Fox Sends Up Heavy Hitters for Sunday Lineup

TV or not TV. . . .

TRIPLE THREAT: Upstart Fox TV is looking to blow open Sunday nights when it reunites “In Living Color” with “The Simpsons” and “Married . . . With Children” as a regular 90-minute package starting May 27.

Smart move. Summer’s a perfect time for such alternative networks as Fox to make major inroads because most network series are in reruns. “The Simpsons” and ABC’s “America’s Funniest Home Videos” have already sent CBS’ “Murder, She Wrote” into a tailspin. And Fox is boldly bidding to grab TV’s big Sunday audience for its own.

FOXY: Pardon me, but doesn’t CBS’ “48 Hours” for Thursday sound a lot like Fox’s “Cops” series? “48 Hours” goes to Florida, where “Cops” launched itself, and explores the personal lives of police under pressure. Shouldn’t Fox at least get a finder’s fee?

IN THE WINGS: And doesn’t Fox have a nifty pilot idea in “Get a Life,” with David Letterman regular Chris Elliott as a 30-ish paper boy who still lives with his parents? The intriguing cast list making the rounds includes Chris’ dad, Bob Elliott, of Bob and Ray fame, and June Lockhart, good old Mom in “Lassie.”

TAKING STOCK: Solid, moody outing on NBC’s “Midnight Caller” tonight as radio talk host Jack Killian (Gary Cole) questions his life and career. This is one series that almost never disappoints.

WHAT A WAY TO GO: OK, OK--”Newhart” fans know Monday’s series finale has a big surprise. No, not merely the town being turned into a golf resort by a Japanese investor (that’s a stretch). No, not the silent Darryl brothers finally speaking out (pretty funny). Well, let’s just say it all ends with Bob waking up in bed with Suzanne Pleshette, his wife on his former CBS series . . . and I’m not saying another word.

MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT: We’re zapping around, and there’s “Jeopardy!” emcee Alex Trebek hosting for some guy who’s pitching memory improvement. . . . And Alex Karras and Barbi Benton with some woman who’s touting “Playing the Piano Overnight”. . . . And John Davidson working with get-rich impresario Dave Del Dotto. TV’s getting better every day. I mean, where else can you see this stuff?

HAPPY DAYS: Best infomercial by far is Wolfman Jack’s “Solid Gold Rock and Roll Collection,” which actually looks like a program for a few minutes here and there. “Runaround Sue,” “Lucille,” “Tutti Frutti”--really great songs that bring tears to your eyes.

NEW KID ON THE BLOCK: If Sherilynn Fenn, the sultry scene-stealer who hates her mogul father (Richard Beymer), turns out to be the killer in “Twin Peaks,” I say let her off. What a find she is. “Twin Peaks,” by the way, held its audience last week, dropping only 1% from the previous episode and attracting 18% of viewers.

CHANGE OF PACE: What will replace “Twin Peaks” after it winds up its Thursday episodes this week? The Western series “The Young Riders,” which actually did rather well in the same time slot before the cult soap opera roared into view. ABC’s “Twin Peaks” season finale, on a Wednesday, May 23, goes up against a Joan Rivers TV movie on CBS--”How to Murder a Millionaire.”

TOUGH SLEDDING: Oprah Winfrey’s new ABC drama, “Brewster Place,” stumbled in the ratings in both its post-”Roseanne” tryouts and also in its new, regular Wednesday slot. Women and kids like it more than men, who pretty much tune it out.

BROADCAST NEWS: With CNN marking its 10th anniversary June 1, founder Ted Turner says: “When we started, we had 300 people and now we have 1,700. So we employ almost twice as many (news) people as each of the other networks.” Nailing the Big Three networks, Turner noted that CNN has black and women anchors among its weeknight regulars--and that ABC, CBS and NBC don’t. How true--and what a disgrace.

IT’S A LIVING: How much did KCOP Channel 13 want news director Jeff Wald when it hired him away from KTLA Channel 5? Word around town is that KCOP doubled his salary in hopes he can give the station a news image the way he did with KTLA’s Hal Fishman broadcast.

CHANNEL SWIM: They’re not happy at KCET Channel 28 that Century Cable, which hits the influential Westside, is giving the station a less desirable spot on the dial come June 1. Here’s the deal. Century’s been showing KCET on Channel 6. The upper range on the station spectrum--Channels 2 through 13--usually gets the most viewers. But now KCET will be moved to Channel 28 (same as on UHF). Result: Possibly fewer viewers, which could mean fewer paying subscribers.

BRAVE NEW WORLD: Tom Brokaw probably won’t do the lambada on camera, but you can bet that the always-a-bridesmaid “NBC Nightly News” will have more snap, crackle and pop now that former “Today” show boss Steve Friedman has taken over as executive producer. Especially with all those rumors that Jane Pauley will join up with Brokaw.

BOX SCORE: Remember “Chicken Soup”? ABC’s Jackie Mason sitcom. A failure, right? Oh, yeah? It finished 13th among more than 100 series this season, with a 28% audience share. If only they hadn’t tried to make Mason lovable. Well, what’s $100 million, more or less, blown by a slightly wrong plot turn?

SORRY, WRONG NUMBER: Producer Randy Johnson called the White House to get an endorsement for cable’s Family Channel special “Standup Comics Take a Stand,” which benefits charity. The main White House number is (202) 456-1414. He joked to an operator, “Why don’t you change the number to 456-1776?” The operator paused. “Why 1776?” she asked.

Say good night, Gracie. . . .