Is Monday Becoming a Problem for CBS? : Television: The network gambled when it broke up last season’s winning lineup--and the ratings have tailed off.

Calling Dan Quayle. Calling Dan Quayle.

CBS knew how valuable the vice president was when the fall premiere of “Murphy Brown” went through the roof in the ratings--responding to Quayle’s criticism of the series.

The network’s glittering Monday lineup looked untouchable as “Murphy Brown” and “Northern Exposure” were joined by two lively new series about romantic relationships, “Love & War” and “Hearts Afire,” which both drew strong ratings in their early outings.

Suddenly, however, the all-important CBS night has tailed off--especially its two freshman series. It’s just not the same without Quayle’s input.

And when ABC roared to victory in the November ratings sweeps that ended Wednesday, top-ranked CBS had to be hoping that its centerpiece Monday night lineup was only temporarily checkmated.

“Love & War,” with Susan Dey as a saloon owner and Jay Thomas as a newspaper columnist, is from Diane English, creator of “Murphy Brown.”

“Hearts Afire,” with John Ritter and Markie Post as aides to a Southern senator, is from Linda Bloodworth-Thomason, creator of “Designing Women” and “Evening Shade.”

The drop-off of the two new series has been noticeable in recent outings. For the week ending Nov. 15, “Love & War” was down to 23% of the audience and “Hearts Afire” to 22%. For the week ending Nov. 22, each series drew 21%, falling out of the Top 20 shows; “Love & War” lost a sizable chunk of its “Murphy Brown” lead-in.

On Monday, meanwhile, “Hearts Afire” slipped to a 20% audience share, “Love & War” had the evening off and CBS lost the night to the NBC film “Deadly Matrimony.” It has also lost, not unexpectedly, to ABC’s Monday night football.

Those are just cold statistics, however. They could change. And nobody wants to see good shows run into trouble just because they don’t get giant ratings. That’s the kind of wrong thinking that caused CBS to yank “Brooklyn Bridge” and has “I’ll Fly Away” in deep trouble at NBC.

The question is: What happened to cause the recent slide of “Hearts Afire” and “Love & War”? And will they jump back up now that the fiercely competitive sweeps are over, and especially when the football season disappears?

Both “Hearts Afire” and “Love & War” are racy romances that seem to either turn viewers on--or off. “Love & War” also had the misfortune of losing a splendid actor, John Hancock--who played a bartender--to a fatal heart attack. A touching episode paid tribute to him.

It’s possible that while CBS was trying to go uptown with “Love & War” and “Hearts Afire,” the network’s generally traditional audience felt more comfortable with “Designing Women” and “Major Dad,” which were switched from Monday to Friday.

“The biggest area where we’ve lost viewers is in women 50-plus,” says Peter Tortorici, executive vice president of CBS Entertainment. “When you put on new shows, there’s a sorting-out process. Some people find them not to their particular taste.”

Is it the raciness, which has been delicious at times but has also drawn some criticism as being one-note?

“In the case of both shows,” argues Tortorici, “you’re talking about adults in the early phases of a relationship. In a mature relationship, that’s when you do have trouble keeping your hands off each other.”

No argument there.

“At the same time,” continues the CBS executive, “we don’t want it to be monotonous. In both shows, we’re trying to show an organic (growth) of the relationship. In the case of ‘Love & War,’ it’s very unfair to say that it’s one subject over and over. I think both (series) are in the normal phases of a first-year show, learning where to take the stories.”

And ratings will show whether viewers are buying--and whether the Monday lineup can continue to propel CBS.

Even after being whipped in the November sweeps, CBS still is the clear leader over ABC in the season’s ratings. And CBS research and planning chief David Poltrack says the network has “historically performed better in the second half of the season.”

But you can bet that CBS will nonetheless keep a careful eye on Mondays to see if “Murphy Brown” and “Northern Exposure” can sustain themselves or are weakened by the new entries.

The network has virtually turned the night over to English and Bloodworth-Thomason, who have four of the five series and are CBS’ top producers. So it’s likely that the mutual bond will produce patience unless the ratings roof caves in.

Tortorici maintains that Monday nights are “doing very well for us” even though “they’re not at the level of last year.”

ABC, however, had the momentum this week as it won the sweeps with the help of such special programming as “The Jacksons: An American Dream,” “Pretty Woman,” “Matlock” and “Columbo” movies and interview programs hosted by Oprah Winfrey and Barbara Walters.

“And you can’t rule out the contribution of ABC News--it won election night and got strong performances all month from ‘PrimeTime Live’ and ‘20/20,’ ” says a network representative.

Heightening the victory for ABC Entertainment was the promotion of its boss, Robert Iger, this week to president of the ABC Television Network Group.

During the sweeps, ABC replaced such low-rated series as “Delta,” “Room for Two,” “Crossroads,” “Covington Cross” and “Civil Wars” with the high-powered specials--a practice known as “stunting.”

“ABC did a fabulous job of stunting,” says Tortorici. But CBS claims it stuck with more of its regular series to build long-term strength.

That strength, however, depends a lot on Monday.

ABC, with “Roseanne,” “Coach,” “Home Improvement,” “Full House,” “20/20” and “PrimeTime Live,” has a solid enough foundation to make a bid for dominance--if CBS falters.

“We’re still very strong,” says Tortorici. “We have the best hand to play.”

Maybe. But there was never a better hand for CBS than when Dan Quayle was a real card.