1976–77 United States network television schedule

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The following is the 1976–77 network television schedule for the three major English language commercial broadcast networks in the United States. The schedule covers primetime hours from September 1976 through August 1977. The schedule is followed by a list per network of returning series, new series, and series cancelled after the 1975–76 season. All times are Eastern and Pacific, with certain exceptions, such as Monday Night Football.

New fall series are highlighted in bold.

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, the Public Broadcasting Service, was in operation, but the schedule was set by each local station.

The Muppet Show (syndicated in the U.S.) premiered this season.

Sunday[]

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 Cos The Six Million Dollar Man (7/24.2) The ABC Sunday Night Movie (8/23.4)
(Tied with Baretta and One Day at a Time)
Winter Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries
CBS Fall 60 Minutes (18/21.9)
(Tied with Hawaii Five-O) 		The Sonny and Cher Show Kojak Delvecchio
Winter Rhoda Phyllis Switch
Summer
NBC The Wonderful World of Disney NBC Sunday Mystery Movie:

Columbo / McCloud / McMillan / Quincy, M.E. / Lanigan's Rabbi (beginning winter)

(6/24.4)

Monday[]

Network 8:00 PM 8:30 PM 9:00 PM 9:30 PM 10:00 PM 10:30 PM
ABC Fall The Captain and Tennille ABC NFL Monday Night Football (22/21.2)
Winter The ABC Monday Night Movie (3/26.0)
Spring The Brady Bunch Variety Hour Most Wanted The Feather and Father Gang
Summer Monday Night Baseball
August Holmes & Yoyo
Follow-up
CBS Fall Rhoda Phyllis Maude All's Fair Executive Suite
Winter The Jeffersons (24/21.0) Busting Loose The Andros Targets
Summer The Shields and Yarnell Show The Sonny and Cher Show
Follow-up Szysznyk
NBC Little House on the Prairie (15/22.3)
(Tied with The Waltons) 		NBC Monday Night at the Movies (20/21.8)

Note: The Brady Bunch Variety Hour previously aired on a sporadic basis starting in November 1976, before becoming a weekly series in February 1977.

Tuesday[]

Network 8:00 PM 8:30 PM 9:00 PM 9:30 PM 10:00 PM 10:30 PM
ABC Fall Happy Days (1/31.5) Laverne & Shirley (2/30.9) Rich Man, Poor Man Book II (21/21.6) Family
Winter Eight is Enough (23/21.1)
Summer Rich Man, Poor Man
Follow-up The ABC Tuesday Night Movie
CBS Fall The Tony Orlando and Dawn Rainbow Hour M*A*S*H (4/25.9) One Day at a Time (8/23.4)
(Tied with The ABC Sunday Night Movie and Baretta) 		Switch!
Winter Kojak
Summer The Family Holvak
Mid-Summer The Jack Benny Show Phyllis
NBC Baa Baa Black Sheep Police Woman Police Story

Note: On ABC, the 1977 summer miniseries Rich Man, Poor Man consisted of reruns of the 1976 miniseries. On CBS, The Family Holvak consisted of reruns of the 1975 NBC series before being replaced by a four-week run of The Jack Benny Show (with Phyllis in the 8:30 slot), featuring episodes from its 1963-64 season.

Wednesday[]

Network 8:00 PM 8:30 PM 9:00 PM 9:30 PM 10:00 PM 10:30 PM
ABC Fall The Bionic Woman (14/22.4) Baretta (8/23.4)
(Tied with The ABC Sunday Night Movie and One Day at a Time) 		Charlie's Angels (5/25.8)
Summer Donny & Marie
Follow-up Eight is Enough Charlie's Angels Baretta
CBS Fall Good Times (26/20.5) Ball Four All in the Family (12/22.9) Alice (30/20.0) The Blue Knight
Follow-up The Jeffersons
Winter The Jacksons
Spring Loves Me, Loves Me Not
Summer Alice
Follow-up Busting Loose
NBC Fall The Practice The Quest
Follow-up C.P.O. Sharkey The McLean Stevenson Show Sirota's Court The Practice
Winter The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams C.P.O. Sharkey The McLean Stevenson Show Quinn Martin's Tales of the Unexpected
Spring Sirota's Court Kingston: Confidential
Summer 3 Girls 3
Follow-up C.P.O. Sharkey The Kallikaks Quinn Martin's Tales of the Unexpected

Thursday[]

Network 8:00 PM 8:30 PM 9:00 PM 9:30 PM 10:00 PM 10:30 PM
ABC Fall Welcome Back, Kotter (13/22.7) Barney Miller (17/22.2) The Tony Randall Show (29/20.1) The Nancy Walker Show The Streets of San Francisco
Winter What's Happening!! (25/20.9) Barney Miller (17/22.2) The Tony Randall Show (29/20.1) Westside Medical
Spring Three's Company (11/23.1)
CBS The Waltons (15/22.3)
(Tied with Little House on the Prairie) 		Hawaii Five-O (18/21.9)
(Tied with 60 Minutes) 		Barnaby Jones
NBC Fall Gemini Man NBC's Best Sellers Van Dyke and Company
Follow-up Van Dyke and Company Gibbsville
Winter The Fantastic Journey NBC's Best Sellers
Summer Specials NBC Thursday Night at the Movies

Note: NBC was supposed to have aired Snip (a sitcom starring David Brenner) on Thursdays at 9:30-10 with The Practice preceding it in the 9-9:30 slot, but Snip never aired. On August 28, NBC did a "massive reshuffling" of its schedule and pulled the series.[2]

Friday[]

Network 8:00 PM 8:30 PM 9:00 PM 9:30 PM 10:00 PM 10:30 PM
ABC Donny & Marie (28/20.2)
CBS Fall Spencer's Pilots
Winter Code R The Sonny & Cher Show (Jan.-Mar.) Hunter
Spring Nashville 99 (Apr.)
Follow-up The CBS Friday Night Movies
Summer A Year at the Top The Keane Brothers Show
NBC Fall Sanford and Son (27/20.3) Chico and the Man The Rockford Files Serpico
Winter Quincy, M.E.

Note: A special program, , aired on CBS from 7:30 to 8:00 p.m. from September to early November in preparation for the 1976 presidential election.

Saturday[]

Network 8:00 PM 8:30 PM 9:00 PM 9:30 PM 10:00 PM 10:30 PM
ABC Fall Holmes & Yoyo Mr. T and Tina Starsky and Hutch Most Wanted
Winter Blansky's Beauties Fish Dog and Cat
Summer Wonder Woman The Feather and Father Gang
Follow-up Fish Sugar Time! Most Wanted
CBS Fall The Jeffersons (24/21.0) Doc The Mary Tyler Moore Show The Bob Newhart Show The Carol Burnett Show
Follow-up The Mary Tyler Moore Show The Bob Newhart Show All in the Family (12/22.9) Alice (30/20.0)
Summer Switch
Follow-up The Diahann Carroll Show
NBC Emergency! NBC Saturday Night at the Movies

By network[]

ABC[]

CBS[]

NBC[]

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

References[]

  1. ^ Highest-rated series is based on the annual top-rated programs list compiled by Nielsen Media Research and reported in: Brooks, Tim & Marsh, Earle (2007). The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network TV Shows (9th ed.). New York: Ballantine. ISBN 978-0-345-49773-4.
  2. ^ "Programs Cancelled Before They Premiered - TVObscurities".

Additional sources[]

  • 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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