CBS, which lost the NFL to Fox, fights back on Sunday.
With a Harlequin Romance.Really.
The powers-that-be at CBS, in their infinite wisdom, have decided that they'll battle the male-appeal of football with the female-appeal of romantic TV movies.
First up is "Treacherous Beauties" (Sunday, 2 p.m., Ch. 5), an adaptation of a Harlequin romance novel in which an undercover photographer (Emma Samms) tries to prove that a horse breeder (Bruce Greenwood) murdered her brother. Oh, and she falls in love with him, too.
Now, part of CBS's reasoning seems sound. It's always a good idea to offer an alternative to whatever programming you're competing with.
But the other part of CBS reasoning is just dumb. The network believes there are millions of unserved viewers out there panting for an alternative on Sunday afternoons.
It would seem more likely that the only reason millions of people are watching TV on a Sunday afternoon is because that's when NFL games are played.
In other words, people who aren't watching the NFL aren't likely to have much desire to watch television at all.
REVIVING `SEAQUEST': Here's a shock. The season premiere of "seaQuest DSV" last week wasn't bad.
The revamped show was greatly more entertaining than last year's lumbering scow. It's no "Star Trek," but it's a considerable improvement.
It's too bad they replaced last year's sunken sub with one that's equally ugly on the outside.
*****
Additional Information
Saturday best bets
- College football (1:30 p.m., Ch. 4); New Mexico at BYU.
- Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (6 p.m., Ch. 13); The Federation runs up against the Dominion in last spring's cliffhanger. (Repeat)
- What's Love Got to Do With It? (6 p.m., Showtime); 1993 musical biography of Tina Turner. (Rated R)
- Empty Nest (7 and 7:30 p.m., ch. 2): Two episodes--Laverne is dating Charley in the first; Carol tries to get an interview with Hillary Rodham Clinton in the second. (Season premiere)
- Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman (7 p.m., ch. 5); Mike and Sully disagree over the prospect of the railroad coming to town. (Season premiere)
- Sweet Justice (8 p.m., Ch. 2): Kate's client is a young woman trying to gain admission to an all-male military school.
- The Five Mrs. Buchanans (8 p.m., Ch. 5): Very funny new sitcom about four sisters-in-laws united against their overbearing, obnoxious mother-in-law.
- Hearts Afire (8:30 p.m., Ch. 5); Georgie gives birth to a girl, but John thinks their baby has been switched with someone else's. (Season premiere)
- Sisters (9 p.m., ch. 2): Teddy and Falconer face death as their plane heads for a crash landing. (Season premiere)
- The Commish (9 p.m., Ch. 4): Tony faces the prospect of permanent paralysis. (Season Premiere)
- Saturday Night Live (10:35 p.m., ch. 2): Steve Martin is the host. (Season premiere)
- Coach (10:35 p.m., ch. 4): Hayden hires an image consultant.
- Picket Fences (11 p.m., Ch. 5): The police are under public pressure when a local teen disappears. (Season Premiere)
Sunday best bets
- SeaQuest DSV (7 p.m., Ch. 2): the crew welcomes space aliens, but a general takes the visitors captive.
- Lois & Clark: the New Adventures of Superman (7 p.m., ch. 4): Superman is threatened by the Sound Man.
- Murder, she Wrote (7 p.m., ch. 5): A posionous snake is the murder weapon in a killing at a zoo. (Season premiere)
- The Simpsons (7 p.m., ch. 13): Marge's family recounts tales of heartache and woe.
- The Gift of Love (8 p.m., ch. 5): Andy Griffith stars in this TV movie as a man who gets a heart transplant--from his grandson.
- Baseball (8 p.m., Ch. 7): Part 6 of Ken Burns' documentary.