Week 26 of the 1987-1988 season started on Monday, March 14th, 1988 and ended on Sunday, March 20th, 1988. The highest-rated program was The Cosby Show on NBC with a 28.2/43 Nielsen rating/share and 36.8 million viewers according to AGB Television Research.
Here are the 10 lowest-rated programs on TV during Week 26 of the 1987-1988 season:
| ## | Program | Network | Rating | Viewers | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 68 | Family Man | ABC | 9.5/16 | 14,600,000 | |
| 69 | Place at the Table (special) | NBC | 9.3/16 | 16,800,000 | |
| 70 | Probe | ABC | 9.2/14 | 10,800,000 | |
| 71 | Disney Sunday Movie [repeat] | ABC | 8.7/15 | 13,800,000 | |
| West 57th | CBS | 8.7/16 | 11,800,000 | ||
| 73 | Ohara (repeat) | ABC | 8.5/14 | 11,600,000 | |
| 74 | Hotel | ABC | 7.4/12 | 8,400,000 | |
| 75 | My Sister Sam | CBS | 7.3/11 | 8,900,000 | |
| 76 | Trial and Error | CBS | 6.5/10 | 9,200,000 | |
| Buck James | ABC | 6.5/11 | 9,400,000 |
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.
The Bottom 10 this week consisted primarily of regular weekly shows. ABC landed six programs in the Bottom 10; CBS had three; NBC just one. ABC’s Buck James was the lowest-rated program on the air.
Several new spring tryouts were introduced this week and a lot of them did not do well. CBS revamped its Tuesday lineup on March 15th to disastrous results. The premiere of new sitcom Trial and Error at 8PM tied for 76th for the week. The return of My Sister Sam at 8:30PM ranked 75th.
Another new sitcom, Coming of Age, did better with its debut at 9PM, ranking 59th. Frank’s Place at 9:30PM tied for 65th. Cagney & Lacey at 10PM tied for 51st. it was the only CBS program not to rank last in its time slot.
ABC premiered a new sitcom called Family Man on Friday, March 18th at 9:30PM. It ranked 68th for the week. ABC’s recently introduced Probe tied for 70th in its third episode.
NBC’s sole entry in the Bottom 10 was a made-for-TV movie called A Place at the Table. It aired from 7-8PM on Sunday, March 20th and ranked 69th. Over on ABC, The Disney Sunday Movie in the same time slot (the first part of Little Spies) did even worse, tying for 71st. Although not marked as such, it was a repeat.
Also of note: Danger Down Under (NBC, Monday, March 14th) ranked 40th for the week; Coming of Age (CBS, Tuesday, March 15th) ranked 59th; a repeat of “Snoopy Gets Married” (CBS, Wednesday, March 16th) tied for 51st; Sonny Spoon (NBC, Friday, March 18th) tied for 45th; a David Copperfield special (CBS, Saturday, March 19th) tied for 47th; and Supercarrier (NBC, Sunday, March 20th) ranked 45th.
Source:
“Using this chart.” USA Today. 23 Mar. 1988: 03.d
