Release year

Popular TV Releases from 1997

1997 saw a range of new TV premieres. This page ranks them by current popularity.

This 1997 TV shows page highlights 50 titles, led by Saber y Ganar, Evil Angel, and Berserk.

1997 sits within the 1990s — seen here alongside other premieres from the decade.

Shows
50
Average
7.0
Years
1997
Updated
2026-07-13

Context

Every series listed here debuted in 1997. Ratings come from aggregated audience scores; the order reflects current popularity. Top picks right now: Midsomer Murders, Stargate SG-1, Pokémon. 50 shows listed · Average rating: 7.0 · Years: 1997-1997. Updated on July 13, 2026.

Breakout premieres

Shows from this year with especially strong audience ratings.

Saber y Ganar
Saber y Ganar
1997 · 10.0/10

Saber y ganar, the cultural quiz show of "La 2" hosted by Jordi Hurtado, has celebrated sixteen years on the air, thus becoming the daily program with a longer running time in the history of Spanish television. During the show's thirty-minute duration three contestants compete in different tests where they have to answer trivia-like questions, putting their mental, reasoning and memory abilities to the test. Most of the questions have a moderate level of difficulty and are spread over six different games: "Cada sabio con su tema", where each contestant answer questions about a given topic of their choice; "La pregunta caliente", where contestants must answer random questions; "El duelo", where two contestants answer questions about a topic that changes daily; "La parte por el todo", where the contestants must figure out what an image, piece of text or piece of music belong to; "La calculadora humana", where the contestant with the second highest score must answer fifteen basic arithmetic operations in 50 seconds in order to keep his/her earnings for the day; and finally "El reto", where the contestant with the least score has to figure out seven words from their root and definition in order to remain in the game. If the contestant loses the "El Reto", a new individual will be chosen to replace him/her the next episode.

Evil Angel
Evil Angel
1997 · 8.8/10

Ambitious Nice seeks social advancement through Rodrigo Medeiros, but ends up truly falling in love with him. This is the second version of the telenovela, originally aired in 1976.

Berserk
Berserk
1997 · 8.5/10

Guts, a wandering mercenary, joins the Band of the Hawk after being defeated in a duel by Griffith, the group's leader and founder. Together, they dominate every battle, but something menacing lurks in the shadows.

South Park
South Park
1997 · 8.3/10

Follow the misadventures of four irreverent grade-schoolers in the quiet, dysfunctional town of South Park, Colorado.

The Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils
The Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils
1997 · 8.3/10

The story deals with several separate yet intertwining story lines, revolving around the protagonists Kiu Fung, Duen Yu and Hui Juk.

Stargate SG-1
Stargate SG-1
1997 · 8.3/10

The story of Stargate SG-1 begins about a year after the events of the feature film, when the United States government learns that an ancient alien device called the Stargate can access a network of such devices on a multitude of planets. SG-1 is an elite Air Force special operations team, one of more than two dozen teams from Earth who explore the galaxy and defend against alien threats such as the Goa'uld, Replicators, and the Ori.

Release order

Kangxi Incognito Travel
Kangxi Incognito Travel
1997 · 6.6/10
Sunset Beach
Sunset Beach
1997 · 6.2/10

Sunset Beach is an American television soap opera that aired on NBC from January 6, 1997 to December 31, 1999. The show follows the loves and lives of the people living in the Orange County coastal area named Sunset Beach, on the coast of California. Although there is a town in California called Sunset Beach, the show's beach scenes were shot on nearby Seal Beach. The show was co-produced by NBC and Spelling Television. Sunset Beach won two Daytime Emmy Awards and was nominated another eleven times. The show also received twenty-two nominations for various other awards.

King of the Hill
King of the Hill
1997 · 7.4/10

Set in Texas, this animated series follows the life of propane salesman Hank Hill, who lives with his overly confident substitute Spanish teacher wife Peggy, wannabe comedian son Bobby, and naive niece Luanne. Hank has conservative views about God, family, and country, but his values and ethics are often challenged by the situations he, his family, and his beer-drinking neighbors/buddies find themselves in.

La Femme Nikita
La Femme Nikita
1997 · 7.4/10

Nikita is a drug-addicted juvenile delinquent who was accused of killing a police officer in cold blood during an attempted robbery of a pharmacy. She is later arrested and sentenced to death by lethal injection, upon which she was secretly drugged by the government, faking her death. Nikita is then "recruited" by a secret government organization and transformed into a highly skilled assassin who cannot be traced.

Magic Woman M
Magic Woman M
1997

A newly trained young sorceress name Meruru gets lost in the forest in the middle of the training, and has numerous encounters with dangerous beasts.

Saber y Ganar
Saber y Ganar
1997 · 10.0/10

Saber y ganar, the cultural quiz show of "La 2" hosted by Jordi Hurtado, has celebrated sixteen years on the air, thus becoming the daily program with a longer running time in the history of Spanish television. During the show's thirty-minute duration three contestants compete in different tests where they have to answer trivia-like questions, putting their mental, reasoning and memory abilities to the test. Most of the questions have a moderate level of difficulty and are spread over six different games: "Cada sabio con su tema", where each contestant answer questions about a given topic of their choice; "La pregunta caliente", where contestants must answer random questions; "El duelo", where two contestants answer questions about a topic that changes daily; "La parte por el todo", where the contestants must figure out what an image, piece of text or piece of music belong to; "La calculadora humana", where the contestant with the second highest score must answer fifteen basic arithmetic operations in 50 seconds in order to keep his/her earnings for the day; and finally "El reto", where the contestant with the least score has to figure out seven words from their root and definition in order to remain in the game. If the contestant loses the "El Reto", a new individual will be chosen to replace him/her the next episode.

All shows

50 visible shows

Popular TV Releases from 1997 | TV Show Tracker