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The infamous FridayNightDeathSlot is the television equivalent of ritual seppuku. Often the result of years of poor (some would say deliberately poor) marketing and overly high expectations followed by observations thereof by audiences... that, and the fact that a lot of people like to get out and do stuff on Friday nights, especially since most movies open on a Friday now.

Basically, the idea is this: people - most especially certain demographics, such as the 18-34s who are highly coveted by networks and advertisers - don't watch as much TV on Fridays, mostly because they like to go out to bars, see movies, etc., and just basically blow off a little steam after work/class. Scheduling a show on a Friday - especially early in the evening, such as 8 PM Eastern - is practically the kiss of death.

It should be noted that this is mostly a US/Canada phenomenon - in the UK, Norway, Israel[[note]]This might have something to do with the fact that weekends in Israel consist of Fridays and Saturdays; Sundays are normal working days[[/note]] and probably other European countries, the very ''best'' shows are often reserved for Friday nights (this is particularly true of Creator/ChannelFour comedy in the UK - the likes of ''PeepShow'' and ''Series/TheITCrowd'' are always aired on Fridays).

Another dimension of this explains not only why Friday is so neglected, but also why Thursday is the biggest night on TV. Advertisers realize that most American consumers do the majority of their weekly shopping on the weekends, and often do it on Friday. This means that advertisers are desperate to get their product on the airwaves on Thursday, before people go shopping the day after, and don't put as much effort into advertising on Friday (if someone goes shopping after work Friday afternoon, advertising on Friday night is too little, too late.)

''Especially'' if the show is neither family friendly (folks with kids ostensibly stay home on the weekend more often), nor a show that already has much of an audience. And really, ''really'' especially if it's on Fox. Or produced by TimMinear. Or [[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment on Fox]].

The ''good'' news for shows on Friday is that due to lower expectations, shows can get away with ratings that would get them cancelled on any other weekday. The ''bad'' news for shows on Friday is that even with those lower expectations, shows often don't reach them, causing Friday shows to have a high turnover rate.

Fridays are thus often reserved for mid-level half-hour sitcoms (see: Creator/TheWB's lineup of Fridays past as well as Creator/{{ABC}}'s old TGIF lineup in the 90s, though this has declined), reruns, movie airings, shows that the network has absolutely no faith in, or love for (see: ScrewedByTheNetwork), and, in modern times, a lot of [[RealityShow Reality Shows]]. Also, compounding this is the fact that Fridays are more likely to have regular shows preempted for things like sporting events on the lower-tier networks and independent affiliates. Sometimes a network will fill time by airing a NoHoperRepeat of a popular show from a different night.

It also has to do with the concept of vertical integration, where television networks who used to not care about whatever movies were playing at theaters during the weekend now must advertise those films on Thursday nights because they're now owned by large media companies with film studios. All six major American networks have studio relationships;

* Creator/{{ABC}} - Owned by Creator/{{Disney}}, who also heavily pushes kids to watch their Friday night shows on DisneyChannel, thus the days of a resurgence of ''TGIF'' are purposefully distanced.[[note]]Although in 2012 ABC did decide to push a couple of family-friendly sitcoms in the 8:00 hour; TimAllen's ''Series/LastManStanding'' and RebaMcEntire's ''MalibuCountry''. Time will tell if they survive, though.[[/note]]
* Creator/{{CBS}} - Controlled by National Amusements, which also controls Creator/{{Paramount}} Pictures, and now has their own studio in CBS Films. Since CBS spun off Viacom in 2006, however, they don't hew to the FNDS concept as closely as the other three networks.
* Creator/TheCW - Gets it both ways; two owners, two different studios. CBS owns 50%, while Creator/WarnerBros has the other half.
* Creator/{{Fox}} - Network owner News Corporation also owns [[Creator/TwentiethCenturyFox 20th CenturyFox]] and sister network Creator/MyNetworkTV.
* Creator/{{NBC}} - The youngest network with a studio relationship after the 2004 purchase by the network of Creator/{{Universal}} Pictures. Telemundo is also a NBC network, though its primetime {{telenovela}}s by force keeps it competitive on Friday nights.

Thus, the networks are mainly forced by their parent companies to not put their best stuff on Fridays, so that a strong show doesn't cause any form of distraction to their box office numbers for the films.

Generally when a show ''survives'' in a Friday slot, it's greeted with surprise; when a show is ''moved'' to one, the move is greeted with nervousness on the part of fans, who are [[GenreSavvy smart enough]] to have noticed the number of shows that met a quick and quiet end after being aired that same night. When a show ''starts'' in a Friday slot, and it's not a "sneak preview" or "special time" for it, it's almost automatically assumed to be doomed. Even Creator/AdultSwim avoided airing shows on Friday for its first few years, and only starts its airings at 10 PM (and now 9 PM), at the tail end of PrimeTime.

The DumpMonths are the cinematic version of this trope.

Some networks and shows manage to find a surprising amount of success on Fridays, ranging from Creator/{{CBS}}'s ''Series/GhostWhisperer'' to Creator/{{NBC}}'s successful move of ''Series/LasVegas'' from Monday nights. ''GW'' is somewhat family-friendly and ''Vegas'' had a large, dependable fanbase, a mostly comedic style, and a lot of celebrity guest appearances along with the preexisting tendency to re-air it on Fridays anyway, so these aren't all ''that'' surprising, but fans of the shows certainly breathed a sigh of relief when they survived to be renewed. In addition, Creator/{{CBS}} in its history had numerous series that got great ratings for Friday, the lineup of ''TheIncredibleHulk'', ''TheDukesOfHazzard'' and ''Series/{{Dallas}}'' in the late 1970s and early 1980s are the major example. (Meanwhile, Saturday nights, which is an even ''more'' iffy time for TV programming at present, were practically CBS's bread and butter in the '70s, thanks to a lineup that included shows like ''AllInTheFamily'', ''Series/{{Mash}}'', ''TheMaryTylerMooreShow'', ''TheBobNewhartShow'', and ''The Carol Burnett Show''.) Creator/{{ABC}}'s ''TGIF'' block in TheNineties, with such shows as ''FamilyMatters'', ''BoyMeetsWorld'', and ''Series/SabrinaTheTeenageWitch'', was perhaps the most spectacular subversion of this, as it not only turned the entirety of Friday night into a moneymaker for the network, but also one of its few success stories in what was otherwise a bad decade for the network.

More common and less surprising is the fact that Friday lineups do much better on cable. Such as Creator/AdultSwim's Friday lineup, USANetwork's airing of ''Series/{{Monk}}'' and ''{{Psych}}'' on Fridays, or more impressively, SciFi Channel's SciFi Friday lineup, which they claim is one of their "biggest" nights as far as ratings go; both the ''Series/StargateSG1'' and ''Series/StargateAtlantis'' TV series met with great success in this lineup, as did the imported new ''Series/DoctorWho'' series, the 2000's version of ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|Reimagined}}'', and even the surprisingly successful re-airing of ''Series/{{Firefly}}'' in 2005, which managed to be their second-highest rated series during NovemberSweeps of that year, despite its easy availability on DVD. (That is, it ''was'' their biggest night, before they separated ''SG-1'' and ''Galactica'', canceled the former, moved the latter to Sundays, pretty much gave ''Series/DoctorWho'' away to [[Creator/TheBBC BBC America]], and generally built up more animosity towards the channel than existed towards them when they canceled ''Series/{{Farscape}}''. And then back again, since ''Series/{{Eureka}}'' is their most-watched show.)

However, these are frequently treated as exceptions to the rule. The list below shows why.
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* The Creator/{{ABC}} GameShow ''Series/TheNamesTheSame'' 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.
* Though a number of factors combined to kill it in just 14 episodes (only 11 of which were ever actually aired, in the wrong order), part of the reason ''Firefly'' got canceled by Fox was because it was in the 8 PM (Eastern) Friday slot, failing to attract the more adult audience at which it was aimed and being constantly preempted by sports broadcasts to boot. Its success in the 7 PM Friday slot on cable years later is usually considered ironic. Creator JossWhedon now reportedly refuses to work with the network ever again precisely because of how badly they burned him with ''Firefly''. Of course, producer Tim Minear didn't even ''allegedly'' vow such a thing, but in light of other shows of his that have aired on the network including the next listing, probably should have.
** Eliza Dushku, however, had a contract with Fox, and so she brought Joss Whedon back to Fox for ''{{Dollhouse}}'', which aired 2009-2010 on Fridays. Despite poor ratings, Fox renewed this for a second season (still on Friday), although it was canceled fairly early in its second run due to the already low ratings declining further.
** A decade before the Browncoat got screwed, there was ''Series/AlienNation''. Same network, same story, and roughly the same outcome...though their movies were of the Made For TV variety.
* ''{{Wonderfalls}}''. Three of its first (and only) four weeks on Fox, it was slotted in the 8PM Friday slot. It wasn't as family-friendly as its competitor, ''JoanOfArcadia'', was and died fast. Though it did well on cable as well, when GLBT-friendly Logo aired it.
* ''Series/BostonPublic'' was moved to the Friday Night Death Slot for its fourth season, and was quickly canceled mid-season, leaving two unaired episodes left to debut in reruns on cable
* ''JoanOfArcadia'', despite surviving longer than ''Wonderfalls'', also got the boot not long after, failing to be renewed for a third season even though it was relatively popular and critically-acclaimed. Aired at 8 PM Fridays on CBS.
* Lest we think that Fox and CBS do most of the canceling here, let us not forget NBC's PoliceProcedural ''Raines'', a surprisingly good, somewhat subversive, more than a little weird series about a [[DefectiveDetective homicide detective]] who may or may not be seeing the ghosts of his latest assignments. The show was bumped from a prime Thursday night slot to Fridays at 9:00 Eastern after just two episodes. It quickly dropped from the #23 highest-ranked show to #63 and only five more episodes were aired before it was quietly cancelled. Despite being put next to ''Las Vegas'' in the lineup. Of course, it was also a midseason replacement, which never really bodes well for a series' longevity.
* Also canceled by NBC from an 8 PM Friday slot, despite initially high ratings due to (undue) controversy about it: ''TheBookOfDaniel'', a series about an Episcopalian priest whose family is having troubles and who apparently has hallucinations (we think) of speaking to a laid-back Jesus. Oh, and an addiction to painkillers. Yeah, that went over real well with the church-going audience. Some of the network's local affiliates (most notably WSMV in Nashville, Tennessee and KARK in Little Rock, Arkansas) refused to even air the series and only about four of its eight episodes were aired on TV at all, and three others were dumped onto NBC.com to languish in obscurity before everyone forgot it even existed.
** Well, that series was doomed from the start, thanks to the aforementioned controversy. Apparently, you can only cover religion on television if you do a ''[[SeventhHeaven 7th Heaven]]''-style drama.
* In a foreign subversion, Venezuelan channel RCTV managed to got some programs who survived this dreaded slot. The last of those was a war-of-the-sexes GameShow titled "Aprieta y Gana", who lasted four years and would lasted five if it weren't canceled depite being still popular.
* Another one by Fox. ''DarkAngel'' made Jessica Alba a minor star and had good ratings. Then Fox moved it to Fridays. When they canned it, they replaced it with ''Series/{{Firefly}}''. Alba fans were not pleased.
* Despite critical raves and an audience whose demographics would have today guaranteed its survival, ABC threw ''MaxHeadroom'' into the Death Slot in an effort to get rid of it by any means necessary. The whole situation surrounding the show is still regarded as a scandal by SF fans today.
* TwoGuysAGirlAndAPizzaPlace got this slot.
** However, unlike a lot of these examples, it wasn't moved to the spot because the network wanted to get rid of it. It was moved because it had proven to be quite popular in its Wednesday night slot and ABC thought the show's popularity would move with it and break the curse of the Friday night death slot. It didn't.
* ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise'' caught a double whammy: moved to the Death Slot during its and its network's final season. It was very well-known among a subset of Trek fans that the only reason it had gained a fourth season in the first place was to get enough episodes for syndication. Then, the show started to drastically improve in quality, bringing some fans some hope that there might be a Season 5. Those hopes were dashed when the Death Slot took away any improved ratings it might have garnered from the improved quality.
** The Original Series also suffered the Death Slot in its final season on NBC.
* Inverted in the case of ''{{Life}}'', which has actually been moved ''from'' Friday nights to a Wednesday lead-in for ''Series/LawAndOrder''.
* Averted in the case of the Australian version of ''The Late Show'' (think ''SaturdayNightLive'' [[foldercontrol]]

[[folder: [[Recycled In Space 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 three years.
* Averted with ''Series/FridayNightLights'', which from the beginning had fans saying that given the title, airing on Fridays seemed completely natural for it rather than its original Wednesday slot. Starting in the second season it did run on Fridays, which was met with widespread approval (plus a wonderful {{Narm}}-y tagline: [[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment "''Friday Night Lights'', finally on Fridays! This Friday on NBC."]]) Despite low ratings for its entire run, the show is currently guaranteed for five seasons.
** Still could be a strange choice for time slot; a series about HighSchool football is being aired in a timeslot when those most interested in the subject matter can't watch it because they're ''at their own team's game''. Just timing the release of new episodes so they don't fall during HS football season solves this problem, though. Unless you're watching on DirecTV and get the episodes early...
* ''Terminator: TheSarahConnorChronicles'': 2007-8 season: on Monday nights. 2008-9 season: moved to Friday nights. 2009-10 season: Terminated.
* The US version of the GameShow ''Series/{{Duel}}'' was originally a series of specials that ran on weekdays during prime time (similar to the initial run of ''WhoWantsToBeAMillionaire?'') with a finale on a Sunday night. Its second season ran on Friday nights at 8:00 PM. The ratings numbers '''halved''', and ABC canceled it.
* ''Wrestling/{{WWE}} Friday Night [[WWESmackdown Smackdown]]'' was a very successful subversion to this trope, to such a point where episodes had bumpers bragging about how viewed their show is, and an advertising campaign talking about how they're "changing Friday nights". Unfortunately, they're not bragging quite as much these days, as a move to the moribund Creator/MyNetworkTV has left Smackdown lucky to pull in a 1.8 rating, thus accomplishing what the FridayNightDeathSlot could not.
** The show was then moved to {{Syfy}}, where it became a successful subversion once more: it remains one of SyFy's most popular shows.
** As mentioned in the introduction, Friday was the best slot for the network. So moving ''Series/StargateUniverse'' to ''Tuesday'' was their version of the trope.
* MikeJudge's political correctness satire ''TheGoodeFamily'' received this dubious honor.
* In 1999, a very well-acted, well-produced modern update of ''TheSixMillionDollarMan'' debuted on CBS. The show was titled ''NowAndAgain'', and featured an intricate and tightly-woven running premise, stellar acting by Eric Close and Dennis Haysbert, Kim Chan as one of the most surreal sociopaths in TV history, and cameos by the likes of John Goodman and Mick Foley. It was an intelligent, thought-provoking show, which downplayed the premise's gimmick in favor of more real, dramatic interactions between the major characters. ...but its timeslot was 9pm on Friday, with absolutely no lead-in to speak of, and the network cut back on promoting it in the second half of the season (to the point where some viewers had ''no idea'' new episodes were airing). It faded away with little fanfare after one season and would only surface years later in repeats on SyFy.
** Ironically, ''TheSixMillionDollarMan'' itself debuted in a 9pm Friday timeslot, and was a hit.
* The TV version of Beauty and the Beast was an aversion for the first two seasons, then we got ExecutiveMeddling and Linda Hamilton getting written out.
* ''{{Moonlight}}'' is an especially weird case, as it was getting a good ''8 million viewers'' on its Friday slot when Creator/{{CBS}} cancelled it. And it was cancelled ''just'' before [[Literature/{{Twilight}} a certain novel by Stephenie Meyer]] triggered the massive vampire fad. CBS must still be kicking themselves.
* Series/TheAdventuresOfBriscoCountyJr creator Carlton Cuse (Executive Producer of Series/{{Lost}}) specifically blames this for the show's demise.
** Brisco County was a weird example... the pilot movie was so popular, the network actually ordered additional episodes. Cuse blames the flawed ratings system for incorrectly counting the show's fans, and unfortunately since it aired in the era before DVD releases gave a better gauge of popularity, it couldn't be revived.
** Oddly enough Cuse averted the Friday night curse with ''NashBridges''. It was a hit at Friday nights and lasted for five seasons.
* In one of the biggest subversions of this trope (and therefore a pretty biting case of irony), [[TheXFiles the little show that debuted in the 9pm timeslot after Brisco]] went on to enjoy some ''moderate'' success.
** During the three seasons it aired on Friday night, the pre-X-Files timeslot became an elephants' graveyard of failed speculative fiction shows. The aforementioned Brisco County, VR5, StrangeLuck, Series/{{MANTIS}}, and {{Sliders}} all floundered (only Sliders made it to a second season), baffling FOX execs and no doubt informing their future decisions on Friday night sci-fi shows.
*** After XFiles got moved to a more prominent timeslot, the Friday slot of death got taken by TheLoneGunmen...who got the usual treatment from FOX.
* After SNICK was re-vamped into "SNICK House", ''KaBlam'' got removed from its saturday night timeslot to friday at eight.
** Though seeing as how it was a kids show, and Friday was one of the few nights where kids often got a chance to stay up late, a kids show airing on Fridays is probably the ''best'' you could do for it.
* FamilyNet put airings of The Color Honeymooners as the lead-in to their Friday-night line-up (airing at 5 PM Eastern/4 PM Central, as FamilyNet considers that time slot as the start of prime time for them) starting in March 2010. FamilyNet dropped it in August in favor of Landmarks and The Greats, two really obscure docmentary shows that were about to be taken out of the channel altogether. This duo was replaced in September with additional showings of The New Flipper. That show, in turn, was dropped in October for Chuck Norris' WorldCombatLeague.
** Strangely enough, FamilyNet is keeping the WCL on that time slot in November, making the show safe for now.
*** Well, the last airing of the WCL on FamilyNet is November 3, after which FamilyNet will air Christmas specials on the time slot!
**** It's the new year, and FamilyNet has dropped the WCL from the line-up in favor of 'The Venue', a series featuring live concerts and stand-up comedy!
**** Well, The Venue will be off the FamilyNet line-up in May, being replaced by Live at Oak Tree!
*** FamilyNet will be cancelling the Friday-specific roster in October, cancelling the Parables movies, relegating ''Faithprints'' to an early-Saturday morning time slot, and keeping [[{{Glurge}} Live At Oak Tree]] in the Saturday-night time slot!
*** Averted as of July 2012, where ''Faithprints'' was given a prime-time Saturday time slot, ironically replacing Live At Oak Tree!
* While not really Friday, ''Creator/{{Nickelodeon}}'' has sometimes put a [[KappaMikey few]] [[TakAndThePowerOfJuju cartoons]] on Sunday morning - when many children are asleep or at church.
** Also not really Friday, ''MakingFiends'', a Nicktoon that began in 2008, and hasn't had a new episode since, has been airing early Saturday and Sunday mornings (At 6:00 AM), when most people are asleep.
** Sunday morning was also where Mattel bought Nick time as if it was an {{Infomercial}} to air full-length ''{{Barbie}}'' movies to entice kids to beg their parents to buy the film on DVD two days later.
*** The original Creator/{{Nicktoons}} block, with ''WesternAnimation/{{Doug}}'', ''WesternAnimation/{{Rugrats}}'', and ''WesternAnimation/TheRenAndStimpyShow'' was scheduled on Sunday mornings.
** ''Series/ICarly'' provides an example of using Friday, when it aired most of the second half of Season 3 in that slot. Its popularity made it an aversion with high ratings. There was one minor failure though. You remember how at the top they explain how the movie studios don't want any competition for Friday? Nick forgot that a certain movie named HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows came out that day. They still got 5 million though.
* ''Series/{{Fringe}}'' (Creator/{{FOX}}) was bumped to Friday nights in its third season, after Christmas 2010 to make way for ''AmericanIdol''. To the surprise of some people, it was still renewed for a full season afterwards.
** Despite very low ratings in the fourth season, it still was renewed for a 13-episode fifth and final season, to the surprise of almost everyone.
* {{Smallville}} managed to survive being here in season 9. Season 10, however, started with the tagline that this is the [[FinaleSeason final season]].
** Of course, with contracts expiring and such a lengthy run, ''everyone'' was counting on Season 10 being the last before Season 9 even ended.
* Inverted with ''Series/BlueBloods''. Premiered at Creator/{{CBS}} on Fridays at 10 PM, and did surprisingly well for its time slot. It later was moved to Wednesday... where the ratings went up only slightly, and the ratings that were acceptable on Friday were subpar for Wednesday. It was soon sent ''back'' to Friday, but did get renewed.
* Thus far subverted with ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' in its sixth season, as its ratings are one of Creator/TheCW's strongest, resulting in it being renewed for a seventh. As of the 2012/2013 schedule it has moved to Wednesday.
* ''Series/{{Chuck}}'', a fan-favorite which has constantly wavered back and forth on the edge of cancellation each year since the '07-'08 Writer's Strike, is receiving this treatment for its final season in the 2011-12 season, along with a 13-episode order.
* ''Series/BigTimeRush'' started off on Friday nights after it premiered. Thankfully, most of the episodes that aired there had a new ''Series/ICarly'' as a lead-in. But when it didn't, ratings got ugly, especially when Disney would air something new at the same time. A few episodes of ''{{Victorious}}'' suffered horribly from this as well. Since 2011, both shows have only had one episode to air on a Friday (and most likely only because that Friday was Earth Day, too), whereas ''iCarly'' has had none (though [[{{Crossover}} iParty with Victorious]] was originally scheduled to air on a Friday in June, but was moved to the following Saturday instead).
* Creator/CartoonNetwork averted the whole "Friday Night Death Slot" issue for many years, since "Cartoon Cartoon Fridays" was, during the heyday of their first wave of original programming (when ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls'', ''WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory'', ''WesternAnimation/JohnnyBravo'', ''WesternAnimation/CowAndChicken'', et al were really taking off), pretty much their premier night of programming for the week. Creator/{{Toonami}} featured on Saturday nights in its later years, and before they really started to neuter that block, it was another very strong night of programming on a night avoided by most networks.
** The success of "Cartoon Cartoon Fridays" and Toonami was partially ''because'' of when they aired. Kids don't have school the next day, and in many cases, parents take their kids out to eat dinner at pizza restaurants and the like. And guess which channel many pizza chains show on their big screen televisions to keep the kiddies entertained?
** And in 2011, Cartoon Network started airing action-oriented programs like ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars'', ''WesternAnimation/GeneratorRex'', and ''WesternAnimation/ThunderCats2011'' on Friday night, receiving high ratings.
** On the other hand, ''GundamSEED'' played this trope straight when it got shoved to a super-late[=/=]early morning Friday[=/=]Saturday slot following poor ratings on Creator/{{Toonami}}, and ''Star Wars: The Clone Wars'' will be moving to DisneyXD in 2013, due to Creator/{{Disney}}'s purchase of Lucasfilm. In exchange, however, the death slot version had fewer edits, with the final two episodes being nearly uncut.
* ''Series/{{Degrassi}}'' has averted this. In seasons 10 and 12 in the U.S., it came on on Fridays at 10 pm.
* In 2011, former ''AmericanIdol'' judge Kara [=DioGuardi=] premiered a new reality/competition series for aspiring songwriters on Monday nights, called ''Platinum Hit''. Midway through the series, amid low ratings and with little advance warning, Bravo threw in the towel -- and moved the series to 8pm Fridays, where it quietly finished its run.
* As of Season 2 in September, ''Series/{{Nikita}}'' will be in this slot on Creator/TheCW. It seems to have done well for itself regardless of poor ratings last season, having had a larger episode order and huge fanbase. However, some fans view it as a death sentence.
* Inverted with ''WesternAnimation/TransformersPrime''. The show started its run in the death slot, but was taken out of it and moved to Saturdays. It seems to be thriving now.
* The second season of ''Series/TheMole'' not only got the FridayNightDeathSlot, it aired only ''two weeks after 9/11'', a time when most people were decidedly not in the mood to watch a cutthroat reality show. Three episodes of bad ratings later, the show was put on hiatus by Creator/{{ABC}}, and didn't re-air until the following summer, where it competed in its time slot against the first season of ''AmericanIdol''. Only due to good word of mouth and a loyal fan base was the show not completely crushed.
* ''Series/ExtremeMakeoverHomeEdition'', after eight seasons was moved to Fridays, and was canceled at its next season finale.
* ''ANTFarm'' has aired every new episode on a Friday including the pilot. As a result still became popular and pulled in good enough ratings to be renewed. However, all first-run television series targeted at preteens and young teenagers (whether they have a PeripheryDemographic like ''iCarly'' or not), will generally receive better ratings on Friday or Saturday nights due to the lowered ratings standards for cable television and the fact that such shows target a younger audience than broadcast network shows, that would most likely be too young to date/go spend time with friends outside the home by themselves. Therefore the type of ratings that a tween series like this gets in a first-run airing would often get a series cancelled/put it in danger of cancellation on network television than it would on cable.
* After being renewed for a fourth season of only 13 episodes, ''Series/{{Community}}'' was moved to 8:30 on Fridays in what is presumed to be its final season. Along with the [[ExecutiveMeddling studio-mandated ouster]] of series creator/showrunner Creator/DanHarmon and several other prominent staff quitting, the resulting fan backlash may have been what motivated NBC to push Community's premier into 2013 with a more favorable Thursday night slot.
* ''Series/{{Grimm}}'' on NBC, which started in the Death Slot but has been moved to Mondays for its second season, then back to Fridays, again.
** And is still doing moderately well for an NBC show, making it a subversion for the moment.
* ''TheBradyBunch'' lasted its whole run on Friday night and got the boot in 1974 against ''SanfordAndSon''.
* Season 2 of the Tim Allen sitcom ''Series/LastManStanding'' was moved to Fridays from the original Tuesday slot, but the ratings improved from the tail end of Season 1 and stayed stable. ABC ordered five more episodes for Season 2 (bringing the total to 18) and later renewed the show for a third season. Having a lead that appeals to families (an audience ABC has thrived with on Fridays) helps.
* Inverted by HBO's ''Series/MrShow''. Its "Fridays at Midnight" time slot was considered decent for the avant-garde comedy show. However, the show was moved to "Mondays at Midnight" for their fourth season. The show's own commercials criticized it as "a busy work-night when everyone's asleep." The creators chose not to return for a fifth season because of the time slot.
* Showtime moved ''Odyssey 5'' from Sundays (where it pulled in the best ratings in network history up to that point) to Fridays, where ratings dropped immediately and the show was canceled with six episodes left (the last episodes were burned off two years later).
* ''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 ABC cancels it.
* ''PushingDaisies'' was moved to Fridays after being cancelled.
* The return of ''{{Smash}}'' quickly circled the ratings drain in Season 2, so NBC announced in March 2013 that the remaining episodes would air on Saturdays rather than Tuesdays starting in April. ''TheOnion'''s A.V. Club joked that the announcement not admitting that the show would be cancelled -- and it was, come that May -- is the television equivalent of parents claiming their kid's dog is being sent off to a farm to live out its days when it's actually being put to sleep.
* Another family-friendly ABC aversion: The Tom Bergeron-era episodes of ''AmericasFunniestHomeVideos'' initially aired on Friday nights on ABC, but apparently did well enough for the show to be moved back to its old Sundays at 7 p.m. timeslot. It's thrived there ever since. Given that the show was effectively treated as cheap filler by the network after Bob Saget left, the fact that its comeback came in a death slot is extremely impressive!
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