The following is the1976–77 network television schedule for the three major English language commercialbroadcast networks in the United States. The schedule coversprimetime hours from September 1976 through August 1977. The schedule is followed by alist per network of returning series, new series, and series cancelled after the1975–76 season. All times are Eastern and Pacific, with certain exceptions, such asMonday Night Football.

New fall series are highlighted inbold.

Each of the 30 highest-rated shows is listed with its rank and rating as determined byNielsen 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.

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

The Muppet Show (syndicated in the U.S.) premiered this season.

Note:The Brady Bunch Hour previously aired on a sporadic basis starting in November 1976, before becoming a weekly series in February 1977.

Note: OnABC, the 1977 summerminiseriesRich Man, Poor Man consisted of reruns of the 1976 miniseries. On CBS,The Family Holvak consisted of reruns of the 1975 NBC series before being replaced by a four-week run ofThe Jack Benny Show (withPhyllis in the 8:30 slot), featuring episodes from its 1963-64 season.

NOTE: OnNBC,Comedy Time was a summeranthology series composed of unsoldtelevision pilots that aired on Wednesdays in July and on Thursdays on July 21 and 28, August 25, and September 1.

Notes: NBC originally planned to airSnip (a sitcom starringDavid Brenner) on Thursdays at 9:30 withThe Practice preceding it at 9:00. On August 28, NBC announced a "massive reshuffling" of its schedule and pulledSnip,^[2] which never aired.

Comedy Time was a summeranthology series composed of unsoldtelevision pilots that aired on NBC on Wednesdays in July and on Thursdays on July 21 and 28, August 25, and September 1.

Note: A special program,Campaign '76, aired onCBS from 7:30 to 8:00 p.m. from September to early November in preparation for the1976 presidential election.

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

• 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.ISBN 0-14-024916-8.
• Brooks, Tim & Marsh, Earle (1985).The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network TV Shows (3rd ed.). New York: Ballantine.ISBN 0-345-31864-1.

• United States primetime network television schedules
• 1976 in American television
• 1977 in American television

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