NBC Breaks Up Thursday Gang : Network Moves ‘Frasier’ and ‘Wings’ to Take On ABC Powerhouses

NBC rolled the dice in a big way Friday, ousting its Top 10 freshman hit “Frasier” from its potent Thursday lineup and scheduling the show head-on against “Roseanne” as the network announced its new fall prime-time schedule.

In a further breakup of the Thursday lineup, NBC also moved another hit, “Wings,” scheduling it against “Full House.” Both “Roseanne” and “Full House” are major, established successes for ABC.

A third show of NBC’s vaunted Thursday lineup, “L.A. Law,” was previously canceled and will broadcast its final original episode next week.

NBC, once king of prime time but now third in the ratings behind CBS and ABC, has been trying to rebuild and is apparently attempting to be aggressive by its direct challenge to the two ABC situation comedies.

At the same time, NBC has also taken heat in the last year for its decision allowing David Letterman to get away to CBS, where he now is No. 1 in late-night. And several seasons ago, NBC took further criticism for unloading “The Golden Girls,” “Matlock,” “In the Heat of the Night” and “Night Court” in its ongoing rebuilding process.

As part of its attempt to recall past glory, NBC has brought back Bill Cosby, once the king of TV comedy whose series was the primary show making the network No. 1 in the 1980s. This fall, however, he will star in a one-hour drama, “The Cosby Mysteries,” as a fellow who solves crimes.

NBC will also add--starting this June but continuing as part of the fall schedule--a second weekly edition of its newsmagazine “Dateline NBC.” The new magazine is called “Dateline NBC II” and will also be anchored by Jane Pauley and Stone Phillips.

In all, NBC’s new fall series included four comedies, four dramas and “Dateline NBC II”--another of the less expensive, network-owned newsmagazines that increasingly are replacing dramas such as “L.A. Law.”

Steven Bochco, co-creator of “L.A. Law,” recently suggested that one of the reasons the much-honored, 8-year-old series is being canceled is that it is not owned by NBC, which therefore cannot make money from it in syndication or foreign sales. “L.A. Law’s” production cost has also reportedly risen to about $1.6 million per episode.

Clearly, however, the most startling aspect of the fall NBC schedule was the breakup of the formidable tandem of “Seinfeld”--which remains on Thursday--and “Frasier,” which was the network’s top-rated new series, ranked seventh among all shows this season and earned favorable reviews.

A spinoff of “Cheers,” another series that NBC lost last season, “Frasier” stars Kelsey Grammer as a radio host who dispenses personal advice on his show. NBC may think the show is young, fresh and strong enough to loosen the ratings hold of the long-running “Roseanne.” It is, nonetheless, a hefty burden to place on a series that has had only one season to develop a following.

Inheriting the choice slot following “Seinfeld” in the fall will be a new sitcom, “Madman of the People,” which stars Dabney Coleman (“Buffalo Bill,” “The Slap Maxwell Story”) as an irreverent columnist whose new boss at a magazine is his daughter.

Meanwhile, inheriting the “Wings” slot following “Mad About You” on Thursday nights will be another new sitcom, “Friends.” It comes from the producers of the admired cable series “Dream On” and stars Courtney Cox (“Family Ties”) as one of “six young adults who are trying to make it in Manhattan.”

With so much at stake for NBC in these two new Thursday comedies, James Burrows--who co-produced “Cheers” and was a major factor in the first year of “Frasier”--was recruited to direct the pilots of both “Madman of the People” and “Friends.”

Replacing “L.A. Law” on the Thursday schedule will be a new drama, “E.R.,” written and produced by author Michael Crichton (“Jurassic Park,” “Rising Sun”) and concerning “a group of young residents who work in the chaotic emergency room of a mammoth Chicago general hospital.”

A decade ago, CBS tried a situation comedy with the same title, “E/R,” which also focused on a hospital emergency room and starred Elliott Gould, but the show failed.

Another “Jurassic Park” principal, Steven Spielberg, also fared well on NBC’s schedule. Despite the disappointing ratings of his new series “seaQuest DSV”--which ranked 81st among 128 shows this season--that show will return, and he is getting a new one to boot, “Earth 2,” a futuristic drama.

In “Earth 2,” says the network, the Earth’s “population is forced to live in gigantic orbiting space stations. (A scientist) organizes a covert expedition to a distant planet that she believes could offer a more livable future for all humankind.”

Other new NBC series include:

* “The Martin Short Show,” a sitcom in which the performer plays a husband and father who stars in a TV variety program. Short serves as a writer and executive producer. Catherine Hicks portrays his wife.

* “Young at Heart,” a sitcom with Gene Wilder as “a late-in-life father who is learning how to cope with raising twin sons.”

* “Sweet Justice,” an hour drama with Melissa Gilbert and Cicely Tyson as “a pair of Southern lawyers determined to champion the underdog.”

The much-praised new drama “Homicide: Life on the Street” also made it back on the schedule.

NBC shows from this season that will not return also include: “Against the Grain,” “Viper,” “The NBC Friday Night Mystery,” “The Mommies,” “Cafe Americain,” “Nurses,” “Winnetka Road,” “Getting By,” “I Witness Video,” “Someone Like Me,” “Saved by the Bell: The College Years,” “The Second Half” and “The Good Life.”

Here is NBC’s night-by-night lineup for fall:

Sunday: “Earth 2,” “seaQuest DSV,” “NBC Sunday Night Movie.”

Monday: “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,” “Blossom,” “NBC Monday Night Movie.”

Tuesday: “Wings,” “The Martin Short Show,” “Frasier,” “The John Larroquette Show,” “Dateline NBC.”

Wednesday: “The Cosby Mysteries,” “Now With Tom Brokaw & Katie Couric,” “Law & Order.”

Thursday: “Mad About You,” “Friends,” “Seinfeld,” “Madman of the People,” “E.R.”

Friday: “Unsolved Mysteries,” “Dateline NBC II,” “Homicide: Life on the Street.”

Saturday: “Young at Heart,” “Empty Nest,” “Sweet Justice,” “Sisters.”