Here’s a chart listing the top programs for each week of the 1985-1986 season, including the summer repeat months. The season officially began on Monday, September 23rd, 1985 and ended 30 weeks later on Sunday, April 14th, 1986. NBC was easily the top network in the Nielsen ratings with a 17.5 rating. CBS was second with a 16.7 rating and ABC brought up the rear with a 14.9 rating. It was the first time NBC won a television season, having previously tied for first with CBS during the 1969-70 and 1970-71 seasons.
The highest-rating program was NBC’s The Cosby Show, which ranked first for an astounding 27 weeks during the official season and 46 times during the 1985-1986 season as a whole. Furthermore, during four of those six weeks NBC was still had the top program. ABC was able to top the weekly rankings just twice, once for the seventh game of the World Series and again for the Thursday edition of “Liberty Weekend.”
NBC had five of the Top Ten shows for the season, while CBS had three and ABC two. Here they are:
1. The Cosby Show (NBC)
2. Family Ties (NBC)
3. Murder, She Wrote (CBS)
4. 60 Minutes (CBS)
5. Cheers (NBC)
6. Dallas (CBS)
7. Dynasty (ABC)
8. The Golden Girls (NBC)
9. Miami Vice (NBC)
10. Who’s the Boss? (ABC)
The source for the chart is the Associated Press, which released a list of the previous week’s Top Twenty shows every Tuesday.
Week ## | Date | Top Program | Network |
---|---|---|---|
Week 01 | Sep 23rd, 1985 | The Cosby Show | NBC |
Week 02 | Sep 30th, 1985 | The Cosby Show | NBC |
Week 03 | Oct 07th, 1985 | The Cosby Show | NBC |
Week 04 | Oct 14th, 1985 | The Cosby Show | NBC |
Week 05 | Oct 21st, 1985 | SPORTS: World Series, Game 7 | ABC |
Week 06 | Oct 28th, 1985 | The Cosby Show | NBC |
Week 07 | Nov 04th, 1985 | The Cosby Show | NBC |
Week 08 | Nov 11th, 1985 | The Cosby Show | NBC |
Week 09 | Nov 18th, 1985 | The Cosby Show | NBC |
Week 10 | Nov 25th, 1985 | TELEFILM: Perry Mason Returns | NBC |
Week 11 | Dec 02nd, 1985 | The Cosby Show | NBC |
Week 12 | Dec 09th, 1985 | The Cosby Show | NBC |
Week 13 | Dec 16th, 1985 | The Cosby Show | NBC |
Week 14 | Dec 23rd, 1985 | The Cosby Show | NBC |
Week 15 | Dec 30th, 1985 | The Cosby Show | NBC |
Week 16 | Jan 06th, 1986 | The Cosby Show | NBC |
Week 17 | Jan 13th, 1986 | The Cosby Show | NBC |
Week 18 | Jan 20th, 1986 | SPORTS: Superbowl XXX | NBC |
Week 19 | Jan 27th, 1986 | The Cosby Show | NBC |
Week 20 | Feb 3rd, 1986 | The Cosby Show | NBC |
Week 21 | Feb 10th, 1986 | The Cosby Show | NBC |
Week 22 | Feb 17th, 1986 | The Cosby Show | NBC |
Week 23 | Feb 24th, 1986 | The Cosby Show | NBC |
Week 24 | Mar 03rd, 1986 | The Cosby Show | NBC |
Week 25 | Mar 10th, 1986 | The Cosby Show | NBC |
Week 26 | Mar 17th, 1986 | The Cosby Show | NBC |
Week 27 | Mar 24th, 1986 | The Cosby Show | NBC |
Week 28 | Mar 31st, 1986 | The Cosby Show | NBC |
Week 29 | Apr 07th, 1986 | The Cosby Show | NBC |
Week 30 | Apr 14th, 1986 | The Cosby Show | NBC |
*Regular Season Ends* | |||
Week 31 | Apr 21st, 1986 | The Cosby Show | NBC |
Week 32 | Apr 28th, 1986 | The Cosby Show | NBC |
Week 33 | May 05th, 1986 | The Cosby Show | NBC |
Week 34 | May 12th, 1986 | The Cosby Show | NBC |
Week 35 | May 19th, 1986 | The Cosby Show | NBC |
Week 36 | May 26th, 1986 | The Cosby Show | NBC |
Week 37 | Jun 02nd, 1986 | Family Ties | NBC |
Week 38 | Jun 09th, 1986 | The Cosby Show | NBC |
Week 39 | Jun 16th, 1986 | The Cosby Show | NBC |
Week 40 | Jun 23rd, 1986 | The Cosby Show | NBC |
Week 41 | Jun 30th, 1986 | Liberty Weekend (Thurs.) | ABC |
Week 42 | Jul 07th, 1986 | The Cosby Show | NBC |
Week 43 | Jul 14th, 1986 | The Cosby Show | NBC |
Week 44 | Jul 21st, 1986 | The Cosby Show | NBC |
Week 45 | Jul 28th, 1986 | The Cosby Show | NBC |
Week 46 | Aug 04th, 1986 | The Cosby Show | NBC |
Week 47 | Aug 11th, 1986 | Family Ties | NBC |
Week 48 | Aug 18th, 1986 | The Cosby Show | NBC |
Week 49 | Aug 25th, 1986 | The Cosby Show | NBC |
Week 50 | Sep 01st, 1986 | The Cosby Show | NBC |
Week 51 | Sep 08th, 1986 | The Cosby Show | NBC |
Week 52 | Sep 15th, 1986 | The Cosby Show | NBC |
Yes, NBC virtually “built” their Thursday night schedule around Cosby in 1985-’86 (and that’s why they won the season):
8:00 THE COSBY SHOW [naturally]
8:30 FAMILY TIES [often the #2 program]
9:00 CHEERS
9:30 NIGHT COURT
10:00 HILL STREET BLUES
ABC and CBS were virtually “shell-shocked” in planning their schedules as a result.
Even CBS’ “answer” to the Cosby format, “CHARLIE AND COMPANY” (starring Flip Wilson), came and went on Wednesdays at 9pm(et), opposite ABC’s #1 series in that time period, “DYNASTY”, which was beginning to “lose its edge”. But the network DID have a few “evergreens” to fall back on: “60 MINUTES” and “MURDER SHE WROTE” on Sundays, “SCARECROW & MRS. KING”, “KATE & ALLIE”, “NEWHART”, and “CAGNEY & LACEY” on Mondays, ‘MAGNUM P.I.”, “SIMON & SIMON” and “KNOTS LANDING” on Thursdays, and “DALLAS” and “FALCON CREST” on Fridays.
ABC wasn’t so lucky. By depending too much on Aaron Spelling to supply most of their prime-time programming in the 1984-’85 season, they “lost” the season to CBS (with NBC a close second, due to the first season of “THE COSBY SHOW”), and tore up Spelling’s exclusive contract with the network. However, what remained of his series- “DYNASTY”, “HOTEL”, and “THE LOVE BOAT”- continued in the 1985-’86 season (with one new series, “HOLLYWOOD BEAT”, gone within a few weeks, and another, the “DYNASTY” spin-off, “DYNASTY II: THE COLBYS”, hanging on)…but “LOVE BOAT” ended that season. However, there were some bright spots- “MacGYVER” on Sundays, “GROWING PAINS”, “MOONLIGHTING” and “SPENSER: FOR HIRE” on Tuesdays, “MR. BELVEDERE” on Fridays, and in mid-season, “PERFECT STRANGERS”, “HEAD OF THE CLASS”, and the return of the Disney anthology series (as “THE DISNEY SUNDAY MOVIE”). But several of their more recent series, “HARDCASTLE & McCORMICK”, “THE FALL GUY”, and “RIPLEY’S BELIEVE IT OR NOT!”, vanished at the end of the season.
…and of course, the first of the “updated” “PERRY MASON” TV movies {I personally refer to it as “The Case Of Della Street’s Dilemma’} was SO successful on “NBC SUNDAY NIGHT AT THE MOVIES”, it “jump-started” Raymond Burr’s career and led to a series of 26 two-hour movies, until Burr’s death in 1993.
Barry is absolutely right in noting NBC’s Thursday night juggernaut was the engine that drove the network to its first outright seasonal win since the early 1950’s.
But it wasn’t the only reason for NBC’s dominance during the 1985-86 season. On Saturday night, a new comedy featuring four women over 50 did quite nicely, thank you. “THE GOLDEN GIRLS” tied for seventh place with “DYNASTY” that season, helping another new sitcom that followed it, “227” (20th place). And old favorite “THE FACTS OF LIFE” still had some steam left in it (27th place), while second-season crime drama “HUNTER” was building an audience.
And of course, we can’t forget a couple of sophomore NBC hits that season–“MIAMI VICE” on Fridays (9th place); and Michael Landon’s Wednesday night drama “HIGHWAY TO HEAVEN” (11th place). Not to mention NBC’s movie nights on Sunday (21st place) and Monday (22nd place tie with “HOTEL”). Add the mid-season success of new sitcoms “YOU AGAIN” with Jack Klugman and John Stamos (19th place) and “VALERIE” with Valerie Harper (24th place tie with “MOONLIGHTING” and “FALCON CREST”), and it added up to a stellar comeback season for NBC.
Looks like everything old is new again at the peacock network they are trying a new version of the Thursday comedy line up with The Office, Community, Parks and Recreation and Saturday Night Live Weekend Edition Thursday and Jay Leno not in this order and to tell you the truth I don’t see lightning strinking twice
The sitcoms haven’t been the same since they got rid of the studio audiences and show opennings.
I was recently on the Retrojunk site and didn’t realize how long and how many different show openings Three’s company had for seasons one & two.
You’re right, Michael! I almost completely forgot about “THE GOLDEN GIRLS”, which allowed the network to build a Saturday night “beachhead” as well. But “YOU AGAIN?” [an American version of a British sitcom, “HOME TO ROOST”] didn’t last too long, and “VALERIE” was almost scuttled by Valerie Harper abruptly leaving the show. Fortunately, with Sandy Duncan “replacing” her, “THE HOGAN FAMILY” (as it finally became known) found a comfortable nest on Mondays until 1991.
Agreed, Barry: “YOU AGAIN” didn’t last long; it got a boost from a premiere after “THE COSBY SHOW” before moving to Monday nights. But it didn’t last; the show was canceled in the spring of 1987. One funny note about “YOU AGAIN”: British actress Elizabeth Bennett played the role of housekeeper Enid Tompkins on both “YOU AGAIN” and the British “HOME TO ROOST,” requiring her to commute between London and Los Angeles during the run of both shows. According to TV historians Tim Brooks and Earl Marsh, it was a video first.
“The Equalizer” also started on CBS this year, along with “The New Twilight Zone”, which were two more bright spots for the network IMO.
Ouite a difference from the previous season for NBC!
When it premiered on September 14, 1985, “The Golden Girls” actually beat out “The Cosby Show” for the #1 spot that week, with a 25.0 rating and a 43 share.
does anyone where we you can get the week by week numbers for the entire 1985-1986 season for all shows, not just the top 10?
I remember in 1986 my son was five years old he was in kindergarten in a Montessori school and his teacher said that her friend played the father in the show dinosaurs with the baby Sinclair not the mama baby and it seems like Disney has rewritten history and they say it came out in 1991 that cannot be right because I remember specifically my son being in Montessori kindergarten 1986 and the show was on the air.