Schedules Plus Enhanced: Fox Sunday

Schedules Plus is the ultimate almanac to broadcast network primetime scheduling since 2001. It features lineups for three different parts of the year, as well as A18-49+ ratings that more fairly account for historical decline. For more on the tables and charts in Schedules Plus, see this primer.

This post covers Fox Sunday. After The X-Files ended in 2002, Fox has mostly been committed to airing a full night of comedy on Sunday, led by legendary 8/7c anchor The Simpsons. It didn't get a worthy fellow anchor till 2005, when the resurrection of Family Guy improbably led to a very strong player over the long-term. Many shows have been sprinkled around Simpsons and Family Guy over years, but none have emerged as true heir apparent material. Fortunately, those anchors have (at least until very recent seasons of Family Guy) been very reliable mainstays. See the 2025-26 Breakdown.

Schedules Plus Enhanced: NBC Sunday

Schedules Plus is the ultimate almanac to broadcast network primetime scheduling since 2001. It features lineups for three different parts of the year, as well as A18-49+ ratings that more fairly account for historical decline. For more on the tables and charts in Schedules Plus, see this primer.

This post covers NBC Sunday. After five years of decent Law & Order: Criminal Intent on the night, the game changed when NBC acquired Sunday Night Football for fall 2006. It's been the top series on broadcast for over half a decade. The arrangement means NBC has to start from scratch at midseason, and the most reliable performer in that pursuit was Donald Trump's Celebrity Apprentice. See the 2025-26 Breakdown.

Schedules Plus Enhanced: CBS Sunday

Schedules Plus is the ultimate almanac to broadcast network primetime scheduling since 2001. It features lineups for three different parts of the year, as well as A18-49+ ratings that more fairly account for historical decline. For more on the tables and charts in Schedules Plus, see this primer.

This post covers CBS Sunday, which historically housed a regularly-scheduled movie from 9:00 to 11:00. This setup became less viable in the mid-aughts, and the network had to start putting entertainment series across the night. CBS' most successful Sunday program was The Amazing Race, which stayed in the 8:00 slot for nearly a decade, while the network has housed increasingly low-priority dramas in the later hours. See the 2025-26 Breakdown.

Schedules Plus Enhanced: ABC Sunday

Schedules Plus is the ultimate almanac to broadcast network primetime scheduling since 2001. It features lineups for three different parts of the year, as well as A18-49+ ratings that more fairly account for historical decline. For more on the tables and charts in Schedules Plus, see this primer.

This post covers ABC Sunday. This night was the crown jewel of ABC's magical 2004-05 season, with reality sensation Extreme Makeover: Home Edition leading into megahit drama Desperate Housewives, and future megahit Grey's Anatomy joining them later in the season. Home Edition and Housewives joined fall 2006 drama Brothers and Sisters to create an intact four-hour lineup for a whooping five years. An heir apparent emerged in Housewives' final season, the fairy-tale drama Once Upon a Time. But finding a long-term companion for Once has proven difficult, and the numbers have gotten more dire as cable giants have taken center stage on Sunday night.  See the 2025-26 Breakdown.

Schedules Plus Enhanced: CW Friday

Schedules Plus is the ultimate almanac to broadcast network primetime scheduling since 2001. It features lineups for three different parts of the year, as well as A18-49+ ratings that more fairly account for historical decline. For more on the tables and charts in Schedules Plus, see this primer.

This post covers CW Friday. Originally home to the WWE's SmackDown! franchise, CW Friday has often been a dumping ground since then. The network infamously exiled staples Smallville and Supernatural to the night at the height of Dawn Ostroff's obsession with courting the young female demos. In 2015-16, the network saw its best Friday ratings since those shows left, moving Thursday fixture The Vampire Diaries and spin-off The Originals. See the 2025-26 Breakdown.

Schedules Plus Enhanced: CW Sunday

Schedules Plus is the ultimate almanac to broadcast network primetime scheduling since 2001. It features lineups for three different parts of the year, as well as A18-49+ ratings that more fairly account for historical decline. For more on the tables and charts in Schedules Plus, see this primer.

This post covers CW Sunday, a night of programming that has literally gone extinct. While UPN didn't nationally program Sunday night, the WB did so pretty successfully with genre drama Charmed. So the powers that be tried to keep the night alive after the CW merger. Unfortunately, the un-cancelled 7th Heaven had nowhere near the power of Charmed in the inaugural season. And things got exponentially more embarrassing in the next two seasons. First, they had megaflop family drama Life is Wild, then they sold the night to Media Rights Capital, whose two dramas were as weak as anything we've ever seen on a big-five network. Starting in 2009-10, the CW gave up on trying to nationally program the night and gave it back to the affiliates. That departure lasted nearly a decade, but ended in 2018-19 with Supergirl and Charmed, a reboot of the CW's last reliable Sunday anchor. See the 2025-26 Breakdown.

Schedules Plus Enhanced: Fox Friday

Schedules Plus is the ultimate almanac to broadcast network primetime scheduling since 2001. It features lineups for three different parts of the year, as well as A18-49+ ratings that more fairly account for historical decline. For more on the tables and charts in Schedules Plus, see this primer.

This post covers Fox Friday. This night has been pretty rough for Fox through most of the A18-49+ era, but it's had some brushes with respectability in the last few years thanks to Gordon Ramsay series. First, it was Kitchen Nightmares in 2011, joining the sci-fi drama Fringe which initially made a surprisingly decent transition to the night. And Fox has gotten even better results in recent years from the Junior edition of summer staple MasterChef. Fox Friday hit historic heights in 2018-19 with the wildly successful rescue of Last Man Standing from ABC, but that surge was short-lived; starting in 2019-20, New Fox will give the night over to the WWE. See the 2025-26 Breakdown.

Schedules Plus Enhanced: NBC Friday

Schedules Plus is the ultimate almanac to broadcast network primetime scheduling since 2001. It features lineups for three different parts of the year, as well as A18-49+ ratings that more fairly account for historical decline. For more on the tables and charts in Schedules Plus, see this primer.

This post covers NBC Friday. Like most NBC nights, it was dominant at the start of the A18-49+ era, with Law and Order: SVU putting up Friday numbers the likes of which have never been seen since. There's been a lot of mediocrity since SVU left the night, but newsmagazine Dateline and the surprise fall 2011 success Grimm have kept the network from falling off the map completely. See the 2025-26 Breakdown.

Schedules Plus Enhanced: CBS Friday

Schedules Plus is the ultimate almanac to broadcast network primetime scheduling since 2001. It features lineups for three different parts of the year, as well as A18-49+ ratings that more fairly account for historical decline. For more on the tables and charts in Schedules Plus, see this primer.

This post covers CBS Friday, yet another CBS lineup that was off the map at the start of the A18-49+ era. It was brought to life with the big 2005 launches of Numb3rs and Ghost Whisperer, which combined to book-end the night for a half-decade. Since their departures, the network has slowly worked its way back to that level and eventually even higher, with the one constant being the crime drama Blue Bloods. See the 2025-26 Breakdown.

Schedules Plus Enhanced: ABC Friday

Schedules Plus is the ultimate almanac to broadcast network primetime scheduling since 2001. It features lineups for three different parts of the year, as well as A18-49+ ratings that more fairly account for historical decline. For more on the tables and charts in Schedules Plus, see this primer.

This post covers ABC Friday. The night is probably most famous for its 'TGIF' lineup of family sitcoms. But the A18-49+ era only covers the tail end of this phenomenon, a brief revival from 2003-05, after it went away for a few years just after the turn of the century. For many years after TGIF (and even in the block's last years), ABC was not much of a Friday contender. But the reality series Shark Tank turned ABC's Friday fates, rising from very humble beginnings to become one of the biggest Friday series on record. The lineup has become even more potent with the addition and growth of some TGIF-esque comedies in the 8:00 hour, led by Last Man Standing. See the 2025-26 Breakdown.

Schedules Plus Enhanced: CW Thursday

Schedules Plus is the ultimate almanac to broadcast network primetime scheduling since 2001. It features lineups for three different parts of the year, as well as A18-49+ ratings that more fairly account for historical decline. For more on the tables and charts in Schedules Plus, see this primer.

This post covers CW Thursday. It's been right with Wednesday among the CW's best weeknights, thanks to consistently great 8/7c anchors. In this case, there was a seamless transition from Smallville to The Vampire Diaries in 2009. The TVD tradition ended as the show headed for Friday during its seventh season. But an even older tentpole has stepped in for it, with Supernatural inhabiting the night since 2016. See the 2025-26 Breakdown.

Schedules Plus Enhanced: Fox Thursday

Schedules Plus is the ultimate almanac to broadcast network primetime scheduling since 2001. It features lineups for three different parts of the year, as well as A18-49+ ratings that more fairly account for historical decline. For more on the tables and charts in Schedules Plus, see this primer.

This post covers Fox Thursday. Like with ABC Thursday, things were pretty much hopeless for Fox during the days of CBS and NBC domination in the early 2000s. But Fox's Thursday struggles lasted even longer, and it was only the arrivals of Bones in 2009 and then American Idol and The X-Factor in 2011 that even remotely got things cooking. With Idol and Bones done, the night became a blank slate once again, but the upcoming acquisition of Thursday Night Football will shore things up in the fall. See the 2025-26 Breakdown.

Schedules Plus Enhanced: NBC Thursday

Schedules Plus is the ultimate almanac to broadcast network primetime scheduling since 2001. It features lineups for three different parts of the year, as well as A18-49+ ratings that more fairly account for historical decline. For more on the tables and charts in Schedules Plus, see this primer.

This post covers NBC Thursday. Scripted lineups don't get much more potent than NBC's early-aughts Thursday schedules, book-ended by iconic comedy Friends and medical drama ER. After Friends ended in 2004, the numbers on this night really tanked... but so did the rest of the network, so comedy nights led by The Office were still among the brightest spots during NBC's darkest years. As The Office fell and then went away, things got ridiculously ugly for awhile, but the drama The Blacklist at least provided some seeds for a turn-around, and comedies Superstore and Will and Grace have made things look a bit more respectable. See the 2025-26 Breakdown.