CBS, which has spent the past five seasons as the third-place network, is making a bid to move all the way up to first with its 1990-91 schedule.
And with a strengthened prime-time schedule - which includes four comedies, two dramas and the return of the Carol Burnett Show - the Big Eye might just pull it off.(Of course, CBS is also expected to get a big boost from its sports lineup - the World Series, the Super Bowl and the Winter Olympics will all appear on CBS this coming season.)
The optimistic president of CBS Entertainment, Jeff Sagansky, said in announcing his new schedule, "CBS was the only network to increase its prime-time audience, broaden its demographic base and lower its average age this past season. This turnaround was achieved with shows of outstanding quality that the audience has already begun to embrace."
Sagansky said, "This should be a breakthrough year for CBS," and if he can pull off this turnaround, he'll replace the departed Brandon Tartikoff of NBC was television's golden boy.
The big news on the schedule is the return of Burnett to the CBS lineup. Her very successful variety show ran for 12 years on the network (1967-79), until she voluntarily decided to call it quits.
Burnett turned up on NBC in early 1990 with the anthology series "Carol & Co.," but had made it known for months that she was tiring of the format - it was an awful lot of work to do "a sitcom pilot" every week. But despite strong ratings, NBC wasn't interested in an hour from the comedian.
But CBS jumped at the chance, and "The Carol Burnett Show" will return to the Big Eye on Fridays at 9 p.m. There's no word yet on which members of the "Carol & Co." cast will accompany her to CBS, or whether any former members of the "Carol Burnett Show" cast - including Tim Conway, Harvey Korman and Vicki Lawrence - will re-enlist.
CBS' lineup also marks the return of Redd Foxx and "Family Ties" producer Gary David Goldberg to network television.
Among the best news is that the network held onto three high-quality shows that weren't necessarily big hits. "The Trials of Rosie O'Neill" - with Ed Asner added to the cast - will join the Thursday lineup, while the promising "Evening Shade" and "Northern Exposure" remain on Mondays.
The network has left its very successful Sunday and Monday schedule intact, as well as its improving Tuesday lineup. The big moves came on Friday, with four new shows, and Saturday, with the addition of a third movie night and another new program.
Among the shows CBS canceled to make room for the additions are "The Antagonists," "Broken Badges," "Dallas," "The Flash," "Good Sports," "Guns of Paradise," "Lenny," "Over My Dead Body," "Sons and Daughters," "Uncle Buck," "Wise Guy" and "You Take the Kids."
One other show, the Gregory Harrison sitcom "The Family Man," which got just a brief run on the network last fall, will show up again sometime next year as a midseason replacement show.Here's a look at the six shows (in addition to "Carol Burnett") that CBS will premiere in the fall:
The Royal Family (Wednesday, 7 p.m.): Redd Foxx and Della Reese star as Alexander and Victoria Royal, an Atlanta mailman and his wife "whose plans for a quiet and restful retirement are turned upside down when their daughter and her three children leave Philadelphia and move in with them. From Eddie Murphy Productions and Paramount.
Teech (Wednesday, 7:30 p.m.): Phill Lewis stars as "Teech" Gibson, a young black teacher who is laid off from the South Philadelphia public school system and finds a job at an exclusive - and all-white - school for boys.
Princesses (Fridays, 7 p.m.): This is a half-hour sitcom about three women, each of whom is promised a year's rent-free residence in a fabulous New York penthouse. Tracy's (Julie Hagerty) fiance, Tony - who turns out to be a bigamist - made her the promise; Melissa is Tracy's best friend; and real-life Princess Georgina "Georgy" De La Rue (Twiggy Larson) is a widow escaping from her "evil stepchildren" to whom Tony also loaned the apartment. From the producers of "Newhart" and "Coach."
Brooklyn Bridge (Fridays, 7:30 p.m.): This half-hour comedy/drama is set in 1956 and revolves around the extended family of Jules and Sophie Berger, including their daughter, son-in-law and two grandsons. From the creator/producer of "Family Ties."
Palace Guard (Fridays, 9 p.m.): D.W. Moffett stars as a master hotel thief Tommy Logan who, upon his release from prison, is hired by a mogul (Tony Lo Bianco) to be chief of security at his chain of hotels. Logan is teamed with former B movie queen Christy Cooper (Marcy Walker of "Santa Barbara"). The uneasy partnership works because "Logan has the savvy to solve any crime and handle any crisis, and Christy has the smarts to protect the (hotels') image and clean up any public relations mess his unorthodox methods leave behind."
P.S. I LUV U (Saturdays, 9 p.m.): Connie Selleca ("Hotel") stars as a beautiful con-artist-turned-informant and Greg Evigan is a former cop who are forced to pose as husband and wife in the witness protection program - in Palm Springs. They work for a private investigation firm (their boss is played by Earl Holliman), where they're constantly getting into and out of trouble.CBS' FALL SCHEDULE (with new shows in bold italics):
Sunday: 6 p.m., "60 Minutes"; 7 p.m., "Murder, She Wrote"; 8 p.m., "CBS Sunday Movie."
Monday: 7 p.m., "Evening Shade"; 7:30 p.m., "Major Dad"; 8 p.m., "Murphy Brown"; 8:30 p.m., "Designing Women"; 9 p.m., "Northern Exposure."
Tuesday: 7 p.m., "Rescue 911"; 8 p.m., "CBS Tuesday Movie."
Wednesday: 7 p.m., "The Royal Family"; 7:30 p.m., "Teech"; 8 p.m., "Jake and the Fatman"; 9 p.m., "48 Hours."
Thursday: 7 p.m., "Top Cops"; 8 p.m., "The Trials of Rosie O'Neill"; 9 p.m., "Knots Landing."
Friday: 7 p.m., "Princesses"; 7:30 p.m., "Brooklyn Bridge"; 8 p.m., "The Carol Burnett Show"; 10 p.m., "Palace Guard."
Saturday: 7 p.m., "CBS Saturday Movie"; 9 p.m., "P.S. I LUV U."