Chuck Norris’ ‘Walker, Texas Ranger’ Nearly Collapsed In Season 1 — But Went on to Become a Massive CBS Saturday Night Hit
“Walker, Texas Ranger” was almost DOA before it ever even launched on CBS. The series was midway through shooting its Season 1 in 1993 when Cannon TV, the company that was originally deficit financing the Chuck Norris action drama, ran out of funds and shut down production.
That could have been the end of the series. But with the show’s first episode, a two-hour movie, already in the can, CBS went ahead and aired it on April 21, 1993 — and it was a massive hit. The show’s premiere dominated its timeslot for CBS with a 16.5 rating and 27 share — and even did well in various demos, including adults 18-49 (25 share), children 2-11 (21 share) and adults over 50 (30 share).
CBS had promoted the show heavily during its coverage of the NCAA basketball tournament that year, and it paid off — but because production had stopped, the Eye network only had four hours to air that season (despite giving the show a 13-episode order) due to Cannon’s lack of funding.
Once it was proven to be a hit, CBS partnered with Columbia Pictures Television to take over production and deficit financing for the show. From there, “Walker, Texas Ranger” ran for eight seasons, until Norris announced in 2001 that the show was ending. (Norris sued CBS and Sony in 2019 over the show’s streaming revenue, which was later settled out of court.)
“Walker, Texas Ranger” became a Saturday night staple for CBS — back in the days when the networks still programmed the night with original scripted fare — coupled with two more shows with middle America appeal, “Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman” and “Touched by an Angel.”
Former CBS Entertainment president Kelly Kahl, who joined the Eye network in January 1996 — when the network was struggling in the ratings — noted that “it was one of the only hit shows we had going. It was middle America-skewing, but its appeal was pretty broad. Most networks dreaded Saturday night. We lived for it.”
Kahl credited Norris for being a team player on the CBS sked. “He and his brother, Aaron, they were can-do guys,” he said. “I always remember it was like, ‘Can you deliver an episode early? Can you do an extra episode? And their answer was always the same, and it was, ‘you bet we can very can do on time, on budget.’ They were actually really terrific producers. They were just collaborative and, at the same time, they clearly knew their brand and delivered on it for the audience.”
That was true to the end of the series: The two-hour series finale of “Walker, Texas Ranger,” which ran on May 19, 2001, averaged 10.82 million viewers and a 2.7 rating with adults 18-49 — giving CBS its largest Saturday night audience at the time in 16 months.
That could have been the end of the series. But with the show’s first episode, a two-hour movie, already in the can, CBS went ahead and aired it on April 21, 1993 — and it was a massive hit. The show’s premiere dominated its timeslot for CBS with a 16.5 rating and 27 share — and even did well in various demos, including adults 18-49 (25 share), children 2-11 (21 share) and adults over 50 (30 share).
CBS had promoted the show heavily during its coverage of the NCAA basketball tournament that year, and it paid off — but because production had stopped, the Eye network only had four hours to air that season (despite giving the show a 13-episode order) due to Cannon’s lack of funding.
Once it was proven to be a hit, CBS partnered with Columbia Pictures Television to take over production and deficit financing for the show. From there, “Walker, Texas Ranger” ran for eight seasons, until Norris announced in 2001 that the show was ending. (Norris sued CBS and Sony in 2019 over the show’s streaming revenue, which was later settled out of court.)
“Walker, Texas Ranger” became a Saturday night staple for CBS — back in the days when the networks still programmed the night with original scripted fare — coupled with two more shows with middle America appeal, “Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman” and “Touched by an Angel.”
Former CBS Entertainment president Kelly Kahl, who joined the Eye network in January 1996 — when the network was struggling in the ratings — noted that “it was one of the only hit shows we had going. It was middle America-skewing, but its appeal was pretty broad. Most networks dreaded Saturday night. We lived for it.”
Kahl credited Norris for being a team player on the CBS sked. “He and his brother, Aaron, they were can-do guys,” he said. “I always remember it was like, ‘Can you deliver an episode early? Can you do an extra episode? And their answer was always the same, and it was, ‘you bet we can very can do on time, on budget.’ They were actually really terrific producers. They were just collaborative and, at the same time, they clearly knew their brand and delivered on it for the audience.”
That was true to the end of the series: The two-hour series finale of “Walker, Texas Ranger,” which ran on May 19, 2001, averaged 10.82 million viewers and a 2.7 rating with adults 18-49 — giving CBS its largest Saturday night audience at the time in 16 months.