What year did NBC launch its "Must See TV" block?
Last updated: January 31, 2025
NBC dominated Thursday nights for over a decade with a legendary lineup of shows like "Friends," "Seinfeld," and "ER." The network's labeled their Thursday nights as "Must See TV" to capture why millions of viewers cleared their schedules to watch. When exactly did this iconic programming block first tell audiences they absolutely had to tune in?
What year did NBC launch its "Must See TV" block?
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The answer is: 1993
NBC launched "Must See TV" in September 1993, when entertainment president Warren Littlefield knew Thursday nights were about to become something special. His lineup was already solid, "Seinfeld" had gone from nearly being canceled to pulling in almost 20 million viewers (and rising), but upcoming shows were waiting in the wings.
"Friends" landed the following year and exploded even faster, grabbing audiences that made every other network jealous. NBC turned Thursday nights into such reliable ratings that competing networks and reporters started calling the night "Must Flee TV." They weren't wrong. Everyone else just threw random shows at the wall while NBC kept stacking hits.
The formula was beautifully simple. Family comedies kicked off at 8, heavy hitters like "Seinfeld" owned 9, and at 10 "ER" had everyone setting their alarm clocks a little later for Friday morning. ABC and CBS tried everything to compete. They threw "Murder, She Wrote" at "Mad About You." They tried "The Martin Short Show" against "Friends." Nothing worked. Viewers weren't budging from NBC until the "ER" credits rolled at 11.
The "Must See" branding stuck around until 2006, when cable and reality TV finally started pulling viewers away. But for 13 years, that NBC peacock lit up living room windows across America every Thursday night. Looking back, it wasn't even really a slogan. It was just a fact.