And on TV . . . : With a boost from ‘The Simpsons,’ animation is back in prime time

The most closely watched ratings contest of the 1990-91 season will be Thursday night, when Fox’s “The Simpsons” challenges NBC’s “The Cosby Show.”

The hit of 1989, Matt Groening’s absurd vision of Middle America generated an avalanche of media coverage and merchandise, and Bart Simpson’s slogan, “Underachiever and proud of it,” sparked a tempest on a T-shirt.

The success of “The Simpsons” probably made the return on animation to prime time inevitable--after a hiatus of two decades. Except for “The Joke Book,” a collection of spot gags that ran briefly on NBC in 1981, Hanna-Barbera’s “Where’s Huddles?” (CBS, 1970-71), was the last prime time network cartoon show.

With two animated mid-season replacements in production for ‘90-91, CBS is the most deeply committed to animation. The Pink Panther will return to the air in a combination animation/live action series.

“The Family Dog” is based on Brad Bird’s spoof of family life that aired as an episode of “Amazing Stories” on NBC in 1987. In addition, a pilot is in development for “Fish Police,” which Hanna-Barbera CEO David Kirschner describes as “a kind of Phillip Marlowe/Humphrey Bogart fish noir .”

ABC is developing a series tentatively titled “Aristocritters” with Steven Bochco and Hanna-Barbera for fall of ’91. According to Kirschner, the show is “an ‘Upstairs/Downstairs’ kind of situation,” seen through the eyes of mice and other creatures within the walls of the White House.

In 1986, there were rumors that at least one network was set to drop its Saturday morning cartoons because of the competition from first-run syndication. By offering advertisers an alternative market, syndication has limited both license fees and budgets on Saturday morning, but the demise of network kidvid never occurred.

Fox will continue its challenge to the Big Three with a slate of original children’s programs on Saturday. Five of the six shows will be animated, including “Zazoo U.,” “Tom and Jerry Kids Show,” “Bobby’s World,” “The Attack of the Killer Tomatoes,” “Pigsburg Pigs.”

Among the highlights of this season’s upcoming network kidvid: “Rick Moranis in Gravedale High” (NBC), with a caricature of the actor as the principal of a high school attended by monsters and ghouls; a series based on L. Frank Baum’s “The Wizard of Oz” (ABC), an adaptation of “Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure” (CBS), an hour-long, expanded version of “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” (CBS) and “Little Rosey,” starring a caricature of Roseanne Barr as a child (ABC).

Two of the biggest names in the entertainment industry will compete for the weekday afternoon children’s audience this September when Disney and Steven Spielberg introduce new series in first-run syndication.

Disney currently dominates the afterschool time slot with “Duck Tales” and “Chip ‘n’ Dale’s Rescue Rangers.” They hope to strengthen their position with “The Disney Afternoon,” a daily two-hour package that will incorporate “Duck Tales,” “Rescue Rangers,” their Saturday morning hit, “The Adventures of the Gummi Bears,” and “Tale Spin,” a new series featuring Baloo and King Louie from “The Jungle Book.”

Whether Spielberg can extend his string of animated hits with “Tiny Toon Adventures” depends on whether children (or adults) want to watch juvenile versions of the classic Warner Bros. characters. The old Warners theatrical shorts are still earning high ratings after being rerun for more than three decades. In addition, Fox will offer a weekday afternoon show, “Peter Pan & the Pirates.”

Hanna-Barbera hopes to expand the syndication market with “Wake, Rattle and Roll,” a weekday morning series that debuts Sept. 17. A combination of live action, animation and animatronics, it is intended to be “the last thing children do before leaving for school or camp.”

So stay ‘tooned. . . .