ABC ADDS 2 SITCOMS IN PROGRAM SHIFT

ABC, currently last in prime-time ratings, became first in mid-season program changes Wednesday as it announced two new sitcoms, one starring Redd Foxx, and a new Sunday Disney movie series. It also officially axed the low-rated “Our Family Honor” and “The Insiders” series, whose demise had been rumored for weeks.

Four other prime-time ABC series were moved to new nights--the veteran “The Fall Guy,” “Benson” and “Ripley’s Believe It Or Not” and the new “MacGyver”--with a rookie science fiction series, “Shadow Chasers,” put on hiatus after its Jan. 16 broadcast.

The other changes also will take place in January, said ABC, whose new prime-time lineup marks the first major scheduling effort by Brandon Stoddard, formerly head of ABC Motion Pictures and well-regarded by the Hollywood creative community.

ABC, struggling to avoid a rerun of last season’s third-place finish in prime-time ratings, named Stoddard to succeed Lewis H. Erlicht as president of ABC Entertainment on Nov. 12.

Foxx, star of NBC’s hit “Sanford and Son” from 1972-77, and later the star of a short-lived ABC variety series, is returning in “The Redd Foxx Show,” playing the cantankerous owner of a combination coffee shop-newsstand in New York City.

“Foxx” will air at 8 p.m. Saturdays, starting Jan. 11, the date ABC’s durable “Benson” also will move to Saturday nights. It now is broadcast on Fridays.

ABC’s other new sitcom, “He’s the Mayor,” starring Kevin Hooks as the hip young black mayor of a large city, will air at 9:30 p.m. on Fridays, starting Jan. 10. The series previously was to debut in September, but was yanked for further work.

“Mayor” will follow “Diff’rent Strokes,” the sitcom ABC picked up when NBC dropped it after 6 1/2 seasons. “The Fall Guy,” which had been struggling in the ratings against NBC’s hit “The Cosby Show” and recently was given a Saturday slot, now will follow “Mayor” on Friday nights at 10, starting Jan. 10.

“Ripley,” which has made little headway against CBS’ powerhouse “60 Minutes” on Sundays, will move to Thursday nights in the 8-9 p.m. slot on Jan. 30, with “MacGyver,” now also aired on Sunday, moving to 8-9 p.m. on Wednesdays, starting Jan. 22.

ABC’s competition against “60 Minutes” now will be “The Disney Sunday Movie,” a mix of new one and two-hour TV movies. It will make its Sunday night premiere on Feb. 2.

NBC, which last season was No. 2 in prime time ratings and currently leads the three-network pack, will announce its mid-season changes on Monday, a spokesman said.

Second-place CBS, hoping to regain the ratings leadership it has enjoyed for six consecutive seasons, will announce its program changes later this month, a spokesman said. CBS already has axed “Hometown,” “Stir Crazy” and George Burns’ comedy anthology series.

Those programs, like ABC’s “Our Family Honor” and “The Insiders,” were new entries this year.