This was supposed to be Delta Burke's big comeback.
But early indications are that her self-titled new sitcom, "Delta," may be a bigger bomb than the fireworks set off when the actress was battling the producers of "Designing Women."Oh, things started out promisingly enough. In a special "preview" on Tuesday, Sept. 15, "Delta" was the No. 2 show of the week.
Of course, that was because it aired after the No. 1 show of the week, "Roseanne." Two days later, when "Delta" debuted in its regular time slot, it fell all the way to 46th.
And then last week, things really got grim. Burke's series finished fourth - in its time slot.
That's right. In the Thursday at 7 p.m. time slot, "Delta," with a rating of 9.5, finished behind "The Simpsons" (13.5), "A Different World" (11.1) and "Top Cops" (10.8).
For the week, "Delta" was the No. 64 show in the Nielsen rankings.
That's bad.
Now, the fact is that "Delta" is in a tough time slot. If it aired after "Roseanne" every week, it would probably be a big hit.
But "Delta" doesn't deserve a great time slot. It's a lame, labored half-hour in which Burke does a weak parody of the wonderful Suzanne Sugarbaker character that was created for her on "Designing Women."
And perhaps even more painful for Burke is that "Women" seems to be doing very nicely without her. Although it moved to a new night and time (Fridays at 8 p.m.) last week, it won its time slot handily and finished a strong No. 28 for the week.
And, after the failure of the Allison (Julia Duffy) character created to replace Suzanne last season, the addition of B.J. Poteet (Judith Ivey) seems to be a much better fit this season.
To their credit, the "Designing Women" cast and crew have not gloated - at least not publicly - over this turn of events.
SATURDAY WOES: All four networks are bombing on Saturday nights, which is increasingly become the black hole of television.
According to CBS, the Big Three and Fox drew just 58 percent of those watching television this past Saturday - 10 percent less than last year at this time.
The only bright spots were NBC's "Empty Nest" and "Nurses," which finished 28th and 31st, respectively, in the Nielsen rankings. NBC's "Sisters"' was a mediocre 43rd.
The other 13 shows ranged from 55th to 92nd, and tended more toward the bottom of the list.
Not surprisingly, a CBS spokesman said Saturday is the network's "No. 1 priority" and promised changes to the lineup after the World Series.
(Which means that the wonderful "Brooklyn Bridge" is in danger again. Despite its extraordinary quality, not much of anyone is watching.)
The made-in-Utah "Crossroads" is also endangered. It finished fourth in its time slot last week, and No. 87 overall. But the network has ordered 13 episodes, and the production company was planning to leave the state after that anyway.
`SANTA BARBARA' AXED: Speaking of terrible ratings, NBC is going to attempt to stem some of the hemorrhaging from its absolutely disastrous daytime lineup.
And, as has long been rumored, the ax has fallen on the award-winning soap opera "Santa Barbara." Ranked 10th of 11 soaps on the three networks, it will leave the network in mid-January.
However, it may not be completely dead. The producers are reportedly talking with ABC and some cable channels about keeping the soap alive. But don't hold your breath.
NBC is also dumping "Dr. Dean," but has made no announcements about new daytime programming. Among the possibilities are handing more time back to the local affiliates, adding a new game show and adding a new soap opera - which might be a "Days of Our Lives" spinoff titled "Manhattan Lives" that would feature "DOOL" diva Deidra Hall.
NEW ON `MELROSE': The producers of "Melrose Place," apparently believing you can never have too many gorgeous young people in the pool, are adding Daphne Zuniga ("The Sure Thing") to the cast in November.
(This in lieu of character development for any of the current regulars.)
She'll play a recent divorcee who gets involved with Jake (Grant Show).
WEAK LAUNCH: Utah cable subscribers are far from being alone in their inability to see Ted Turner's new Cartoon Network.
When it's launched today, the total number of homes where it will be available is only 3 million.
Compare that to the last network Turner launched. When TNT debuted five years ago, it started out with 17 million subscribers.
Hey, the Cartoon Network isn't even available in Turner's hometown, Atlanta.
The problem? That increasingly common refrain - cable capacity. Local systems just don't have the technical ability to add much in the way of new channels.
But there is hope. New technology is headed our way. But it will take awhile - like, maybe, two years or more.