United States. The series, whose first two episodes were screened as a two-hour special, was viewed by a quarter of all television viewers in the Los Angeles market and was in second place for the night, beaten only by ABC's Charlie's Angels. The series would later be repackaged into a daily half-hour format, as Prisoner: Cell Block H, KYW-TV ran this format under the title The Women of Cell Block H. It was syndicated directly to local stations through Firestone Program Syndication Company during the early 1980s (particularly 1980 to '81). In New York City, where Prisoner: Cell Block H was telecasted on WPIX, it was rated higher than late-night staple The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson on WNBC and reruns of legendary series M*A*S*H on WNEW-TV, it paved the way for other popular Australian produced shows including miniseries Against the Wind and serial The Sullivans to be sold to international markets. Under the half-hour format, the original episodes were broadcast in two parts, though some scenes were censored or removed for the US telecast. KTLA, however, continued to broadcast the series in a weekly hour format, though now Tuesdays at 8pm, and under the Prisoner: Cell Block H name. Picked up in at least 38 markets in early 1980, the program would leave the American airwaves by spring 1982, after the few stations that were still carrying the program, such as KOB-TV and WGN-TV, removed Prisoner from their schedules. During the spring and summer of 1985, the series was screened nationally on USA Network, weekdays at 11am ET, also in a half-hour format. It is unknown which episodes were televised. Stations that aired Prisoner: Cell Block H Canada In Canada, Prisoner began on 10 September 1979 as Caged Women on Global Television Network, at the time a small television network serving southern and eastern Ontario; the program was seen weekly on Monday nights at 9pm The show would move to Tuesdays at 9 p.m. in the fall of 1980, continuing with the Caged Women title. The show would be off the schedule by the 1981–1982 television season, but by the fall of 1982, Global would reintroduce the show to the schedule, still as Caged Women, in the half-hour format, weeknights at midnight and 12:30am. The program would be off the schedule by the start of the 1983–1984 season. Curiously, Global's use of Caged Women would continue even after the