The 2004–05 network television schedule for the six major English-language commercial broadcast networks in the United States covers the prime time hours from September 2004 to August 2005. The schedule is followed by a list per network of returning series, new series, and series canceled after the 2003–04 television season.
Beginning this season, largely resulting from continuing declines in prime time television viewership on that night of the week, the major networks ceased producing original scripted programs for broadcast on Saturday evenings (an exception being ABC's The Wonderful World of Disney, although it often featured rebroadcast material, mainly in the form of Disney theatrical films). From this point on, Saturday prime time network schedules would instead consist of nonfiction reality-based programs, rebroadcasts of scripted prime time series (most commonly featuring dramatic series), unaired episodes of de facto cancelled series that were being "burned off" after having been pulled from their previous timeslot on a different night, theatrical or made-for-television movies, and/or sporting events (which became increasingly common in the time period beginning with the 2012–13 season).
PBS is not included, as member television stations have local flexibility over most of their schedules and broadcast times for network shows may vary. Pax TV (now Ion Television) is also not included; although the network aired a few original first-run series, Pax's schedule at the time consisted primarily of syndicated reruns and movies.
Each of the 30 highest-rated shows is listed with its rank and rating as determined by Nielsen Media Research.[1]
New series are highlighted in bold.
Repeat airings or same-day rebroadcasts are indicated by (R).
All times are U.S. Eastern and Pacific Time, except for certain live events (such as Monday Night Football) that are broadcast simultaneously in all time zones. Subtract one hour for Central, Mountain, Alaska, and Hawaii-Aleutian times.
All sporting events air live in all time zones, with local and/or late-night programming (including those normally aired by Fox affiliates during the 10:00 p.m. ET/PT hour) being shown after the game's completion.
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.
- Yellow highlights indicates the top-10 most watched programs of the season.
- Cyan indicates the top 20 most watched programs of the season.
- Magenta indicates the top 30 most watched programs of the season.
Sunday
Monday
Note: Fox originally scheduled Athens (a drama series that was to center on the lives of a group of young adults in a fictional New England college town) as a midseason replacement in the 8:00 p.m. ET slot; however, the network cancelled the series last-minute.
Tuesday
Notes:
- NBC originally intended for Average Joe to air on its Fall schedule in the 8:00 p.m. ET slot; it chose to delay the reality dating series to Summer. The network originally scheduled The Contender to premiere on March 1, 2005 in the 8:00 p.m. ET slot, but opted to delay its premiere to March 9, before switching timeslots with American Dreams, which had been airing on Sundays during that hour.
- Fox originally intended to air a Fall run of legal drama The Jury (which premiered on June 8) in its existing Tuesday slot prior to November; however on July 27, it cancelled the series due to low ratings. (The two remaining episodes of its 10-episode order aired as scheduled on July 30 and August 6.)
Wednesday
Note: Fox originally intended for Method & Red to remain in the 9:30 p.m. ET slot, but cancelled it due to low ratings. The network also intended to air Life on a Stick at 8:30 p.m. ET and The Bernie Mac Show at 9:30 p.m. ET in midseason, but ultimately chose instead to air That '70s Show and Life on a Stick in those respective timeslots.
Thursday
Note: Fox originally intended to place Tru Calling in the 9:00 p.m. ET slot, but elected to push up its second season to Spring and run North Shore in the Fall instead.
Friday
Notes:
- Fox originally planned to keep The Jury on Fridays, while also slotting The Next Great Champ as its lead-in in the 8:00 p.m. ET hour; because of The Jury's cancellation, The Complex: Malibu was picked up last-minute to occupy the slot. The network also originally scheduled The Inside in the 8:00 p.m. ET hour (leading into Jonny Zero) for midseason.
- The WB originally scheduled the sitcom Commando Nanny in the 9:30 p.m. ET slot; however, it was cancelled prior to the start of the Fall schedule due to production difficulties, resulting in its substitution by Blue Collar TV.
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 | The Wonderful World of Disney | Desperate Housewives (R) | ||||
| Spring | Little House on the Prairie | ABC Saturday Movie of the Week | |||||
| Late spring | The Wonderful World of Disney | Desperate Housewives (R) | |||||
| Summer | America's Funniest Home Videos (R) | ||||||
| CBS | Fall | Crimetime Saturday | 48 Hours Mystery | ||||
| Winter | The Will | Crimetime Saturday | |||||
| Mid-winter | Crimetime Saturday | ||||||
| Late winter | Wickedly Perfect | Crimetime Saturday | |||||
| Spring | Crimetime Saturday | ||||||
| Summer | Big Brother | Crimetime Saturday | |||||
| Fox | COPS | COPS (R) | America's Most Wanted | Local programming | |||
| NBC | Fall | Various programming | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (R) | ||||
| Mid-fall | NBC Saturday Night Movie | ||||||
| Winter | Law & Order (R) | Law & Order: Criminal Intent (R) | |||||
| Late winter | LAX | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (R) | Law & Order: Criminal Intent (R) | ||||
| Spring | Crossing Jordan (R) | Law & Order (R) | |||||
| Summer | NBC Saturday Night Movie | Dateline NBC | |||||
By network
ABC
CBS
Fox
NBC
UPN
The WB
Note: The * indicates that the program was introduced in midseason.
Renewals and cancellations
Renewals
ABC
- According to Jim—Renewed for the 2005–2006 season.
- Alias—Renewed for the 2005–2006 season.
- Boston Legal—Renewed for the 2005–2006 season.
- Desperate Housewives—Renewed for the 2005–2006 season.
- George Lopez—Renewed for the 2005–2006 season.
- Grey's Anatomy—Renewed for the 2005–2006 season.
- Hope & Faith—Renewed for the 2005–2006 season.
- Jake in Progress—Renewed for the 2005–2006 season.
- Less than Perfect—Renewed for the 2005–2006 season.
- Lost—Renewed for the 2005–2006 season.
- Rodney—Renewed for the 2005–2006 season.
CBS
- Cold Case—Renewed for the 2005–2006 season.
- CSI: Crime Scene Investigation—Renewed for the 2005–2006 season.
- CSI: Miami—Renewed for the 2005–2006 season.
- CSI: NY—Renewed for the 2005–2006 season.
- The King of Queens—Renewed for the 2005–2006 season.
- NCIS—Renewed for the 2005–2006 season.
- Numbers—Renewed for the 2005–2006 season.
- Still Standing—Renewed for the 2005–2006 season.
- Two and a Half Men—Renewed for the 2005–2006 season.
- Without a Trace—Renewed for the 2005–2006 season.
- Yes, Dear—Renewed for the 2005–2006 season.
Fox
- 24—Renewed for the 2005–2006 season.
- American Dad!—Renewed for the 2005–2006 season.
- Arrested Development—Renewed for the 2005–2006 season.
- The Bernie Mac Show—Renewed for the 2005–2006 season.
- House—Renewed for the 2005–2006 season.
- King of the Hill—Renewed for the 2005–2006 season.
- Malcolm in the Middle—Renewed for the 2005–2006 season.
- The O.C.—Renewed for the 2005–2006 season.
- The Simpsons—Renewed for the 2005–2006 season.
- Stacked—Renewed for the 2005–2006 season.
- That '70s Show—Renewed for the 2005–2006 season.
NBC
- Crossing Jordan—Renewed for the 2005–2006 season.
- ER—Renewed for the 2005–2006 season.
- Joey—Renewed for the 2005–2006 season.
- Las Vegas—Renewed for the 2005–2006 season.
- Law & Order—Renewed for the 2005–2006 season.
- Law & Order: Special Victims Unit—Renewed for the 2005–2006 season.
- Law & Order: Criminal Intent—Renewed for the 2005–2006 season.
- Medium—Renewed for the 2005–2006 season.
- The Office—Renewed for the 2005–2006 season.
- Scrubs—Renewed for the 2005–2006 season.
- The West Wing—Renewed for the 2005–2006 season.
- Will & Grace—Renewed for the 2005–2006 season.
UPN
- All of Us—Renewed for the 2005–2006 season.
- Cuts—Renewed for the 2005–2006 season.
- Eve—Renewed for the 2005–2006 season.
- Girlfriends—Renewed for the 2005–2006 season.
- Half & Half—Renewed for the 2005–2006 season.
- One on One—Renewed for the 2005–2006 season.
- Veronica Mars—Renewed for the 2005–2006 season.
The WB
- 7th Heaven—Renewed for the 2005–2006 season.
- Charmed—Renewed for the 2005–2006 season.
- Everwood—Renewed for the 2005–2006 season.
- Gilmore Girls—Renewed for the 2005–2006 season.
- Living With Fran—Renewed for the 2005–2006 season.
- One Tree Hill—Renewed for the 2005–2006 season.
- Reba—Renewed for the 2005–2006 season.
- Smallville—Renewed for the 2005–2006 season.
- What I Like About You—Renewed for the 2005–2006 season.
Cancellations/series endings
ABC
- 8 Simple Rules—Ended after three seasons.
- Blind Justice—Canceled after one season.
- Complete Savages—Canceled after one season.
- Eyes—Canceled after one season.
- Life as We Know It—Canceled after one season.
- My Wife and Kids—Ended after five seasons.
- NYPD Blue—Ended after twelve seasons.
CBS
- Center of the Universe—Canceled after one season.
- Clubhouse—Canceled after one season.
- Dr. Vegas—Canceled after one season.
- Everybody Loves Raymond—Ended after nine seasons.
- JAG—Ended after ten seasons.
- Joan of Arcadia—Canceled after two seasons.
- Judging Amy—Ended after six seasons.
- Listen Up—Canceled after one season.
Fox
- The Inside—Canceled after one season.
- Jonny Zero—Canceled after one season.
- Life on a Stick—Canceled after one season.
- North Shore—Canceled after one season.
- Point Pleasant—Canceled after one season.
- Quintuplets—Canceled after one season.
- Tru Calling—Canceled after two seasons.
NBC
- American Dreams—Ended after three seasons.
- Committed—Canceled after one season.
- Father of the Pride—Canceled after one season.
- Hawaii—Canceled after one season.
- LAX—Canceled after one season.
- Medical Investigation—Canceled after one season.
- Third Watch—Ended after six seasons.
UPN
- The Bad Girl's Guide—Canceled after one season.
- Kevin Hill—Canceled after one season.
- Second Time Around—Canceled after one season.
- Star Trek: Enterprise—Ended after four seasons.
The WB
- Grounded for Life—Ended after five seasons.
- Jack & Bobby—Canceled after one season.
- The Mountain—Canceled after one season.
- Summerland—Canceled after two seasons.