Here's a surprise - CBS wants to attract a younger audience.
That's been the network's goal since the mid-'80s, a goal that has never been achieved. Not that CBSers don't have a sense of humor about it."Look, for CBS I'm a younger viewer," said Jeff Sagansky, the 37-year-old president of CBS Entertainment. "When we're talking about a younger audience at CBS, we're talking about people under 60."
But can CBS bring in those younger viewers, viewers who have their TVs tuned to ABC, NBC or Fox? "I feel the same way Kevin Costner felt (in "Field of Dreams") - if we build it, they will come," Sagansky said.
Will Fox overtake CBS to become the No. 3 network? "Not during my watch," Sagansky said.
"When the 30 weeks (of the '90-'91 regular season) are over and the smoke clears, I think we're going to be a lot closer to NBC."
He pointed out that CBS was only six-tenths of a rating point behind second-place ABC last season, but "It's more important to change the audience than the overall ratings. We've got to get those 18-to-34s and 18-to-45s."
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CAN THEY DO IT : Only the viewers can decide if CBS will show any improvement this season, but the concensus among the television critics is - it's not going to happen.
Several writers who have been on the tour for years have made comments about this being CBS' worst schedule ever, even worse than last year. And they're comparing this season's shows to such classics as "The People Next Door." "Peacable Kingdom" and "The Bradys."
The two worst shows I've seen on all four networks are both on CBS. "Uncle Buck" is a tasteless, unfunny disaster and "E.A.R.T.H. Force" is poorly conceived, poorly written and poorly acted. And several of CBS' other shows are mediocre at best.
As for signature shows, there are a couple of possibilities. "WIOU" an ensemble show about a local TV news operation, looks like well-done, high-quality stuff, and the half-hour comedy "Evening Shade" - despite the fact that no pilot has been shot yet - has possibilities simply because Burt Reynolds is starring and it's coming from the people who brought us the outstanding "Designing Women."
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GREAT CAST: "Evening Shade" already boasts perhaps the greatest cast on television - Reynolds, Hal Holbrooke, Elizabeth Ashley, Charles Durning, Ossie Davis - in this story of a former pro football player who goes back to a small town in Arkansas to coach the high school team. And executive producer Harry Thomason said it's almost certain that Marilu Henner ("Taxi") will join the ensemble as Reynold's much-younger wife.
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NOT FOXY: NBC Entertainment chief Brandon Tartikoff recently attacked Fox programming as offensive, tasteless and brainless. Sagansky had a considerably different view of FBC's shows.
"My only opinion is, I wish I had a few of them," he said. "I'd take "The Simpsons," and you probably wouldn't have to twist my arm too much to take "Married . . . With Children."
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THREATS: Speaking of arm twisting, Sagansky said he may resort to that to force balky affiliates to carry the network's upcoming late-night lineup of original comedy and dramatic programming.
"We've got our own discreet way of twisting arms, and we are going to twist a few," he said.
Did you hear that, KSL? QUOTE OF THE DAY: Lucie Arnaz, asked the inevitable question about comparing her comedy talents to those of her mother, Lucille Ball: "I'd hate to think that if Hitler had children they'd all be like him."