Must See TV is an American advertising slogan that was used by NBC to brand its primetime blocks during the 1990s, and most often applied to the network's Thursday night lineup, which featured some of its most popular sitcoms and drama series of the period, allowing the network to dominate prime time ratings on Thursday nights in the 1980s and 1990s. Ratings for NBC's lineup fell during the mid-to-late 2000s, and today the network ranks behind Fox, ABC, and CBS on Thursday nights. In 2015, the network canceled comedy programming on Thursdays and switched entirely to dramas. However, the branding returned for the 2017–18 television season. Usage In popular culture, the phrase is most strongly associated with the network's entire Thursday night lineup, including both sitcoms and dramas, which dominated the ratings from the 1980s through the late 1990s. As originally conceived, "Must See TV" originally applied to sitcoms only (dramas would normally be promoted separately), and for much of the 1990s the phrase was used several nights a week as an attempt at brand extension. At one point in the fall of 1997, the brand was used five nights a week, with four sitcoms a night from Monday to Thursday, and two on Sunday. NBC itself would later adopt the more common interpretation; the 2002 retrospective, 20 Years of Must See TV, focused on NBC's overall dominance on Thursday nights from 1982 onwards, and overlooked extensions such as "Must See TV Tuesday." Success in the 1980s and 1990s Thursday nights are coveted by advertisers due to the large proportion of young, affluent viewers that watch television on that night of the week. Of particular interest, movie advertisers promote their upcoming releases to this target demographic on Thursday night, in hopes of influencing what movies they see on the following Friday, the traditional opening night for most films outside of holiday periods and certain major film releases outside said periods. Branding the quality Thursday night lineup began during the 1982-83 television season, which NBC promoted Fame, Hill Street Blues, Taxi (after being cancelled by ABC after its fourth season) and the then-new show Cheers as "America's Best Night of Television on Television". When the season ended, Taxi and Fame were cancelled, with the latter series being revived for new episodes in first-run syndication. However, though Cheers disappointed on ratings during its first season, instead of cancel it, the network gave