Week 18 of the 1987-1988 season started on Monday, January 18th, 1988 and ended on Sunday, January 24th, 1988. The highest-rated program was The Cosby Show on NBC with a 30.9/45 Nielsen rating/share and 43.2 million viewers according to AGB Television Research.
Here are the 10 lowest-rated programs on TV during Week 18 of the 1987-1988 season:
| ## | Program | Network | Rating | Viewers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 62 | A Father’s Revenge | ABC | 10.4/16 | 12,200,000 |
| 63 | The Bronx Zoo | NBC | 9.2/16 | 11,600,000 |
| 64 | Ohara | ABC | 9.0/15 | 13,800,000 |
| 65 | The Thorns | ABC | 8.9/15 | 14,400,000 |
| 66 | Alien (repeat) [movie] | ABC | 8.8/14 | 11,600,000 |
| 67 | Home Street Home (special) | NBC | 8.7/15 | 15,400,000 |
| 68 | The Law and Harry McGraw | CBS | 8.5/13 | 12,900,000 |
| 69 | The Storyteller | NBC | 8.1/14 | 13,700,000 |
| Sledge Hammer! | ABC | 8.1/13 | 13,400,000 | |
| 71 | The Charmings | ABC | 7.4/11 | 11,000,000 |
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.
ABC placed six programs in the Bottom 10 this week while NBC had three. Only one CBS program landed in the Bottom 10: The Law and Harry McGraw on Wednesday, January 20th, which ranked 68th. That same night at 10PM, NBC aired an episode of its drama series The Bronx Zoo starring Ed Asner. It ranked 63rd for the week. The series wouldn’t be seen again until March.
ABC’s lineup on Thursday, January 21st was obliterated by the competition (primarily NBC, which placed its entire lineup in the Top 10). The Charmings at 8PM was the lowest-rated program for the week, ranking 71st. A repeat of the film Alien aired from 8:30-11PM and did only marginally better, ranking 66th.
ABC also performed poorly on Friday, January 22nd. A repeat of Full House at 8PM just barely managed to stay out of the Bottom 10, ranking 61st. Mr. Belvedere at 8:30PM perked up to tie for 43rd. But recently introduced sitcom The Thorns at 9PM sank to 65th followed by Sledge Hammer! at 9:30PM which tied for 69th.
NBC had some trouble on Friday as well. The Storyteller at 8:30PM tied with Sledge Hammer! for 69th. At 10PM, an NBC News special called “Home Street Home” ranked 67th. Tom Brokaw and Lucky Severson hosted the hour-long look at homelessness in the United States.
The weekend was kinder to ABC, although it still placed two programs in the Bottom 10–one on Saturday and another on Sunday. Ohara on Saturday, January 23rd ranked 64th while The ABC Sunday Night Movie (A Father’s Revenge) on January 24th ranked 62nd.
Also of note: What Price Victory (ABC, Monday, January 18th) ranked 59th for the week; the series premiere of 48 Hours (CBS, Tuesday, January 19th) ranked 53rd; A Year in the Life (NBC, Wednesday, January 20th) ranked 52nd; Tour of Duty (CBS, Thursday, January 21st) ranked 56th; High Mountain Rangers (CBS, Saturday, January 23rd) ranked 48th; and Our House (NBC, Sunday, January 24th) ranked 60th.
Source:
“Using this chart.” USA Today. 27 Jan. 1988: 03.d
