The final week of the 1987-1988 season started on Monday, April 11th, 1988 and ended on Sunday, April 17th, 1988. The highest-rated program was the 60th Academy Awards on ABC with a 29.4/49 Nielsen rating/share and 38.9 million viewers according to AGB Television Research.
Here are the 10 lowest-rated programs on TV during Week 30 of the 1987-1988 season:
| ## | Program | Network | Rating | Viewers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 62 | Our House | NBC | 8.6/16 | 12,800,000 |
| Tour of Duty (repeat) | CBS | 8.6/16 | 13,400,000 | |
| 64 | Buck James | ABC | 8.3/14 | 8,800,000 |
| 65 | West 57th | CBS | 8.1/16 | 14,200,000 |
| 66 | Hotel (repeat) | ABC | 8.0/13 | 9,600,000 |
| Ohara (repeat) | ABC | 8.0/15 | 9,500,000 | |
| 68 | Disney Sunday Movie (repeat) | ABC | 7.2/14 | 11,800,000 |
| 69 | Kenny Rogers Special (repeat) | CBS | 6.2/10 | 8,000,000 |
| 70 | The Presidents (special) | ABC | 6.1/12 | 8,100,000 |
| 71 | My Sister Sam | CBS | 5.4/9 | 6,700,000 |
| 72 | LaRouche Campaign (special) | CBS | 3.4/6 | 4,800,000 |
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 1987-1988 television season officially ended this week after 30 weeks. It’s from the above chart that the networks weren’t trying very hard by the time the season wrapped up. Due to a tie for 62nd, there are 11 programs listed above.
Five of the programs in the Bottom 11 were repeats. There were also three specials, one of which was a repeat.
CBS placed five programs in the Bottom 11. The network had the lowest-rated program this week: a half-hour paid political announcement for Lyndon LaRouche aired Tuesday, April 12th from 8-8:30PM. It drew an anemic 3.4 Nielsen rating but that wasn’t very far below what Trial and Error averaged in the time slot two weeks earlier. My Sister Sam followed at 8PM with a 5.4 rating and ranked just above the LaRouche program.
CBS aired a repeat of “Kenny Rogers: Working America” from 10-11PM on Monday, April 11th opposite the 60th Academy Awards. It’s likely the network had already paid for the rebroadcast and decided to air it rather than original programming against the Oscars.
Three of the five ABC programs in the Bottom 11 were repeats. Buck James was new. So was “Conversations with the Presidents” on Saturday, April 16th. The hour-long special featured President Reagan as well as Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford answering questions from kids.
Also of note: European Vacation (CBS, Monday, April 11th) ranked 51st week; The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour (CBS, Wednesday, April 13th) tied for 52nd; A Year in the Life (NBC, Wednesday, April 13) tied for 43rd; Probe (ABC, Thursday, April 14th) tied for 60th; Family Man (ABC, Friday, April 15th) tied for 56th; The Storyteller (NBC, Saturday, April 16th) tied for 41st; and “The Attic: The Hiding of Anne Frank” (CBS, Sunday, April 17th) tied for 41st.
Source:
“Using this chart.” USA Today. 20 Apr. 1988: 03.d
We’ve come to the end of my look at the lowest-rated programs on the air during the 1987-1988 season. I may try something like this again in the future but not anytime soon. It was more time consuming than I anticipated.
Lyndon LaRouche, like Harold Stassen, kept running for President and losing.
love your blog and all the ratings information!
Maybe in the future you can compile a list and brief synopsis of every cancelled new show for each season since the beginning of TV. Call it something like the TV Obscurities History: 1951, 1952..etc and release a new list whenever you find the time.