CBS Tries to Laugh Its Way Out of Last Place

Call it a start.

In the next few weeks, CBS’ prime-time face will change noticeably.

Last in the ratings and with everything to lose, CBS is finally going back, full-steam, to comedy--the backbone of network success.

It was CBS that gave us “I Love Lucy,” “All in the Family,” “MASH” and “The Mary Tyler Moore Show.”

But this season, it’s down to one weekly night of comedy, Mondays, when “Murphy Brown” leads a gimmick lineup of six consecutive sitcoms.

By March 30, however, there’ll be 10 comedies on CBS--spread over three nights. And that’s a major step.

On Thursday, CBS announced that Jean Stapleton (Edith Bunker in “All in the Family”) and Whoopi Goldberg are part of the March sitcom thrust.

CBS’ other new comedy stars are Valerie Bertinelli, Cindy Williams and Frank Zappa’s kids--Moon Unit and Dweezil.

Truth is, the network’s program turnabout is part spring-cleaning, part crap shoot. The new sitcoms originated in the regime of Kim LeMasters, the ousted president of CBS Entertainment. His successor, Jeff Sagansky, is simply cleaning the shelf of LeMasters’ shows while developing his own.

But he’s unloading the leftovers strategically, establishing a new look and prime-time program philosophy, and hoping he comes up lucky with a few hits.

With “Newhart” suddenly a goner after this season because of a contract dispute, CBS’ comedy need is more desperate than ever. And here are the new sitcoms Sagansky is looking to for immediate help:

--”Sydney,” which stars Bertinelli as a detective and debuts March 21.

--”Normal Life,” which presents the Zappas, Williams (Shirley in “Laverne & Shirley”) and Max Gail (Det. “Wojo” Wojehowicz in “Barney Miller”) as a close-knit Southern California family. It also is a March 21 arrival.

--”Bagdad Cafe,” with Stapleton and Goldberg as co-workers in a remote, desert diner/motel--an intriguing project that arrives March 30.

--”Sugar and Spice,” a routine-sounding series about two sisters who have different views on raising their rambunctious teen-age niece. It’s also set for a March 30 launching.

Sagansky sent out other significant signals in CBS’ Thursday announcement. The soap opera “Falcon Crest,” which seems on its last legs, will be yanked from its Friday slot after next week’s episode--and when it returns April 26, it will be scheduled opposite “Cheers,” which is roughly equal to a death sentence.

Ever since the CBS sitcoms “MASH,” “Alice,” “One Day at a Time” and “The Jeffersons” faded away in the early and mid-1980s, the network has relied mainly on one-hour hits ranging from “Magnum, P.I.” and “Simon & Simon” to the soapers “Dallas,” “Knots Landing” and “Falcon Crest.”

Even when “The Cosby Show” came along in 1984 and blew “Magnum, P.I.” away in head-on competition, CBS stubbornly stuck with its format, producing only occasional comedy hits such as “Newhart” and “Kate & Allie.” The network simply forgot how to make comedies.

Sagansky, on the job just a few months, is clearly hacking away at CBS’ recent past and showing the way that he wants to go--but he needs a big break to ease the terrific burden that’s been placed on him.

With no time for a breather after assuming the entertainment division presidency, he has to prepare CBS programming for the May ratings sweeps and also for the new fall season.

In addition, with Dan Rather’s “CBS Evening News”--once the network’s beacon--suddenly slipping almost regularly to the bottom of the ratings, Sagansky’s prime-time performance is more critical than ever in keeping the company afloat.

And amid all this, rumors--though denied--keep popping up that the network may be on the block, with Disney Studios a possible buyer.

Thus do show-business folk like Bertinelli, Goldberg and Stapleton figure in the eventual fortunes and destiny of a major American corporation. Their shows have a direct effect on the stock market performance of CBS.

In scheduling his comedies, Sagansky has made some seemingly smart moves, which may not assure their success but at least gives them reasonable protection going into battle.

Most important, his 10 sitcoms will be seen on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Tuesdays, for instance, would have been a kamikaze mission--the opposition includes “Roseanne,” “The Wonder Years,” “Who’s the Boss?,” “Matlock” and “In the Heat of the Night.”

Thursdays were also skipped--and a good thing too, considering the murderous competition of “The Cosby Show,” “Cheers” and “L.A. Law.”

Saturdays are likewise out, which means there’s no running into the blockbuster lineup propelled by “The Golden Girls” and “Empty Nest.”

And Sundays are the one night each week when CBS needs little help, what with its potent tandem of “60 Minutes” and “Murder, She Wrote.”

Fortunately for CBS and ABC, the NBC juggernaut has suddenly stumbled on both Sundays (where “Sister Kate” died) and Mondays (where “Alf” slipped)--rare major cracks in its overall, awesome domination.

NBC Entertainment President Brandon Tartikoff has actually offered his network’s news division program time on Sundays, an unlikely occurrence if he thought he had sure-fire winners of his own. What’s more, erratic performance on Sundays and Mondays has forced NBC to give free “make-good” commercials to sponsors for programs that didn’t live up to ratings guarantees.

It’s true, however, that every one of CBS’ new comedies is a long-shot. The network is weak and has few helpful lead-in shows. But regardless of whether any of the rookie sitcoms scores big, Sagansky at least is making a statement about what he wants CBS to be, and not be--and that’s more than anyone at the network has done for years. It’s a start.