The 1975–76 network television schedule for the three major English language commercial broadcast networks in the United States covers the primetime hours from September 1975 through August 1976. The schedule is followed by a list per network of returning series, new series, and series canceled after the 1974–75 season.

This was the first season for the current 22-hour weekly prime-time network schedule of three hours nightly Monday through Saturday and four hours on Sundays for the first time since 1971 after revisions to the Prime Time Access Rule. While there were provisions for two additional half-hours in the early evening to be used for public affairs and family-oriented programming, these slots were rarely if ever used by the networks. This was also the first of two seasons in which the networks were compelled to air family-friendly content before 9 p.m. under the FCC's Family Viewing Hour policy

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

Each of the 30 highest-rated shows released in May 1976 is listed with its rank and rating as determined by Nielsen Media Research.

New series are highlighted in bold.

All times are U.S. Eastern and Pacific Time (except for some live sports or events). Subtract one hour for Central, Mountain, Alaska and Hawaii–Aleutian times.

Legend

Sunday

<!-- Any show that is added to the schedule needs to have aired in a particular slot consecutively for a minimum of three weeks in the case of fresh episodes and four weeks in the case of encore repeats. Thank you. -->

{| class="wikitable" style="width:100%;margin-right:0;text-align:center"

|-

! colspan="2" style="background-color:#C0C0C0"|Network

! style="background-color:#C0C0C0;text-align:center"|7:00&nbsp;p.m.

! style="background-color:#C0C0C0;text-align:center"|7:30&nbsp;p.m.

! style="background-color:#C0C0C0;text-align:center"|8:00&nbsp;p.m.

! style="background-color:#C0C0C0;text-align:center"|8:30&nbsp;p.m.

! style="background-color:#C0C0C0;text-align:center"|9:00&nbsp;p.m.

! style="background-color:#C0C0C0;text-align:center"|9:30&nbsp;p.m.

! style="background-color:#C0C0C0;text-align:center"|10:00&nbsp;p.m.

! style="background-color:#C0C0C0;text-align:center"|10:30&nbsp;p.m.

|-

! colspan="2"|ABC

| colspan="2"|The Swiss Family Robinson

| colspan="2" style="background:#FFFF00;"|The Six Million Dollar Man

| colspan="4" style="background:#FA8072;"|

|-

! rowspan="3"|CBS

! Fall

| colspan="2" |Three for the Road

| colspan="2" |Cher

| colspan="2" rowspan="3" style="background:#00FFFF;"|Kojak

| colspan="2" rowspan="2" | Bronk

|-

! Winter

| colspan="2" rowspan="2" style="background:#6699CC;"| 60 Minutes

| colspan="2" style="background:#FF00FF;"| The Sonny & Cher Show

|-

! Summer

| colspan="2"|Johnny Cash and Friends

| colspan="2"|Cannon

|-

! rowspan="2"|NBC

! Fall

| colspan="2" rowspan="2" style="background:#FA8072;"|The Wonderful World of Disney

| colspan="2"|The Family Holvak

| colspan="4" rowspan="2" style="background:#FA8072;"|The NBC Mystery Movie: Columbo / McCloud / McMillan & Wife / McCoy

|-

! Winter

| colspan="2" |'Ellery Queen'

|}

Note: As of this writing, 60 Minutes has continually aired at the same 7:00 PM ET (or after sporting event overrun) time slot on CBS since December 1975.

Monday

<!-- Any show that is added to the schedule needs to have aired in a particular slot consecutively for a minimum of three weeks in the case of fresh episodes and four weeks in the case of encore repeats. Thank you. -->

{| class="wikitable" style="width:100%;margin-right:0;text-align:center"

|-

! colspan="2" style="background-color:#C0C0C0;text-align:center"|Network

! style="background-color:#C0C0C0;text-align:center"|8:00&nbsp;p.m.

! style="background-color:#C0C0C0;text-align:center"|8:30&nbsp;p.m.

! style="background-color:#C0C0C0;text-align:center"|9:00&nbsp;p.m.

! style="background-color:#C0C0C0;text-align:center"|9:30&nbsp;p.m.

! style="background-color:#C0C0C0;text-align:center"|10:00&nbsp;p.m.

! style="background-color:#C0C0C0;text-align:center"|10:30&nbsp;p.m.

|-

! rowspan="6" bgcolor="#C0C0C0" | ABC

! Fall

| colspan="2"|Barbary Coast

| colspan="4" rowspan="2" style="background:lightgreen;"|Monday Night Football

|-

! Mid-fall

| colspan="2"|Mobile One

|-

! Winter

| rowspan="2"|On the Rocks

| Happy Days

| colspan="4" style="background:#FA8072;"|

|-

! Spring

| style="background:#00FFFF;"|Good Heavens

| colspan="2"|Barbary Coast

| colspan="2" style="background:#FFFF00;"| Rich Man, Poor Man

|-

! Mid-spring

| style="background:#00FFFF;"| Good Heavens

| colspan="5" rowspan="2" style="background:lightgreen;"|Monday Night Baseball

|-

! Summer

| Viva Valdez

|-

! colspan="2"|CBS

| style="background:#FFFF00;"|Rhoda

| style="background:#FFFF00;"|Phyllis

| style="background:#FFFF00;"|All in the Family

| style="background:#FFFF00;"|Maude

| colspan="2"|Medical Center

|-

! rowspan="4"|NBC

! Fall

| colspan="2" |The Invisible Man

| colspan="4" style="background:#FA8072;"|NBC Monday Night at the Movies

|-

! Winter

| colspan="2"|The Rich Little Show

| colspan="2" rowspan="3"|Joe Forrester

| colspan="2" rowspan="3"|Jigsaw John

|-

! Summer

| colspan="2"|The John Davidson Show

|-

! Mid-summer

|colspan="2"|Comedy Theatre

|}

Tuesday

<!-- Any show that is added to the schedule needs to have aired in a particular slot consecutively for a minimum of three weeks in the case of fresh episodes and four weeks in the case of encore repeats. Thank you. -->

{| class="wikitable" style="width:100%;margin-right:0;text-align:center"

|-

! colspan="2" style="background-color:#C0C0C0;text-align:center"|Network

! style="background-color:#C0C0C0;text-align:center"|8:00&nbsp;p.m.

! style="background-color:#C0C0C0;text-align:center"|8:30&nbsp;p.m.

! style="background-color:#C0C0C0;text-align:center"|9:00&nbsp;p.m.

! style="background-color:#C0C0C0;text-align:center"|9:30&nbsp;p.m.

! style="background-color:#C0C0C0;text-align:center"|10:00&nbsp;p.m.

! style="background-color:#C0C0C0;text-align:center"|10:30&nbsp;p.m.

|-

! rowspan="4"|ABC

! Fall

| rowspan="4" style="background:#00FFFF;"|Happy Days

| style="background:#00FFFF;"|Welcome Back, Kotter

| colspan="2" rowspan="3"|The Rookies

| colspan="2" rowspan="2"|Marcus Welby, M.D.

|-

! Winter

| rowspan="3" style="background:#FFFF00;"|Laverne & Shirley

|-

! Spring

| colspan="2"|Family

|-

! Summer

| colspan="4" style="background:#FA8072;"|Specials

|-

! rowspan="5"|CBS

! Fall

| rowspan="2" style="background:#FF00FF;"|Good Times

| Joe and Sons

| colspan="2"|Switch

| colspan="2"|Beacon Hill

|-

! Winter

| Popi

| rowspan="4" style="background:#00FFFF;"|M*A*S*H

| rowspan="4" style="background:#00FFFF;"|One Day at a Time

| colspan="2" rowspan="4"|Switch

|-

! Spring

| style="background:#C0C0C0"|The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Show (R)

| rowspan="3" style="background:#FF00FF;"| Good Times

|-

! Summer

| I've Got a Secret

|-

! Mid-summer

| Popi

|-

! rowspan="3"|NBC

! Fall

| colspan="2" rowspan="3"|Movin' On

| colspan="2"|Police Story

| colspan="2" rowspan="2"|Joe Forrester

|-

! Mid-fall

| colspan="2" rowspan="2" style="background:#FF00FF;"|Police Woman

|-

! Winter

| colspan="2"|City of Angels

|}

Note: Beginning March 9, Family was added onto ABC's lineup, replacing Marcus Welby, M.D..

Wednesday

<!-- Any show that is added to the schedule needs to have aired in a particular slot consecutively for a minimum of three weeks in the case of fresh episodes and four weeks in the case of encore repeats. Thank you. -->

{| class="wikitable" style="width:100%;margin-right:0;text-align:center"

|-

! colspan="2" style="background-color:#C0C0C0;text-align:center"|Network

! style="background-color:#C0C0C0;text-align:center"|8:00&nbsp;p.m.

! style="background-color:#C0C0C0;text-align:center"|8:30&nbsp;p.m.

! style="background-color:#C0C0C0;text-align:center"|9:00&nbsp;p.m.

! style="background-color:#C0C0C0;text-align:center"|9:30&nbsp;p.m.

! style="background-color:#C0C0C0;text-align:center"|10:00&nbsp;p.m.

! style="background-color:#C0C0C0;text-align:center"|10:30&nbsp;p.m.

|-

! rowspan="4"|ABC

! Fall

| When Things Were Rotten

| That's My Mama

| colspan="2" rowspan="4" style="background:#FF00FF;"| Baretta

| colspan="2" rowspan="4" style="background:#00FFFF;"|Starsky & Hutch

|-

! Winter

| colspan="2" style="background:#FFFF00;"|The Bionic Woman

|-

! Spring

| colspan="2"|Wonder Woman

|-

! Late spring

| colspan="2" style="background:#FFFF00;"|The Bionic Woman

|-

! rowspan="3"|CBS

! Fall

| colspan="2" rowspan="2"|Tony Orlando and Dawn

| colspan="2" rowspan="3"|Cannon

| colspan="2"|Kate McShane

|-

! Winter

| colspan="2" rowspan="2"|The Blue Knight

|-

! Summer

| The Jacksons

| The Kelly Monteith Show

|-

! rowspan="4"|NBC

! Fall

| colspan="2" rowspan="4"|Little House on the Prairie

| colspan="2"|Doctors' Hospital

| colspan="2" rowspan="2"|Petrocelli

|-

! Winter

| bgcolor="#FF22FF" | Chico and the Man

| The Dumplings

|-

! Spring

| bgcolor="#C0C0C0" rowspan="2"|The Best of Sanford and Son (R)

| bgcolor="#FF22FF"|Chico and the Man

| bgcolor="#C0C0C0" colspan="2" rowspan="2"|Hawk (R)

|-

! Mid-spring

| Fay

|}

Note: On NBC, The Best of Sanford and Son consisted of reruns of Sanford and Son from earlier seasons; Sanford and Son continued to air in its normal Friday 8:00-8:30 time slot during The Best of Sanford and Sons run. Hawk consisted of reruns of the 1966 ABC television series.

Thursday

<!-- Any show that is added to the schedule needs to have aired in a particular slot consecutively for a minimum of three weeks in the case of fresh episodes and four weeks in the case of encore repeats. Thank you. -->

{| class="wikitable" style="width:100%;margin-right:0;text-align:center"

|-

! colspan="2" style="background-color:#C0C0C0;text-align:center"|Network

! style="background-color:#C0C0C0;text-align:center"|8:00&nbsp;p.m.

! style="background-color:#C0C0C0;text-align:center"|8:30&nbsp;p.m.

! style="background-color:#C0C0C0;text-align:center"|9:00&nbsp;p.m.

! style="background-color:#C0C0C0;text-align:center"|9:30&nbsp;p.m.

! style="background-color:#C0C0C0;text-align:center"|10:00&nbsp;p.m.

! style="background-color:#C0C0C0;text-align:center"|10:30&nbsp;p.m.

|-

! rowspan="3"|ABC

! Fall

| Barney Miller

| On the Rocks

| bgcolor="magenta" colspan="2" rowspan="3" | The Streets of San Francisco (26/20.7)<br/><small>(Tied with The Bob Newhart Show and Donny & Marie)</small>

| colspan="2" rowspan="3"|Harry O

|-

! Winter

| rowspan="2" style="background:#00FFFF;"| Welcome Back, Kotter

| Barney Miller

|-

! Summer

| What's Happening!!

|-

! rowspan="2"|CBS

! Fall

| colspan="2" rowspan="2" style="background:#00FFFF;"|The Waltons

| colspan="4" style="background:#FA8072;"|CBS Thursday Night Movie

|-

! Late fall

| colspan="2"|Hawaii Five-O

| colspan="2"|Barnaby Jones

|-

! rowspan="3"|NBC

! Fall

| The Montefuscos

| Fay

| colspan="2"|Ellery Queen

| colspan="2"|Medical Story

|-

! Winter

| Grady

| The Cop and the Kid

| colspan="4" rowspan="2" style="background:#FA8072;"|NBC Thursday Night at the Movies

|-

! Spring

| colspan="2"|The Mac Davis Show

|-

|}

Friday

<!-- Any show that is added to the schedule needs to have aired in a particular slot consecutively for a minimum of three weeks in the case of fresh episodes and four weeks in the case of encore repeats. Thank you. -->

{| class="wikitable" style="width:100%;margin-right:0;text-align:center"

|-

! colspan="2" style="background-color:#C0C0C0;text-align:center"|Network

! style="background-color:#C0C0C0;text-align:center"|8:00&nbsp;p.m.

! style="background-color:#C0C0C0;text-align:center"|8:30&nbsp;p.m.

! style="background-color:#C0C0C0;text-align:center"|9:00&nbsp;p.m.

! style="background-color:#C0C0C0;text-align:center"|9:30&nbsp;p.m.

! style="background-color:#C0C0C0;text-align:center"|10:00&nbsp;p.m.

! style="background-color:#C0C0C0;text-align:center"|10:30&nbsp;p.m.

|-

! rowspan="3"|ABC

! Fall

| colspan="2"|Mobile One

| colspan="4" rowspan="3" style="background:#FA8072;"|The ABC Friday Night Movie

|-

! Mid-fall

| colspan="2"|Barbary Coast

|-

! Winter

| bgcolor="magenta" colspan="2" | Donny & Marie (26/20.7)<br/><small>(Tied with The Bob Newhart Show and The Streets of San Francisco)</small>

|-

! rowspan="2"|CBS

! Fall

| Big Eddie

| style="background:#00FFFF;"|M*A*S*H

| colspan="2"|Hawaii Five-O

| colspan="2"|Barnaby Jones

|-

! Winter

| colspan="2"|Sara

| colspan="4" style="background:#FA8072;"|The CBS Friday Night Movie

|-

! rowspan="3"|NBC

! Fall

| rowspan="3" style="background:#FFFF00;"|Sanford and Son

| bgcolor="magenta" rowspan="2"|Chico and the Man

| colspan="2" rowspan="3"|The Rockford Files

| bgcolor="magenta" colspan="2"|Police Woman

|-

! Mid-fall

| colspan="2" rowspan="2"|Police Story

|-

! Winter

| The Practice

|}

Saturday

<!-- Any show that is added to the schedule needs to have aired in a particular slot consecutively for a minimum of three weeks in the case of fresh episodes and four weeks in the case of encore repeats. Thank you. -->

{| class="wikitable" style="width:100%;margin-right:0;text-align:center"

|-

! colspan="2" style="background-color:#C0C0C0;text-align:center"|Network

! style="background-color:#C0C0C0;text-align:center"|8:00&nbsp;p.m.

! style="background-color:#C0C0C0;text-align:center"|8:30&nbsp;p.m.

! style="background-color:#C0C0C0;text-align:center"|9:00&nbsp;p.m.

! style="background-color:#C0C0C0;text-align:center"|9:30&nbsp;p.m.

! style="background-color:#C0C0C0;text-align:center"|10:00&nbsp;p.m.

! style="background-color:#C0C0C0;text-align:center"|10:30&nbsp;p.m.

|-

! rowspan="2"|ABC

! Fall

| colspan="2"|Saturday Night Live with Howard Cosell

| colspan="2" rowspan="2"|S.W.A.T.

| colspan="2"|Matt Helm

|-

! Winter

| colspan="2"|Almost Anything Goes!

| colspan="2"|Bert D'Angelo/Superstar

|-

! rowspan="2" |CBS

! Fall

| rowspan="2" style="background:#FF00FF;" |The Jeffersons

| Doc

| rowspan="2" style="background:#00FFFF;" |The Mary Tyler Moore Show

| rowspan="2" style="background:#FF00FF;" |The Bob Newhart Show

| colspan="2" rowspan="2" style="background:#FF00FF;" |The Carol Burnett Show

|-

! Summer

| Ivan the Terrible

|-

! colspan="2"|NBC

| colspan="2"|Emergency!

| colspan="4" style="background:#FA8072;"|NBC Saturday Night at the Movies

|}

By network

ABC

Returning Series

  • The ABC Monday Night Movie
  • The ABC Sunday Night Movie
  • Almost Anything Goes
  • Baretta
  • Barney Miller
  • Happy Days
  • Harry O
  • Marcus Welby, M.D.
  • Monday Night Baseball (moved from NBC)
  • Monday Night Football
  • The Rookies
  • The Six Million Dollar Man
  • The Streets of San Francisco
  • S.W.A.T.
  • That's My Mama

New Series

  • The ABC Friday Night Movie
  • Barbary Coast
  • Bert D'Angelo/Superstar *
  • The Bionic Woman *
  • Donny & Marie *
  • Family *
  • Good Heavens *
  • Laverne & Shirley *
  • Matt Helm
  • Mobile One
  • On the Rocks
  • Rich Man, Poor Man *
  • Saturday Night Live with Howard Cosell
  • Starsky & Hutch *
  • The Swiss Family Robinson
  • Viva Valdez *
  • Welcome Back, Kotter
  • When Things Were Rotten

Not returning from 1974–75:

  • The ABC Saturday Night Movie
  • ABC Tuesday Movie of the Week
  • ABC Wednesday Movie of the Week
  • Caribe
  • Get Christie Love!
  • Hot l Baltimore
  • The Jim Stafford Show
  • Karen
  • Keep on Truckin
  • Kodiak
  • Kolchak: The Night Stalker
  • Kung Fu
  • Nakia
  • The New Land
  • The Odd Couple
  • Paper Moon
  • The Sonny Comedy Revue
  • The Texas Wheelers

CBS

Returning Series

  • 60 Minutes *
  • All in the Family
  • Barnaby Jones
  • Big Eddie
  • The Bob Newhart Show
  • Cannon
  • The Carol Burnett Show
  • Cher
  • Good Times
  • Hawaii Five-O
  • I've Got a Secret *
  • The Jeffersons
  • Johnny Cash and Friends
  • Kojak
  • M*A*S*H
  • The Mary Tyler Moore Show
  • Maude
  • Medical Center
  • Rhoda
  • CBS Thursday Night Movie
  • Tony Orlando and Dawn
  • The Waltons

New Series

  • Beacon Hill
  • The Blue Knight *
  • Bronk
  • The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Show *
  • Doc
  • Ivan the Terrible *
  • The Jacksons *
  • Joe and Sons
  • Kate McShane
  • The Kelly Monteith Show *
  • One Day at a Time *
  • Phyllis
  • Popi *
  • Sara *
  • The Sonny and Cher Show *
  • Switch
  • Three for the Road

Not returning from 1974–75:

  • Apple's Way
  • The Dick Cavett Show
  • The Friday Comedy Special
  • Friends and Lovers
  • Frigidaire Spring Feature
  • Gunsmoke
  • Khan!
  • Manhattan Transfer
  • The Manhunter
  • Mannix
  • Planet of the Apes
  • Sons and Daughters

NBC

Returning Series

  • Chico and the Man
  • Columbo
  • Emergency!
  • Little House on the Prairie
  • The Mac Davis Show
  • McCloud
  • McMillan & Wife
  • Movin' On
  • The NBC Mystery Movie
  • NBC Monday Night at the Movies
  • NBC Saturday Night at the Movies
  • Petrocelli
  • Police Story
  • Police Woman
  • The Rockford Files
  • Sanford and Son
  • The Wonderful World of Disney

New Series

  • City of Angels *
  • Comedy Theatre *
  • The Cop and the Kid *
  • Doctors' Hospital
  • The Dumplings *
  • Ellery Queen
  • The Family Holvak
  • Fay
  • Grady *
  • The Invisible Man
  • Jigsaw John *
  • Joe Forrester
  • The John Davidson Show *
  • McCoy
  • Medical Story
  • The Montefuscos
  • NBC Thursday Night at the Movies
  • The Practice *
  • The Rich Little Show *

Not returning from 1974–75:

  • Adam-12
  • Amy Prentiss
  • Archer
  • Ben Vereen...Comin' At Ya
  • The Bob Crane Show
  • Born Free
  • The Gladys Knight & the Pips Show
  • Ironside
  • Lucas Tanner
  • Monday Night Baseball (moved to ABC)
  • Sierra
  • The Smothers Brothers Show
  • Sunshine

Note: The * indicates that the program was introduced in midseason.

References

Additional sources

  • Castleman, H. & Podrazik, W. (1982). Watching TV: Four Decades of American Television. New York: McGraw-Hill. 314 pp.
  • McNeil, Alex. Total Television. Fourth edition. New York: Penguin Books. .
  • Brooks, Tim & Marsh, Earle (1985). The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network TV Shows (3rd ed.). New York: Ballantine. .