Networks’ Future: Make ‘Em Laugh : Television: Following a tradition of imitation, the Big Four have scheduled 23 new comedies among 34 start-up series.

The one constant in TV’s annual new prime-time lineups is that network executives, oriented toward Hollywood and New York, almost never have their hand on the public pulse--except by imitating past hits.

In the fall of 1984, for instance, three hits emerged from ideas the networks thought dead: “The Cosby Show,” at a time when comedy was out of fashion; “Murder, She Wrote,” a soft mystery with an older woman as a crime-solver; and Michael Landon’s “Highway to Heaven,” which had a do-good, religious theme.

Last season, no one at NBC had a clue that “ER” would be the phenomenal smash that it was. It was a project that had languished for several decades.

So what are we to make of the four fall network schedules released in the last two weeks? Well, again, as has been noted correctly, imitation is the sincerest form of television.

And one message for fall is clear: Make ‘em laugh.

With “Seinfeld,” “Friends,” “Home Improvement” and “Grace Under Fire” setting a blistering ratings pace, the Big Four networks are offering 23 new comedies among their upcoming 34 freshman series.

The other 11 shows are dramas, and another message here is that--unlike the creeping sleaze and tabloidization of recent years--there are no new prime-time newsmagazines or reality shows scheduled at present.

This is good news for dramas, many of which have been displaced by the less expensive reality programming and now may find themselves with several more weekly hours in the future. With “ER” and “NYPD Blue” blasting through as huge hits in the last two seasons--ranking in the Top 10 in the 1994-95 semester--the drama form has been given new life.

Thus, much attention will be focused on producer Steven Bochco’s new drama in the fall, “Murder One,” which unfortunately will go up against “ER” but has a provocative premise: following a single case through the entire season and perhaps benefiting from public fascination with the ongoing television coverage of the trials of the Menendez brothers and O.J. Simpson.

Newsmagazines are not disappearing. But whereas there once were about 10 on the four networks, there now will be seven--”Dateline NBC” three times a week, plus “20/20” and “PrimeTime Live” on ABC and “60 Minutes” and “48 Hours” on CBS. Gone are CBS’ “Eye to Eye With Connie Chung” and ABC’s “Day One.” ABC’s “Turning Point” will be seen occasionally.

As for the reality series, NBC’s “Unsolved Mysteries” will return weekly but CBS’ “Rescue 911” now is a backup show. And Fox’s “Cops” and “America’s Most Wanted” have each been cut from an hour to 30 minutes. While local stations reportedly do well selling ads for such shows, the networks have a tougher time. And Madison Avenue calls the shots.

That, alas, is the basis for another big message this fall: Make ‘em young.

Since sponsors, far more than viewers, decide the course of TV programming--providing the networks with huge income--advertisers now have persuaded all of the Big Four, including even the older-oriented CBS, to focus above all on the 18-to-49-year-old audience because of its supposed spending habits.

That means we will be getting shows that are younger, relatively racy, contemporary and often urban. And that trend will be felt through much of the overall prime-time schedule of new and returning shows, which are composed of 50 comedies and 30 dramas, plus the assorted newsmagazines, reality programs and weekly movies.

Significantly, the under-18 audience will be slighted as much as the post-49 crowd because family shows highlighting kids in the 8-9 p.m. hour are becoming passe, with more young-adult shows and themes taking over this programming area as well.

Racier, adult shows will be seen in greater numbers at 8 p.m., including “Mad About You,” “Living Single,” “Martin,” “Friends,” “Roseanne,” “Ellen,” “Beverly Hills, 90210” and “Melrose Place”--some of which have been rescheduled to the earlier time slot as the trend of prime-time frankness is stepped up.

Most aggressive in this area at the moment is NBC, which is red-hot after the recent successes of “ER,” “Frasier” and “Friends,” and is pushing front-running ABC for the top ratings position with viewers.

NBC, a laughingstock just a few seasons back, now is going for the jugular. This season, it threw “Frasier” up against ABC’s “Home Improvement” and checkmated the No. 1 show, knocking it down several notches.

And last week, NBC switched “Mad About You” to 8 p.m. Sundays next fall, a slot that CBS’ “Murder, She Wrote” has ruled for years. This week, CBS, announcing its own schedule, switched “Murder, She Wrote” to Thursdays and is giving its old 8 p.m. Sunday time period to Cybill Shepherd’s new situation comedy, “Cybill.”

In short, NBC has gone after the No. 1 entertainment shows on both of the other major networks and, in perception at least, is the driving force at the moment in big-league television.

CBS’ move of “Murder, She Wrote” to Thursdays raises some points about how the network now will do on what has been its biggest night--Sundays. With “60 Minutes” no longer getting the lead-in of National Football League games--which CBS lost to Fox last year--and no longer getting the lead-out of “Murder, She Wrote,” will the venerable newsmagazine be able to deliver as many viewers as in the past?

NBC noted last week that 8 p.m. Sunday is the most-watched hour on TV, and the move of Angela Lansbury’s “Murder, She Wrote” thus leaves the highly desired time period up for grabs in a major matchup next season.

Competing for the pivotal time slot come fall, besides CBS’ “Cybill” and NBC’s “Mad About You,” are Fox’s “The Simpsons,” which is over the hill but still a force, and ABC’s “Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman,” an admired show that could get a lift from the departure of “Murder, She Wrote.”

The series most likely to have an impact throughout network TV next season is NBC’s “Friends,” which is young, adult, urban and contemporary--and itself a sort of derivation of “Seinfeld.” James Burrows, who directed the pilot of “Friends,” says it spawned a fistful of imitations, and some of them appear to be on the schedule.

Imitations or not, you’ll find the theme of friends in various new comedies including NBC’s “Single Guy,” ABC’s “The Drew Carey Show” and Fox’s “Misery Loves Company.” Friendship is hardly a new TV concept--consider even the late “Cheers”--but the renewed emphasis on young pals seems to suit sponsor purposes perfectly.

The regrettable part of next season is that it won’t contain some of the best shows that have come down the pike in years but were canceled--including ABC’s “My So-Called Life” and CBS’ “Northern Exposure,” “Under Suspicion” and “Under One Roof,” a rare attempt at a drama about an African American family.

ABC also dropped the principled--and quite successful--family sitcom “Me and the Boys” because it was too “kid-driven” for the new young-adult push in the early prime-time hours. The cancellation was a sobering and regrettable sign of the times for families looking for positive TV images.

The biggest single shake-up came at CBS, where the network is in deep trouble after a disastrous season. CBS dropped eight of its 22 prime-time hours, scheduling six new comedies and five new dramas for the fall. Among its new hopes next season:

Andrew (Dice) Clay, with a new image as a working-class father in the sitcom “Bless This House”; talk host Montel Williams as a teacher in the drama “Matt Waters”; and the drama “Central Park West” from Darren Star, creator of “Melrose Place” and “Beverly Hills, 90210.”

Final signpost: Pacesetter NBC, king of young, urban comedies, scheduled seven new series--and six of them are sitcoms. That gives NBC 16 comedies next season.

Laugh.