Beleaguered NBC Bravely Keeps Drama Form Alive

TV or not TV. . . .

HANGING TOUGH: And now a little credit where credit is definitely due. . . .

NBC, in trouble on various fronts, nonetheless is grittily offering a fistful of decent weekly dramas while other networks desert the form.

Viewers looking for adult, one-hour, 10 p.m. drama series can find no less than five on NBC: “L.A. Law,” “Quantum Leap,” “Law & Order,” “Reasonable Doubts” and “Sisters.”

In the current ratings madness, marginal entries such as “Reasonable Doubts” are often endangered and short-lived. But it would be nice to see NBC stick with its 10 p.m. shows.

What’s more, NBC also has the worthy weekly dramas “I’ll Fly Away” and “In the Heat of the Night.”

“I’ll Fly Away,” with Sam Waterston and Regina Taylor, is also marginal after a surprisingly strong start, but has brought only honor to the network since its fall arrival.

This is a season in which NBC is overly dependent on aging series (“Cheers,” “The Cosby Show”) and older stars (Robert Stack, Andy Griffith). And the TV industry smells blood with a predicted NBC collapse after six seasons at the top.

But for viewers--whose prime interest is the pleasure they can get from the tube--NBC is the drama network, hands-down.

HERESY: All in all, this is not a bad new TV season, even acknowledging that it is distinctly conservative.

Continuing this unthinkable, favorable judgment, we admit, first of all, that we miss “China Beach,” “thirtysomething,” “Twin Peaks” and--yes--”Cop Rock.”

Nonetheless, we have enjoyed the new ABC series “Home Improvement” and “Homefront,” not to mention the recently yanked “Good & Evil.”

We have also enjoyed the new CBS entry “Brooklyn Bridge” and are truly sad at the passing of the wondrous Redd Foxx, who was so good with Della Reese in “The Royal Family.”

We like the new Fox situation comedy called “Roc.” But Fox has really got to get out there and promote it better.

And NBC has several neat freshman series, including “I’ll Fly Away,” “Reasonable Doubts” and “Eerie, Indiana.”

Some of these series--more than some, perhaps--may not be around long. But any new TV season that brings more than half a dozen appealing network series isn’t bad at all.

TEAMWORK: Audrey Hepburn told cable’s Larry King that she’d like to do another movie with Gregory Peck, her old “Roman Holiday” co-star. Hey, I’d buy a ticket.

And Jerry Lewis, also visiting with King, paid quite a tribute to his old comedy partner, Dean Martin: “He was the key to everything I did. He was the act, the greatest straight man that ever lived.”

ON THE ROAD: Do you think Lindsay Wagner would mind if someone told her she’s never been better than in those Ford commercials?

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: “Early to bed and early to rise--you’ll never meet no interesting people,” said a character in the old Lionel Barrymore movie “Sweepings” on cable.

FRIGHT NIGHT: All of Fox’s Thursday prime-time series--”The Simpsons,” “Drexell’s Class” and “Beverly Hills, 90210”--have Halloween stories this week.

HYPOCRITES: I watch those disclaimers by TV stations saying they’re not responsible for the infomercials they put on, and I wonder: Why do these stations have licenses if they’re not responsible for their programming? Huh? I mean, get real. And isn’t the FCC watching?

RSVP: Some people I know are still in a tizzy trying to figure out from the story line whether Alexis was--or wasn’t--really invited over to the Carrington joint in last week’s “Dynasty: The Reunion.” Maybe there’ll be a flashback in the next get-together.

NIGHTLY NEWS: “The editor of Rand McNally, the U.S. map book, died,” reported Johnny Carson. “He’s being buried in Dayton, Ohio at E-13 on Page 12. Flowers may be sent to G-2 on Page 6.”

FUNNY LADY: Tracey Ullman’s stature took another leap forward last week in her knockout hosting sequence on NBC’s nifty “Funny Women of Television” special, presented by the New York Museum of Television and Radio.

IN THE MOOD: Say what you will about cable, but it’s pretty thrilling to be able to zap from the Mills Brothers singing “Up a Lazy River” on the Nostalgia Channel to the Commitments knocking out “Try a Little Tenderness” on VH-1. A little cultural history right before your eyes.

PUZZLEMENT: “We’re a solid success in our nation’s capital, in New York City and in Philadelphia. Guess where we bomb out?” asks Barney Rosenzweig, producer of “The Trials of Rosie O’Neill,” which returns Thursday. “You got it. Los Angeles. I don’t understand it.” What’s to understand? This is a town where “Married . . . With Children” does great.

KNOWING THE ROPES: Here’s how Lucille Ball assessed her Lucy character: “What comes to mind immediately is what the characters around me must not do. Their reactions to me have got to be in a certain vein. If we are in a dangerous spot, the audience mustn’t think I’m hurt--not really. There’s a funny way to cry and a funny way to be hurt and a funny way to be angry and that’s what I’ve learned.”

PRAISE INDEED: Imogene Coca on Candice Bergen as “Murphy Brown”: “She’s wonderful. It’s a beautifully written character.”

MAGIC: Watching former Celtic Bob Cousy talk to Roy Firestone on ESPN, you understood the legacy of intelligence that the great guard, along with Bill Russell, has left the Boston basketball franchise to this day.

BEING THERE: “We can admit that we’re killers, but we’re not going to kill today. That’s all it takes--knowing that you’re not going to kill . . . today !”--Capt. Kirk (William Shatner) in “Star Trek.”

Say good night, Gracie. . . .