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1978–79 United States network television schedule

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  • Morning: 1976–77
  • 1977–78
  • 1978–79
  • 1979–80
  • 1980–81
  • Overnight: 1976–77
  • 1977–78
  • 1978–79
  • 1979–80
  • 1980–81

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.[1]

  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

[edit]
Network 7:00 PM 7:30 PM 8:00 PM 8:30 PM 9:00 PM 9:30 PM 10:00 PM 10:30 PM
ABC Fall The Hardy Boys Battlestar Galactica The ABC Sunday Night Movie (#16/22.7)
Winter The Osmond Family Hour
Spring Friends
May The Osmond Family Hour
Summer Salvage 1
CBS Fall 60 Minutes (#8/25.4) Mary All in the Family (#9/25.2) Alice (#13/23.8) Kaz
October All in the Family (#9/25.2) Alice (#13/23.8) Kaz Dallas
Winter CBS Sunday Night Movie (#23/20.7)
(Tied with Vega$ and Just Friends)
Spring One Day at a Time (#18/21.6)
(Tied with Soap) 		Alice (#13/23.8) Just Friends (#23/20.7)
(Tied with Vega$ and the CBS Sunday Night Movie) 		The Mary Tyler Moore Hour
Summer The Jeffersons Moses the Lawgiver
Follow-up Kaz
NBC Fall The Wonderful World of Disney The Big Event Lifeline
Winter Weekend

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; the show itself reached #28 at the end of the season, with 20.3 rating.

Monday

[edit]
Network 8:00 PM 8:30 PM 9:00 PM 9:30 PM 10:00 PM 10:30 PM
ABC Fall Welcome Back, Kotter Operation Petticoat Monday Night Football
October Lucan
Winter Salvage 1 How the West Was Won
Summer Monday Night Baseball
CBS Fall WKRP in Cincinnati People M*A*S*H (#7/25.4) One Day at a Time (#18/21.6)
(Tied with Soap) 		Lou Grant
November The White Shadow
Winter Billy Flatbush WKRP in Cincinnati
Spring The White Shadow
NBC Little House on the Prairie (#14/23.3) NBC Monday Night at the Movies (#21/21.0)

Tuesday

[edit]
Network 8:00 PM 8:30 PM 9:00 PM 9:30 PM 10:00 PM 10:30 PM
ABC Fall Happy Days (#3/29.1) Laverne & Shirley (#1/30.6) Three's Company (#2/30.2) Taxi (#11/24.9)
(Tied with Eight is Enough) 		Starsky & Hutch
Spring The Ropers (#6/25.6) 13 Queens Boulevard (#26/20.5)
(Tied with Barnaby Jones)
Summer Detective School
CBS Preliminary The Amazing Spider-Man CBS Tuesday Night Movie
Official The Paper Chase
NBC Fall Grandpa Goes to Washington The Big Event
Winter Cliffhangers: Stop Susan Williams/The Secret Empire/The Curse of Dracula
Summer The Runaways

Wednesday

[edit]
Network 8:00 PM 8:30 PM 9:00 PM 9:30 PM 10:00 PM 10:30 PM
ABC Eight Is Enough (#11/24.9)
(Tied with Taxi) 		Charlie's Angels (#10/25.0) Vega$ (#23/20.7)
(Tied with Just Friends and the CBS Sunday Night Movie)
CBS Fall The Jeffersons In the Beginning CBS Wednesday Night Movie
Follow-up Good Times
Winter The Incredible Hulk One Day at a Time (#18/21.6)
(Tied with Soap) 		The Jeffersons Kaz
Follow-up The Amazing Spider-Man
Spring Married: The First Year
Follow-up The Jeffersons Miss Winslow and Son Dear Detective
Summer All in the Family (#9/25.2) Good Times CBS Wednesday Night Movie
Follow-up Dorothy Hanging In
NBC Fall Dick Clark's Live Wednesday NBC Wednesday Night at the Movies
Winter Supertrain NBC Novels for Television: From Here to Eternity/Studs Lonigan/Wheels
Spring Real People
Summer Laugh-In Various

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

[edit]
Network 8:00 PM 8:30 PM 9:00 PM 9:30 PM 10:00 PM 10:30 PM
ABC Fall Mork & Mindy (#4/28.5) What's Happening!! (#29/20.1)
(Tied with CHiPs) 		Barney Miller (#15/22.8)
 Soap (#18/21.6)
(Tied with One Day at a Time) 		Family
Winter Angie (#5/27.1)
Spring Doctors' Private Lives
Follow-up Family
Summer 20/20
CBS Fall The Waltons Hawaii Five-O Barnaby Jones (#26/20.5)
(Tied with 13 Queens Boulevard)
Spring The Chisholms
Follow-up Time Express
Summer The Waltons
NBC Fall Project U.F.O. Quincy, M.E. W.E.B.
Follow-up David Cassidy: Man Undercover
Winter Little Women Mrs. Columbo
Spring Harris and Company
April Whodunnit? Highcliffe Manor Presenting Susan Anton
May Hizzonner Whodunnit?
Follow-up Comedy Theatre NBC Novels for Television: The Innocent and the Damned
Summer Project U.F.O. David Cassidy: Man Undercover

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.

Friday

[edit]
Network 8:00 PM 8:30 PM 9:00 PM 9:30 PM 10:00 PM 10:30 PM
ABC Fall Donny & Marie The ABC Friday Night Movie
Winter Makin' It What's Happening!! (#29/20.1)
(Tied with CHiPs)
Spring Family
Follow-up The MacKenzies of Paradise Cove
Summer Operation Petticoat Welcome Back, Kotter
CBS Fall The New Adventures of Wonder Woman The Incredible Hulk Flying High
Winter The Dukes of Hazzard (#20/21.1) Dallas
Summer The Incredible Hulk
NBC Fall The Waverly Wonders Who's Watching the Kids? The Rockford Files The Eddie Capra Mysteries
November Diff'rent Strokes
Winter Joe & Valerie
February Brothers and Sisters Turnabout Hello, Larry $weepstake$
March Hello, Larry Brothers and Sisters Turnabout
Spring The Rockford Files The Duke
Summer The Eddie Capra Mysteries

Saturday

[edit]
Network 8:00 PM 8:30 PM 9:00 PM 9:30 PM 10:00 PM 10:30 PM
ABC Fall Carter Country Apple Pie The Love Boat (#17/22.1) Fantasy Island (#22/20.8)
October Welcome Back, Kotter Carter Country
Winter Delta House Welcome Back, Kotter
Spring What's Happening!! (#29/20.1)
(Tied with CHiPs) 		Delta House
Summer Battlestar Galactica
August Carol Burnett & Company
CBS Fall Rhoda Good Times The American Girls Dallas
Winter The White Shadow CBS Movie
Spring The Bad News Bears Billy
NBC Fall CHiPs (#29/20.1)
(Tied with What's Happening!!) 		Various programming Sword of Justice
Winter B. J. and the Bear The Rockford Files
Spring Supertrain

By network

[edit]

ABC

[edit]

CBS

[edit]

NBC

[edit]

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

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Rounding up the ratings for `the season'" (PDF). Broadcasting. 1979-06-18. p. 56. Retrieved 2025-03-09.

Additional sources

[edit]
  • 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.
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