Battle of the 80's Crimefighters According to the Ratings

I'll hold off another day or two before I get to the next official round of my ongoing Battle of the 80's Crimefighters, but I thought it would be interesting to take a look at how TV viewers of the time judged the 42 different series I featured in the tournament. Specifically, I'll feature the Nielsen rankings the series faced in their respective seasons, dating back to the 1979-80 TV season when the earliest of the 42 series premiered. If you're confused, please defer to the quasi-charts below.....

1979-80 (76 total shows)
#7 The Dukes of Hazzard, Season 2*
#25 Hart to Hart, Season 1

1980-81 (64 total shows)
#3 The Dukes of Hazzard, Season 3
#13 The Greatest American Hero, Season 1
#16 Magnum, P.I., Season 1
#23 Hart to Hart, Season 2
#60 Hill Street Blues, Season 1

1981-82 (77 shows)
#6 The Dukes of Hazzard, Season 4
#16 Hart to Hart, Season 3
#18 Magnum, P.I., Season 2
#24 The Fall Guy, Season 1
#29 Simon and Simon, Season 1
#31 Hill Street Blues, Season 2
#35 The Greatest American Hero, Season 2

1982-83 (80 shows)
#3 Magnum, P.I., Season 3
#7 Simon and Simon, Season 2
#10 The A-Team, Season 1
#14 The Fall Guy, Season 2
#17 Hart to Hart, Season 4
#22 Hill Street Blues, Season 3
#27 The Dukes of Hazzard, Season 5
#28 T.J. Hooker, Season 2*
#33 Matt Houston, Season 1
#40 Remington Steele, Season 1
#43 Knight Rider, Season 1
#65 The Greatest American Hero, Season 3

1983-84 (81 shows)
#4 The A-Team, Season 2
#5 Simon and Simon, Season 3
#6 Magnum, P.I., Season 4
#12 The Fall Guy, Season 3
#14 Riptide, Season 1
#16 Scarecrow and Mrs. King, Season 1
#22 Knight Rider, Season 2
#23 Hardcastle and McCormick, Season 1
#27 Hill Street Blues, Season 4
#28 Remington Steele, Season 2
#33 T.J. Hooker, Season 3
#34 The Dukes of Hazzard, Season 6
#35 Hart to Hart, Season 5
#42 Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer, Season 1
#44 Airwolf, Season 1
#45 Matt Houston, Season 2
#60 Blue Thunder, Season 1
#77 Manimal, Season 1

1984-85 (77 shows)
#6 The A-Team, Season 3
#7 Simon and Simon, Season 4
#9 Murder, She Wrote, Season 1
#11 Crazy Like a Fox, Season 1
#14 Riptide, Season 2
#15 Magnum, P.I., Season 5
#20 The Fall Guy, Season 4
#20 Scarecrow and Mrs. King, Season 2
#23 Remington Steele, Season 3
#28 Hill Street Blues, Season 5
#29 Knight Rider, Season 3
#32 Hardcastle and McCormick, Season 2
#40 Miami Vice, Season 1
#43 T.J. Hooker, Season 4
#45 The Dukes of Hazzard, Season 7
#47 Street Hawk, Season 1
#50 Cover Up, Season 1
#51 Airwolf, Season 2
#52 Moonlighting, Season 1
#55 Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer, Season 2
#57 V, Season 1
#59 Matt Houston, Season 3
#67 Hunter, Season 1

1985-86 (74 shows)
#3 Murder, She Wrote, Season 2
#9 Miami Vice, Season 2
#21 Moonlighting, Season 2
#24 Scarecrow and Mrs. King, Season 3
#25 Simon and Simon, Season 5
#27 The A-Team, Season 4
#29 Hill Street Blues, Season 6
#36 Hunter, Season 2
#38 Crazy Like a Fox, Season 2
#40 Magnum, P.I., Season 6
#42 MacGyver, Season 1
#43 Remington Steele, Season 4
#47 Hardcastle and McCormick, Season 3
#48 Knight Rider, Season 4
#50 Riptide, Season 3
#53 Misfits of Science, Season 1
#56 Spenser: For Hire, Season 1
#57 The Equalizer, Season 1
#58 Airwolf, Season 3
#64 Lady Blue, Season 1
#72 The Fall Guy, Season 5

1986-87 (79 shows)
#4 Murder, She Wrote, Season 3
#9 Moonlighting, Season 3
#15 Matlock, Season 1
#23 Miami Vice, Season 3
#25 Hunter, Season 3
#29 Magnum, P.I., Season 7
#33 The Equalizer, Season 2
#34 Houston Knights, Season 1
#39 Scarecrow and Mrs. King, Season 4
#40 Hill Street Blues, Season 7
#41 MacGyver, Season 2
#50 Simon and Simon, Season 6
#52 Crime Story, Season 1
#53 The A-Team, Season 5
#59 The New Mike Hammer, Season 3**
#63 Spenser: For Hire, Season 2
#67 The Wizard, Season 1
#70 Sledge Hammer!, Season 1

1987-88 (82 shows)
#9 Murder, She Wrote, Season 4
#13 Moonlighting, Season 4
#14 Matlock, Season 2
#24 Hunter, Season 4
#32 Magnum, P.I., Season 8
#36 Miami Vice, Season 4
#43 MacGyver, Season 3
#44 The Equalizer, Season 3
#45 Simon and Simon, Season 7
#48 Jake and the Fatman, Season 1
#49 Crime Story, Season 2
#54 Wiseguy, Season 1
#60 Spenser: For Hire, Season 3
#62 The Highwayman, Season 1
#63 Private Eye, Season 1
#68 Houston Knights, Season 2
#77 Sledge Hammer!, Season 2
#78 Sable, Season 1

1988-89 (86 shows)
#8 Murder, She Wrote, Season 5
#15 Matlock, Season 3
#16 Hunter, Season 5
#39 MacGyver, Season 4
#41 Moonlighting, Season 5
#44 Wiseguy, Season 2
#53 Miami Vice, Season 5
#54 The Equalizer, Season 4
#78 Simon and Simon, Season 8

1989-90 (96 shows)
#15 Murder, She Wrote, Season 6
#20 Matlock, Season 4
#24 Hunter, Season 6
#34 Jake and the Fatman, Season 3*
#47 MacGyver, Season 5
#56 Wiseguy, Season 3

1990-91 (103 shows)
#13 Murder, She Wrote, Season 7
#17 Matlock, Season 5
#36 Jake and the Fatman, Season 4
#45 Hunter, Season 7
#47 MacGyver, Season 6

1991-92 (100 shows)
#10 Murder, She Wrote, Season 8
#34 Matlock, Season 6
#50 Jake and the Fatman, Season 5
#61 MacGyver, Season 7

* the TV season officially runs from the third week of September to the third week of April. Series that don't have at least six episodes aired during that period to have been included in the Nielsen ratings chart for the year. The first seasons of The Dukes of Hazzard and T.J. Hooker didn't meet that threshold, nor did the second season of Jake and the Fatman, none of which even premiered that year until late March. And for all you Wiseguy fans, that series' post-Ken Wahl fourth season (which I think most fans would just as soon forget) only aired five episodes in late 1990 before CBS cancelled it, thus excluding that series from inclusion in the 1990-91 ratings list.

** The New Mike Hammer was the extension on the series known as Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer after star Stacy Keach served out his jail term for drug possession.

I'm sure this list contains plenty of surprises for readers. I can't even believe how well some series did and how poorly other series that have since become legendary consistently did. There were a combined seven seasons of Murder, She Wrote and Matlock in the mid-1990s that I didn't include in this list, and I hope readers can forgive the omissions. I'd be happy to entertain any questions about the ratings histories of any of the shows on the list and I tend to know my stuff about TV of this era.