Week 16 of the 1987-1988 season started on Monday, January 4th, 1988 and ended on Sunday, January 10th, 1988. The highest-rated program was 60 Minutes on CBS with a 32.8/47 Nielsen rating/share and 49.5 million viewers according to AGB Television Research.
Here are the 10 lowest-rated programs on TV during Week 16 of the 1987-1988 season:
| ## | Program | Network | Rating | Viewers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 62 | Wiseguy | CBS | 11.1/18 | 16,600,000 |
| Crime Story | NBC | 11.1/19 | 17,800,000 | |
| 64 | Charlie Brown (repeat) | CBS | 10.8/15 | 13,600,000 |
| 65 | Hotel | ABC | 10.6/18 | 13,800,000 |
| 66 | Private Eye | NBC | 10.3/18 | 15,700,000 |
| 67 | The Oldest Rookie | CBS | 9.9/15 | 12,800,000 |
| 68 | Cathy (repeat) | CBS | 9.0/13 | 12,700,000 |
| 69 | Rags to Riches | NBC | 8.6/14 | 16,700,000 |
| 70 | Sledge Hammer! | ABC | 8.5/12 | 12,400,000 |
| 71 | The Charmings (repeat) | ABC | 8.2/12 | 11,900,000 |
| 72 | The Sting II [movie] | ABC | 6.9/11 | 9,900,000 |
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.
With Christmas and New Years over, it was back to normal for the networks. There were few repeats this week, with new episodes of most shows returning after a few weeks holiday repeats and pre-emptions. There are again 11 programs in the table this week because of a tie. ABC and CBS each placed four shows in the Bottom 11 while NBC had three.
Wiseguy returned to CBS on Monday, January 4th with its first new episode since November 19th, 1987. It did not do well, tying for 62nd for the week. The network filled the 8-9PM time slot on Tuesday, January 5th with a pair of animated repeats (“Happy New Year, Charlie Brown” and “Cathy”) in place of relocated Houston Knights. Both were in the Bottom 11. At 10PM, NBC’s Crime Story also landed in the Bottom 11.
The penultimate episode of The Oldest Rookie ranked 67th for the week, by far the weakest part of the CBS lineup on Wednesday, January 6th.
ABC saw its Thursday, January 7th lineup get absolutely hammered by new episodes of NBC’s sitcoms. Sledge Hammer! ranked 70th for the week, The Charmings ranked 71st, and its broadcast of the movie The Sting II ranked 72nd. [Although USA Today marked it as a repeat, The Charmings was new on January 7th.]
It was NBC’s turn to populate the Bottom 11 on Friday, January 8th. The second-to-last episode of Rags to Riches at 8PM ranked 69th for the week. A repeat of Miami Vice did marginally better at 9PM, tying for 60th. The last episode of short-lived Private Eye sank back to 66th at 10PM, however.
Also on Friday was the series finale of ABC’s I Married Dora at 8:30PM. The episode famously ended by breaking the fourth wall. It was the highest-rated episode since the series premiere but still ranked 51st for the week.
ABC pre-empted its 8-10PM programs on Saturday, January 9th in order to air two hours of figure skating. The special tied for 60th. A new episode of Hotel at 10PM did even worse, ranking 65th.
Also of note: The Ann Jillian Story (NBC, Monday, January 4th) tied for 6th for the week; Jake and the Fatman (CBS, Tuesday, January 5th) ranked 52nd; The Slap Maxwell Story (ABC, Wednesday, January 6th) ranked 56th; Tour of Duty (CBS, Thursday, January 7th) ranked 54th; Full House (ABC, Friday, January 8th) ranked 53rd; and Buck James (ABC, Sunday, January 10th) ranked 55th.
Source:
“Using this chart.” USA Today. 13 Jan. 1988: 03.d
