Sitcoms Online - Main Page / Message Boards - Main Page / News Blog / Photo Galleries / DVD Reviews / Buy TV Shows on DVD and Blu-ray

View Today's Active Threads (No Chit Chat/Chit Chat Only) / View New Posts (No Chit Chat/Chit Chat Only) / Mark All Boards Read / Chit Chat Board

General TV News and Discussion / View Latest Threads in General TV and Sub-Forums

TV Series on DVD/Streaming News and Discussion / Fantasy TV Channels/Schedules and Fictional TV Networks / Classic TV Schedules Archive / TV Theme Songs / Theme Song Lyrics: Requests and Archive

Broadcast Networks / ABC / CBS / Fox / NBC / The CW / UPN (1995-2006) / The WB (1995-2006) / MyNetworkTV / TV Ratings

Cable TV/Digital Channels / Antenna TV / BET / Bounce TV / Canadian Channels (CHCH) / Catchy Comedy / CMT / Comedy Central / Cozi TV / Dabl / Disney Channel / FETV / Freeform / FX / FXX / Great American Family / Great Entertainment Television (Great.) (formerly Get (get.) and getTV) / Hallmark Channel / H&I (Heroes & Icons) / The Hub / IFC / INSP / ION Television / Laff / Lifetime / Logo TV / MeTV / Nick at Nite / Nickelodeon / TeenNick / Oxygen / Retro TV / Rewind TV / Start TV / TBS / TNN / Spike TV / TNT / TV Land / TV One / Up TV (UPtv) / USA Network (USA) / WGN America / YTA TV (formerly GoodLife and AmericanLife)


Sitcoms Online Message Boards - Forums  

Go Back   Sitcoms Online Message Boards - Forums > General TV News and Discussion
Register Community View Today's Active Threads (No CC/CC Only) Search Photo Galleries Calendar FAQ

Notices

SitcomsOnline.com News Blog Headlines Facebook X/Twitter Bluesky Threads Instagram YouTube RSS

HBO's Life, Larry and the Pursuit of Unhappiness Details; Netflix's Little House on the Prairie Trailer
Prime Video's Elle Premieres July 1; FX's The Shards Launches August 5
Apple TV Trailer for Trying; Camp Snoopy Details
Ride or Die Trailer for Prime Video; Scooby-Doo Image Released for Netflix Live-Action Series
Tubi Announces More Comedies; Rivals Returns for More Season 2 Episodes in November
Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows; This Week in Sitcoms (Week of June 8, 2026)
SitcomsOnline Digest: Hulu Orders Cable Guy Comedy Pilot; Netflix Orders Big Box Store Adult Animated Comedy


New on DVD and Blu-ray

Happy's Place - Season One (Blu-ray) Two and a Half Men - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) Abbott Elementary - The Complete Fourth Season (DVD) I Love Lucy - The Complete Series - 75th Anniversary Edition (DVD) The Office - The Complete Series - Superfan Extended Episodes (Blu-ray)

11/04/25 - Happy's Place - Season One (Blu-ray) (DVD)
11/11/25 - Rick and Morty - Season 8 (Blu-ray) (DVD)
11/11/25 - SpongeBob SquarePants - The Complete Fifteenth Season (DVD)
11/11/25 - Two and a Half Men - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
12/02/25 - Tom and Jerry - The Golden Era Anthology (1940-1958) (Blu-ray) (DVD)
12/16/25 - Lippy the Lion and Hardy Har Har - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
12/16/25 - Wally Gator - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
01/20/26 - The Woody Woodpecker and Friends Golden Age Collection (Blu-ray)
01/27/26 - The New Fred and Barney Show - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
02/11/26 - Tom and Jerry - The Complete CinemaScope Collection (Blu-ray)
03/24/26 - Looney Tunes Collector's Vault - Volume 2 (Blu-ray)
04/11/26 - Abbott Elementary - The Complete Fourth Season (DVD)
04/21/26 - Famous Studios Champion Collection (Blu-ray) (DVD)
05/19/26 - I Love Lucy - The Complete Series - 75th Anniversary Edition (DVD)
05/19/26 - Looney Tunes Cartoons - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) (DVD)
07/14/26 - The Office - The Complete Series - Superfan Extended Episodes (Blu-ray)
07/28/26 - I Love Lucy - The Complete Series - 75th Anniversary Edition (Blu-ray)

More Recent and Upcoming TV DVD and Blu-ray Releases / TV Shows on DVD, Blu-ray and Prime Video / DVD Reviews Archive


Search Sitcoms Online:



Donate

Please make a donation if you can help with Sitcoms Online's web hosting costs. Thanks for your support!

We receive a small commission on all DVDs, Blu-rays, CDs, Books, and any other items ordered through our Amazon.com links as an associate. Thanks for using our links for your online shopping!

Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Old 10-22-2013, 04:19 PM   #1
TMC
Member
Forum Idol
 
Join Date: Jan 09, 2001
Posts: 124,928
Default Must See TV: The 8 Strongest Primetime Sitcom Lineups Over The Past 30 Years

http://www.uproxx.com/tv/2013/10/programming-blocks/

Quote:
Remember the glory days of last week, when we had Parks and Recreation to look forward to on Thursday nights? Yeah, that was fun, though not as fun as last year, when 30 Rock, Community, and Parks and Recreation single-handedly elevated NBC from “that network with The Voice and a whole bunch of garbage” to “that network with The Voice and a whole bunch of garbage, and some excellent Thursday night shows.”

(I’ll leave it to you to decide where season nine of The Office falls into that equation.)

But now, Parks is gone, at least for the time being, and with the possible exception of Parenthood, there’s almost no reason to watch NBC anymore. That’s a far cry from the near-past, when it was THE place for TV comedy, and not the unintentional comedy of Dr. FaceHands. So many of the best primetime sitcom lineups belong to NBC, which is why I looked back at every Big Four scheduling block over the past 30 years to find the 10 strongest, based equally on the show as a whole and said show’s quality in that particular season. Here they are, in chronological order.

1985-1986, NBC Thursdays

8 pm: The Cosby Show
8:30 pm: Family Ties
9 pm: Cheers
9:30 pm: Night Court

The first of many NBC Thursday night entries, which makes The Voice -> Sean Saves the World -> The Michael J. Fox Show all the more depressing. Cheers and The Cosby Show are two of the greatest sitcoms of all-time, not to mention the shows that made NBC Thursday THE night for TV, while Night Court starred John Larroquette and was honored in an episode of 30 Rock, two very good things. Though not as good as that Bill Cosby GIF.

1994-1995, NBC Thursdays

8 pm: Mad About You
8:30 pm: Friends
9 pm: Seinfeld
9:30 pm: Madman of the People

Seinfeld and Friends, that’s why this one’s here. So let’s talk about Madman of the People, one of my favorite Thursday night sitcoms that was mega-popular when it leeched off Seinfeld‘s ratings, but no one remembers anything about it anymore. Other classics: Union Square, Hope & Gloria, and of course, Boston Common (Thursday night: 8th highest rated show; Sunday night: 51st). At least that one gave a young Zach Galifianakis a gig.

1997-1998, NBC Tuesdays

8 pm: Mad About You
8:30 pm: NewsRadio
9 pm: Frasier
9:30 pm: Just Shoot Me

Disregard Just Shoot Me, a finalist in the Worst Shows to Air for the Highest Number of Seasons contest (its bitter rival: According to Jim), and concentrate on the always-underrated NewsRadio. As for Fraiser and Mad About You, the former was far better than the latter, and they’re both funnier than their current “catch repeats on Hallmark Channel, tonight at 7 p.m.” tag might otherwise insist. But mostly: NewsRadio.

2002-2003, Fox Sundays

7 pm: Futurama
7:30 pm: King of the Hill (repeat)
8 pm: The Simpsons
8:30 pm: King of the Hill
9 pm: Malcolm in the Middle
9:30 pm: Andy Richter Controls the Universe

If only because it’s the only lineup with FIVE good-to-great shows, including the perpetual-inclusion-in-every-cancelled-too-soon list Andy Richter Controls the Universe, Futurama at its peak, and The Simpsons before the downward spiral became a flush. (If you’re wondering why a golden-era Simpsons lineup wasn’t picked, that’s because in 1993-1994, it was paired with In Living Color, which excellent, and The Sinbad Show and Herman’s Head, which no. A year later, it moved to its current Sunday home…with House of Buggin’.)

http://www.uproxx.com/tv/2013/10/programming-blocks/2/

2004-2005, Fox Sundays

7 pm: King of the Hill
7:30 pm: Malcolm in the Middle
8 pm: The Simpsons
8:30 pm: Arrested Development
9 pm: Family Guy
9:30 pm: American Dad!

Family Guy returned three months after American Dad! premiered, and neither were as good as they once were/would eventually be. No, this one’s here because going from King of the Hill to Malcolm in the Middle to The Simpsons to Arrested Development is about as solid as it gets, even if IS THE DALLAS COWBOYS GAME PREEMPTING THE 7 P.M. SHOWS YET AGAIN? The bane of my existence.

2007-2008, NBC Thursdays

8 pm: My Name Is Earl
8:30 pm: 30 Rock
9 pm: The Office
9:30 pm: Scrubs

Did I mention I hate what NBC Thursday nights look like now?

2010-2011, NBC Thursdays

8 pm: Community
8:30 pm: 30 Rock
9 pm: The Office
9:30 pm: Parks and Recreation

Because I really, really do.

2011-2012, ABC Wednesdays

8 pm: The Middle
8:30 pm: Suburgatory
9 pm: Modern Family
9:30 pm: Happy Endings/Don’t Trust the B—- in Apartment 23

/pours one out for Don’t Trust the B—- in Apartment 23
//pours entire gallon out for Happy Endings
///wonders why Suburgatory isn’t back on yet and why more people don’t watch The Middle
////burns a hole in Modern Family Manny’s face every time I see it in a magazine
/////cancels subscription to Junior Mexican magazine

Just missed the cut: 1989-1990, ABC Tuesdays, for The Wonder Years leading into Roseanne.
Read more: http://www.uproxx.com/tv/2013/10/pro...#ixzz2iU4IHFP6
TMC is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-22-2013, 04:44 PM   #2
TV_on_the_Porch
anything good on?
Forum Regular
 
TV_on_the_Porch's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 18, 2005
Posts: 879
Default

TV_on_the_Porch is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-23-2013, 11:41 AM   #3
Penny Lane
Butter Pie
Forum Icon
 
Penny Lane's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 03, 2001
Location: Beneath the blue suburban skies
Posts: 50,983
Default

For me the best line-up was in the early 70's on CBS Saturday nights. I'm shocked that this was omitted!

All In The Family
Mary Tyler Moore
Bob Newhart Show
Carol Burnett Show
__________________
Vulgarity is no substitute for wit- Lady Violet Crawley
Penny Lane is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-25-2013, 08:05 PM   #4
Mr. Television
22 Years at Sitcoms Online
Forum Icon
 
Mr. Television's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 06, 2003
Location: Somewhere you're Not
Posts: 62,127
Default

The only good lineup listed was 1985-1986. The rest are must flee tv. lol
__________________
Sonny
Mr. Television is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-25-2013, 08:08 PM   #5
Mr. Television
22 Years at Sitcoms Online
Forum Icon
 
Mr. Television's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 06, 2003
Location: Somewhere you're Not
Posts: 62,127
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Penny Lane
For me the best line-up was in the early 70's on CBS Saturday nights. I'm shocked that this was omitted!

All In The Family
Mary Tyler Moore
Bob Newhart Show
Carol Burnett Show
I loved that lineup.

Another was ABC in 1977-78 and 1978-19

Happy Days
Laverne and Shirley
Three's Company
Soap/Taxi
Family/Starsky and Hutch
Mr. Television is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply



Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -4. The time now is 10:33 AM.


Although the administrators and moderators of the Sitcoms Online Message Boards will attempt to keep all objectionable messages off this forum, it is impossible for us to review all messages. All messages express the views of the author, and neither the owners of the Sitcoms Online Message Boards, nor vBulletin Solutions Inc. (developers of vBulletin) will be held responsible for the content of any message. The owners of the Sitcoms Online Message Boards reserve the right to remove, edit, move or close any thread for any reason.

Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2026, vBulletin Solutions Inc.