1980-81 United States network television schedule

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United States Network Television Schedule

1946-47 • 1947-48 • 1948-49 • 1949-50
1950-51 • 1951-52 • 1952-53 • 1953-54 • 1954-55 • 1955-56 • 1956-57 • 1957-58 • 1958-59 • 1959-60
1960-61 • 1961-62 • 1962-63 • 1963-64 • 1964-65 • 1965-66 • 1966-67 • 1967-68 • 1968-69 • 1969-70
1970-71 • 1971-72 • 1972-73 • 1973-74 • 1974-75 • 1975-76 • 1976-77 • 1977-78 • 1978-79 • 1979-80
1980-81 • 1981-82 • 1982-83 • 1983-84 • 1984-85 • 1985-86 • 1986-87 • 1987-88 • 1988-89 • 1989-90
1990-91 • 1991-92 • 1992-93 • 1993-94 • 1994-95 • 1995-96 • 1996-97 • 1997-98 • 1998-99 • 1999-00
2000-01 • 2001-02 • 2002-03 • 2003-04 • 2004-05 • 2005-06 • 2006-07

This was the television schedule for the three United States commercial television networks, with certain exceptions, such as Monday Night Football.

The highest-rated show for the year is highlighted in lime. The top 10 most-watched programs are highlighted in yellow. The top 20 most-watched programs are highlighted in cyan. Rankings determined by Nielsen Media Research^[1]

New fall series are highlighted in bold.

Note: An actors' strike hindered the ability to start airing shows in a timely manner. The shows in the schedule were the first to air new episodes in their respective time periods as they bowed in betweeen late August and mid-January. Some of the new shows intended for a fall launch did not debut until January 1981 in the same fall time slots they were originally assigned. The debut month for each new series, along with a trio of late-starting returning series, Buck Rogers, B.J. and the Bear and Sanford, that had been intended for a fall premiere is noted as to when they actually appeared.

PBS, the Public Broadcasting Service, was in operation but the schedule was set by each local station.

1 Sunday
2 Monday
3 Tuesday
4 Wednesday
5 Thursday
6 Friday
7 Saturday
8 References

[edit] Sunday

PM	7:00	8:00	8:30	9:00	9:30	10:00
ABC	Those Amazing Animals (Sep.)	Charlie's Angels		The ABC Sunday Night Movie
CBS	60 Minutes	Archie Bunker's Place	One Day at a Time	Alice	The Jeffersons	Trapper John, M.D.
NBC	Disney's Wonderful World	CHiPs		The Big Event

Note: On ABC, specials and extended movies aired in the 8-9 p.m. hour from September till November.

[edit] Monday

PM	8:00	8:30	9:00	9:30	10:00
ABC	That's Incredible!		ABC NFL Monday Night Football
CBS	Flo	Ladies' Man (Oct.)	MAS*H	House Calls	Lou Grant
NBC	Little House on the Prairie		NBC Monday Night at the Movies

[edit] Tuesday

PM	8:00	8:30	9:00	9:30	10:00
ABC	Happy Days	Laverne and Shirley	Three's Company	Too Close for Comfort (Nov.)	Hart to Hart
CBS	The White Shadow		The CBS Tuesday Night Movies
NBC	Lobo		B.J. and the Bear (Jan.)		The Steve Allen Comedy Hour (Oct./Dec.)

Note: On CBS, specials and extended movies aired in the 8-9 p.m. hour between September and November. On NBC, NBC Tuesday Night at the Movies aired 8-10 p.m. from September till November.

[edit] Wednesday

PM	8:00	9:00	9:30	10:00
ABC	Eight is Enough	Taxi	Soap	Vega$
CBS	Enos (Nov.)	The CBS Wednesday Night Movies
NBC	Real People	Diff'rent Strokes	The Facts of Life	Quincy, M.E.

Note: NBC's Movie of the Week aired 9-11 p.m. between September and November.

[edit] Thursday

PM	8:00	8:30	9:00	9:30	10:00
ABC	Mork and Mindy	Bosom Buddies (Nov.)	Barney Miller	It's a Living (Oct.)	20/20
CBS	The Waltons		Magnum, P.I. (Dec.)		Knots Landing
NBC	Games People Play (Aug.) / Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (Jan.)		NBC Thursday Night at the Movies

Note: CBS Thursday Movie Special aired 9-11 p.m. from September till the end of November.

[edit] Friday

PM	8:00	8:30	9:00	10:00
ABC	Benson	I'm a Big Girl Now (Oct.)	The ABC Friday Night Movie
CBS	The Incredible Hulk		The Dukes of Hazzard	Dallas
NBC	Marie (Dec.) / 8:00 Harper Valley, PTA (Jan.) / 8:30 Sanford (Jan.)		Number 96 (Dec.) / Nero Wolfe (Jan.)	NBC Magazine with David Brinkley (Sep.)

Note: NBC Friday Night at the Movies aired 8-10 p.m. through October and November.

[edit] Saturday

PM	8:00	8:30	9:00	10:00
ABC	Breaking Away (Nov.)		The Love Boat	Fantasy Island
CBS	WKRP in Cincinnati	The Tim Conway Show	Freebie and The Bean (Dec.)	Secrets of Midland Heights (Dec.)
NBC	Barbara Mandrell and the Mandrell Sisters (Nov.)		NBC Saturday Night at the Movies / 9:00 Walking Tall (Jan.) / 10:00 Hill Street Blues (Jan.)