NETWORK’S SERIES DISCUSSED : TARTIKOFF PREDICTS NBC’S NO. 1 FINISH

NBC Entertainment President Brandon Tartikoff, who saw his prime-time lineup lose the ratings race to CBS last week for the first time this season, made two predictions before the nation’s TV critics Tuesday:

Prediction No. 1: “NBC will be No. 1 in 1987.”

Prediction No. 2: “This is the year that Mr. T will begin income averaging.”

Both forecasts were pronounced with tongue firmly implanted in cheek.

The former is virtually a foregone conclusion, NBC’s lone loss having resulted from the preemption of its powerhouse Thursday lineup last week by the Orange Bowl football game. The latter was a good-natured poke at the “A-Team” star whose show was recently canceled.

But Tartikoff, responding to questions during NBC’s segment of the annual January press gathering at the Century Plaza, had some serious pronouncements about the network’s entertainment shows.

“Hill Street Blues”--NBC has had “preliminary talks” with the police-series’ executive producers about a possible farewell episode. Though a definite decision about “Hill Street’s” fate will not be made until March, Tartikoff noted that “there’s no certainty” that producer MTM Enterprises would want to continue into an eighth season.

MTM already has more than enough episodes to syndicate, and does not expect to reap high enough fees from rerun sales to make it worthwhile to keep the show going.

Tartikoff confirmed the rumor that the “Hill Street “ creative team is developing a possible spinoff show starring Dennis Franz in his character as the offbeat Lt. Norman Buntz.

“Cheers”--Will there be life after the departure of Shelley Long, who has stated that this will be her last season as Ted Danson’s on-again, off-again love interest on the long-runing comedy? Perhaps more of it, Tartikoff said. “This could actually bring new energy” to the show, he said, noting that, in Hollywood, relationships aren’t expected to last more than five years anyway.

“Crime Story”--”I’ve learned, you never make judgments about how new shows are doing until the end of the season,” said Tartikoff, an eight-year veteran in the network’s top programming slot. Translation: “Crime Story” has not lived up to expectations offered by the presence of Michael Mann (“Miami Vice”) as executive producer, but NBC is committed to a full season of episodes and there’s always a chance that the show will improve.

“Miami Vice” vs. “Dallas”--The men in pastels (now maroons) did not trounce the boys in cowboy hats, as NBC once boasted they would, but Tartikoff claimed that a 30-second spot in “Vice” brings NBC bigger bucks than a similar “Dallas” ad fetches for CBS. To the network’s accountants, in other words, a show’s demographics are often more valuable than its sheer ratings points.

New series--The awaited Lisa Bonet spinoff from “The Cosby Show” will air in the fall. “The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd,” once figured to be a 1986-87 season starter, is now set to begin in April with Blair Brown as a realistically humorous modern-day woman. “Miami Vice” creator Anthony Yerkovich has a film noir ‘50s private-eye show in the works. “Hill Street” co-creator Michael Kozoll has completed the pilot of “Independence,” a Western. And the network is still considering making a weekly series out of “A Year in the Life,” the miniseries that won critical praise last month.

Saturday mornings--With the news division’s “Today” show set to begin airing Saturdays later this year, whither goest kiddie fare? Out the window, apparently--at least enough of it to make way for “Today.” Referring to the fresh look that animated shows like “The Smurfs” gave Saturdays several years back, Tartikoff said, “That novelty is not there right now. We had to ask ourselves, ‘Are we maximizing our effectiveness in reaching people?’ ”

Translation: NBC apparently has determined that commercial rates for a Saturday “Today” segment would be higher than what the network is now getting with cartoons.