A ‘Simpsons’ Backlash Afoot? New Episodes May Tell : Television: Bart & Co. open their second season Thursday after reruns were thrashed by ‘Cosby.’

TV or not TV. . . .

THAT CHAMPIONSHIP SEASON: “I’ve been waiting for this for months,” says Peter Chernin, president of the Fox Entertainment Group.

So have fans of Fox’s “The Simpsons,” who, at long last, will finally get new weekly episodes of the animated TV sensation starting Thursday.

For weeks now, “The Simpsons”--in its new head-on challenge to “The Cosby Show”--has been getting thrashed in the ratings as it offered up third-run repeats against original episodes of the potent NBC sitcom.

“I guess the public is getting a little tired of seeing those reruns,” Chernin concedes. But he adds, “It’s still been an extraordinary phenomenon over only 13 episodes that were made.”

To its credit, Fox-owned KTTV Channel 11 ran a report on its 10 p.m. news the other day bluntly labeling “The Simpsons’ ” move to Thursdays a “disaster” thus far.

Says Chernin: “You hate to see (‘Cosby’) going to new episodes while you’re in reruns. But we’ve done reasonably well with third reruns against such a significant series. We just wanted to warm up the time slot.”

But has the lengthy warmup cost “The Simpsons”--Bart, Lisa, Maggie, Marge and Homer--their momentum and given NBC’s “Cosby” an insurmountable lead?

Chernin thinks not. “We’ve just scratched the surface of these characters. And we’ve already delivered 20 or 21 scripts of the next 24 episodes.”

For Fox, NBC--and viewers--Thursday’s confrontation is the first real square-off of “The Simpsons” and “The Cosby Show.” And, Chernin says, “with new episodes, ‘The Simpsons’ is a big family show.”

But so is “Cosby.”

And there’s another possible threat to “The Simpsons”--a backlash after the buildup of its challenge to “Cosby.” Thursday’s launch of new “Simpsons” episodes should tell whether Bart & Co. are still hot stuff.

Meantime, we (and probably many others) are in receipt of a strategically timed post card that advertises a T-shirt “for those who’ve had it up to here” with “a certain bug-eyed mutant post-nuclear family.” The T-shirt says: “Nuke the Simpsons.”

Let the games begin.

POSITION PAPER: Fox Chairman Barry Diller sizes up his new network with few punches pulled in a dynamite interview in the Oct. 15 issue of Us magazine.

When’s the last time you heard a network honcho talk about “fun”? Diller’s views are an extraordinary corporate reflection of the radical attitude of upstart Fox.

Tidbits from Diller in the interview with Bob Spitz:

* “I thought that the three networks were all programming one network service. I thought they looked, acted and talked the same way.”

* “When they (one of the established Big Three networks) come up with ‘Twin Peaks,’ it stops my heart. When I saw that show, I said, ‘It’s not possible. They have our show. How did they get our show?’ ”

* On making mistakes: “We made commitments to people rather than to ideas. . . . We’ve stopped; this company won’t do it anymore.”

A reminder from Diller: “Married . . . With Children” originally was titled “Not the Cosbys.”

Must reading.

CHOICES: What does it say about Los Angeles when “Married . . . With Children” is virtually the top-rated weekly show here--and the final installment of PBS’ “The Civil War” finishes well behind such cities as New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Portland, Sacramento, Philadelphia, Washington, Seattle and Boston?

DRAWING BOARD: Fox’s fifth night of programming--its Monday movies--now probably won’t be in full swing until next year. But the network’s first original TV movie, “Working Trash,” airs Nov. 26, with George Carlin in a comedy about two janitors in a Wall Street brokerage house who strike it rich by investing on information from company garbage.

IT’S A LIVING: So there, on one of those home shopping networks, was Joan Rivers. Seems there’s a Joan Rivers Classics Collection, and on this particular night you could get an 18-inch, two-tone, faux pas necklace (we took notes) for only $84. The regular price was $140. There’s nothing you can’t learn from TV.

MONEY IN THE BANK: “In many ways,” says an ABC source, “ ‘Who’s the Boss?’ is our most valuable player.” How come? As a lead-in, the Tony Danza sitcom helped build such shows as “Growing Pains” and “The Wonder Years,” which then were able to power the network elsewhere in the lineup.

OUT OF THE PAST: It’s called “Remembering Marilyn,” it’s an hour profile of Marilyn Monroe and it airs Oct. 18 on KCET Channel 28. Included: Her first TV shot on “The Jack Benny Show” and home movies with her foster family, the Howells. Hard to believe, but it’s now 28 years since Monroe died. Lee Remick hosts the hour.

THE OTHER CHEEK: If you go by Emmy Awards, the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences has barely acknowledged the existence of “Dallas” and “Knots Landing.” Yes, Barbara Bel Geddes got an Emmy for “Dallas,” but there hasn’t been much else. Well, David Jacobs, who created both series, isn’t a man to carry a grudge. He just set up an internship at the TV Academy for a Scottish student.

BLUES IN THE NIGHT: Can’t believe that “Cop Rock” dropped to just 13% of the audience last week in its second outing. It was terrific--better than the premiere.

BEING THERE: “A suburban junior high school cafeteria is like a microcosm of the world. The goal is to protect yourself, and safety comes in groups.”--Kevin Arnold in “The Wonder Years.”

Say good night, Gracie. . . .