History Main / FridayNightDeathSlot

The opposite of this trope is a Sunday night slot, often awarded to the most coveted TV programming. Advertisers realize that American viewers watch TV on Sunday more than any other day of the week, partly due to the emotional dread that lingers in their minds in anticipation of the rest of the week. This means that advertisers are desperate to get their product on the airwaves on Sunday so that it's still on people's minds when they go to work or school on Monday. The better the advertising rates for a timeslot, the more effort goes into the content for that slot. Sunday night being the most desired slot came large in part by the success of ''Series/TheSopranos'', which was put on the slot due to the lack of major competing shows. Fast forward to today, EVERY major network tries to get their hands on a Sunday slot regardless of the competition.

The infamous [[TitleDrop Friday Night Death Slot]] is the television equivalent of ritual seppuku in UsefulNotes/NorthAmerica, but it varies in a few other countries.[[note]]In UsefulNotes/{{Israel}} (where the weekend is Friday and Saturday, and Sunday is a working day), the [[UsefulNotes/UnitedKingdom UK]], and UsefulNotes/{{Norway}}, the very ''best'' shows are often reserved for Friday nights. This is particularly true of Creator/Channel4 comedies in the UK - the likes of ''Series/PeepShow'' and ''Series/TheITCrowd'' are always aired on Fridays. However, a UK version of this could be Creator/Channel5, which airs shows that the other channels aren't airing anymore.[[/note]] Viewers, especially those in certain coveted demographics like 18-34 year-olds, just don't watch as much TV on Fridays as on other nights because they're doing other things: hitting the bars, going to a sporting event, going on dinner dates, seeing a movie (see below for why this is especially relevant), or hanging out with friends. Compounding this, the Friday prime-time slot is especially likely to get pre-empted by events like {{Big Game}}s or {{Award Show}}s on local affiliates. Scheduling a show on a Friday - especially early in the evening, such as 8:00 PM Eastern - is the kiss of death. This goes double if the show isn't family friendly, as folks with kids are more likely to stay home on the weekend, or hasn't developed a loyal following.

* ''Series/TheNamesTheSame'', a GameShow that held a 7:30 Monday slot since it was UnCanceled in October 1954. It moved on June 28, 1955 (after its ''third'' host change in less than a year) to Tuesdays at 10:00, then on September 16 shifted to Fridays at 10:00. The series was canned on October 7, after just '''four''' episodes at that slot.

* When ''WesternAnimation/PigGoatBananaCricket'' aired its final three episodes on Creator/{{Nicktoons}} in August 2018, they were placed in the extremely awkward time slot of '''4:30-5:15AM''', so people without a DVR that worked or a willingness to head to copyright infringement streaming sites were unlucky.

* Children's cable networks such as Creator/{{Nickelodeon}}, Creator/DisneyChannel, or Creator/CartoonNetwork have traditionally '''thrived''' on Friday nights. This is, of course, due to their target demographic of kids under the age of 14. This audience rarely has anywhere to be on a Friday night, in sharp contrast to even older teenagers. Fridays also have the minor bonus of kids not having classes the next day, so the target audience isn't doing homework and networks can potentially air premieres late into prime-time without worrying about sudden rating drops due to their target audience being shoved off to bed by parents. Because of this, these networks don't have a "Friday Night Death Slot" per se, with every night of the week being good for premieres as long as kids are awake to watch them.[[note]]For example, the late 2010s shifted to a general trend of premiering animated content on Mondays or Thursdays and live-action content on Fridays or Saturdays.[[/note]] Instead, shows marked for death are shifted to slots where the target audience is less likely to be awake, such as late at night (usually around 11 pm or midnight) or early in the morning (between 5 am and 7 am).

* The Australian series ''Series/TheLateShow1992'' (think ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' '''[[RecycledInSpace WITH NO BUDGET]]''') - it was put on at 9.00 on a Saturday, where most of its intended audience would have gone out. However, it became very popular with parents who had to stay home to look after their children, and so lasted two seasons.

* In an attempt to break out of the bad ratings cycle listed above Fox paid big money for the rights to air ''Wrestling/WWESmackDown'', which airs on Friday every single week of the year. It does pretty good ratings; Fox convincing WWE to treat ''[=SmackDown=]'' as their featured show rather than ''Wrestling/{{WWERAW}}'s'' sidekick certainly helps[[note]]So does the fact that it's only 2 hours long, rather than the slog that is a 3 hour (plus overrun) episode of ''Raw''[[/note]]. Fox has also put quite a bit of live sports on Fridays (and kicking ''[=SmackDown=]'' over to [=FS1=]), as sporting events are the one thing people '''will''' stay home and watch live, and usually pull in better advertising rates than lowbrow comedies or trashy reality shows.

* Both ''Series/AreYouSmarterThanAFifthGrader'' and ''Series/DontForgetTheLyrics'' aired on Friday nights during the 2008–09 season, and were later moved to UsefulNotes/{{Syndication}} for the 2009–10 season (with the latter show returning in September 2010); both shows were ultimately canceled by their syndicators in early 2011.

* Children's cable networks such as Creator/{{Nickelodeon}}, Creator/DisneyChannel, or Creator/CartoonNetwork have traditionally '''thrived''' on Friday nights. This is, of course, due to their target demographic of kids under the age of 14. This audience rarely has anywhere to be on a Friday night, in sharp contrast to even older teenagers. Fridays also have the minor bonus of kids not having classes the next day, so networks can potentially air premieres late into prime-time without worrying about sudden rating drops due to their target audience being shoved off to bed by parents. Because of this, these networks don't have a "Friday Night Death Slot" per se, with every night of the week being good for premieres as long as kids are awake to watch them.[[note]]For example, the late 2010s shifted to a general trend of premiering animated content on Mondays or Thursdays and live-action content on Fridays or Saturdays.[[/note]] Instead, shows marked for death are shifted to slots where the target audience is less likely to be awake, such as late at night (usually around 11 pm or midnight) or early in the morning (between 5 am and 7 am).

Fridays are thus often reserved for relatively cheap-to-produce content that doesn't require a lot of continuity to understand. That used to mean lots of mid-level half-hour sitcoms (see: Creator/TheWB's past Friday lineup as well as Creator/{{ABC}}'s 90s Franchise/{{TGIF}} block), reruns, movie airings, shows that [[ScrewedByTheNetwork the network is neglecting]], and in recent years a lot of {{Reality Show}}s. Sometimes a network will fill an especially moribund slot with a NoHoperRepeat of a popular show from a different night.

* Creator/{{Fox}} - The odd one out: despite being founded by [[Creator/TwentiethCenturyStudios 20th Century Fox]], it was split off from the studio in 2019 after it was acquired by Disney (since they already own ABC, and the FCC wouldn't allow one company to own two of the major networks), making it the only network without a studio affiliation.

* Creator/{{ABC}} - Owned by Creator/{{Disney}}, which heavily promotes its Friday night Creator/DisneyChannel programming for children and families, but revived its long-time Franchise/{{TGIF}} brand with a lineup of family-oriented comedy in 2018, only to a mix of reality series and an expanded two-hour ''Series/TwentyTwenty'' a year later.

Some networks and shows manage to find a surprising amount of success on Fridays. Creator/{{CBS}}'s family-friendly ''Series/GhostWhisperer'' did respectably as well as many of its action series reboots (like ''Series/HawaiiFive0'') and the LongRunner PoliceProcedural ''Series/BlueBloods''. Creator/{{NBC}}'s successfully moved ''Series/LasVegas'' from Monday nights to Fridays, as its large, dependable fanbase was willing to follow it and lots of celebrity guest appearances helped boost ratings. Creator/{{CBS}} has a history of major Friday successes, such as the lineup of ''Series/{{The Incredible Hulk|1977}}'', ''Series/TheDukesOfHazzard'' and ''Series/{{Dallas}}'' in the late '70s and early '80s. They were also able to make Saturday nights work with a '70s lineup that included ''Series/AllInTheFamily'', ''Series/{{MASH}}'', ''Series/TheMaryTylerMooreShow'', ''Series/TheBobNewhartShow'', and ''Series/TheCarolBurnettShow''. Creator/{{ABC}}'s family comedy Franchise/{{TGIF}} block in TheNineties, with such shows as ''Series/FullHouse'', ''Series/FamilyMatters'', ''Series/BoyMeetsWorld'', and ''Series/SabrinaTheTeenageWitch'', was perhaps the most spectacular subversion of the Death Slot, as Friday night was not only a moneymaker for the network but also one of its few success stories in what was otherwise a ''decade''-long slump. And let it not be forgotten that ''Series/TheXFiles'' was born in this timeslot on Creator/{{Fox}}, and grew its legendary fanbase here for three years before moving.

* ''Series/Moonlight2007'' is an especially weird case, as it was getting a good ''8 million viewers'' on its Friday slot when Creator/{{CBS}} cancelled it. It was unfortunate enough to have been canned right before ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'' triggered a massive vampire fad. CBS must still be kicking themselves.

A relatively recent development is the vertical integration brought about by the mergers of TheNineties and [[TurnOfTheMillennium 2000s]]; this means that the networks' parent {{MegaCorp}}s now covet that Thursday night advertising for movies from their affiliated film studios that will be released... on Friday. Thus, the networks are forced to maintain a weak Friday lineup to ensure strong box office numbers. Four or the five major American networks have either direct or indirect studio relationships:

* Creator/TheCW - Gets it both ways; two owners, two different studios. Paramount owns 50%, while Creator/WarnerBros has the other half, but they've found good success with genre or niche programming that none of the Big Four would want on the network such as ''Series/TheOriginals'', ''Series/CrazyExGirlfriend'' and ''Series/{{Reign}}''.

The ''good'' news for shows on Friday is that expectations are low and shows can get away with ratings that would get them cancelled on any other weekday. The ''bad'' news is that Friday shows often struggle to meet even that lowered bar and have a high turnover rate. A show ''surviving'' in a Friday slot is greeted with surprise; when a show is ''moved'' to one, fans assume that [[ScrewedByTheNetwork the network has turned against it]]. When a show ''starts'' in a Friday slot, and not as a "sneak preview" or "special viewing event," it's pretty much assumed to be doomed from the outset.

The opposite of this trope is a Sunday night slot, often awarded to the most coveted TV programming. Advertisers realize that American viewers watch TV on Sunday more than any other day of the week, partly thanks due to the emotional dread that lingers in their minds in anticipation of the following work week. This means that advertisers are desperate to get their product on the airwaves on Sunday so that it's still on people's minds when they go to work or school on Monday. The better the advertising rates for a timeslot, the more effort goes into the content for that slot. Sunday night being the most desired slot came large in part by the success of ''Series/TheSopranos'', which was put on the slot due to the lack of major competing shows. Fast forward to today, every major network wants their shows on the Saturday primetime slot regardless of the competition.

The opposite of this trope is a Sunday night slot, often awarded to the most coveted TV programming. Advertisers realize that American consumers do the majority of their shopping on the weekends, and often on Friday after work, likely because Friday is the typical payday at most workplaces. This means that advertisers are desperate to get their product on the airwaves on Thursday so that it's still on people's minds when they go to the stores on Friday. The better the advertising rates for a timeslot, the more effort goes into the content for that slot. Ironically, ratings data indicates that while Thursday is higher rated than Friday by a wide margin, it still lags behind other weeknights, which can make slotting a show there feel like a DeathOrGloryAttack, even with an established audience. Creator/{{ABC}} is particularly familiar with this in the night's 8:00 pm hour, which suffered low ratings and persistent turnover for almost thirty-five years before ''Series/GreysAnatomy'' finally entrenched itself after being moved there from the 9:00 hour in the fall of 2014.

The opposite of this trope is a Thursday primetime slot, often awarded to the most coveted TV programming. Advertisers realize that American consumers do the majority of their shopping on the weekends, and often on Friday after work, likely because Friday is the typical payday at most workplaces. This means that advertisers are desperate to get their product on the airwaves on Thursday so that it's still on people's minds when they go to the stores on Friday. The better the advertising rates for a timeslot, the more effort goes into the content for that slot. Ironically, ratings data indicates that while Thursday is higher rated than Friday by a wide margin, it still lags behind other weeknights, which can make slotting a show there feel like a DeathOrGloryAttack, even with an established audience. Creator/{{ABC}} is particularly familiar with this in the night's 8:00 pm hour, which suffered low ratings and persistent turnover for almost thirty-five years before ''Series/GreysAnatomy'' finally entrenched itself after being moved there from the 9:00 hour in the fall of 2014.

* ''Series/{{Degrassi}}''. In seasons 10 and 12 in the U.S., it came on Fridays at 10 PM and did reasonably well.

* The [[SoapOpera soap operas]] ''Series/{{Loving}}, its SpinOff ''Series/TheCity1995'', and their replacement ''Series/PortCharles'' all had terrible ratings throughout their runs, despite being sandwiched between two ratings powerhouses like the local news and ''Series/AllMyChildren'' in most markets, because in those same markets, they were up against ''another'' ratings powerhouse, ''Series/TheYoungAndTheRestless''. And that was their ''best'' timeslot--in many other markets, they were aired at a time when no one would watching, or not at all.

* ''Series/HappyEndings'' was moved to this slot in its third season. Within a week of the move becoming official, it was reported the producers have been shopping around for a new network to air the show in the event that [[ForegoneConclusion ABC cancels it]]. However, the ratings, already unacceptable by just about any broadcast standard, dropped to such microscopic levels that when ABC did cancel it, no one would touch it (despite supposed interest from Creator/USANetwork).

{{Creator/Fox}} is often referred to as one of the chief instigators of this trope, as they maintain a reputation for moving promising shows to the "death slot" in the middle of their season, causing ratings to plummet. The disproportionate number of shows moved to the Friday timeslot and being cancelled by the network is even referenced in the opening speech from ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'''s first episode after being UnCanceled. Peter Griffin calls out just about every show Fox commissioned and then cancelled while ''Family Guy'' was off the air, many of which aired on Fridays.

** Cannell's previous show ''Series/TenspeedAndBrownShoe'' saw the final few episodes of its single season burnt off on Fridays, in ''June'' to boot, even though its initial ratings on Sunday nights were good enough to put the show in the Top 30 for the season -- and it was a mid-season replacement to boot!

** Anime like ''Anime/{{Robotech}}'', the Ocean dub of ''Manga/DragonBall'', ''Anime/SailorMoon'' and the first 40 episodes of ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' [[note]] Only some networks did this, as most aired it between 7:00AM and 8:30AM. [[/note]] were shown in these timeslots, as most networks did not see potential in these shows because they were different from other cartoons at the time.

{{Creator/Fox}} is often referred to as one of the chief instigators of this trope, as they maintain a reputation for moving promising shows to the "death slot" in the middle of their season, causing ratings to plummet. The disproportionate number of shows moved to the Friday timeslot and being cancelled by the network is even referenced in the opening speech from ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'''s first episode after being UnCanceled. Peter Griffin calls out a large number of shows that were canned, many of which aired on Fridays.

* ''Series/TheAdventuresOfBriscoCountyJr'' creator Carlton Cuse (Executive Producer of Series/{{Lost}}) specifically blames this for the show's demise. However, this is a strange example - the pilot movie was so popular, the network actually ordered additional episodes. Cuse blamed the flawed rating system for incorrectly counting the show's fans, and unfortunately, since it aired in the era before UsefulNotes/{{DVD}} releases gave a better gauge of popularity, it couldn't be revived. Amusingly, [[Series/TheXFiles the show]] Fox scheduled trying to get a residual audience from ''Brisco County Jr.'' is listed in the "Aversions" folder.

-->-- ''Series/TheNeighbors'' after the series was moved from Wednesday to Friday Nights

Fridays are thus often reserved for relatively cheap-to-produce content that doesn't require a lot of continuity to understand. That used to mean lots of mid-level half-hour sitcoms (see: Creator/TheWB's past Friday lineup as well as Creator/{{ABC}}'s 90s Franchise/{{TGIF}} block), reruns, movie airings, shows that the network is neglecting (see: ScrewedByTheNetwork), and in recent years a lot of {{Reality Show}}s. Sometimes a network will fill an especially moribund slot with a NoHoperRepeat of a popular show from a different night.

{{Creator/Fox}} is often referred to as one of the chief instigators of this trope, as they maintain a reputation for moving promising shows to the "death slot" in the middle of their season, causing ratings to plummet. (From the network's founding until 2019, it was co-owned with [[Creator/TwentiethCenturyStudios 20th Century Fox]].)

The disproportionate number of shows moved to the Friday timeslot and being cancelled by the network is even referenced in the opening speech from ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'''s first episode after being UnCanceled. Peter Griffin calls out a large number of shows that were canned, many of which aired on Fridays.

In the 2000s, the 7-7:30PM timeslot on Sunday was also considered to be secondary "death slot" on Fox due to the high likelihood of that show being [[UsefulNotes/SportsPreemption preempted by coverage]] of the UsefulNotes/NationalFootballLeague that ran over its allotted time. It was made worse by Fox's refusal to delay broadcasting until after the game concluded like CBS does to accommodate ''Series/SixtyMinutes'', so many episodes often wound up only being partially shown first run or not shown at all and being burned off later. ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'', ''Series/OliverBeene'', ''Series/MalcolmInTheMiddle'' and ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill'' all had their ratings killed and then get cancelled as a result of being moved into this slot before Fox began reserving it for NFL coverage starting in TheNewTens.

* From December 2014 to September 2016, as well as from January 2019 to February 2020, Creator/AdultSwim's live-action comedies used to air on Friday, including new episodes. Prior to that, they resided on Thursdays. This is also a unique example as it is not necessarily tied to the shows themselves, but rather, how ratings for [as]' normal programming may be higher when they are airing a consecutive run of four days, rather than being broken up by Thursday.
** The trope might be one of the reasons it took such a long time to finally start airing the Adult Swim block on Fridays (it initially only aired on two nights a week when it launched in 2001, gradually expanding to six nights a week over the next three years[[note]]Adult Swim started airing on Sundays with reruns of the Sunday broadcast on Thursdays, adding Saturdays in February 2002, losing them to get Monday through Wednesday in January 2003, then getting Saturdays back in April 2004[[/note]] but then taking another three to finally expand to Fridays). Adult Swim maintained a special video section on their website, appropriately called Friday Night Fix, with full episodes available on Fridays during what would be block airtime (11pm-1am). Eventually in 2007 they realised they won't lose any audience, because nerds and stoners are doing the same thing on Fridays as they're doing on any other day (and giving them free time where they're not watching Adult Swim results in more time to complain on message boards), so Cartoon Network gave up their last night, making Adult Swim an all-week night block.

* Anime/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsOfColdSteelNorthernWar is given terrible treatment by the three networks that air the show in Japan - Between the three, [=BS12=] airs it on the 2600 hours slot on Thursday, or literally 2AM on Friday mornings. It’s only slightly better on Tokyo MX and AT-X, where it airs at 11:30 PM on Sundays and 11 PM on Mondays respectively.

* ''Series/TheAdventuresOfBriscoCountyJr'' creator Carlton Cuse (Executive Producer of Series/{{Lost}}) specifically blames this for the show's demise. However, this is a strange example - the pilot movie was so popular, the network actually ordered additional episodes. Cuse blamed the flawed rating system for incorrectly counting the show's fans, and unfortunately, since it aired in the era before UsefulNotes/{{DVD}} releases gave a better gauge of popularity, it couldn't be revived. (Amusingly, the show Fox scheduled trying to get a residual audience from ''Brisco County Jr.'' is listed in the "Aversions" folder.)

* In one of the biggest aversions of this trope (and therefore a pretty biting case of irony), ''Series/TheXFiles'' (the "little" show that debuted in the 9 PM timeslot after ''Brisco County Jr.'') went on to enjoy massive success. During the three seasons it aired on Friday night, the pre-X-Files timeslot became an elephants' graveyard of failed speculative fiction shows, such as ''Brisco County'', ''Series/VR5'', ''Series/StrangeLuck'', ''Series/{{MANTIS}}'', and ''Series/{{Sliders}}'' (only ''Sliders'' made it to a second season), baffling FOX execs and no doubt informing their future decisions on Friday night sci-fi shows.