Entertainment: Most-Watched U.S. Television Shows
This list shows the top ten U.S. television programs of each September-April or September-May season, as
ranked by the Nielsen Media Company. The ratings in the right column indicate the average percentage of
American homes with televisions watching each show. For example, during the 1990-1991 season, 21.3 per-
cent of all American homes with a television watchedCheerson the evenings that it was broadcast. Titles fol-
lowed by an asterisk (*) indicate that the program has its own full-length essay withinThe Nineties in America.
1990-1991
1.Cheers NBC 21.3
2.60 Minutes CBS 20.6
3.Roseanne ABC 18.1
4.A Different World NBC 17.5
5.The Cosby Show NBC 17.1
6.Murphy Brown* CBS 16.9
7.Empty Nest NBC 16.7
America’s Funniest Home Videos ABC 16.7
9.Monday Night Football ABC 16.6
10.The Golden Girls NBC 16.5
1991-1992
1.60 Minutes CBS 21.9
2.Roseanne ABC 19.9
3.Murphy Brown* CBS 18.6
4.Cheers NBC 17.5
Home Improvement ABC 17.5
6.Designing Women CBS 17.3
7.Full House ABC 17.0
8.Murder, She Wrote CBS 16.9
9.Major Dad CBS 16.8
10.Coach ABC 16.7
Room for Two ABC 16.7
1992-1993
1.60 Minutes CBS 21.9
2.Roseanne ABC 20.7
3.Home Improvement ABC 19.4
4.Murphy Brown* CBS 17.9
5.Murder, She Wrote CBS 17.7
6.Coach ABC 17.5
7.Monday Night Football ABC 16.7
8.CBS Sunday Movie CBS 16.1
Cheers NBC 16.1
10.Full House ABC 15.8
1993-1994
1.60 Minutes CBS 20.9
2.Home Improvement ABC 20.4
3.Seinfeld* NBC 19.4
4.Roseanne ABC 19.1
5.Grace Under Fire ABC 17.7
6.Coach ABC 17.4
7.Frasier* NBC 16.8
8.Monday Night Football ABC 16.5
9.Murphy Brown* CBS 16.3
10.CBS Sunday Movie CBS 16.21994-1995
1.Seinfeld* NBC 20.6
2.ER* NBC 20.0
3.Home Improvement ABC 19.5
4.Grace Under Fire ABC 18.6
5.Monday Night Football ABC 17.7
6.60 Minutes CBS 17.2
7.NYPD Blue* ABC 16.5
8.Murder, She Wrote CBS 15.6
Friends* NBC 15.6
10.Roseanne ABC 15.51995-1996
1.ER* NBC 22.0
2.Seinfeld* NBC 21.2
3.Friends* NBC 18.7
4.Caroline in the City NBC 18.0
5.Monday Night Football ABC 17.1
6.The Single Guy NBC 16.7
7.Home Improvement ABC 16.1
8.Boston Common NBC 15.6
9.60 Minutes CBS 14.2
10.NYPD Blue* ABC 14.11996-1997
1.ER* NBC 21.2
2.Seinfeld* NBC 20.5
3.Suddenly Susan NBC 17.0
4.Friends* NBC 16.8
The Naked Truth NBC 16.8
6.Fired Up NBC 16.5
7.Monday Night Football ABC 16.0
8.The Single Guy NBC 14.1
9.Home Improvement ABC 14.0
10.Touched by an Angel CBS 13.6