The 1996–97 United States network television schedule for the six major English language commercial broadcast networks in the United States covers the primetime hours from September 1996 to August 1997. The schedule is followed by a list per network of returning series, new series, and series canceled after the 1995–96 season.

PBS is not included; 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 1997 is listed with its rank and rating as determined by Nielsen Media Research.

New series highlighted in bold.

Repeat airings or same-day rebroadcasts are indicated by .

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.

All sporting events air live in all time zones in U.S. Eastern time, with local and/or late-night programming (including Fox affiliates during the 10 p.m. ET/PT hour) by affiliates after game completion.

Legend

Sunday

{| 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;width:13.8%;"|7:00 p.m.

! style="background-color:#C0C0C0;text-align:center;width:13.8%;"|7:30 p.m.

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

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

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

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

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

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

|-

! rowspan="5"|ABC

! Fall

|America's Funniest Home Videos

|America's Funniest Home Videos

| colspan="2"|Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman

| rowspan="5" colspan="4" style="background:#FA8072;"|The ABC Sunday Night Movie

|-

! Winter

| colspan="2"|Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman

|America's Funniest Home Videos

|America's Funniest Home Videos

|-

! Spring

|America's Funniest Home Videos

|America's Funniest Home Videos

| colspan="2" style="background:#6699CC;"|ABC News programming

|-

! Summer

| style="background:#FA8072;" colspan="2"|Second Noah

| rowspan="2"|America's Funniest Home Videos

| rowspan="2"|America's Funniest Home Videos

|-

! Late summer

| style="background:#FA8072;" colspan="2"|

|-

! colspan="2"|CBS

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

| colspan="2" style="background:#FFFF00;"|Touched by an Angel

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

|-

! rowspan="7"|Fox

! Fall

| colspan="2"|Big Deal

| colspan="4" style="background:#FA8072;"|Fox Movie Special

| colspan="2" rowspan="7" style="background:#abbfff;"|

|-

! Mid-fall

| style="background:#C0C0C0;"|Married... with Children

| Married... with Children

| rowspan="6"|The Simpsons

| Ned & Stacey

| colspan="2" rowspan="6" style="background:#FF66FF;"|The X-Files

|-

! Winter

| colspan="2" rowspan="2" style="background:#FA8072;"|

| rowspan="5"|King of the Hill

|-

! Spring

|-

! Summer

| colspan="2"|Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction

|-

! Mid-summer

| colspan="2" style="background:#FA8072;"|

|-

! Late summer

| colspan="2"|Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction

|-

! rowspan="4"|NBC

! Fall

| colspan="2" rowspan="4" style="background:#6699CC;"|Dateline NBC

| rowspan="4" style="background:#FF66FF;"|3rd Rock from the Sun

| rowspan="3" | Boston Common

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

|-

! Winter

|-

! Spring

|-

! Summer

| style="background:#C0C0C0;"|NewsRadio

|-

! rowspan="7"|The WB

! Fall

| Kirk

| rowspan="2"| Brotherly Love

| rowspan="4"|The Parent 'Hood

| rowspan="5"|The Steve Harvey Show

| rowspan="7"|Unhappily Ever After

| rowspan="4"|Life with Roger

| colspan="2" rowspan="7" style="background:#abbfff;"|

|-

! Mid-fall

| style="background:#C0C0C0;"|Brotherly Love

|-

! Winter

| rowspan="2"| Brotherly Love

| rowspan="2"| Nick Freno: Licensed Teacher

|-

! Spring

|-

! Summer

| rowspan="3"|Nick Freno: Licensed Teacher

| rowspan="3"|The Parent 'Hood

| style="background:#C0C0C0;"|The Steve Harvey Show

| rowspan="3" style="background:#C0C0C0;"|The Wayans Bros.

|-

! Mid-summer

| colspan="2" style="background:#C0C0C0;"|Buffy the Vampire Slayer

|-

! Late summer

| style="background:#C0C0C0;"|The Jamie Foxx Show

| style="background:#C0C0C0;"|The Jamie Foxx Show

|}

Monday

{| 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"|8:00 p.m.

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

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

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

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

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

|-

! rowspan="7"|ABC

! Fall

| rowspan="2" colspan="2"|Dangerous Minds

| colspan="4" style="background:yellow;"|Monday Night Football

|-

! Winter

| rowspan="5" colspan="4" style="background:#FA8072;"|The ABC Monday Night Movie

|-

! Late winter

| colspan="2"|Spy Game

|-

! Spring

| colspan="2"|Relativity

|-

! Mid-spring

| colspan="2" style="background:#FA8072;"|Special programming

|-

! Summer

| colspan="2" style="background:#C0C0C0;"|World of Discovery

|-

! Mid-summer

| colspan="6" style="background:lightgreen;"|Monday Night Football Preseason

|-

! rowspan="5"|CBS

! Fall

| rowspan="5" style="background:magenta;"| Cosby

| Pearl

| rowspan="2"|Murphy Brown

| rowspan="2" style="background:magenta;"|Cybill

| rowspan="5" colspan="2" style="background:magenta;"| Chicago Hope

|-

! Mid-fall

| Ink

|-

! Winter

| Everybody Loves Raymond

| rowspan="3" style="background:magenta;"| Cybill

| rowspan="2"|Ink

|-

! Spring

| Murphy Brown

|-

! Late spring

| style="background:#C0C0C0;"|Everybody Loves Raymond

| style="background:#C0C0C0;"|Murphy Brown

|-

! rowspan="6"|Fox

! Fall

| colspan="2" rowspan="4"|Melrose Place

| Party Girl

| Lush Life

| colspan="2" rowspan="6" style="background:#abbfff;"|Local programming

|-

! Mid-Fall

| colspan="2" style="background:#FA8072;"|Special programming

|-

! Winter

| Ned and Stacey

| Married... with Children

|-

! Late winter

| Married... with Children

| Pauly

|-

! Late Spring

| MADtv Primetime

| The Ruby Wax Show

| colspan="2" style="background:#C0C0C0;"|Married... with Children

|-

! Summer

| colspan="2" style="background:#C0C0C0;"|Various programming

| colspan="2"|Roar

|-

! rowspan="4"|NBC

! Fall

| rowspan="2"|The Jeff Foxworthy Show

| Mr. Rhodes

| colspan="4" rowspan="2" style="background:magenta;"|The NBC Monday Movie

|-

! Spring

| Boston Common

|-

! Late spring

| colspan="4" style="background:magenta;"|The NBC Monday Movie

| colspan="2" rowspan="2" style="background:#6699CC;"|Dateline NBC

|-

! Summer

| style="background:#C0C0C0;"|Suddenly Susan

| style="background:#C0C0C0;"|Fired Up

| style="background:#C0C0C0;"|Caroline in the City

| style="background:#C0C0C0;"|Wings

|-

! rowspan="2"|UPN

! Fall

| rowspan="2"|In the House

| rowspan="2"|Malcolm & Eddie

| Goode Behavior

| Sparks

| rowspan="4" colspan="2" style="background:#abbfff;"|Local programming

|-

! Winter

| Sparks

| Goode Behavior

|-

! rowspan="2"|The WB

! Fall

| rowspan="2" colspan="2"|7th Heaven

| colspan="2"|Savannah

|-

! Winter

| colspan="2"|Buffy the Vampire Slayer

|}

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

{| 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"|8:00 p.m.

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

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

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

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

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

|-

! rowspan="6"|ABC

! Fall

| rowspan="3"|Roseanne

| Life's Work

| rowspan="6" style="background:yellow;"|Home Improvement

| rowspan="6" style="background:cyan;"|Spin City

| rowspan="2" colspan="2" style="background:cyan;"|NYPD Blue

|-

! Winter

| rowspan="2" style="background:#C0C0C0;"|Ellen

|-

! Late winter

| colspan="2"|The Practice

|-

! Spring

| style="background:#C0C0C0;"|Home Improvement

| Soul Man

| rowspan="3" colspan="2" style="background:cyan;"|NYPD Blue

|-

! Late spring

| rowspan="2"|Roseanne

| style="background:#FA8072;"|Life's Work

|-

! Summer

| style="background:#C0C0C0;"|Grace Under Fire

|-

! colspan="2"|CBS

| colspan="2"|Promised Land

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

|-

! colspan="2"|Fox

| colspan="4" style="background:#FA8072;"|Fox Tuesday Night Movie

| colspan="2" style="background:#abbfff;"|Local programming

|-

! rowspan="3"|NBC

! Fall

| rowspan="3" style="background:magenta;"|Mad About You

| Something So Right

| rowspan="3" style="background:cyan;"|Frasier

| rowspan="2" style="background:magenta;"|Caroline in the City

| colspan="2" rowspan="3" style="background:cyan;"|Dateline Tuesday

|-

! Summer

| style="background:#C0C0C0;"|The Naked Truth

|-

! Mid-summer

| style="background:#C0C0C0;"|NewsRadio

| style="background:#C0C0C0;"|Just Shoot Me!

|-

! rowspan="4"|UPN

! Fall

| rowspan="4"|Moesha

| Homeboys in Outer Space

| rowspan="3" colspan="2"|The Burning Zone

| rowspan="4" colspan="2" style="background:#abbfff;"|Local programming

|-

! Winter

| Social Studies

|-

! Spring

| Homeboys in Outer Space

|-

! Summer

| style="background:#C0C0C0;"|Social Studies

| style="background:#C0C0C0;"|Malcolm & Eddie

| style="background:#C0C0C0;"|In the House

|}

Wednesday

{| 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"|8:00 p.m.

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

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

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

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

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

|-

! rowspan="4"| ABC

! Fall

| style="background:magenta;"|Ellen

| Townies

| Grace Under Fire

| style="background:cyan;"|The Drew Carey Show

| rowspan="4" colspan="2" style="background:cyan;"|Primetime Live

|-

! Winter

| rowspan="3"|Grace Under Fire

| rowspan="3"|Coach

| rowspan="3" style="background:cyan;"|The Drew Carey Show

| style="background:magenta;"|Ellen

|-

! Late winter

| Arsenio

|-

! Spring

| style="background:magenta;"|Ellen

|-

! rowspan="7"|CBS

! Fall

| rowspan="7"|The Nanny

| Almost Perfect

| colspan="4" rowspan="2" style="background:#FA8072;"|CBS Wednesday Movie

|-

! Mid-fall

| rowspan="2"|Pearl

|-

! Winter

| colspan="2" style="background:#6699CC;"|Coast to Coast

| colspan="2"|Orleans

|-

! Late winter

| Temporarily Yours

| colspan="2"|Feds

| colspan="2"|EZ Streets

|-

! Spring

| style="background:#C0C0C0;"|Various programming

| colspan="4" rowspan="2" style="background:#FA8072;"|CBS Wednesday Movie

|-

! Late spring

| style="background:#FA8072;"| Pearl

|-

! Summer

| style="background:#C0C0C0;"|Murphy Brown

| colspan="2" style="background:#6699CC;"|Coast to Coast

| colspan="2" style="background:#6699CC;"|48 Hours

|-

! rowspan="4"|Fox

! Fall

| colspan="2" rowspan="3"|Beverly Hills, 90210

| colspan="2" rowspan="2"|Party of Five

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

|-

! Winter

|-

! Spring

| colspan="2" rowspan="2"|Pacific Palisades

|-

! Summer

| colspan="2" style="background:#FA8072;"|

|-

! rowspan="9"|NBC

! Fall

| rowspan="3"|Wings

| The John Larroquette Show

| rowspan="3"|NewsRadio

| rowspan="3"|Men Behaving Badly

| colspan="2" rowspan="3" style="background:#FF66FF;"|Law & Order

|-

! Mid-fall

| style="background:#C0C0C0;"|

|-

! Winter

| rowspan="2"|Chicago Sons

|-

! Late winter

| rowspan="5"|NewsRadio

| rowspan="3"|Wings

| Just Shoot Me!

| colspan="2" | Prince Street

|-

! Spring

| style="background:yellow;"|The Single Guy

| rowspan="2" | Men Behaving Badly

| colspan="2" rowspan="2" style="background:#FF66FF;"| Law & Order

|-

! Mid-spring

| style="background:#C0C0C0;"|

|-

! Summer

| Men Behaving Badly

| colspan="4" style="background:lightgreen;"|NBA on NBC

|-

! Mid-summer

| style="background:#C0C0C0;"|

|Wings

| style="background:#FA8072;"| Chicago Sons

| colspan="2" rowspan="2" style="background:#FF66FF;"| Law & Order

|-

! Late summer

| colspan="4" style="background:#FA8072;"|NBC Wednesday Night Movie

|-

! colspan="2"|UPN

| colspan="2"|The Sentinel

| colspan="2"|Star Trek: Voyager

| rowspan="8" colspan="2" style="background:#abbfff;"|Local programming

|-

! rowspan="6"|The WB

! Fall

| rowspan="6"|Sister, Sister

| rowspan="2"|Nick Freno: Licensed Teacher

| rowspan="2"|The Wayans Bros.

| rowspan="2"|The Jamie Foxx Show

|-

! Winter

|-

! Spring

| Smart Guy

| rowspan="3"|The Jamie Foxx Show

| rowspan="3"|The Wayans Bros.

|-

! Summer

| style="background:#C0C0C0;"|The Parent 'Hood

|-

! Mid-summer

| style="background:#C0C0C0;"|The Steve Harvey Show

|-

! Late summer

| Smart Guy

| The Wayans Bros.

| style="background:#C0C0C0;"|The Steve Harvey Show

|}

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 for only one episode. This meant Almost Perfect would soon be cancelled. EZ Streets would be given a 2nd chance in the spring.

Thursday

{| 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"|8:00 p.m.

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

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

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

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

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

|-

! rowspan="4"|ABC

! Fall

| rowspan="4" colspan="2"|High Incident

| colspan="2"|Murder One

| colspan="2" style="background:#6699CC;"|Turning Point

|-

! Winter

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

|-

! Late winter

| colspan="2"|Vital Signs

| colspan="2" style="background:#6699CC;"|Turning Point

|-

! Summer

| colspan="2" style="background:#6699CC;"|Turning Point

| colspan="2" style="background:#6699CC;"|ABC News programming

|-

! rowspan="2"|CBS

! Fall

| colspan="2"|Diagnosis: Murder

| colspan="2"|Moloney

| colspan="2" rowspan="2" style="background:#6699CC;"|48 Hours

|-

! Summer

| colspan="2" style="background:#C0C0C0;"|Promised Land

| colspan="2" style="background:#C0C0C0;"|Diagnosis: Murder

|-

! colspan="2"|Fox

| Martin

| Living Single

| colspan="2"|New York Undercover

| colspan="2" style="background:#abbfff;"|Local programming

|-

! rowspan="6" | NBC

! Fall

| rowspan="6" style="background:yellow;"|Friends

| rowspan="2" style="background:yellow;"|The Single Guy

| rowspan="6" style="background:yellow;"|Seinfeld

| style="background:yellow;"|Suddenly Susan

| colspan="2" rowspan="2" style="background:yellow;"|ER

|-

! Winter

| rowspan="2" style="background:yellow;"|The Naked Truth

|-

! Late winter

| rowspan="2" style="background:yellow;"|Suddenly Susan

| colspan="2" style="background:magenta;"|Law & Order

|-

! Spring

| style="background:yellow;"|Fired Up

| colspan="2" rowspan="3" style="background:yellow;"| ER

|-

! Late spring

| rowspan="2" style="background:#C0C0C0;"|Men Behaving Badly

| style="background:#C0C0C0;"|Suddenly Susan

|-

! Summer

| style="background:#C0C0C0;"|3rd Rock from the Sun

|}

Friday

{| 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 PM

! style="background-color:#C0C0C0;text-align:center"| 8:30 PM

! style="background-color:#C0C0C0;text-align:center"| 9:00 PM

! style="background-color:#C0C0C0;text-align:center"| 9:30 PM

! style="background-color:#C0C0C0;text-align:center"| 10:00 PM

! style="background-color:#C0C0C0;text-align:center"| 10:30 PM

|-

! rowspan="5" | ABC

! Fall

| rowspan="3" | Family Matters

| Sabrina the Teenage Witch

| Clueless

| Boy Meets World

| rowspan="5" colspan="2" style="background:cyan;"| 20/20

|-

! Mid-fall

| rowspan="4"|Boy Meets World

| rowspan="4"|Sabrina the Teenage Witch

| Clueless

|-

! Late Winter

| Step by Step

|-

! Spring

| rowspan="2" | Step by Step

| style="background:#C0C0C0;"|Clueless

|-

! Summer

| Hangin' with Mr. Cooper

|-

! rowspan="6"|CBS

! Fall

| rowspan="3"|Dave's World

| rowspan="3"|Everybody Loves Raymond

| colspan="2"|Mr. & Mrs. Smith

| rowspan="6" colspan="2"|Nash Bridges

|-

! Late fall

| colspan="2" style="background:#FA8072;"|Special programming

|-

! Winter

| colspan="2"|JAG

|-

! Spring

| colspan="2"|JAG

| colspan="2"|Orleans

|-

! Late spring

| Dave's World

| Life... and Stuff

| colspan="2" rowspan="2" style="background:#C0C0C0;"|JAG

|-

! Summer

| colspan="2"|Ordinary Extraordinary

|-

! rowspan="2"|Fox

! Fall

| colspan="2" rowspan="2"|Sliders

| colspan="2" style="background:magenta;"| The X-Files

| colspan="2" rowspan="2" style="background:#abbfff;"|Local programming

|-

! Mid-fall

| colspan="2"|Millennium

|-

! rowspan="5"|NBC

! Fall

| colspan="2" rowspan="5"|Unsolved Mysteries

| colspan="2" rowspan="5" style="background:magenta;"| Dateline NBC

| colspan="2"|Homicide: Life on the Street

|-

! Winter

| colspan="2"|Crisis Center

|-

! Spring

| colspan="2"|Homicide: Life on the Street

|-

! Late spring

| colspan="2" style="background:#C0C0C0;"|Profiler

|-

! Summer

| colspan="2" style="background:#C0C0C0;"|Homicide: Life on the Street

|}

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

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

|-

! colspan="2" style="background-color:#C0C0C0;text-align:center;width:15%;"|Network

! style="background-color:#C0C0C0;text-align:center;width:14%;"|8:00 p.m.

! style="background-color:#C0C0C0;text-align:center;width:14%;"|8:30 p.m.

! style="background-color:#C0C0C0;text-align:center;width:14%;"|9:00 p.m.

! style="background-color:#C0C0C0;text-align:center;width:14%;"|9:30 p.m.

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

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

|-

! rowspan="6"|ABC

! Fall

| colspan="2"|Second Noah

| Coach

| Common Law

| rowspan="2" colspan="2"|Relativity

|-

! Mid-fall

| colspan="4" style="background:#FA8072;"|The ABC Saturday Night Movie

|-

! Winter

| colspan="2"|Dangerous Minds

| colspan="4" style="background:#FA8072;"|The ABC Saturday Night Movie

|-

! Spring

| colspan="2"|Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman

| colspan="2"|Leaving L.A.

| colspan="2"|Gun

|-

! Late spring

| rowspan="2" style="background:#C0C0C0;"|Family Matters

| rowspan="2"|Hangin' with Mr. Cooper

| colspan="2" style="background:#C0C0C0;"|Dangerous Minds

| colspan="2"|Spy Game

|-

! Summer

| colspan="2" style="background:#FA8072;"|Special programming

| colspan="2" style="background:#C0C0C0;"|The Practice

|-

! colspan="2"|CBS

| colspan="2"|Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman

| colspan="2"|Early Edition

| colspan="2" style="background:#FF00FF;"|Walker, Texas Ranger

|-

! rowspan="2"|Fox

! Fall

| rowspan="2"|COPS

| rowspan="2" style="background:#C0C0C0;"|COPS

| Married... with Children

| Love and Marriage

| bgcolor="#abbfff" rowspan="2" colspan="2"|Local programming

|-

! Mid-fall

| colspan="2"|America's Most Wanted:<br />America Fights Back

|-

! rowspan="3"|NBC

! Fall

| colspan="2"|Dark Skies

| colspan="2" rowspan="2"|The Pretender

| colspan="2" rowspan="2"|Profiler

|-

! Spring

| colspan="2" style="background:#FA8072;"|Special programming

|-

! Summer

| colspan="2"|The Pretender

| colspan="4" style="background:#FA8072;"|NBC Saturday Night At The Movies

|}

Note: America's Most Wanted would return 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 which aired on March 27, 1997, replacing the second half of America's Most Wanted was canceled after one episode.

By network

ABC

;Returning series

  • 20/20
  • The ABC Monday Night Movie
  • The ABC Sunday Night Movie
  • The ABC Saturday Night Movie
  • The ABC Thursday 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: America Fights Back
  • Beverly Hills, 90210
  • Cops
  • Fox Tuesday Night Movie
  • 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
  • Encounters: The Hidden Truth
  • Kindred: The Embraced
  • L.A. Firefighters
  • The Last Frontier
  • Local Heroes
  • Misery Loves Company
  • Partners
  • The Preston Episodes
  • Profit
  • Saturday Night Special
  • 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
  • NBC Saturday Night at the Movies
  • 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