Going Places (American TV Series) - Episodes - Broadcast and Ratings

Broadcast and Ratings

Going Places premiered on September 21, 1990 as the end of ABC's newly successful TGIF lineup, in the Friday 9:30/8:30c slot. The series' scheduling was a landmark for both ABC and Miller/Boyett Productions, as all four TGIF programs that season were produced by Miller/Boyett: Full House, Family Matters, Perfect Strangers and Going Places. Being a more adult entry into the all-Miller/Boyett lineup of mostly family-oriented shows, Going Places met with a slower audience growth during its first few months. Despite having Perfect Strangers as its lead-in, which remained a Top 20 show, Going Places lost a lot of that audience on a weekly basis, and came in at #50 during November sweeps, which paled in comparison to the other TGIF programs.

By the end of the year, Miller, Boyett and company decided (after some urging from ABC) that a stronger emphasis on preteen characters and storylines would cause the series to be more compatible with the TGIF lineup, and bring better ratings. Within weeks of the January cast and concept changes, Going Places began a rapid ratings increase, moving all the way up to #34 during February sweeps. ABC announced it would put the series on hiatus after March 8, while it decided on where to proceed with the series in terms of future scheduling (the network now viewed it as a program full of potential as an 8-9 p.m. show, rather than as a strictly-upper-age-group series for 9:30 p.m. as originally envisioned), to consider changes in the TGIF lineup for May 1991 upfronts, and to give the long-delayed sitcom Baby Talk a mid-season premiere in the 9:30/8:30 TGIF slot.

After Going Places took its hiatus, there was talk that one of the three established TGIF comedies would move from Friday nights to Tuesdays for the fall 1991 schedule. It was originally hinted that Family Matters would move from Friday to Tuesday, as the new 8 p.m. anchor for that night (replacing Who's the Boss?, which was moving to Saturday). The change in the TGIF lineup would have assured a renewal for Going Places, and was also leaving room for an upcoming Miller/Boyett series slated for Fridays that fall, Step by Step. However, Baby Talk, which was trying out in the Going Places time slot, was performing very well in the time period—so well, in fact, that it was ranking in the Top 20, higher than Going Places ever had, and better than other comedies ABC had aired in the slot in the past few years (Just the Ten of Us, New Attitude, et al.). When the upfronts were presented in May 1991, Family Matters remained on TGIF (now leading off at 8 p.m.) and Full House was moved to Tuesdays instead.

ABC's decision to stick with Baby Talk (despite the abuse it took from critics), and competition that emerged from the network's stable of strong fall 1991 comedy pilots (Step by Step, Home Improvement, et al.), resulted in the network passing on a second season of Going Places, and the series was officially canceled in May 1991. The series returned on May 31, 1991 for six weeks of summer reruns (mostly of the episodes aired after the concept and character revamp), and last aired on July 5, 1991.