The following is the 1996–97 United States network television schedule for United States broadcast television on all six commercial television networks for the fall season beginning in September 1996 and ending in August 1997. All times are Eastern and Pacific, with certain exceptions, such as Monday Night Football. New series highlighted in bold. Each of the 30 highest-rated shows is listed with its rank and rating as determined by Nielsen Media Research. Yellow indicates the programs in the top 10 for the season. Cyan indicates the programs in the top 20 for the season. Magenta indicates the programs in the top 30 for the season. Other Legend Light blue indicates local programming. Gray indicates encore programming. Blue-gray indicates news programming. Light green indicates sporting events. Light Purple indicates movies. Red indicates series being burned off and other regularly scheduled programs, include PBS is not included; member stations have local flexibility over most of their schedules and broadcast times for network shows may vary. Sunday Monday Note: On CBS, the debut of Ink was delayed by a month due to production problems, resulting in another new sitcom, Pearl, which aired temporarily in its slot before moving to its own originally designated Wednesday time period in late October. Tuesday Wednesday Note: On CBS, due to the effect of the debut delay of Ink on Monday, the first month of the new season on this night aired Almost Perfect at 8:30 p.m., followed by CBS Wednesday Movies at 9 p.m. The originally planned fall Wednesday lineup took shape at the end of October with Pearl taking over at 8:30 p.m., Almost Perfect moving to 9 p.m., Public Morals debuting at 9:30 p.m., and EZ Streets debuting at 10 p.m. This lasted for only one week in late October. CBS cancelled Public Morals after it aired the 1st, and only, episode. This meant Almost Perfect would soon be cancelled. EZ Streets would be given a 2nd chance in the spring. Thursday Friday Note: CBS picked up JAG after NBC cancelled it due to low ratings and it became a success afterwards. This is the last season of Family Matters and Step by Step and the only season of Clueless to air on ABC's TGIF block, until the following season, the former two shows were picked up by CBS and Clueless moved to UPN on Tuesdays. Saturday Note: America's Most Wanted would debut in November