A Fine Romance (1989 TV series)

Broadcast

Originally scheduled to debut on ABC on Sunday nights at 8/7c in the fall of 1988, the series was caught up in the 1988 Writers Guild of America Strike, which had already begun by the time the network presented its fall lineup to advertisers in May. Like every other scripted program, production was delayed. ABC’s fall preview reel still showed it in that Sunday slot, but the network soon moved it to midseason status. To cover the Sunday 8 p.m. hour, ABC brought back Mission: Impossible, a low-cost strike filler.

That revival aired there for several weeks before shifting to Saturdays in December 1988. Even though the Sunday time slot opened up again, A Fine Romance didn’t take it. Instead, it premiered in January 1989 on Thursdays at 8/7c, replacing the canceled freshman show Knightwatch. Like its predecessor, the series faced stiff competition from NBC’s The Cosby Show and A Different World, as well as CBS’s 48 Hours, and was pulled after just over two months. Five episodes were never broadcast in the United States, though the complete run did air in the United Kingdom.