Commentary : CBS bridges the quality gap, especially on Mondays

Monday on CBS is becoming the new Best Night of Television, the way Thursday on NBC was throughout the ‘80s.

CBS comedies “Murphy Brown,” “Evening Shade” and “Designing Women” have all evolved into respectable hits, and the quirky comedy-drama “Northern Exposure” keeps adding to its large following.

The only ringer in the group is “Major Dad,” a formula sitcom with no potential for ever hitting one out of the ballpark. It just bunts, week after week, dull and dolorous.

Wouldn’t it be nice, we were thinking, if “Brooklyn Bridge,” the finest new series of the year, could be moved into the Monday night lineup, bouncing “Major Dad” out of there and making an already exceptional night of TV even more so?

Honchos and mucky-mucks at CBS, however, were emphatic in denying that any such plan is in the works.

“Oh, no no no no,” said the excitable Howard Stringer, president of CBS Broadcast Group, from New York. “We have not discussed moving ‘Brooklyn Bridge’!”

“Absolutely not,” said CBS executive vice president Peter Tortorici.

Said Gary David Goldberg, executive producer of “Brooklyn Bridge”: “Everybody wants to be on Monday night, of course, but I’m just thrilled they let us do this show at all.”

Friday is a less desirable night than Monday for any show because there are fewer homes using television. Sunday and Monday are the big viewing nights of the week.

Goldberg also faces an uphill battle because ABC gets big ratings, mostly from younger viewers, with its “T.G.I.F.” lineup of Friday night sitcoms. But Tortorici insisted that leaving “Brooklyn Bridge” where it is could help bring adult viewers back to Fridays, now largely given up to kids.

“For a long time, we were kicking ass on Friday nights with ‘Dallas’ and ‘Falcon Crest.’ Now the adult audience has been abandoned,” Tortorici said. “What we really want to do is give adult viewers, who for the past few years have not been watching network television on Fridays, a reason to come back.”

So far, “Brooklyn Bridge” is getting merely OK ratings on Fridays. The program joyfully celebrates America’s ethnic diversity, with many of the principal characters Jewish. Industry observers say Friday night is a particularly bad night for such a series because it falls on the beginning of the Jewish sabbath.

Thus many viewers who might like to watch, can’t.

If “Brooklyn Bridge” is moved to another night later in the season (when some other CBS series is canceled), Monday won’t be it. “Major Dad” is comfortably ensconced, and network brass are hardly in a mood to tamper with their success.

The Monday-night triumph is another sign that CBS has wrested away from NBC the “quality network” title that NBC held for years. ABC looked like it would have the “quality network” statuette on display in its trophy case for awhile, but when ABC Entertainment President Bob Iger canceled “thirtysomething,” “Twin Peaks” and “China Beach” all in the same season, he forfeited the prize.

Indeed, he all but drop-kicked it out the window.

“These guys,” says Goldberg, meaning the CBS programming department, “are head and shoulders above the other guys right now, especially NBC.” This could be the year of the CBS comeback. “Brooklyn Bridge” will probably be an important part of that, even if it stays put on Fridays.

And as for Mondays: the best night of television is now as good as it’s going to get.