1996–97 United States network television schedule

The following is the 1996–97 United States network television schedule for United States broadcast television on all six commercial television networks for the fall season beginning in September 1996 and ending in August 1997. All times are Eastern and Pacific, with certain exceptions, such as ''Monday Night Football''.

New series highlighted in bold.

Each of the 30 highest-rated shows is listed with its rank and rating as determined by Nielsen Media Research.Highest-rated series is based on the annual top-rated programs list compiled by Nielsen Media Research and reported in: Brooks, Tim & Marsh, Earle (2007). ''The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network TV Shows'' (9th ed.). New York: Ballantine. .

: Yellow indicates the programs in the top 10 for the season.
: Cyan indicates the programs in the top 20 for the season.
: Magenta indicates the programs in the top 30 for the season.
Other Legend
* Light blue indicates local programming.
* Gray indicates encore programming.
* Blue-gray indicates news programming.
* Light green indicates sporting events.
* Light Purple indicates movies.
* Red indicates series being burned off and other regularly scheduled programs, include

PBS is not included; member stations have local flexibility over most of their schedules and broadcast times for network shows may vary.

Sunday

Monday

Note: On CBS, the debut of Ink was delayed by a month due to production problems, resulting in another new sitcom, Pearl, which aired temporarily in its slot before moving to its own originally designated Wednesday time period in late October.

Tuesday

Wednesday

Note: On CBS, due to the effect of the debut delay of Ink on Monday, the first month of the new season on this night aired ''Almost Perfect'' at 8:30 p.m., followed by ''CBS Wednesday Movies'' at 9 p.m. The originally planned fall Wednesday lineup took shape at the end of October with Pearl taking over at 8:30 p.m., ''Almost Perfect'' moving to 9 p.m., Public Morals debuting at 9:30 p.m., and EZ Streets debuting at 10 p.m. This lasted for only one week in late October. CBS cancelled Public Morals after it aired the 1st, and only, episode. This meant Almost
Perfect would soon be cancelled. EZ Streets would be given a 2nd chance in the spring.

Thursday

Friday

Note: CBS picked up '' JAG'' after NBC cancelled it due to low ratings and it became a success afterwards.

This is the last season of ''Family Matters'' and '' Step by Step'' and the only season of ''Clueless'' to air on ABC's TGIF block, until the following season, the former two shows were picked up by CBS and ''Clueless'' moved to UPN on Tuesdays.

Saturday

Note: '' America's Most Wanted'' would debut in November at 9:00 on Fox. Married... with Children moved to Sundays at 7-8pm in November, Mondays at 9:30 in January, and Mondays at 9pm in February. '' Lawless'' was canceled after one episode.

By network

ABC

;Returning series
*'' 20/20''
*''The ABC Sunday Night Movie''
*''America's Funniest Home Videos''
*''Boy Meets World''
*'' Coach''
*''The Drew Carey Show''
*'' Ellen''
*''Family Matters''
*''Grace Under Fire''
*'' Hangin' with Mr. Cooper''
*''High Incident''
*''Home Improvement''
*'' Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman''
*''Monday Night Football''
*'' Murder One''
*'' NYPD Blue''
*'' Primetime Live''
*'' Roseanne''
*''Second Noah''
*'' Step by Step''
*''Turning Point''

;New series
*'' Arsenio''
*''Clueless''
*''Common Law''
*''Dangerous Minds''
*''Gun''
*'' Leaving L.A.''
*'' Life's Work''
*''The Practice''
*'' Relativity''
*''Sabrina the Teenage Witch''
*'' Soul Man''
*''Spin City''
*''Spy Game''
*''Townies''
*''Vital Signs''

;Canceled/Ended
*'' Aliens in the Family''
*'' Before They Were Stars''
*'' Buddies''
*'' Champs''
*'' Charlie Grace''
*''The Commish''
*''The Dana Carvey Show''
*''The Faculty''
*'' Hudson Street''
*''The Jeff Foxworthy Show'' (moved to NBC)
*''The Marshal''
*'' Maybe This Time''
*'' The Monroes''
*''Muppets Tonight''
*'' The Naked Truth'' (moved to NBC)
*''World's Funniest Videos''

CBS

;Returning series
*'' 48 Hours''
*'' 60 Minutes''
*''Almost Perfect''
*''CBS Sunday Movie''
*'' Chicago Hope''
*''Cybill''
*''Dave's World''
*''Diagnosis Murder''
*''Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman''
*'' JAG'' (moved from NBC)
*'' Murphy Brown''
*''The Nanny''
*'' Nash Bridges''
*''Touched by an Angel''
*''Walker, Texas Ranger''

;New series
*'' Cosby''
*''Early Edition''
*''Everybody Loves Raymond''
*''EZ Streets''
*''Feds''
*''Ink''
*'' Life... and Stuff''
*'' Mr. & Mrs. Smith''
*'' Moloney''
*'' Orleans''
*''Pearl''
*''Promised Land''
*''Public Morals''
*'' Temporarily Yours''

;Canceled/Ended
*'' American Gothic''
*'' Bless This House''
*''The Bonnie Hunt Show''
*''Can't Hurry Love''
*''Central Park West''
*''The Client''
*'' Courthouse''
*'' Due South''
*'' Dweebs''
*''High Society''
*'' The Louie Show''
*''Matt Waters''
*'' Murder, She Wrote''
*'' My Guys''
*''Picket Fences''
*''Rescue 911''
*''New York News''

Fox

;Returning series
*'' America's Most Wanted''
*''Beverly Hills, 90210''
*'' COPS''
*''FOX Night at the Movies''
*''Living Single''
*'' Married... with Children''
*''Martin''
*'' Melrose Place''
*''Ned and Stacey''
*''New York Undercover''
*''Party of Five''
*''The Simpsons''
*''Sliders''
*''The X-Files''

;New series
*'' Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction''
*'' Big Deal''
*''King of the Hill''
*'' Lawless''
*'' Love and Marriage''
*'' Lush Life''
*''Millennium''
*'' Pacific Palisades''
*'' Party Girl''
*''Pauly''
*'' Roar''

;Canceled/Ended
*'' The Crew''
*'' L.A. Firefighters''
*'' The Last Frontier''
*'' Local Heroes''
*'' Misery Loves Company''
*'' Partners''
*'' The Preston Episodes''
*'' Profit''
*''The Show''
*'' Space: Above and Beyond''
*'' Strange Luck''
*''Too Something''
*''What's So Funny?''

NBC

;Returning series
*'' 3rd Rock from the Sun''
*''Boston Common''
*'' Caroline in the City''
*''Dateline NBC''
*'' ER''
*''Frasier''
*'' Friends''
*'' Homicide: Life on the Street''
*''The Jeff Foxworthy Show'' (moved from ABC)
*''The John Larroquette Show''
*'' Law & Order''
*''Mad About You''
*'' The Naked Truth'' (moved from ABC)
*'' NBC Sunday Night Movie''
*''The NBC Monday Movie''
*''NewsRadio''
*'' Seinfeld''
*''The Single Guy''
*''Unsolved Mysteries''
*''Wings''

;New series
*''Chicago Sons''
*''Crisis Center''
*''Dark Skies''
*'' Fired Up''
*''Just Shoot Me!''
*''Men Behaving Badly''
*'' Mr. Rhodes''
*'' The Pretender''
*'' Prince Street''
*'' Profiler''
*'' Something So Right''
*''Suddenly Susan''

;Canceled/Ended
*'' Brotherly Love'' (moved to The WB)
*''The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air'' (returning on HBO Max in 2020)
*''The Home Court''
*''Hope and Gloria''
*'' In the House'' (moved to UPN)
*'' JAG'' (moved to CBS)
*''Malibu Shores''
*'' The Pursuit of Happiness''
*'' seaQuest 2032''
*''Sisters''

UPN

;Returning series
*'' In the House'' (moved from NBC)
*'' Moesha''
*'' The Sentinel''
*'' Star Trek: Voyager''

;New series
*''The Burning Zone''
*''Goode Behavior''
*'' Homeboys in Outer Space''
*''Malcolm & Eddie''
*'' Social Studies''
*'' Sparks''

;Canceled/Ended
*'' Deadly Games''
*''Live Shot''
*''Minor Adjustments''
*'' Nowhere Man''
*''The Paranormal Borderline''
*'' Swift Justice''

The WB

;Returning series
*'' Brotherly Love'' (moved from NBC)
*''Kirk''
*''The Parent 'Hood''
*'' Savannah''
*'' Sister, Sister''
*''Unhappily Ever After''
*''The Wayans Bros.''

;New series
*'' 7th Heaven''
*'' Buffy the Vampire Slayer''
*''The Jamie Foxx Show''
*''Life with Roger''
*'' Nick Freno: Licensed Teacher''
*''Smart Guy''
*''The Steve Harvey Show''

;Canceled/Ended
*''Cleghorne!''
*''First Time Out''
*''Pinky and the Brain'' (moved to Kids' WB in daytime)
*''Simon''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1996 97 United States Network Television Schedule
United States primetime network television schedules
United States Network Television Schedule, 1996 97
United States Network Television Schedule, 1996 97