‘Coach’ Strengthens ABC on Tuesdays

TV or not TV. . . .

OFF GUARD: All right, so ABC’s “Coach” isn’t exactly art, but stars Craig T. Nelson and Jerry Van Dyke are an amiable sitcom duo.

The Tuesday series, in which Nelson plays a college football coach, drew a solid 28% of TV viewers in its season premiere last week.

ABC’s Tuesday lineup--”Full House,” “Home Improvement,” “Roseanne,” “Coach” and “Homefront”--is its strongest of the week.

And if “Homefront,” a new entry about GIs returning from World War II, takes off in the ratings, ABC could have the kind of blockbuster lineup that CBS has on Monday with “Murphy Brown” and NBC has on Thursday with “The Cosby Show.”

“Coach” is kind of the Rodney Dangerfield of prime time--it doesn’t get much respect. But it is unpretentious, well-executed--and at least it’s not another of those nightmarish, brat-packed sitcoms like “The Torkelsons” and “Step by Step.”

TERMS OF ENDEARMENT: Pregnancy and loss of virginity have been prominent in story lines in the new prime-time television season. But what ever happened to marriage?

Well, you can actually find it in a story line on ABC’s “Pros & Cons” Thursday when two of the leading characters--James Earl Jones and Madge Sinclair, who plays his old friend--finally decide to tie the knot.

Both actors recently won Emmy Awards for their performances in “Gabriel’s Fire,” which was retitled “Pros & Cons” this season as the show switched its setting from Chicago to Los Angeles, took on a lighter tone and added Richard Crenna as Jones’ private-eye partner.

Alas, it’s not likely in these days of television raunchiness that a plain old marriage will give “Pros & Cons” a big and steady boost in the ratings, which the series badly needs.

The format change hasn’t made much difference in the show’s audience appeal, as it is getting slapped around by head-on competitors “The Cosby Show,” “The Simpsons,” “A Different World” and “Top Cops.”

As an indication of the difference in tone between the old “Gabriel’s Fire” and the new “Pros & Cons,” Thursday’s episode also features guest stars June Allyson and Stewart Granger as former motion picture idols.

SURVIVORS: Pretty amazing the way Joan Van Ark and the rest of the “Knots Landing” gang just keep hanging in there successfully for CBS.

ANNIVERSARY: CBS’ intriguing Dec. 7 special, “Remember Pearl Harbor,” about the Japanese attack 50 years ago, now has added Harry Smith as a reporter at the scene, joining co-hosts Charles Kuralt and Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf. The program will be produced in conjunction with the Tokyo Broadcasting System. Smith will also co-anchor his “CBS This Morning” series from Pearl Harbor all week, starting Dec. 2.

FULL HOUSE: Ted Turner has CNN, Jane Fonda and the Atlanta Braves. A guy could do worse.

OVER THERE: Great Britain is about to have its own C-SPAN. It’s tentatively called The Parliamentary Channel, and it hopes to start gavel-to-gavel coverage of the House of Commons in January. Other plans include taped coverage of the House of Lords; pickups of the European Parliament; House of Commons committee hearings; footage from C-SPAN of the U.S. House of Representatives, and viewer call-in.

FATE: Johnny Carson’s 29th--and final--anniversary special last week appropriately pulled 29% of the audience. Can you imagine the tune-in next May 22 when he says goodby to “The Tonight Show”?

TWOSOME: For my money, Marlee Matlin and Mark Harmon of NBC’s “Reasonable Doubts” are TV’s most attractive romantic team since Cybill Shepherd and Bruce Willis of “Moonlighting.” Matlin, especially, is a knockout.

ALL SHOOK UP: KCET Channel 28 devotes all of its prime-time programs to earthquakes on Oct. 17, the second anniversary of the big one in Northern California.

SECOND LOOK: Caught the 1959 version of the ultimate soap opera “Imitation of Life” on the American Movie Classics channel and was appalled at how crudely the film handled the racial sequences. But Mahalia Jackson’s song at the funeral service is still thrilling.

DIFFERENCES: The National Federation of the Blind doesn’t like the blind, klutzy psychiatrist character on ABC’s new sitcom “Good & Evil.” The show’s creator, Susan Harris, said before the series debuted: “I expect some people to find that offensive. But the character was a klutz before the accident that blinded him. He’s very independent, wants to function on his own, and, in doing so, he gets some laughs. In no way do we want to make fun of blind people.”

DON’T CALL US, WE’LL CALL YOU: In a wild burst of imagination last week, we retitled the “Evening Shade” sitcom “Evening Dad.” We like it. There’s a series in that title.

DOC HOLLYWOOD: KTLA Channel 5 has renewed “The Late Mr. Pete Show,” starring the former waiter, public-access star and Emmy winner Peter Chaconas, through the end of the year. Will this hysteria never end? Of course not. After that, it’s possible national syndication for Mr. Pete, whom we first met during his chores as a waiter at the Authentic Cafe on Beverly Boulevard across from CBS.

MEMOIR: Michael Landon’s longtime publicist and friend, Harry Flynn, and his wife, Pamela, have written a book recalling the late star, with the cooperation of the actor’s famous show business friends. It’s called “Michael Landon: Life, Love & Laughter” (Pomegranate Press: $9.95). Photos by veteran Hollywood lenser Gene Trindl.

ONE MAN’S OPINION: Our three favorite TV channels are all cable: CNN, C-SPAN and American Movie Classics.

BEING THERE: According to David Letterman, one of the Top 10 ways to make communism fun again is: “Have Castro do guest shot on ‘Cosby.’ ”

Say good night, Gracie. . . .