Daytime Emmy-winner Sally Jesse Raphael is coming. So's Crash TV. Joan Rivers is coming back, as is Batman. Oprah Winfrey is returning to her original time period, as is Arsenio Hall. "Family Feud" is being banished to KXIV and the early morning hours are going to start looking an awful lot like 10 o'clock.
That's the way things are shaping up as Utah's commercial television stations start slipping the puzzle pieces of the new fall season into place. Here's a quick station-by-station look at what you're going to be seeing on local TV this year:-KUTV: The big buy at Ch. 2 was Joan Rivers' new syndicated talk show, which will air weekdays at 11 a.m. (see ya later, "Regis and Kathy Lee") beginning next Monday. The show will be kind of a cross between her old Fox late-nighter and the "Donahue"-"Geraldo"-"Oprah" genre, with some celebrity interviews and some issues orientation.
Will it work? Who knows? But if it doesn't KUTV already has a back-up in place - Sally Jesse Raphael, the winner of this year's Daytime Emmy as best talk show host. Ch. 2 actually picked up the series as part of their "Donahue" deal and will play it weekdays at 2:05 a.m. - not exactly prime time. But it's ready to move to 11 a.m. if Rivers bombs. Again.
KUTV will also have a new morning line-up as of Sept. 11, with Generations moving to 9 a.m., followed by Classic Concentration at 9:30, 227 at 10 and Golden Girls at 10:30. If you're not home for the 10 o'clock news, Ch. 2 will begin repeating their late newscast after midnight beginning Sept. 10, usually an hour after it plays a new syndicated news tabloid called Hard Copy at 1:05 a.m.
-KTVX: Ch. 4 will sport a different look in the afternoons, with Webster (3 p.m.), Facts of Life (3:30 p.m.) and Growing Pains (4 p.m.) joining Family Ties (4:30 p.m.) to form a solid line-up of family-oriented sitcoms.
KTVX is also picking up a bunch of new late-night programs, including The Byron Allen Show (Sundays at 11:35 p.m.), an entertainment-oriented magazine called After Hours (weekdays at 12:35 a.m.), Raymond Burr's Trial By Jury (weekdays at 1:05 a.m.) and the reality-based Crimewatch Tonight (weekdays at 12:05 a.m.).
-KSL: The Oprah Winfrey Show is moving back to 2 p.m., partly as a result of viewer complaints about the old post-school time period and partly because KSL officials think the show is a stronger lead-in to their afternoon programming. Third Degree, a new "20 Questions"-type game show hosted by Bert Convy, will move into the 3 o'clock slot, followed by Win, Lose or Draw at 3:30.
Like KUTV, KSL will also be showing repeats of its late news show in the early morning hours, along with repeats of its weekday morning issues show, Focus.
-KSTU: Fans of Arsenio Hall will be pleased to know that their complaints have been heard. Even though the nightly talk show has been unimpressive as a ratings performer at 11 p.m., the station is moving the show back to the time period beginning Sept. 11 because of an incredible outpouring of viewer complaints when the show was moved back to midnight.
Meanwhile, the early evening line-up at Ch. 13 is being revamped on Sept. 11, with Small Wonder moving to 5 p.m., followed by Mr. Belvedere at 5:30, Who's the Boss? at 6 and Cheers at 6:30. KSTU also picked up Everyday With Joan Lunden, a syndicated information show that will play weekdays at 10 a.m.
And don't forget Rollergames, the first of two Crash TV series that will air locally. This jazzed up version of roller derby (with a tip of the ol' rabbit ears to pro wrestling) will air Saturdays at 10 a.m. beginning Sept. 23.
-KXIV: The other Crash TV series, Gladiators, is on Ch. 14, where it will air Saturdays at 11 p.m. beginning Sept. 16. This one features one-on-one athletic battles, with challengers taking on the show's resident animals for the chance to become a series regular next season.
KXIV is also picking up syndicated weekday shows like Highway to Heaven (5 p.m.), Family Feud (6:30 p.m.), Mama's Family (11:30 a.m.), Cagney & Lacey (noon), The Jetsons (3:30 p.m.), Fun House (4 p.m.) and The Super Mario Brothers (4:30 p.m.). The station is eliminating its morning movie and moving Quincy (10 a.m.) and Eight is Enough (9 a.m.) to the daylight hours.
-KOOG: The big news here is Batman, the suddenly hot 1960s comedy series that is reaping the benefits of the Batmania that has gripped the country since the release of the new "Batman" movie. Ch. 30 will play the nostalgically delicious series weekdays at 6:30 p.m.
-ON TV TONIGHT: Did you catch Paul James' last regular appearance on the KSL Eyewitness News a while back? It was a touching thing, filled with fond farewells and tearful good-byes. Tonight you'll get a chance to see the flip side.
The Paul James Roast (9 p.m., Ch. 5), taped Aug. 1 at the KSL studios, gave friends, colleagues and competitors a chance to take their parting shots at the local sportscasting legend before he retired from the daily KSL-TV grind to focus on his BYU sports coverage on KSL-Radio. After having seen an advance copy of the roast, I'm tempted to share some of the best lines with you. But I won't. Instead I'll just say that it's a fun evening and a fitting tribute to one of local television's broadcasting pioneers, with roasters including Frank Layden, Hot Rod Hundley, LaVell Edwards, Sen. Jake Garn, Gov. Norm Bangerter and - believe it or not - Evel Knievel. If you're a fan, you won't want to miss it.
Sports fans will also want to note Playbook '89 (8:30 p.m., Ch. 5), KSL's look at local college grid prospects, and Ute coach Jim Fassel's personal preview of Utah Football (7:30 p.m., Ch. 7). And if you're tired of talking about the season and are anxious to get on with it, Notre Dame and Virginia tee it up for the annual Kickoff Classic (6 p.m., Ch. 13).
There are also some fine movie options tonight, the best of which is probably Alfred Hitchcock's classic thriller, Psycho (10:50 p.m., TBS), with Janet Leigh in the shower and Anthony Perkins prowling around the Bates Motel. Earlier, James Stewart stars as Charles Lindbergh in The Spirit of St. Louis (9 p.m., FAM) and Shirley MacLaine and Anne Bancroft are former dancing rivals continuing their feud in The Turning Point (10:30 p.m., Ch. 7).
Elsewhere, CBS News spends 48 Hours (7 p.m., Ch. 5) in "the high rise horror of public housing"; Joan Rivers guests on Larry King Live (7 p.m., CNN); and Len Randolph explains the hows and whys of weather on Weather Express (8 p.m., Ch. 5).