# Fridays (TV series)
**Fridays** was an American late-night live sketch-comedy series broadcast on ABC from April 11, 1980 to April 23, 1982, conceived as a Los Angeles-produced competitor to NBC's *Saturday Night Live*.[1](https://www.nytimes.com/1981/03/10/arts/how-fridays-beat-saturday-night.html) • [2](https://www.justwatch.com/us/tv-show/fridays)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Network and run | ABC, Friday nights, April 11, 1980 to April 23, 1982; 13 episodes in season 1, 26 in season 2, 21 in season 3 (60 total)[2](https://www.justwatch.com/us/tv-show/fridays) |
| Format | Repertory cast fronted by a weekly guest host, short sketches interspersed with music, presented live before a studio audience[1](https://www.nytimes.com/1981/03/10/arts/how-fridays-beat-saturday-night.html) |
| Production | Live-to-tape from Studio 55 at ABC Television Center; East Coast live airing at 11:05 p.m.; studio audience of about 200[3](https://www.tvparty.com/80fridays.html) |
| Creators | John Moffitt (producer, director, co-creator) and Jack Burns (co-producer)[4](https://www.paleycenter.org/collection/item/?item=T%3A41443&p=573&q=john) |
| Regular cast | Melanie Chartoff, Bruce Mahler, Larry David, Michael Richards, Darrow Igus, Mark Blankfield, Brandis Kemp, John Roarke, and Maryedith Burrell[3](https://www.tvparty.com/80fridays.html) |
| Ratings peak | By March 1981 its ratings had steadily improved, exceeding *Saturday Night's* in one recent week[1](https://www.nytimes.com/1981/03/10/arts/how-fridays-beat-saturday-night.html) |
| Availability | Streaming on Amazon Prime Video, Shout! Factory TV, Tubi, Pluto TV, and other ad-supported services[2](https://www.justwatch.com/us/tv-show/fridays) |
## Background and development
ABC introduced *Fridays* from Los Angeles in April 1980 as an unabashed knockoff of *Saturday Night Live*, NBC's popular late-night comedy show produced in New York.[1](https://www.nytimes.com/1981/03/10/arts/how-fridays-beat-saturday-night.html)
The cast pushed back against a literal copy. Melanie Chartoff said that "ABC wanted to literally clone SNL and we all resisted like crazy," describing the ensemble as originals with vastly different ideas and styles.[3](https://www.tvparty.com/80fridays.html) The show gave punk and new wave bands an audience before mainstream America.[3](https://www.tvparty.com/80fridays.html)
## Format and production
*Fridays* mirrored *Saturday Night Live*'s structure: a regular company of repertory actors, fronted by a weekly guest host, performed short sketches interspersed with music, presented live before a studio audience.[1](https://www.nytimes.com/1981/03/10/arts/how-fridays-beat-saturday-night.html) The show ran originally 70 minutes, later expanded to 90 minutes.[3](https://www.tvparty.com/80fridays.html)
Broadcast from Studio 55 in the ABC Television Center, the show was done live-to-tape, airing live along the East Coast starting at 11:05 p.m. with the taped version played for the West Coast later that night. The studio audience of about 200 skewed young.[3](https://www.tvparty.com/80fridays.html) John Moffitt is credited as producer, director, and co-creator, with [Jack Burns](https://www.edgepedia.org/jack-burns) as co-producer.[4](https://www.paleycenter.org/collection/item/?item=T%3A41443&p=573&q=john) Writer-director Tom Kramer recalled the adrenaline of a live show with a live audience at a moment just before cable spread, when the show's audience was enormous.[5](https://www.vulture.com/2013/08/writerdirector-tom-kramer-talks-fridays-abcs-early-attempt-to-take-on-snl.html)
## Cast
The ensemble across the run comprised Melanie Chartoff, Bruce Mahler, Larry David, Michael Richards, Darrow Igus, Mark Blankfield, Brandis Kemp, John Roarke, and Maryedith Burrell.[3](https://www.tvparty.com/80fridays.html) Andy Kaufman hosted a September 18, 1981 episode, with [The Pretenders](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-pretenders) as musical guests.[4](https://www.paleycenter.org/collection/item/?item=T%3A41443&p=573&q=john)
## The Andy Kaufman incident
Kaufman, while hosting, was involved in a famous on-air fight. According to Tom Kramer, the fight was arranged by Kaufman and Jack Burns and kept secret from most of the staff; Kramer learned of it only minutes before it happened.[5](https://www.vulture.com/2013/08/writerdirector-tom-kramer-talks-fridays-abcs-early-attempt-to-take-on-snl.html)
## Ratings and cancellation
In its first season *Fridays* was widely dismissed as a pale imitation, but while *Saturday Night Live* floundered under a new producer and cast, *Fridays* took off: critics began to turn around, its audience ratings steadily improved, and in one recent week it exceeded *Saturday Night's*.[1](https://www.nytimes.com/1981/03/10/arts/how-fridays-beat-saturday-night.html) ABC renewed the show for the next season, to begin a half-hour later, at midnight.[1](https://www.nytimes.com/1981/03/10/arts/how-fridays-beat-saturday-night.html)
The schedule shift was costly. Tom Kramer attributed the decline to [Ted Koppel](https://www.edgepedia.org/ted-koppel)'s *Nightline* expanding after the Iranian hostage crisis, which pushed *Fridays* back a half hour and hurt ratings; in his words, "the beginning of the end."[5](https://www.vulture.com/2013/08/writerdirector-tom-kramer-talks-fridays-abcs-early-attempt-to-take-on-snl.html) By the end of its run the show had won over its early dismissive critics and attracted a larger audience than *Saturday Night Live*, before finally falling to the twin juggernauts of *Nightline* and *Dallas*.[3](https://www.tvparty.com/80fridays.html) The series ended in April 1982 after 60 episodes.[2](https://www.justwatch.com/us/tv-show/fridays)
## How it compares with Saturday Night Live
The two shows shared a format, a repertory company, a weekly guest host, sketches with musical guests, live before a studio audience, but diverged in tone. *Fridays* was known for being very political, much more political than *Saturday Night Live* ever dared to be.[5](https://www.vulture.com/2013/08/writerdirector-tom-kramer-talks-fridays-abcs-early-attempt-to-take-on-snl.html) Its musical bookings gave punk and new wave bands a mainstream American platform.[3](https://www.tvparty.com/80fridays.html) For a brief period it outdrew the show it was modeled on: by March 1981 it had exceeded *Saturday Night's* rating in one week, and by the end of its run it was reported to attract a larger audience than *Saturday Night Live*.[1](https://www.nytimes.com/1981/03/10/arts/how-fridays-beat-saturday-night.html) • [3](https://www.tvparty.com/80fridays.html)
## Legacy and availability
The Television Academy records two Emmy nominations for the series: Outstanding Video Tape Editing For A Series in 1980, and Outstanding Individual Achievement, Creative Technical Crafts in 1981 for Dick Wilson.[6](https://www.televisionacademy.com/shows/fridays)
The series is currently available for streaming on Amazon Prime Video, the Shout! Factory Amazon Channel, and free with ads on Shout! Factory TV, Tubi, and [Pluto TV](https://www.edgepedia.org/pluto-tv), and can be bought as a download on Amazon Video.[2](https://www.justwatch.com/us/tv-show/fridays) Surviving footage varies across airings: reruns of one episode edit out the brief scene during the "Man with a Major Overreaction to Minor Pain" sketch in which Brandis Kemp is knocked to the ground.[7](https://www.thetvdb.com/series/fridays/allseasons/official)
## References
1. [How 'Fridays' Beat 'Saturday Night', The New York Times (March 10, 1981)](https://www.nytimes.com/1981/03/10/arts/how-fridays-beat-saturday-night.html)
2. [Fridays - watch tv show streaming online, JustWatch](https://www.justwatch.com/us/tv-show/fridays)
3. [Fridays / Fridays TV Show, TVParty](https://www.tvparty.com/80fridays.html)
4. [FRIDAYS {ANDY KAUFMAN, THE PRETENDERS} (TV), The Paley Center for Media](https://www.paleycenter.org/collection/item/?item=T%3A41443&p=573&q=john)
5. [Writer/Director Tom Kramer Talks 'Fridays', ABC's Early Attempt to Take on 'SNL', Vulture (2013)](https://www.vulture.com/2013/08/writerdirector-tom-kramer-talks-fridays-abcs-early-attempt-to-take-on-snl.html)
6. [Fridays | Emmy Awards and Nominations, Television Academy](https://www.televisionacademy.com/shows/fridays)
7. [Fridays - Aired Order - All Seasons, TheTVDB](https://www.thetvdb.com/series/fridays/allseasons/official)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › Scripted television and comedy series › Sitcom and comedy series › Sketch comedy series*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license