CBS, which ended last season in first place in the ratings, appears well on its way to ending up in third place this season.
And that would be the first time any network had accomplished that particular feat.The Big Eye's latest attempt to reverse this trend involves the addition of three new series and the shakeup of three nights of programming. Here's a look at the new shows:
- "The George Wendt Show," headlined by the guy who was Norm for all those years on "Cheers," debuts Wednesday, March 8 ,at 8 p.m. Wendt stars as one of two brothers who host a call-in radio show about car repair.
(A preview of the series shows that it does have promise.)
- "The Office," which premieres Saturday, March 11, at 8 p.m., is a mediocre new sitcom about secretaries and their bosses. The biggest name in the ensemble cast is Valerie Harper ("Rhoda").
CBS actually has the gall to call this an " `Upstairs, Downstairs' look at corporate America," but this is far from being classic - or even quality - TV.
- "Under One Roof," on the other hand, is an outstanding program. This one-hour drama will air Tuesdays at 7 p.m. beginning on March 14. The hourlong program about three generations of a family living in the same house in Seattle is among the best new shows to premiere this season.
The ensemble cast includes James Earl Jones and former "Equal Justice" co-stars Joe Morton and Vanessa Bell Calloway.
As to the shows being displaced by these changes, here's a quick rundown on what's to become of them:
- "Double Rush" slides back from 8 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on Wednesdays as of March 8. It also gets a one-time airing in the Monday-night lineup on March 6 at 7:30 p.m.
- "Women of the House" is off the Wednesday night schedule but will get three Monday-night airings sometime this spring.
- "Love & War" is also off the Wednesday schedule, but it continues to produce new episodes and will return at some point this spring.
- "Hearts Afire" is off the Wednesday schedule, and "future scheduling will be determined." (That's not a good sign.)
- "The Boys are Back" is off the Saturday-night schedule," and "future scheduling will be determined."
- "Rescue 911" will have its final Tuesday airing on March 7 and will air on Wednesday, March 8, at 7 p.m. before going on hiatus. CBS promises it will return at some point.
Actually, the network's programmers haven't decided what to do about Wednesdays from 7-8 p.m. on a regular basis. They're planning special programming for the rest of February, and what they're going to do come mid-March is still to be determined.
RETURN OF "ANGEL": The made-in-Utah series "Touched by an Angel" is returning to CBS - but only briefly.
Two new episodes of the series are scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 25, and Saturday, March 4, at 8 p.m. That's right after "Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman," which might give the show a fighting chance.
But two weeks isn't much time for the show, which stars Roma Downey and Della Reese as a pair of helpful angels, to establish itself.
If the ratings are good, the show might be back. But if they're not . . . this may be the last we'll see of this series.
"EXTREME"-LY CLOSE TO PREMIERE: The other made-in-Utah network series, ABC's "Extreme," has finally gotten a firm premiere date.
It begins airing Thursdays at 7 p.m. on March 2.
This action/adventure/soap opera did very well when it premiered after the Super Bowl last month, but how it will do without that kind of a lead-in is the real question.
BAD SHOW RETURNS: ABC, which apparently didn't get the hint the first time around for "On Our Own," is bringing the show back next month.
When the show aired last fall, it was a ratings disaster. And that could have been because this comedy - yes, comedy - about a group of orphans who manage to stay together because the oldest son Josh (Ralph Louis Harris) donned a dress and pretended to be an aunt was perhaps the worst piece of junk to premiere on any of the networks.
There will, at least be a few changes this time around. Josh gains custody of the kids - which, hopefully, will get him out of that dress - and T'Keyah Crystal Keymah ("In Living Color") joins the cast as a "spirited female contractor" who is taken in by the family.
That may solve one problem, but it won't solve another. The rest of the family is made up of six members of the real-life Smollet family, none of whom displayed any acting ability during the show's first go-round.
"On Our Own" returns on Friday, March 3 at 7:30 p.m., then movies to Fridays at 8:30 p.m. the following week. It continues through late April, when "Hangin' with Mr. Cooper" will return.
SHOWS WITHOUT ENDS? The Sci-Fi Channel (which at least a few of you out there can get) is planning a marathon for the weekend of March 4-5.
It could be a rather frustrating bunch of shows, however. "They Pulled the Plug: Series Without End" will show the final episodes of several series that, well, never really had an ending.
You know - shows that had season-ending cliffhangers but never had another season.
The lineup includes "The Invaders," "Time Tunnel," the prime-time version of "Dark Shadows" and "Alien Nation."
What the folks at Sci-Fi seem to have forgotten is that the last of the shows, "Alien Nation," did eventually get an ending. Fox aired a made-for-TV movie earlier this season that wrapped up all the loose ends.
GREAT TV MOMS? So, would you consider Roseanne to be one of the great mothers in television history?
Well, she's going to be joined by a few of them on an upcoming episode.
In an hourlong episode titled "All About Rosey" scheduled for Wednesday, March 1, Roseanne will be joined by Barbara Billingsley ("Leave it to Beaver"), Patricia Crowley ("Please Don't Eat the Daisies"), June Lockhart ("Lassie"), Alley Mills ("The Wonder Years") and Isabel Sanford ("The Jeffersons").
Somehow, the thought of Mrs. Connor and Mrs. Cleaver getting together is rather intriguing.
LATE-NIGHT RIVALS UNITE: David Letterman and Jay Leno, locked in a late-night ratings battle that Letterman consistently wins - but which has edged closer lately - will appear on the same program next month.
Letterman and Leno will be two of the stars appearing in "A Comedy Salute to Andy Kaufman," scheduled to air Wednesday, March 29 on NBC.
(Of course, Letterman's appearance is on tape from his "Late Night" days on NBC.)
Marilu Henner and Bob Saget are the hosts of the special, which will also feature appearancs by Lily Tomlin, Mary Tyler Moore, Rodney Dangerfield, Jim Carrey and Michael Richards.
MORE DISNEY CARTOONS: Disney's hit animated movie "The Little Mermaid" got turned into a Saturday morning cartoon series. So did "Aladdin."
And so will "The Lion King" - sort of.
Two of the supporting characters from that movie, Timon and Pumbaa, will be the lead characters
Broadway actors Ernie Sabella and Nathan Lane will reprise their roles as the voices of the warthog, Pumbaa, and the merkeet, Timon, and CBS promises "special guest appearances" by Simba (the Lion King), Rafiki and other characters from the movie.
CARREY-MANIA: CBS announced several months ago that it would do a Saturday morning cartoon based on the movie "The Mask" in the fall.
Last week, ABC announced another Saturday morning cartoon based on the movie "Dumb and Dumber."
Now CBS says it has one based on "Ace Ventura, Pet Detective" set to go in January 1997.
Gee, are there any Jim Carrey movies that aren't being turned into cartoons?
NEW AWARDS: CBS has announced plans to broadcast the first annual (now that's confident) Blockbuster Entertainment Awards in June.
The network promises a "star-studded array of celebrities and performances by the year's hottest musical artists." All to honor the favorite movies, videos and music - as voted on by patrons at Blockbuster Video and Blockbuster Music stores across the country.
Thank goodness. There just aren't enough awards shows on TV as it is.
PHONING "MELROSE": Would you believe that more than 11 million attempts were made to call a 1-800 number last week for a chance to appear on Fox's "Melrose Place?"
(That's even more calls than the folks at KUTV-Ch. 2 have received about their pre-emptions of "Seinfeld" and "ER.")
The callers were trying to "Win a Date on `Melrose Place' " - and three of them did.
The other 10,999,997 - give oir take a few thousand - didn't.
A NEW GIG? Could it be that "Equal Time" has finally found a co-host for Mary Matalin?
Matalin has been working either alone or with a series of co-hosts since Jane Wallace left the CNBC show last year for her own show on fX. But the former aide to George Bush and occupant of the "conservative" chair on "Equal Time" might just have found someone to sit in the "liberal" seat - and that someone is a former member of the Clinton administration.
Former presidential press secretary Dee Dee Myers will co-host "Equal Time" for two weeks beginning March 14. If all goes well - and if she has any chemistry with Matalin - Myers might just have found herself a permanent place on TV.
(Or at least as permanent as anything is on TV.)