Primetime

Premiere: 1989

Network: ABC

IMDB Rating: 6.1/10

Sessons: 25

Full Episodes: 151

Watch Stream Online:

Full Show Summary

Primetime is a general-interest American news magazine show which debuted on ABC in 1989 with co-hosts Sam Donaldson and Diane Sawyer and originally had the title Primetime Live. Originally, the program was aired live on the ABC network and featured a live studio audience. The first interviews included Roseanne Barr and a piece on a Middle East hostage crisis reported by Chris Wallace. Donaldson and Sawyer would allow audience members to comment on the program and ask questions of the guests, who were usually interviewed live via satellite or in studio, a practice that resulted in many technical difficulties and easy satirization on Saturday Night Live. Internal conflicts between Sawyer and Donaldson later led them to be separated, and the audience eliminated. However, the program has always had some live elements when broadcast as Primetime Live, generally consisting of Donaldson reading the opening remarks of packaged stories and the opening title as Primetime... LIVE!. Over time, live interviews were de-emphasized and hidden camera investigations began to occupy more of the schedule. One hidden camera investigation, of Food Lion, backfired on ABC when Food Lion sued. Food Lion did not claim that the report was incorrect, but rather that the report was produced under deceptive pretenses, with ABC employees hired by Food Lion wearing hidden cameras filming other Food Lion employees without following proper notification procedures. A jury awarded Food Lion $5.5 million, but later appeals by ABC to the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals resulted in the damages reduced to $2. In 1998, ABC, in an effort to consolidate all of their newsmagazines, canceled Primetime Live and combined it with ABC's other well-known newsmagazine, 20/20. The move was made to compete more effectively with NBC's Dateline, which ran multiple nights of the week. In 2000, however, ABC relauched the program. It was renamed Primetime Thursday with Charles Gibson replacing Donaldson. Beginning in the 2004-2005 season, the show was known once again as Primetime Live, and announcements were made live in the Eastern Time Zone. Its pair of co-hosts from the previous season, Charles Gibson and Diane Sawyer, was replaced by the team of Sawyer, Chris Cuomo, Cynthia McFadden and John QuiÃ±ones. Beginning with the July 21, 2005, broadcast, the show's title has been Primetime. While Prime Time has never been a serious newsmagazine in the style of 60 Minutes, it has participated in the general trend of newsmagazines doing more tabloid programming. For example, it recently had an exclusive interview with Corey Clark, an American Idol contestant who allegedly had a sexual affair with judge Paula Abdul. ABC has reduced Primetime to sporadic news specials beginning this fall season. The show will most likely gain a regular time slot if a new drama gets cancelled and is listed on ABC.com as a midseason replacement. more less

Last Episode, 10 December 2013: Season 25, Episode 14: What Would You Do? (31)

Episode Guide
Cast

Date Aired	Primetime Episodes
Season 17
03 July 2005	Season 17, Episode 1:
Season 18
05 September 2006	Season 18, Episode 1: The Outsiders
Season 18
06 September 2006	Season 18, Episode 2: Medical Mysteries
Season 18
07 September 2006	Season 18, Episode 3: The Children Of 9/11
Season 18
11 September 2006	Season 18, Episode 4: Where Things Stand
Season 18
14 September 2006	Season 18, Episode 5: Mean Girls: Watch Your Back
Season 18
23 November 2006	Season 18, Episode 6: Lost Kingdom: Mel Gibson's Apocalypto
Season 18
06 December 2006	Season 18, Episode 7: Basic Instincts (1)
Season 18
08 December 2006	Season 18, Episode 8: North Korea: Inside the Shadows
Season 18
13 December 2006	Season 18, Episode 9: Basic Instincts (2)
Season 18
20 December 2006	Season 18, Episode 10: Basic Instincts (3)
Season 18
27 December 2006	Season 18, Episode 11: Basic Instincts (4)
Season 18
03 January 2007	Season 18, Episode 12: Basic Instincts (5)
Season 18
10 January 2007	Season 18, Episode 13: Medical Mysteries (1)
Season 18
17 January 2007	Season 18, Episode 14: Medical Mysteries (2)
Season 18
24 January 2007	Season 18, Episode 15: Medical Mysteries (3)
Season 18
31 January 2007	Season 18, Episode 16: Medical Mysteries (4)
Season 18
06 February 2007	Season 18, Episode 17: The Outsiders (1)
13 February 2007	Season 18, Episode 18: The Outsiders (2)
20 February 2007	Season 18, Episode 19: The Outsiders (3)
27 February 2007	Season 18, Episode 20: The Outsiders (4)
06 March 2007	Season 18, Episode 21: The Outsiders (5)
13 March 2007	Season 18, Episode 22: The Outsiders (6)
20 March 2007	Season 18, Episode 23: The Outsiders (7)
26 June 2007	Season 18, Episode 25: Family Secrets (1)
03 July 2007	Season 18, Episode 26: Family Secrets (2)
10 July 2007	Season 18, Episode 27: Family Secrets (3)
17 July 2007	Season 18, Episode 28: Family Secrets (4)
24 July 2007	Season 18, Episode 29: Family Secrets (5)
Season 19
07 August 2007	Season 19, Episode 1: Crime (1)
14 August 2007	Season 19, Episode 2: Crime (2)
21 August 2007	Season 19, Episode 3: Crime (3)
28 August 2007	Season 19, Episode 4: Crime (4)
04 September 2007	Season 19, Episode 5: Crime (5)
11 September 2007	Season 19, Episode 6: Crime (6)
19 September 2007	Season 19, Episode 7: Medical Mysteries
26 February 2008	Season 19, Episode 8: What Would You Do?
04 March 2008	Season 19, Episode 9: What Would You Do? Pt. 2
11 March 2008	Season 19, Episode 10: What Would You Do? Pt. 3
25 March 2008	Season 19, Episode 11: What Would You Do? Pt. 4
09 April 2008	Season 19, Episode 12: The Last Lecture---A Love Story for Your Life
24 June 2008	Season 19, Episode 13: The Outsiders (1)
25 June 2008	Season 19, Episode 14: Crime
01 July 2008	Season 19, Episode 15: The Outsiders (2)
08 July 2008	Season 19, Episode 16: The Outsiders (3)
09 July 2008	Season 19, Episode 17: Crime (7)
15 July 2008	Season 19, Episode 18: Family Secrets
16 July 2008	Season 19, Episode 19: Crime (8)
22 July 2008	Season 19, Episode 20: Family Secrets (2)
23 July 2008	Season 19, Episode 21: Crime (9)
29 July 2008	Season 19, Episode 22: The Last Lecture: A Celebration of Life
30 July 2008	Season 19, Episode 23: Crime (10)
Season 21
30 June 2009	Season 21, Episode 1: Family Secrets
Season 21
24 June 2009	Season 21, Episode 2: Questions For The President: Prescription For America
01 July 2009	Season 21, Episode 3: Crime
07 July 2009	Season 21, Episode 4: Family Secrets (2)
08 July 2009	Season 21, Episode 5: Crime (2)
14 July 2009	Season 21, Episode 6: Family Secrets: The Jackson's After Michael
15 July 2009	Season 21, Episode 7: Crime (3)
21 July 2009	Season 21, Episode 8: Family Secrets (4)
29 July 2009	Season 21, Episode 9: Crime (4)
04 August 2009	Season 21, Episode 10: Family Secrets (5)
05 August 2009	Season 21, Episode 11: Crime (5)
11 August 2009	Season 21, Episode 12: The Outsiders (2)
12 August 2009	Season 21, Episode 13: Crime (6)
18 August 2009	Season 21, Episode 14: The Outsiders (3)
19 August 2009	Season 21, Episode 15: Crime (7)
25 August 2009	Season 21, Episode 16: The Outsiders (4)
	Season 21, Episode 17: Crime (8)
01 September 2009	Season 21, Episode 18: The Outsiders (5)
02 September 2009	Season 21, Episode 19: Crime (9)
08 September 2009	Season 21, Episode 20: The Outsiders (6)
09 September 2009	Season 21, Episode 21: Crime (10)
16 September 2009	Season 21, Episode 22: Family Secrets (6)
Season 22
07 May 2010	Season 22, Episode 1: What Would You Do? #1
14 May 2010	Season 22, Episode 2: What Would You Do? #2
19 May 2010	Season 22, Episode 3: What Would You Do? #3
21 May 2010	Season 22, Episode 4: What Would You Do? #4
22 June 2010	Season 22, Episode 5: Mind Games #1
29 June 2010	Season 22, Episode 6: Mind Games #2
06 July 2010	Season 22, Episode 7: Family Secrets #1
13 July 2010	Season 22, Episode 8: Family Secrets #2
20 July 2010	Season 22, Episode 9: Family Secrets #3
31 August 2010	Season 22, Episode 10: Crime #1
22 October 2010	Season 22, Episode 11: The Best of What Would You Do?
29 October 2010	Season 22, Episode 12: What Would You Do? #5
05 November 2010	Season 22, Episode 13: What Would You Do? #6
12 November 2010	Season 22, Episode 14: What Would You Do? #7
19 November 2010	Season 22, Episode 15: What Would You Do? #8
24 November 2010	Season 22, Episode 16: Celebrity Plastic Surgery Gone Too Far?
03 December 2010	Season 22, Episode 17: What Would You Do? #9
10 December 2010	Season 22, Episode 18: What Would You Do? #10
17 December 2010	Season 22, Episode 19: What Would You Do? #11
05 January 2011	Season 22, Episode 20: Extreme Weight Loss - Celebrities Tell All
07 January 2011	Season 22, Episode 21: What Would You Do? #12
14 January 2011	Season 22, Episode 22: What Would You Do? #13
21 January 2011	Season 22, Episode 23: What Would You Do? #14
28 January 2011	Season 22, Episode 24: What Would You Do? #15
04 February 2011	Season 22, Episode 25: What Would You Do? #16
18 February 2011	Season 22, Episode 26: What Would You Do? #17
22 February 2011	Season 22, Episode 27: What Would You Do? #18
25 February 2011	Season 22, Episode 28: What Would You Do? #19
04 March 2011	Season 22, Episode 29: What Would You Do? #20
11 March 2011	Season 22, Episode 30: What Would You Do? #21
18 March 2011	Season 22, Episode 31: What Would You Do? #22
25 March 2011	Season 22, Episode 32: What Would You Do? #23
01 April 2011	Season 22, Episode 33: What Would You Do? #24
08 April 2011	Season 22, Episode 34: What Would You Do? #25
15 April 2011	Season 22, Episode 35: What Would You Do? #26
22 April 2011	Season 22, Episode 36: What Would You Do? #27
06 May 2011	Season 22, Episode 37: What Would You Do? #27
13 May 2011	Season 22, Episode 38: What Would You Do? #28
20 May 2011	Season 22, Episode 39: What Would You Do? #29
10 July 2011	Season 22, Episode 40: Jaycee Dugard: In Her Own Words
11 September 2011	Season 22, Episode 41: Remembrance and Renewal - 10 Years After the 9/11 Attacks!
Season 23
20 January 2012	Season 23, Episode 1: What Would You Do? (1)
27 January 2012	Season 23, Episode 2: What Would You Do? (2)
03 February 2012	Season 23, Episode 3: What Would You Do? (3)
10 February 2012	Season 23, Episode 4: What Would You Do? (4)
24 February 2012	Season 23, Episode 5: What Would You Do? (5)
02 March 2012	Season 23, Episode 6: What Would You Do? (6)
09 March 2012	Season 23, Episode 7: What Would You Do? (7)
16 March 2012	Season 23, Episode 8: What Would You Do? (8)
23 March 2012	Season 23, Episode 9: What Would You Do? (9)
30 March 2012	Season 23, Episode 10: What Would You Do? (10)
06 April 2012	Season 23, Episode 11: What Would You Do? (11)
13 April 2012	Season 23, Episode 12: What Would You Do? (12)
20 April 2012	Season 23, Episode 13: What Would You Do? (13)
27 April 2012	Season 23, Episode 14: What Would You Do? (14)
04 May 2012	Season 23, Episode 15: What Would You Do? (15)
11 May 2012	Season 23, Episode 16: What Would You Do? (16)
18 May 2012	Season 23, Episode 17: What Would You Do? (17)
Season 24
14 September 2012	Season 24, Episode 1: What Would You Do? (18)
21 September 2012	Season 24, Episode 2: What Would You Do? (19)
05 October 2012	Season 24, Episode 3: What Would You Do? (20)
12 October 2012	Season 24, Episode 4: What Would You Do? (21)
19 October 2012	Season 24, Episode 5: What Would You Do? (22)
26 October 2012	Season 24, Episode 6: What Would You Do? (23)
Season 25
31 May 2013	Season 25, Episode 1: What Would You Do? (23)
07 June 2013	Season 25, Episode 2: 150th Episode: What Would You Do? (24)
14 June 2013	Season 25, Episode 3: What Would You Do? (25)
21 June 2013	Season 25, Episode 4: What Would You Do? (26)
28 June 2013	Season 25, Episode 5: What Would You Do? (27)
12 July 2013	Season 25, Episode 7: What Would You Do? (28)
19 July 2013	Season 25, Episode 8: What Would You Do? (29)
26 July 2013	Season 25, Episode 9: Would You Fall For That? (1)
02 August 2013	Season 25, Episode 10: Would You Fall For That? (2)
09 August 2013	Season 25, Episode 11: Would You Fall For That? (3)
	Season 25, Episode 12: Would You Fall For That? (4)
03 December 2013	Season 25, Episode 13: What Would You Do? (30)
10 December 2013	Season 25, Episode 14: What Would You Do? (31)