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CBS Block Party
| CBS Block Party | |
 | |
| Started | September 19, 1997 |
| Ended | July 17, 1998 |
| Network | CBS |
| Company | Paramount Global |
| Notable Series | Family Matters Step by Step Kids Say the Darndest Things
|
CBS Block Party (referred to on air as the CBS Friday Night Block Party) was a short-lived Friday night programming block that aired on CBS during the 1997-1998 television season. The block was created to compete with ABC's TGIF block, which at the time was growing more skewed towards a child and teen-oriented demographic; CBS intended the Block Party to serve a wider family demographic like TGIF used to do, and even spent $40 million on the rights to two recently-cancelled TGIF series, Family Matters and Step by Step, to serve as the block's flagship programs. Other shows on the block included Meego, another Miller-Boyett production which starred former TGIF alumnus Bronson Pinchot, The Gregory Hines Show, and Kids Say the Darndest Things.
The block was largely unsuccessful, and it alongside the majority of its shows failed to last beyond that season. The first new show, Meego, was cancelled after six weeks, while the other new show The Gregory Hines Show lasted fourteen. Not even the TGIF shows CBS acquired the rights to were succeeded, as they were affected by the network change, achieved record-low ratings (though Family Matters did at least beat out competing series You Wish), and in the case of Family Matters was affected by extensive retooling to its characters. CBS cancelled the TGIF pickups in summer 1998, which came as a surprise to the shows' crews, who were now unable to do a proper finale for their programs; the block ended on July 17 of that year with the final episode of Family Matters. Only Kids Say the Darndest Things managed to last, which was paired with a revival of Candid Camera and continued to air until 2000.
While the Block Party was largely a failure for CBS, it was successful in competing with TGIF, which was already declining at the time and was hurt further by the resulting audience fracture. CBS's midseason replacements for the block, namely the two aforementioned shows alongside Nash Bridges and Unsolved Mysteries, were much more successful, and in an ironic twist of fate they would eventually claim the top ratings spot on Friday nights.
Lineup (Eastern time)
- 8:00 pm: Family Matters (1997-1998)
- 8:30 pm: Meego (1997)
- Meego's slot was taken by holiday specials and other related events after its cancellation before being replaced full-time by Kids Say the Darndest Things
- 9:00 PM: The Gregory Hines Show
- 9:30 PM: Step by Step
