"Friday, like Saturday, was once a haven for some of the best programming on television, featuring some of the most beloved shows of all time. Baby boomers will recall ABC's classic early-1970s lineup anchored by
The Brady Bunch and capped off with
Love, American Style. Soap lovers were glued to CBS' combination of
Dallas and
Falcon Crest in the 1980s, a tandem that topped the ratings for most of the decade. ABC branded the night
TGIF and populated it with entries like
Full House and
Family Matters for years. NBC introduced ultra-cool
Miami Vice. And the masses were introduced to Fox's
The X-Files and CBS'
CSI on this evening," writes Marc Berman. "All is certainly not as it used to be. The
X-Files morphed into a long-running Sunday staple, while
CSI, of course, still airs on Thursday -- two nights that are considerably more profitable from an ad revenue standpoint.
CSI, in fact, was the last big Friday hit on any broadcast network, and that was nine years ago. READ MORE