1980–81 United States network television schedule
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The following is the 1980–81 network television schedule for the three major English language commercial broadcast networks in the United States. The schedule covers primetime hours from September 1980 through August 1981. The schedule is followed by a list per network of returning series, new series, and series cancelled after the 1979–80 season. All times are Eastern and Pacific, with certain exceptions, such as Monday Night Football.
New 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 is not included; member stations have local flexibility over most of their schedules and broadcast times for network shows may vary.
Note: An actors' strike hindered the ability to start airing shows in a timely manner. The shows in the schedule were the first to air new episodes in their respective time periods as they bowed in between late August and December 31, 1980. Some of the new shows intended for a fall launch did not debut until 1982 or 1983, if at all.
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 | Those Amazing Animals | Local and paid political programming | The ABC Sunday Night Movie (24/19.4) (Tied with CHiPs) | |||||
| November | Charlie's Angels | ||||||||
| Spring | Specials | ||||||||
| CBS | 60 Minutes (3/27.0) | Archie Bunker's Place (13/21.4) | One Day at a Time (11/22.0) | Alice (7/22.9) | The Jeffersons (6/23.5) | Trapper John, M.D. (17/20.7) (Tied with Fantasy Island and Diff'rent Strokes) | |||
| NBC | Disney's Wonderful World | CHiPs (24/19.4) (Tied with The ABC Sunday Night Movie) |
The Big Event | ||||||
Note: On ABC, local and paid political programming aired in the 8-9 p.m. hour from September till November.
Monday
| Network | 8:00 PM | 8:30 PM | 9:00 PM | 9:30 PM | 10:00 PM | 10:30 PM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ABC | Fall | That's Incredible! (22/20.5) | Monday Night Football (20/20.6) (Tied with Laverne & Shirley) | ||||
| Winter | Dynasty | Foul Play | |||||
| Spring | Soap | ||||||
| Summer | Specials | Monday Night Baseball | |||||
| CBS | Fall | Flo | Ladies' Man (Oct.) | M*A*S*H (4/25.7) | House Calls (8/22.4) (Tied with Three's Company) |
Lou Grant (27/19.1) | |
| Spring | Private Benjamin | ||||||
| Follow-up | The Two of Us | ||||||
| Summer | The Tim Conway Show | ||||||
| NBC | Fall | Little House on the Prairie (10/22.1) | NBC Monday Night at the Movies (29/18.8) | ||||
| Summer | Flamingo Road | The Last Convertible | |||||
Note: Private Benjamin premiered April 6, 1981, at 8:00-8:30 pm on CBS.
Soap ran for three-and-a-half seasons on ABC in a 30-minute format. It was pulled from the Wednesday night schedule in January 1981 and returned on Mondays from March to April, when the final 12 episodes of the series ran as six 60-minute installments.
Tuesday
| Network | 8:00 PM | 8:30 PM | 9:00 PM | 9:30 PM | 10:00 PM | 10:30 PM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ABC | Fall | Happy Days (15/20.8) (Tied with Too Close for Comfort) |
Laverne & Shirley (20/20.6) (Tied with Monday Night Football) |
Three's Company (8/22.4) (Tied with House Calls) |
Too Close for Comfort (Nov.) (15/20.8) (Tied with Happy Days) |
Hart to Hart (23/19.9) | |
| Summer | It's a Living | ||||||
| CBS | Fall | Local and paid political programming | The CBS Tuesday Night Movies | ||||
| November | The White Shadow | ||||||
| Winter | That's My Line | ||||||
| Spring | Palmerstown, U.S.A. | ||||||
| Summer | Checking In | Flo | |||||
| NBC | Fall | NBC Tuesday Night at the Movies | The Steve Allen Comedy Hour (Oct.) | ||||
| November | Lobo | B. J. and the Bear | |||||
| Winter | Flamingo Road | ||||||
| Spring | Nero Wolfe | ||||||
Note: On CBS, local and paid political programming aired in the 8-9 p.m. hour between September and November. On NBC, NBC Tuesday Night at the Movies aired 8-10 p.m. from September till November.
Wednesday
| Network | 8:00 PM | 8:30 PM | 9:00 PM | 9:30 PM | 10:00 PM | 10:30 PM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ABC | Fall | Eight Is Enough | Taxi | Soap | Vega$ | ||
| Spring | The Greatest American Hero (Mar.) | Aloha Paradise (Feb.) | American Dream (May) | ||||
| Summer | Charlie's Angels | The ABC Summer Movie | |||||
| Follow-up | Vega$ | Dynasty | |||||
| CBS | Enos (Nov.) | The CBS Wednesday Night Movies | |||||
| NBC | Fall | Real People (12/21.5) | Movie of the Week | ||||
| November | Diff'rent Strokes (17/20.7) (Tied with Fantasy Island and Trapper John, M.D.) |
The Facts of Life (26/19.3) | Quincy, M.E. | ||||
Note: The Greatest American Hero debuted on March 18 at 8:00pm on ABC.
Note: NBC's Movie of the Week aired 9-11 p.m. between September and November.
Note: The Facts of Life Season 2 began on November 19 at 9:30 on NBC.
Thursday
| Network | 8:00 PM | 8:30 PM | 9:00 PM | 9:30 PM | 10:00 PM | 10:30 PM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ABC | Fall | Mork & Mindy | Bosom Buddies (Nov.) | Barney Miller | It's a Living (Oct.) | 20/20 | |
| Winter | Taxi | ||||||
| CBS | Fall | The Waltons (30/18.6) | CBS Thursday Movie Special | ||||
| December | Magnum, P.I. (14/21.0) | Knots Landing (28/19.0) | |||||
| Spring | Checking In | Park Place | |||||
| May | The Waltons (30/18.6) | ||||||
| NBC | Fall | Games People Play | NBC Thursday Night at the Movies | ||||
| Winter | Buck Rogers in the 25th Century | ||||||
Note: CBS Thursday Movie Special aired 9-11 p.m. from September till the end of November. Magnum, P.I. had a 2-hour premiere on December 11, 1980.
Friday
| Network | 8:00 PM | 8:30 PM | 9:00 PM | 9:30 PM | 10:00 PM | 10:30 PM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ABC | Fall | Benson | I'm a Big Girl Now (Oct.) | The ABC Friday Night Movie | |||
| Summer | The Krypton Factor | ||||||
| CBS | The Incredible Hulk | The Dukes of Hazzard (2/27.3) | Dallas (1/34.5) | ||||
| NBC | Fall | NBC Friday Night at the Movies | NBC Magazine with David Brinkley (Sep.) | ||||
| December | Marie | Number 96 | |||||
| Winter | Harper Valley PTA | Sanford | Nero Wolfe | ||||
| Follow-up | The Brady Brides | ||||||
| Spring | Sanford | ||||||
| Follow-up | Specials | ||||||
| Summer | Comedy Theater | ||||||
Note: NBC Friday Night at the Movies aired 8-10 p.m. during October and November.
Saturday
| Network | 8:00 PM | 8:30 PM | 9:00 PM | 9:30 PM | 10:00 PM | 10:30 PM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ABC | Fall | Local and paid political programming | The Love Boat (5/24.3) | Fantasy Island (17/20.7) (Tied with Trapper John, M.D. and Diff'rent Strokes) | |||
| November | Breaking Away | ||||||
| Winter | Charlie's Angels | ||||||
| Follow-up | 240-Robert | ||||||
| Spring | Eight Is Enough | ||||||
| CBS | Fall | WKRP in Cincinnati | The Tim Conway Show | The CBS Saturday Night Movies | |||
| December | Freebie and the Bean | Secrets of Midland Heights | |||||
| Follow-up | Flo | Ladies' Man | Concrete Cowboys | ||||
| Spring | Flo | Concrete Cowboys | Riker | ||||
| Follow-up | Enos | The CBS Saturday Night Movies | |||||
| NBC | Fall | Barbara Mandrell and the Mandrell Sisters (Nov.) | NBC Saturday Night at the Movies | ||||
| Winter | Walking Tall | Hill Street Blues | |||||
| Follow-up | The Gangster Chronicles | ||||||
| Spring | B.J. and the Bear | Walking Tall | |||||
| Summer | Games People Play | ||||||
Note: The CBS Saturday Night Movies aired 9-11 p.m. through the end of November.
By network
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Returning Series
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New Series
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Not returning from 1979–80:
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Note: The * indicates that the program was introduced in midseason.
References
- ^ 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.