1998–99 United States network television schedule

The following is the 1998–99 network television schedule for the six major English language commercial broadcast networks in the United States. The schedule covers primetime hours from September 1998 through August 1999. The schedule is followed by a list per network of returning series, new series, and series cancelled after the 1997–98 season. 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.^[1]

  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, including specials.

PBS, the Public Broadcasting Service, is not included; member stations have local flexibility over most of their schedules and broadcast times for network shows may vary. Also not included is Pax TV (now Ion), a venture of Paxson Communications (now Ion Media) that debuted on August 31, 1998; although Pax carried a limited schedule of first-run programs in its early years, its schedule otherwise was composed mainly of syndicated reruns.

Sunday

Network		7:00 PM	7:30 PM	8:00 PM	8:30 PM	9:00 PM	9:30 PM	10:00 PM	10:30 PM
ABC	Fall	The Wonderful World of Disney				20/20		The Practice
	Winter
	Spring
	Summer
	August					Who Wants to Be a Millionaire
CBS		60 Minutes (#7/13.2)		Touched by an Angel (#8/13.1)		CBS Sunday Movie (#9/12.0)
Fox	Fall	The World's Funniest!	Holding the Baby	The Simpsons	That '70s Show	The X-Files (#28/9.1) (Tied with the NBC Sunday Night Movie)		Local Programming
	Follow Up		The World's Funniest! / The Simpsons (Repeats)
	Winter	The World's Funniest!
	Spring				Futurama
	Follow Up				Family Guy
	Summer	The World's Funniest!	King of the Hill (Repeats)		Futurama (Repeats)
NBC	Fall	Dateline NBC		Dateline NBC		NBC Sunday Night Movie (#28/9.1) (Tied with The X-Files)
	Winter
	Spring	NBA on NBC
	Summer	World's Most Amazing Videos
	August	Dateline NBC		You Asked For It
The WB	Fall	7th Heaven Beginnings (Repeats)		Sister, Sister	Smart Guy	Unhappily Ever After	The Army Show	Local Programming
	Winter					Zoe, Duncan, Jack and Jane	Unhappily Ever After
	Spring
	Summer	The Parent 'Hood (Repeats)	The Parent 'Hood
	Follow Up	The Parent 'Hood	Smart Guy		Zoe, Duncan, Jack and Jane	Movie Stars

Monday

Network		8:00 PM	8:30 PM	9:00 PM	9:30 PM	10:00 PM	10:30 PM
ABC	Fall	Monday Night Football (#4/14.9)
	Winter	20/20		The ABC Monday Night Movie
	Spring
	Summer
CBS	Fall	Cosby	The King of Queens	Everybody Loves Raymond (#11/10.6)	The Brian Benben Show	L.A. Doctors
	November				Becker (#19/9.7) (Tied with Dateline NBC and the CBS Tuesday Movie)
	Winter
	Spring
	Summer					48 Hours
	August	The King of Queens	Thanks
Fox	Fall	Melrose Place		Ally McBeal (#23/9.6)		Local Programming
	Winter
	Spring
	Summer	That '70s Show	That '70s Show (Repeats)
NBC	Fall	Suddenly Susan	Conrad Bloom	Caroline in the City	Will & Grace	Dateline NBC (#19/9.7) (Tied with Becker and The CBS Tuesday Movie)
	Follow Up		Caroline in the City	Mad About You	Conrad Bloom
	Winter				Working
	Spring			Law & Order (Repeats)
	Follow Up		Mad About You	The NBC Monday Movie
	Summer		Suddenly Susan	Mad About You	Mad About You	Dateline NBC (#19/9.7) (Tied with Becker and The CBS Tuesday Movie)
	Mid-Summer		Veronica's Closet	Law & Order
UPN	Fall	Guys Like Us	DiResta	The Secret Diary of Desmond Pfeiffer	Malcolm & Eddie	Local Programming
	Follow Up	Malcolm & Eddie	Guys Like Us	Malcolm & Eddie	DiResta
	Winter	Dilbert	DiResta	The Sentinel
	March		Redhanded
	April		Home Movies
	June			Power Play
	Follow Up		Dilbert	Redhanded	Redhanded
	July	The Sentinel		Seven Days
	August	Moesha	Malcolm & Eddie	Moesha	Between Brothers
The WB	Fall	7th Heaven		Hyperion Bay
	Follow Up			Various Drama Repeats
	Winter			Hyperion Bay
	Spring			Rescue 77
	May			Buffy the Vampire Slayer
	Summer			Rescue 77
	Mid-Summer			Movie Stars	Katie Joplin

Note: UPN only broadcast the first two episodes of Power Play. On August 16, 1999, ABC aired the series premiere of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire at 8:30pm EDT. It was the only 30 minute episode to air on a Monday night.

Tuesday

Network		8:00 PM	8:30 PM	9:00 PM	9:30 PM	10:00 PM	10:30 PM
ABC	Fall	Home Improvement (#10/11.0)	The Hughleys	Spin City (#25/9.2) (Tied with Walker, Texas Ranger and Dateline NBC)	Sports Night	NYPD Blue (#12/10.5)
	Winter
	Spring					Strange World
	Follow Up					NYPD Blue (#12/10.5)
	Summer
	Mid-Summer	Spin City (Repeats)	It's Like, You Know... (Repeats)	Dharma & Greg (Repeats)
	August		Who Wants to Be a Millionaire
CBS	Fall	JAG (#16/9.8) (Tied with Providence and 20/20)		CBS Tuesday Movie (#19/9.7) (Tied with Dateline NBC and Becker)
	Winter
	Spring
	Summer			60 Minutes II		48 Hours
Fox	Fall	King of the Hill	Costello	Guinness World Records Primetime		Local Programming
	November		King of the Hill (Repeats)
	December		Holding the Baby
	Winter		The PJs
	Spring		Futurama	The PJs	King of the Hill (Repeats)
	Summer	Guinness World Records Primetime		Fox Files
NBC	Fall	Mad About You	Encore! Encore!	Just Shoot Me!	Working	Dateline NBC (#19/9.7) (Tied with Becker and the CBS Tuesday Movie)
	Winter	3rd Rock from the Sun	NewsRadio		Will & Grace
	Spring	NewsRadio	3rd Rock from the Sun		Everything's Relative
	Summer	3rd Rock from the Sun	NewsRadio		Will & Grace
	Mid-Summer	Just Shoot Me!	3rd Rock from the Sun
UPN	Fall	Moesha	Clueless	Mercy Point		Local Programming
	November			America's Greatest Pets	Reunited
	Winter			Malcolm & Eddie	Between Brothers
	Spring		Family Rules
	Follow Up		Clueless
	Summer
The WB		Buffy the Vampire Slayer		Felicity

NOTE: On Fox, Brimstone was supposed to premiere 9-10, but it was moved up to Friday.

Wednesday

Network		8:00 PM	8:30 PM	9:00 PM	9:30 PM	10:00 PM	10:30 PM
ABC	Fall	Dharma & Greg (#24/9.3)	Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place	The Drew Carey Show (#14/9.9) (Tied with 20/20)	The Secret Lives of Men	20/20 (#16/9.8) (Tied with Providence and JAG)
	Winter				Whose Line Is It Anyway?
	Spring		It's Like, You Know...		The Norm Show
	Summer		Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place		Whose Line Is It Anyway?
	Mid-Summer	Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place	The Norm Show
	August		Who Wants to Be a Millionaire		Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place
CBS	Fall	The Nanny	Maggie Winters	To Have & to Hold		Chicago Hope
	Winter			60 Minutes II (#30/9.0) (Tied with Diagnosis: Murder)
	Spring	Cosby	Payne
	Summer	The Nanny	The Nanny	CBS Wednesday Movie
	Mid-Summer	Cosby	Cosby
Fox	Fall	Beverly Hills, 90210		Party of Five		Local Programming
	Winter
	Spring
	Summer	Fox Wednesday Night Movie
NBC	Fall	Dateline NBC		3rd Rock from the Sun	NewsRadio	Law & Order (#13/10.1)
	Follow Up				Encore! Encore!
	Winter			LateLine
	Spring			World's Most Amazing Videos
	Summer
UPN		Seven Days		Star Trek: Voyager		Local Programming
The WB		Dawson's Creek		Charmed

Thursday

Network		8:00 PM	8:30 PM	9:00 PM	9:30 PM	10:00 PM	10:30 PM
ABC	Fall	Vengeance Unlimited		ABC Thursday Night Movie
	Follow Up	Various Specials
	Winter	Vengeance Unlimited
	Follow Up			Cupid		ABC News Specials
	Spring	America's Funniest Home Videos		The Drew Carey Show (Repeats)	Spin City (Repeats)
	Summer	ABC Thursday Night Movie				Vanished
	August	Whose Line Is It Anyway?	Who Wants to Be a Millionaire	Various Specials		Nightline in Primetime
CBS	Fall	Promised Land		Diagnosis: Murder (#30/9.0) (Tied with 60 Minutes II)		48 Hours
	Winter	Diagnosis: Murder (#30/9.0) (Tied with 60 Minutes II)		Turks
	Spring	Promised Land
	Follow Up			Diagnosis: Murder (#30/9.0) (Tied with 60 Minutes II)
	Mid-Summer	Diagnosis: Murder
Fox	Fall	World's Wildest Police Videos		Fox Files		Local programming
	Follow Up			Various Specials
	December			Fox Files
	February			Various Specials
	March			Fox Files
	May			Various Specials
	Late June			Family Guy (Repeats)	The PJs (Repeats)
NBC	Fall	Friends (#2/15.7)	Jesse (#5/13.7) (Tied with Veronica's Closet)	Frasier (#3/15.6)	Veronica's Closet (#5/13.7) (Tied with Jesse)	ER (#1/17.8)
	Winter
	Spring		Will & Grace
	Summer		Jesse (Repeats)		Will & Grace (Repeats)
UPN	Fall	UPN Thursday Night at the Movies				Local programming
	Winter
	Spring
	Summer
	Mid-Summer	Mercy Point		Mercy Point
	August	Various Specials
The WB	Fall	The Wayans Bros.	The Jamie Foxx Show	The Steve Harvey Show	For Your Love
	Winter
	Spring	Smart Guy
	Follow Up	The Wayans Bros.
	Summer

Note: On Fox, Hollyweird was supposed to premiere 9:00-10:00 but it was canceled due to a conflict with Shaun Cassidy.

Friday

Network		8:00 PM	8:30 PM	9:00 PM	9:30 PM	10:00 PM	10:30 PM
ABC	Fall	Two of a Kind	Boy Meets World	Sabrina the Teenage Witch	Brother's Keeper	20/20 (#14/9.9) (Tied with The Drew Carey Show)
	Winter
	Spring	Sabrina the Teenage Witch		Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place
	Follow Up	Home Improvement (Repeats)		Sabrina the Teenage Witch
	Summer	Two of a Kind
	Mid-Summer	Home Improvement	The Hughleys		America's Funniest Home Videos
	August		Who Wants to Be a Millionaire		Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place
CBS	Fall	Kids Say the Darndest Things	Candid Camera	Buddy Faro		Nash Bridges
	Winter			The Magnificent Seven
	Spring			Unsolved Mysteries
	Follow Up			Various Specials
	June			Unsolved Mysteries
	Summer
	Mid-Summer			The Magnificent Seven
Fox	Fall	Living in Captivity	Getting Personal	Millennium		Local programming
	October	Brimstone
	Winter
	Spring	Guinness World Records Primetime
	Summer	The World's Funniest!		MADtv Primetime
NBC	Fall	Dateline Friday (#25/9.2) (Tied with Spin City and Walker, Texas Ranger)		Trinity		Homicide: Life on the Street
	November			Law & Order (Repeats)
	Winter	Providence (#16/9.8) (Tied with 20/20 and JAG)		Dateline Friday (#25/9.2) (Tied with Spin City and Walker, Texas Ranger)
	Spring
	June	Dateline Friday (#25/9.2) (Tied with Spin City and Walker, Texas Ranger)		NBA on NBC
	Summer
	Mid-Summer	Providence (#16/9.8) (Tied with 20/20 and JAG)		Dateline Friday (#25/9.2) (Tied with Spin City and Walker, Texas Ranger)		Homicide: Life on the Street
UPN	Fall	Legacy		Love Boat: The Next Wave		Local Programming
	Winter
	Spring	America's Greatest Pets	America's Greatest Pets
	Summer
	Mid-Summer	Legacy
	August	UPN's Night at the Movies

Note: On Fox, the one-hour drama Brimstone premiered at 8:00 on October 23, 1998.

Saturday

Network		8:00 p.m.	8:30 p.m.	9:00 p.m.	9:30 p.m.	10:00 p.m.	10:30 p.m.
ABC	Fall	America's Funniest Home Videos		Fantasy Island		Cupid
	Winter	The ABC Saturday Night Movie				Fantasy Island
	Follow Up	Various programming / The ABC Saturday Night Movie
	Spring	America's Funniest Home Videos	The Big Moment	The ABC Saturday Night Movie
	May	America's Funniest Home Videos
	June	America's Funniest Home Videos	The Big Moment
	July	America's Funniest Home Videos
	August	America's Funniest Home Videos	Who Wants to Be a Millionaire
CBS	Fall	Early Edition		Martial Law		Walker, Texas Ranger (25/9.2) (Tied with Spin City and Dateline NBC)
	Winter					Sons of Thunder
	Spring					Walker, Texas Ranger (25/9.2) (Tied with Spin City and Dateline NBC)
	Summer
Fox		COPS	COPS (R)	America's Most Wanted: America Fights Back		Local programming
NBC	Fall	Wind on Water		The Pretender		Profiler
	Follow Up	The Pretender (Repeats) / Best of SNL Specials / Various Specials
	Winter
	Spring
	Summer	The Pretender		NBC Saturday Night Movie

By network

ABC

Returning series 20/20 The ABC Monday Night Movie The ABC Saturday Night Movie ABC Thursday Night Movie America's Funniest Home Videos Boy Meets World Dharma & Greg The Drew Carey Show Home Improvement Monday Night Football NYPD Blue The Practice Sabrina the Teenage Witch Spin City Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place The Wonderful World of Disney

New series The Big Moment * Brother's Keeper Cupid Fantasy Island The Hughleys It's Like, You Know... * The Norm Show * The Secret Lives of Men Sports Night Strange World * Two of a Kind Vengeance Unlimited Whose Line Is It Anyway?

Not returning from 1997–98: ABC News Saturday Night The ABC Sunday Night Movie C-16: FBI Cracker Ellen Grace Under Fire Hiller and Diller Maximum Bob Nothing Sacred Over the Top Prey Primetime Live Push Soul Man Something So Right Teen Angel That's Life Timecop Total Security You Wish

CBS

Returning series 48 Hours 60 Minutes Candid Camera CBS Sunday Movie Chicago Hope Cosby Diagnosis: Murder Early Edition Everybody Loves Raymond JAG Kids Say the Darndest Things The Magnificent Seven The Nanny Nash Bridges Promised Land Touched by an Angel Unsolved Mysteries Walker, Texas Ranger

New series 60 Minutes II Becker * The Brian Benben Show Buddy Faro The King of Queens L.A. Doctors Maggie Winters Martial Law Payne * Sons of Thunder * Thanks * To Have & to Hold Turks *

Not returning from 1997–98: Brooklyn South The Closer Cybill Dellaventura Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman Family Matters Four Corners George and Leo The Gregory Hines Show Meego Michael Hayes Murphy Brown (revived in 2018–19) Public Eye with Bryant Gumbel The Simple Life Step by Step Style & Substance

Fox

Returning series Ally McBeal America's Most Wanted: America Fights Back Beverly Hills, 90210 COPS Fox Files FOX Night at the Movies Guinness World Records Primetime Getting Personal King of the Hill Melrose Place Millennium Party of Five The Simpsons The World's Funniest! World's Wildest Police Videos The X-Files

New series Brimstone Costello Family Guy * Futurama * Holding the Baby * Living in Captivity The PJs * That '70s Show

Not returning from 1997–98: 413 Hope St. Ask Harriet Between Brothers (moved to UPN) Damon Living Single New York Undercover Significant Others The Visitor

NBC

Returning series 3rd Rock from the Sun Caroline in the City Dateline NBC ER Frasier Friends Homicide: Life on the Street Just Shoot Me! LateLine Law & Order Mad About You NBC Sunday Night Movie The NBC Monday Movie NewsRadio The Pretender Profiler Suddenly Susan Veronica's Closet Working

New series Conrad Bloom Encore! Encore! Everything's Relative * Jesse Providence * Trinity Will & Grace Wind on Water World's Most Amazing Videos *

Not returning from 1997–98: Built to Last Fired Up For Your Love (moved to The WB) House Rules Jenny Men Behaving Badly The Naked Truth Players Seinfeld Sleepwalkers Stressed Eric The Tony Danza Show Union Square

UPN

Returning series Between Brothers (moved from Fox) Clueless Love Boat: The Next Wave Malcolm & Eddie Moesha The Sentinel Star Trek: Voyager

New series America's Greatest Pets * Dilbert * DiResta Family Rules * Guys Like Us Home Movies * Legacy Mercy Point Power Play (originally aired on CTV) Redhanded * Reunited * The Secret Diary of Desmond Pfeiffer Seven Days UPN's Night at the Movies

Not returning from 1997–98: Good News Head Over Heels Hitz In the House Sparks

The WB

Returning series

7th Heaven Buffy the Vampire Slayer Dawson's Creek For Your Love (moved from NBC) The Jamie Foxx Show The Parent 'Hood Sister, Sister Smart Guy The Steve Harvey Show Unhappily Ever After The Wayans Bros.

New series The Army Show Charmed Felicity Hyperion Bay Katie Joplin * Movie Stars * Rescue 77 * Zoe, Duncan, Jack and Jane *

Not returning from 1997–98: Alright Already Invasion America Kelly Kelly Nick Freno: Licensed Teacher Three The Tom Show You're the One

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