It was the best of times, it was the worst of times for the Fox Broadcasting Co.
For the first time in its relatively short history (four years), Fox placed three shows in the Nielsen Top 20: "The Simpsons" was No. 4, "Married . . . with Children" was No. 11 and "In Living Color" was No. 19.But all is not well in Foxdom. Looking down the Nielsen rankings, there isn't another Fox show until you hit No. 61 ("America's Most Wanted").
And it gets worse. "Cops" was 73rd, "Totally Hidden Video" was 76th, the "Rolling Stones" special was 77th, and the bottom six belonged almost exclusively to Fox: "Alien Nation" was 82nd; "The Outsiders" 83rd; "21 Jump Street" 84th, "Open House" 86th and "The Tracey Ullman Show" 87th.
Only CBS' "Normal Life" at No. 85 kept it from being a clean Fox sweep at the bottom.
Among the Big Three networks, NBC finished first last week with a 10.9 rating and a 20 share. ABC was second at 10.2/19, and CBS was a rather pathetic third at 8.9/17.
"Cheers" topped the ratings, and the show that followed it - "Seinfeld" - was a strong third. The peacock is trumpeting "Seinfeld's" finish as the "highest ranking premiere of an NBC series in its regular time period since `A Different World' made its debut," but like so many things in television, success is relative.
"Cheers" led the hour with an 18.1 rating and a 32 share, and "Seinfeld" fell off to a 16.2/28 - meaning almost 1.75 million homes tuned out.
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THE TOP 10: 1. "Cheers" (NBC); 2. "Roseanne" (ABC); 3. Seinfeld (NBC); 4. (tie) "America's Funniest Home Videos" (ABC) and "The Simpsons' (Fox); 6. "60 Minutes" (CBS); 7. "The Wonder Years" (ABC); 8. (tie) "The Cosby Show" (NBC), "A Different World" (NBC) and "Unsolved Mysteries" (NBC).
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BART vs. BILL: Fox execs were quick to point out that "The Simpsons" finished ahead of "The Cosby Show" in last week's ratings, but they're not expecting to see the same results when the two shows go head-to-head on Thursday nights this fall.
"We'll be happy to be No. 2," Peter Chernin, head of Fox Entertainment, told the Associated Press.
He pointed out that both ABC (with "The Father Dowling Mysteries") and CBS (with "The Flash") have pretty much conceded the 7 p.m. Thursday time slot to NBC and "Cosby." And with it starting to look more and more like this might be Cosby's last season on the air, Fox is looking to fill the gap.
"If Bill does leave after this year," Chernin said, "then we'll step in."
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BIG DISADVANTAGE: While Fox plays on a fairly level playing field here in Utah - Ch. 13 is on the easier-to-receive VHF dial with Ch. 2, Ch. 4 and Ch. 5 - that isn't the case for the fourth network in most areas of the country.
In many areas, the Fox affiliate is something like Ch. 62 on the UHF dial. And Fox has only 131 affiliates across the country, compared to top-rated NBC's 208.
Which makes FBC's somewhat limited success all the more amazing.
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ALIENATED: Speaking of Fox, its "Alien Nation" is the beneficiary of this season's annual "Save the Show from Cancellation" campaign.
The unusual science fiction drama about a group of aliens who are trying to assimilate into human society wasn't a ratings winner, but the cancellation was still unexpected. The show has had generally favorable reviews and attracted some acclaim.
If you feel strongly about saving "Alien Nation," the person to write is Barry Diller, 20th Century Fox, Executive Building, Room 127, P.O. Box 900, Beverly Hills, CA 90213.
Callers can phone Peter Chernin, president of Fox Broadcasting entertainment, at (213) 203-3986.
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DAY TO NIGHT: Susan Lucci, who plays that vixen Erica Kane on "All My Children," will be making a foray into nighttime soap opera-dom this fall.
Lucci will join the cast of "Dallas," and her character promises to bear some resemblance to Erica.
CBS says she will be "one of several dangerous women who will lock horns with the Ewing brothers" and her character "will make every effort to ensure `Dallas' ' 13th season is an eventful one for Bobby."
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QUOTE OF THE WEEK: Kathleen Beller, who spent two years on "Dynasty," on the differences between that show and "Legacy," a fictional movie about an LDS family's struggles from 1830 to 1846.
"There's not as much cleavage shown as on Dynasty and not as much lip gloss or high heels," she told the Associated Press.