Week 6 of the 1987-1988 season started on Monday, October 26th, 1987 and ended on Sunday, November 1st, 1987. The highest-rated program was The Cosby Show on NBC with a 31.1/47 Nielsen rating/share and 44.6 million viewers according to AGB Television Research.
Here are the 10 lowest-rated programs on TV during Week 6 of the 1987-1988 season:
| ## | Program | Network | Rating | Viewers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 67 | The Oldest Rookie | CBS | 8.8/13 | 9,600,000 |
| 68 | Top Flight (special) | CBS | 8.6/13 | 11,900,000 |
| 69 | Hotel | ABC | 8.4/16 | 9,500,000 |
| 70 | Sledge Hammer! | ABC | 7.9/12 | 9,500,000 |
| 71 | The Charmings | ABC | 7.8/12 | 10,400,000 |
| 72 | West 57th | CBS | 7.5/15 | 10,900,000 |
| 73 | My Sister Sam | CBS | 6.5/12 | 9,000,000 |
| 74 | The Midnight Hour (movie) | ABC | 6.3/12 | 11,000,000 |
| 75 | Everything’s Relative | CBS | 5.6/10 | 8,200,000 |
| 76 | Leg Work | CBS | 5.2/9 | 6,500,000 |
Copyright A.C. Nielsen Co. and AGB Television Research
Note: USA Today did not begin including FOX programming in its weekly rating charts until December 1988.
NBC just barely managed to stay out of the Bottom 10 this week, with its lowest-rated program (A Year in the Life on Wednesday, October 28th) ranking 66th for the week. CBS placed six programs in the Bottom 10 with ABC taking up the remaining four spots.
Every single program ABC and CBS aired on Saturday, October 31st landed in the Bottom 10. ABC, still trying to figure out its Saturday line-up after after the quick cancellation of Once a Hero, aired a repeat of the 1985 made-for-TV movie The Midnight Hour from 8-10PM followed by Hotel from 10-11PM.
As for CBS, its weak Saturday line-up–My Sister Sam, Everything’s Relative, Leg Work, and West 57th–continued to perform miserably. But thanks to the poor performance of The Midnight Hour on ABC, two of them actually outperformed a program on one of the other networks.
Elsewhere, CBS pre-empted Houston Knights on Tuesday, October 27th in favor of an hour-long documentary called “Top Flight” about the 40th anniversary of the Air Force. It actually performed worse than Houston Knights did the previous week. The other CBS program in the Bottom 10 was The Oldest Rookie on Wednesday, October 28th.
ABC continued to perform poorly on Thursdays from 8-9PM opposite The Cosby Show and A Different World, with Sledge Hammer! and The Charmings landing in the Bottom 10. The network’s Thursday movie (Tightrope) performed a bit better, ranking 51st for the week.
Also of note: Frank’s Place (CBS, Monday, October 26th) tied for 40th for the week; Jim Henson’s The Storyteller (NBC, Monday, October 26th) tied for 52nd; I Married Dora (ABC, Friday, October 30th), ranked 54th; and “Harry Anderson’s Sideshow” (NBC, Friday, October 30th) tied for 62nd.
Source:
“Using this chart.” USA Today. 4 Nov. 1987: 03.d
Really enjoying this series. I always knew I was watching low-rated programs (based on how few of them survived), but it’s surprising to know how many of my favorite 1987 shows were doing quite this poorly. :)
Two ABC Thursday night vehicles Sledge Hammer! and The Charmings replace Max Headroom as the lowest rated show ever this week.