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The2001–02 network television schedule for the six major English language commercialbroadcast networks in the United States covers theprimetime hours from September 2001 to August 2002. The schedule is followed by alist per network of returning series, new series, and series canceled after the2000–01 season.
PBS is not included; member stations have local flexibility over most of their schedules and broadcasts times for network shows may vary. Also not included are stations affiliated withPax TV, as its schedule is composed mainly of syndicated reruns although it also carried a limited schedule of first-run programs.
Each of the 30 highest-rated shows released in May 2002 is listed with its rank and rating as determined byNielsen Media Research.[1]
From February 8 to 24, 2002, all of NBC's primetime programming was preempted in favor of coverage of the2002 Winter Olympics inSalt Lake City.
During the week of September 11, 2001, the major television networks aired continuous news coverage of theSeptember 11 attacks. The news coverage preempted the networks' primetime schedules between September 11 and September 15, with regular programming resuming on September 16. As a result of the preemptions, the programs that were set to begin airing new seasons in mid-September had their premieres delayed until late September and early October.The Amazing Race was the first program to premiere in the 2001–02 season; the show'sfirst season premiered on September 5, but had its second episode postponed from September 12 to September 19 due to the aforementioned news coverage. As a result of the scheduling oddities that were necessitated by the news coverage, the 2001–02 season was the second of four instances where the start of the season was delayed due to issues outside of the control of the major television networks; the other instances were the1988–89 season (due to the1988 Writers Guild of America strike), the2020–21 season (due to a suspension of television productions as a result of theCOVID-19 pandemic), and the2023–24 season (due to a series ofstrikes that affected both theWriters Guild of America andSAG-AFTRA). The next major disruption to the primetime television schedules of the major television networks would not occur until the2007–08 season, which was affected by the2007–08 Writers Guild of America strike.
The53rd Primetime Emmy Awards, which were planned for September 16, were initially postponed to October 7, but news coverage of theUnited States invasion of Afghanistan prompted the awards to be postponed for a second time; the awards would be eventually held on November 4.
NOTE: Fox aired 2 episodes ofThe Chamber in mid-January 2002. During the fall,Futurama andKing of the Hill were preempted by overruns of NFL games. On The WB,Lost in the USA was supposed to air at 7–8, but it was cancelled due to 9/11 problems.
Note:Buffy the Vampire Slayer andRoswell moved toUPN fromThe WB this season.
| 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 | Whose Line Is It Anyway? | Whose Line Is It Anyway?(R) | Who Wants to Be a Millionaire | Primetime | ||
| Winter | |||||||
| Spring | |||||||
| Summer | ABC Big Picture Show | ||||||
| CBS | Fall | Survivor: Africa(6/11.8) | CSI: Crime Scene Investigation(2/14.5) | The Agency | |||
| Winter | Various programming | ||||||
| Late winter | Survivor: Marquesas(6/11.8) | ||||||
| Spring | The Price is Right Salutes | ||||||
| Summer | Big Brother | ||||||
| Fox | Fall | Special programming | Local programming | ||||
| Mid-fall | Family Guy | The Tick | Temptation Island | ||||
| Winter | Family Guy(R) | ||||||
| Late winter | King of the Hill(R) | Futurama(R) | |||||
| Spring | Fox Thursday Night Movie | ||||||
| Summer | Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction | The Pulse | |||||
| NBC | Fall | Friends(1/15.0) | Inside Schwartz(16/9.8) (Tied withJudging Amy) | Will & Grace(9/11.0) (Tied withLeap of Faith) | Just Shoot Me!(18/9.3) | ER(3/14.2) | |
| Mid-fall | Various programming | ||||||
| Late fall | Inside Schwartz(16/9.8) (Tied withJudging Amy) | ||||||
| Winter | Will & Grace(R) | ||||||
| Late winter | Leap of Faith(9/11.0) (Tied withWill & Grace) | ||||||
| Spring | Friends(R) | ||||||
| Late spring | Various programming | ||||||
| Summer | Scrubs(R) | ||||||
| Mid-summer | The Rerun Show | ||||||
| Late summer | Various programming | ||||||
| UPN | WWF SmackDown! | Local programming | |||||
| The WB | Fall | Popstars | Charmed | ||||
| Late fall | Popstars | Maybe It's Me(R) | |||||
| Winter | Various programming | ||||||
| Spring | Gilmore Girls(R) | ||||||
| Late spring | The Jamie Kennedy Experiment(R) | ||||||
| Summer | Reba(R) | The Jamie Kennedy Experiment(R) | Off Centre(R) | ||||
| 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 | The Mole: The Next Betrayal | Thieves | Once and Again | ||||||
| Mid-fall | America's Funniest Home Videos | |||||||||
| Late fall | Special programming | |||||||||
| Winter | 20/20 | |||||||||
| Spring | Various programming | |||||||||
| Summer | Whose Line Is It Anyway?(R) | |||||||||
| CBS | Fall | The Ellen Show | Danny | That's Life | 48 Hours | |||||
| Mid-fall | Various programming | The Ellen Show | ||||||||
| Late fall | Special programming | |||||||||
| Winter | JAG(R) | First Monday | ||||||||
| Spring | Various programming | |||||||||
| Late spring | 48 Hours | CBS Friday Night Movie | ||||||||
| Summer | Various programming | |||||||||
| Fox | Fall | Dark Angel | Pasadena | Local programming | ||||||
| Mid-fall | 24(R) | |||||||||
| Winter | That '70s Show(R) | Various programming | Dark Angel | |||||||
| Spring | Dark Angel(R) | The X-Files(R) | ||||||||
| Summer | Invasion of the Hidden Cameras | |||||||||
| NBC | Fall | Providence(27/7.9) (Tied withFear Factor andLaw & Order: Criminal Intent) | Dateline NBC(25/8.1) (Tied withBaby Bob) | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit(12/10.4) | ||||||
| Winter | ||||||||||
| Spring | Dateline Friday(25/8.1) (Tied withBaby Bob) | |||||||||
| Summer | Dateline NBC(25/8.1) (Tied withBaby Bob) | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit(R) | ||||||||
| UPN | Fall | UPN's Night at the Movies | Local programming | |||||||
| Spring | Various programming | Under One Roof | ||||||||
| Mid-spring | UPN's Night at the Movies | |||||||||
| The WB | Fall | Sabrina the Teenage Witch | Maybe It's Me | Reba | Raising Dad | |||||
| Winter | Raising Dad | Maybe It's Me | ||||||||
| Summer | Sabrina the Teenage Witch(R) | Raising Dad(R) | ||||||||
NOTE: Fox airedThe Chamber on January 25, 2002, after two preview airings on past Sunday nights. The show was cancelled after its Friday night airing.
| 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 | ABC Big Picture Show | ||||||
| CBS | Fall | Touched by an Angel | Citizen Baines | The District | |||
| Mid-fall | Various programming | ||||||
| Summer | Big Brother | The District(R) | The Agency(R) | ||||
| Fox | COPS | COPS(R) | America's Most Wanted: America Fights Back | Local programming | |||
| NBC | Special programming | NBC Saturday Night Movie | |||||
Returning series
| New series
| Not returning from2000–01:
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Returning series
| New series
| Not returning from2000–01:
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Returning series
| New series | Not returning from2000–01:
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Returning series
| New series
| Not returning from2000–01:
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Note: The * indicates that the program was introduced in midseason.