 2000's with Sex and the City and The Sopranos. Can't remember what aired between the two, but those were two huge shows airing back-to-back.

DJariya

They gave up on Thursday nights for comedies. The ratings for all those comedies were terrible towards the end of their runs and the new ones were all cancelled. For some reason Thursday nights is now one of the lowest rated nights of the week for scripted shows now for live viewing when it was once the most watched night. There's still a lot of content though.

Jason

Sunday night, same as the original.

Astrofan

Ditto

Astrofan

Er, that is the original.

watson503

I remember during this time - I would've been in the 4th grade - we'd eat dinner and then sit as a family and watch NBC on Thursdays, my parents weren't into Hill Street Blues so at 9 the tv would get switched to something on cable. It's funny how that doesn't seem that long ago but when you think of it, how times have changed.

rw2516

I don't believe there's ever been a single network schedule that ever appealed to me. Across the three networks, if I may, it's Friday night of the 1966-67 season.

The Green Hornet, Time Tunnel, Avengers ABC
Wild Wild West, Hogan's Heroes CBS
Tarzan, Man From U.N.C.L.E., T.H.E. Cat, Laredo NBC

Double_Oh_7

Too bad the networks have given up on Fridays and Saturdays. Some TV classics made their home on those nights.

Double_Oh_7

Totally this.

johnnysd

January 12, 1969

Super Bowl 3

Made the NFL into what it is today, and football is arguably the biggest show on TV and the Super Bowl the biggest TV event.

For a single night. hard to argue with #1 on your list.

Nick Danger

ABC Sunday Night Movie.

I saw the James Bond movies!

Easy

Greatest night for viewership I suspect was one of the miniseries... either Shogun or Roots. These series really were "event TV" (comparable to the super bowl) and drew huge numbers of viewers. This was before the days of DVR or even VHS tape, so you had to watch in real time. The episode was THE topic of conversation the next day.

davidh777

The MASH finale was a huge event too, though the episode itself was a bit meh. The power went out on the other side of the street so our neighbors came over to watch.