Ratings leader CBS, which couldn't find any breakout hits during the recently concluded television season, will try again in the fall with seven new series - four hourlong dramas and three sitcoms.
And one longtime fixture on the schedule won't be back - the network has axed "Evening Shade" after four years. (That move has been rumored for some time, apparently because the network considers Burt Reynolds a liability these days.)"In the Heat of the Night," which spent the last two seasons on CBS after five years on NBC, was also canceled.
And Tom Arnold, who is apparently being dumped by his wife, was also dumped by CBS. The network canceled his low-rated sitcom "Tom."
Two other shows - "Christy" and "Burke's Law" - aren't on the network's fall schedule but will return at midseason. (Which means as early as late September or as late as spring 1995.)
Perhaps the most surprising renewal was for "Hearts Afire," which spent much of the past season on hiatus. It moves to yet another night - Saturday - in the fall.
Not surprisingly, CBS made its biggest changes on Wednesdays and Thursdays, the two nights that the network struggles most in the ratings. Again not surprisingly, CBS made only one change on Mon-days and none on Sundays and Tuesdays, nights the network is strong in the ratings.
CBS' new dramas are:
Touched by an Angel (Wednesdays, 8 p.m.) is about an unconventional guardian angel (Roma Downey) who belly-flops into Santa Monica Bay to begin her mission of helping "destiny children" - children who are fated for greatness but whose current circumstances are causing them to stray away from their destinies. Della Reese co-stars as a heavenly dispatcher.
Due South (Thursdays, 7 p.m.) is a cop show that teams a Canadian Mountie (Paul Gross) with a tough Chicago cop (David Marciano) as the two solve crimes in the Windy City.
Under Suspicion (Fridays, 8 p.m.) is an ensemble drama about a female detective (Seymour Cassel) who is trying to fit in with her male co-workers and whose partner (Peter Onorati) disappears. She sets out to solve the mystery while trying to look after his wife and kids.
Chicago Hope (Thursdays, 9 p.m.) features an impressive cast - Mandy Patinkin, Adam Arkin, E.G. Marshall, Roxanne Hart, Peter MacNicol, Roma Maffia and Hector Elizondo - and an impressive producer - David E. Kelley ("L.A. Law," "Picket Fences.") It's a drama about the "high-pressure life of Chicago Columbia Hospital."
And the new comedies are:
The Boys are Back (Mondays, 7 p.m.) is the show CBS has the highest hopes for. Hal Linden and Suzanne Pleshette are a married couple who anticipate blissful solitude after sending their youngest son off to college. But soon son No. 2 moves back in with his wife and kids, and son No. 3 returns after his wife kicks him out.
Daddy's Girls (Wednesdays, 7:30 p.m.) features Dudley Moore as a man whose wife runs off with his partner, leaving him to deal with his three daughters, the youngest of whom is 16. The cast includes Stacy Galina, Harvey Fierstein and Alan Ruck.
The Five Mrs. Buchanans (Saturdays, 8 p.m.) is a comedy about four "sharp-witted but wildly disparate" sisters-in-law (Judith Ivey, Beth Broderick, Harriet Harris and Charlotte Ross) and their aggravating mother-in-law (Eileen Heckart).
In addition to "Christy" and "Burke's Law," CBS announced two other midseason replacement shows - the drama "The Wright Verdicts" starring Tom Conti and the comedy "Double Rush" from the creator of "Murphy Brown" and "Love & War."
Among the shows that have appeared on CBS this season that won't be back (and many of these cancellations have been announced previously) are "The Trouble with Larry," "South of Sunset," "Angel Falls," "Second Chances," "It Had to Be You," "Family Album," "Harts of the West," "Traps" and "704 Hauser."
HE'S BAAACK: When last we got together, almost four weeks ago, Roseanne had just filed for divorce from Tom, the networks were frantically preparing for the May sweeps, and television was a crazy business.
Let's see . . . after an extended vacation I return to find that Roseanne has just filed for divorce from Tom, the networks are frantically battling to the end of May sweeps, and the TV biz is crazier than ever - NBC has announced it's moving "Frasier" opposite "Roseanne" in the fall, for goodness sake.
Well, at least I missed "Revenge of the Nerds IV" on Fox. A television critic can't ask for much more than that.
Lest you think your local television editor has been lounging on a beach somewhere, he's been driving cross country to visit relatives.
And television can be a wonderful thing. Especially when you're driving more than 6,000 miles with three little kids in the car.
At the suggestion of fellow DesNewsie Steve Fidel, I bought a cheap 5-inch black-and-white TV set and recorded about 20 hours of programs for the kids to be played through the camcorder.
It kept their attention for long stretches of time - and let their parents retain some sanity.