Comedy Is King and Lots More in Network TV Planning

As the dust settles from the battles of the odd 1988-89 television season and the strategy is outlined for the renewal of the engagement in the fall, it’s becoming clear that on network television, comedy is not only king, it’s also queen, prince, princess and handmaiden.

Yet only a few years ago the situation comedy was declared dead. But that was B.C. in television years, Before Cosby. What had happened to the sitcom was that it had lost the domestic moorings that had served it so well, dating back to radio days.

Reacting to the breakout hit “Mork and Mindy,” television executives looked for shows with a gimmick, their form of a man from Ork, as if that’s what made “Mork and Mindy” a hit, not the comic genius of Robin Williams.

Adding to the sitcom’s travails was the success of Norman Lear’s offerings. Lear understood the need to create a family for his shows, but his imitators only heard the loud, raucous, put-down humor. Show after show was turned out with such writing.

Then along came “The Cosby Show,” reminding one and all what a situation comedy is supposed to be. Not a high-concept, gimmick-driven program but a basic, understandable situation that will wear well week after week. And no situation is more basic to, understandable by or wears better with that huge mass of people needed to make a TV show into a hit than a family.

One need look no further than ABC’s blockbuster Tuesday night. “Who’s the Boss,” “The Wonder Years” and “Roseanne” all revolve around a basic domestic setup. Since putting this lineup together, ABC has tried to find a compatible sitcom to follow “Roseanne” and, despite good numbers, essentially failed with “Anything but Love” (on Wednesday nights in the fall) and “Have Faith.”

In the fall, the network will try again with a show that comes out of the same company that produces “The Cosby Show.”