And in This Corner . . . : Some Old Favorites Go Head-to-Head in New TV Season

It’s bound to be jarring: “60 Minutes” ends and, for the umpteenth time, viewers wait Sunday at 8 p.m. for Jessica Fletcher to poke around for clues to a murder.

Instead, come Sept. 17, they’ll be transported light-years away from Cabot Cove to the sophisticated, very adult world of “Cybill,” starring Cybill Shepherd.

If they don’t like that, they’ll have other attractive places to turn: NBC’s “Mad About You,” which is moving to Sundays; ABC’s “Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman” or Fox’s “The Simpsons.” They can even see “Murder, She Wrote” reruns, which the USA Network has slyly scheduled in the time period now that CBS is shifting the first-run episodes to Thursdays.

Just how does “Cybill” plan to keep viewers from switching channels?

“We’re going to solve a lot of murders on this show and open it with Cybill typing,” executive producer Jay Daniel deadpans.

Once again this fall, the networks have gone cutthroat--even if it means breaking with 11 years of tradition and moving “Murder, She Wrote” from its Sunday home. Viewers will scurry to program their VCRs, or will become completely frustrated, as they find one favorite show slotted against another and some of the most eagerly anticipated new series given the toughest time slots.

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There’s Thursday, when NBC’s monster hit “ER” will fight ABC’s new Steven Bochco series “Murder One”; Tuesdays, when “Roseanne” goes against “Wings” and the new CBS drama “John Grisham’s The Client”; and Wednesdays, when ABC’s “Ellen” faces CBS’ new sitcom “Bless This House,” as well as Fox’s “Beverly Hills, 90210” and NBC’s “seaQuest DSV.”

But it’s Sunday--the most-watched night of the week--that’s viewed as the most competitive this season.

“There are four worthy shows in that time period, four shows that have all worked,” says Leslie Moonves, president of CBS Entertainment. “It’s clearly an interesting battleground.”

While “Lois & Clark” gained strength last season, and “The Simpsons” will continue to draw families and children, the consensus among advertising executives is that the contest for first place will be between “Cybill” and “Mad About You.”

“It could very well end up a tie,” says Barry Cooper, manager of network analysis for BBDO Worldwide, a New York advertising agency. “ ‘Cybill’ is starting with a much bigger audience [from “60 Minutes”], but she’s going to lose it.”

As could be expected, NBC executive Preston Beckman sees “Mad About You” as stronger and its CBS sitcom competitor as “nothing more than a satellite show.”

“I honestly believe that ‘Mad About You’ is the most ‘Murder, She Wrote’ friendly,” says Beckman, senior vice president for program planning and scheduling. “I don’t know where ’60 Minutes’ is compatible to ‘Cybill.’ ”

Last year, “Mad About You” increased its ratings in the leadoff position of NBC’s Thursday night lineup, even though network affiliates saw their ratings drop with syndicated programming in the half hour before the comedy.

“I just don’t think ‘Cybill’ is a ‘Roseanne’ or a ‘Home Improvement,’ ” Beckman says, referring to two of ABC’s ratings powerhouses.

NBC slotted “Frasier” against “Home Improvement” last year and came in a strong second in the time period. “I feel more comfortable with this [“Mad About You”] move,” Beckman says. “The potential is to go in there and win the time period.”

On the other hand, CBS executives and “Cybill” producers see their show as a rising star against several aging series.

“ ‘Mad About You’ is a fine show,” producer Daniel says. “We just hope that ‘Cybill’ is a little bit fresher because ‘Mad About You’ has been on for a long time.”

The networks also have pitted high-profile comedies on Tuesdays at 8 p.m., with ABC’s “Roseanne” against NBC’s “Wings,” and on Wednesdays at 8 p.m., with ABC’s “Ellen” versus CBS’ “Bless This House,” a highly promoted comedy described as a “Honeymooners” for the 1990s starring Andrew Clay and Cathy Moriarty.

The Wednesday shows will be competing with Fox’s “Beverly Hills, 90210,” which had been regarded as aging at the start of last season but went on to enjoy its best season ever.

“You have to give credit to ‘90210’ for attracting that young adult audience,” says Alan Sternfeld, ABC’s senior vice president of program planning and scheduling. “We’ve all been chasing them.”

Advertising experts see CBS as trying to lure those viewers at 9 p.m. on Wednesdays, when “Central Park West” will air. The soap opera, revolving around a group of young, bold and beautiful adults in Manhattan, was created by Darren Star, who created “90210” and “Melrose Place.”

Similarly, CBS also has scheduled “American Gothic”--a dark, “Twin Peaks”-esque drama about an evil sheriff in a small Southern town--at 10 p.m. on Fridays, right after Fox’s paranormal thriller “The X-Files.”

Both moves are viewed as risky, given that the network is seemingly trying to benefit from another network’s lead-in.

“The concept of almost a spiritual lead-in or a psycho-graphic lead-in is not easy,” says Betsy Frank, executive vice president at Zenith Media Services. “It’s almost something that viewers will have to promote among themselves.”

CBS’ Moonves denies that the strategy is to lure Fox viewers. “It’s not about getting the Fox audience; it’s about getting a younger audience,” he says.

A strong word of mouth is what ABC is hoping for to help “Murder One,” which for the entire season will track a single homicide case as it goes through the judicial system. The show has drawn good early buzz among critics and advertising executives, although no one predicts that “ER” can be toppled.

Instead, experts see room for “Murder One” to draw the male audience, given that “ER’s” core group of viewers is female.

“It’s going to be a very good show, although part of it will be convincing viewers that if they miss a week, they can come back next week,” says Cooper of BBDO.

ABC’s Sternfeld says that the show will skillfully recap story lines, and that 40% to 50% of an episode will be self-contained, like “L.A. Law.” And to hook viewers, ABC will program the show in “NYPD Blue’s” Tuesday slot for the first three weeks, then move it to its regular time period Oct. 12.

“ ‘ER’ went largely unopposed by two newsmagazines last season,” Sternfeld says. “There is room for both to complement each other like ‘Knots Landing’ and ‘L.A. Law’ did for so many years.”

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Fall’s Key Battlegrounds

SUNDAYS AT 8 P.M.

MURDER, SHE LEFT: “Murder, She Wrote” moves to another night, but Jessica Fletcher isn’t gone from Sundays. Analysts say it’s a long shot, but the USA network could siphon some viewers with reruns of the venerable mystery series. The door is open for “Lois & Clark” (ABC) to strengthen its ratings. But with “The Simpsons” (Fox) fading, the consensus is that “Cybill” (CBS) and “Mad About you” (NBC) will split the audience.

TUESDAYS AT 8 P.M.

VETERAN VS. VETERAN: It’s a tossup between two againg sitcoms, but advertising execs see staying power in “Roseanne” over NBC’s “Wings.” Name identity could help “John Grisham’s The Client” (CBS) but movie spinoffs on TV have a shaky history.

THURSDAYS AT 10 P.M.

DRAMATIC LICENSE: In this battle of the prestigious dramas, few analysts expect “Murder One”--which follows a murder trial through the entire season--to overtake the stylish medical drama “ER.” Some predict that ABC eventually will move the Steven Bochco show from the time period, as CBS did last season with “Chicago Hope.”