"The People Next Door" have been evicted.
Permanently.The CBS sitcom, considered risky at best by most critics at the start of the season, became the first casualty of the fall television season when network programmers announced last week that the show had its final broadcast last Monday night.
In case you missed it (and from the sound of things, most of you did), "The People Next Door" featured Jeffrey Jones as a cartoonist with a vivid imagination - so vivid, in fact, that his fantasies often turned into reality, much to the chagrin of his new wife (played by Mary Gross) and her older sister (Christina Pickles). Imaginary characters would come to life in the Kellogg home, and the family would have to invent ways to explain them to visitors and guests.
It probably wouldn't surprise you too much to learn that the driving creative force behind "The People Next Door" is Wes Craven, a movie-maker who turned the fantasy-invades-reality scenario into big box office numbers with his original "Nightmare on Elm Street" shocker.
But he had no such luck with "The People Next Door." The show was sampled pretty well, drawing a good-sized audience when it premiered last month. But the numbers have declined every week since then - a nasty trend, to be sure, but a real killer when you consider that it was losing a big chunk of "Major Dad's" good-sized 7 o'clock audience and forcing "Murphy Brown" to attempt to anchor the evening from the 8 o'clock slot.
"It was an interesting show," a CBS source told me, "but it was killing our flow."
Translation: "The People Next Door" were bad neighbors for "Major Dad" and Murphy Brown." They were anchoring the schedule like cement overshoes anchored Jimmy Hoffa.
So tonight, instead of "The People Next Door," CBS will air two episodes of Newhart (7:30 and 9:30 p.m., Ch. 5). Next Monday they'll have an animated special, "Garfield's Halloween Adventure.' And on Nov. 6 they'll present "When He's Not a Stranger," the made-for-TV movie about acquaintance rape that was bumped (or should I say shaken?) from Tuesday night's schedule by CBS's coverage of the San Francisco earthquake.
Then, on Nov. 13, Matt ("Max Headroom") Frewer and Doctor, Doctor will return to the network's Monday night line-up - somewhere. The exact schedule hasn't been determined yet, although when "Doctor, Doctor" had its tryout run this summer it played at 9 p.m. and 9:30, and that seems like a good place for it since it's sort of an adult-oriented comedy.
-NOW THAT THE FIRST AXE of the season has fallen, are there any other series that look like they're in danger of going toes up? Yep - several. Now, I'm not Pete Rose or anything, but if I were inclined to wager a matchstick or two I'd say ABC's "Living Dolls," "Free Spirit" and "Homeroom" and CBS's "Top of the Hill" and, I'm sorry to say, "Snoops" are the next most likely candidates for the cutting room floor. And don't be surprised if "Dallas" and "Falcon Crest" follow pretty soon after that.
-RICHARD AND LINDA EYRE will host a new talk show called Families are Forever, produced by the LDS Church for the Vision Interfaith Satellite Network (VISN). The show will focus on themes such as building self-esteem, how to talk to teenagers, teaching children responsibility and helping youngsters reach their potential. While "Families are Forever" will be non-denominational in its approach, it will stress faith in God and moral values while providing insight and entertainment from the hosts and their guests.
"Families are Forever" airs Fridays at 5:30 p.m., Sundays at noon and 5:30 p.m., Mondays at 12:30 p.m. and Tuesdays at 7 a.m.