Week 25 of the 1987-1988 season started on Monday, March 7th, 1988 and ended on Sunday, March 13th, 1988. The highest-rated program was The Cosby Show on NBC with a 25.6/40 Nielsen rating/share and 39.0 million viewers according to AGB Television Research.
Here are the 10 lowest-rated programs on TV during Week 25 of the 1987-1988 season:
## | Program | Network | Rating | Viewers |
---|---|---|---|---|
59 | Probe | ABC | 8.2/13 | 11,300,000 |
Buck James | ABC | 8.2/14 | 8,800,000 | |
61 | Ohara | ABC | 8.1/14 | 10,800,000 |
62 | West 57th | CBS | 7.9/15 | 11,700,000 |
63 | Hotel | ABC | 7.5/12 | 8,600,000 |
64 | Barry Manilow (special) | CBS | 7.2/12 | 8,200,000 |
Super Tuesday Update | ABC | 7.2/12 | 9,500,000 | |
66 | The Thorns | ABC | 6.6/11 | 9,800,000 |
67 | Super Tuesday Update | CBS | 5.7/9 | 8,800,000 |
68 | Redeye Express (special) | CBS | 4.4/7 | 6,600,000 |
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 with CBS taking up the remaining four spots. NBC just managed to stay out of the Bottom 10; its lowest-rated program ranked 58th for the week.
One of those ABC programs was the second episode of Probe, a sci-fi/mystery series co-created by Isaac Asimov. Although the two-hour pilot fared well on Monday, March 7th–it ranked 28th for the week–things didn’t go so well when it moved to its regular time slot on Thursday, March 10th where it faced NBC’s comedy lineup. That episode tied for 59th for the week.
All three networks aired coverage of the Super Tuesday primary elections on Tuesday, March 8th. NBC’s special report ran from 10-11PM and ranked 58th for the week, just outside the Bottom 10. ABC’s report ran from 9-11PM and tied for 64th. CBS aired its report from 8-10PM and ranked 67th for the week.
CBS had two specials in the Bottom 10. “Barry Manilow: Big Fun on Swnig Street” aired from 10-11PM on Monday, March 7th and tied for 64th for the week. The lowest-rated program was the other CBS special: “Sid and Marty Krofft’s Redeye Express.” It ran from 8-9PM on Wednesday, March 9th.
Also of note: Frank’s Place (CBS, Monday, March 7th) tied for 43rd for the week; A Year in the Life (NBC, Wednesday, March 9th) tied for 54th as well; 48 Hours (CBS, Thursday, March 10th) ranked 34th; Sonny Spoon (NBC, Friday, March 11th) tied for 45th; a David Copperfield special (CBS, Saturday, March 12th) tied for 38th; and Supercarrier (NBC, Sunday, March 13th) tied for 41st.
Source:
“Using this chart.” USA Today. 16 Mar. 1988: 03.d
I loved Probe. Isaac Asimov and the makers of Columbo were involved as I recall. Sounds so good on paper. I rewatched it a few years ago and… Well, it was more “promising” than “good”. I think TV just wasn’t in the right place at the time to make a show like that really work. I wonder if it could be rebooted in a post-CSI world. The american version of ‘Eleventh Hour’ from 2008 is kinda close, but not nearly so whimsical.