What NBC Didn’t Do Gives the Competition Some Hope

NBC made many changes in setting its prime-time schedule for next season, but the other networks breathed a sigh of relief Monday over what the top-rated network didn’t do.

After making bold moves the last two seasons that included relocating “Frasier” to Tuesday and then shifting “Friends” and “Mad About You” to new time slots last fall, there was fear NBC might try to put a stranglehold on Wednesday by scheduling “Friends” or “Seinfeld” that night.

Top-rated NBC will indeed seek to establish a new block of comedy programs on Wednesday, but its anchors at 8 and 9 p.m., respectively, will be “Wings” and “NewsRadio”--shows seen as being considerably less formidable in the ratings than either “Friends” or “Seinfeld.”

The powerhouse Thursday lineup thus returns largely intact, with only one new sitcom--the Brooke Shields vehicle “Suddenly Susan”--to be placed between “Seinfeld” and “ER,” as “Caroline in the City” travels to Tuesday.

Moving “Friends” or “Seinfeld” from Thursday would have been “the one way for them to slam the door” on Wednesday night, noted one executive at a rival network. “This won’t slam the door.”

NBC West Coast President Don Ohlmeyer, presenting the schedule to advertisers in New York, maintained that the upcoming schedule is “as aggressive as our last two were,” citing the comedy expansion and NBC’s decision to attack Saturday with three new dramas.

NBC Entertainment President Warren Littlefield said that adding a comedy block Wednesday “gives us the ability to connect the dots” between its so-called “Must See TV” comedy nights on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Friday is the only night to remain wholly unchanged in NBC’s lineup, which features seven new series as well as “The Jeff Foxworthy Show,” which the network acquired from ABC. In addition, seven returning comedies will occupy new time periods.

With NBC’s schedule set, the other networks can focus on their programming choices. “Spin,” a new comedy starring Michael J. Fox as New York’s deputy mayor, is given the inside track at the post-”Home Improvement” time slot on ABC, while “Ties That Bind”--featuring Elizabeth Perkins as an advertising executive--is likely to follow “Grace Under Fire” on Wednesday.

The big question at CBS is where the network will position new comedies starring Bill Cosby and Ted Danson. Cosby has been discussed for various slots, including 8 p.m. Sunday, though CBS has also flirted with moving “Touched by an Angel” from Saturday to that night.

Meanwhile, the start-up UPN and WB networks continue to show a willingness to feast on leftovers from more-established networks. The WB has picked up “Brotherly Love,” an NBC comedy starring the Lawrence brothers, while UPN has ordered NBC’s Debbie Allen/LL Cool J sitcom “In the House”--having previously kept alive another low-rated NBC series, “Minor Adjustments.”

The fledgling networks seem to feel that the recognition such shows build up on a major network will help bring viewers to their services, which tend to air on weaker TV stations.

Besides “In the House,” UPN has ordered a new series starring former “Cosby Show” kid Malcolm-Jamal Warner as well as a comedy titled “Homeboys in Outer Space,” about the proprietors of a bar on another planet.

The WB is expected to pair “Brotherly Love” with its Kirk Cameron comedy on Sundays while expanding to a third night of programming Monday to complement Sunday and Wednesday nights.

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Beyond shuffling its comedy lineup, NBC’s biggest gambit involves Saturday. The three hourlong shows, all in an escapist vein, are “Dark Skies,” a serial thriller about an alien conspiracy influencing human history; “The Pretender,” featuring “Days of Our Lives’ ” Michael T. Weiss as a super-genius with chameleon-like abilities; and “Profiler,” with Ally Walker as an FBI forensic profiler and Robert Davi as her boss.

In addition to the comedy starring Shields, NBC’s new half-hours are “Mr. Rhodes,” with stand-up comic Tom Rhodes as a prep school teacher; “Something So Right,” with Mel Harris and Jere Burns as newlyweds, which follows “Mad About You”; and “Men Behaving Badly,” based on a popular British comedy about two boorish friends (played by Ron Eldard and Rob Schneider).

NBC also confirmed a number of mid-season shows, including “Fired Up,” a comedy starring “NYPD Blue’s” Sharon Lawrence, who may gradually be phased out of that series; “Chicago Sons,” a Jason Bateman sitcom; “Just Shoot Me,” a father-daughter comedy with Laura San Giacomo and George Segal; and an untitled drama starring Kellie Martin.

Comedies are in the works as well starring Kirstie Alley and Tony Danza, though those shows will likely have to wait for the 1997-98 season.

During the presentation Monday, Jerry Seinfeld also provided the network with encouraging news, saying he’ll stay with his top-rated comedy “as long as we’re doing it as well as we’re doing it, so that means we’re going to be here awhile.” Seinfeld decides annually whether to continue the long-running show.

Inspired by the success of “Gulliver’s Travels,” NBC is also planning a miniseries version of “Homer’s Odyssey,” starring Armand Assante.

NBC’s fall prime-time schedule is as follows:

Monday: “The Jeff Foxworthy Show,” “Mr. Rhodes,” “The NBC Monday Night Movie.”

Tuesday: “Mad About You,” “Something So Right,” “Frasier,” “Caroline in the City,” “Dateline NBC.”

Wednesday: “Wings,” “The John Larroquette Show,” “NewsRadio,” “Men Behaving Badly,” “Law & Order.”

Thursday: “Friends,” “The Single Guy,” “Seinfeld,” “Suddenly Susan,” “ER.”

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

Saturday: “Dark Skies,” “The Pretender,” “Profiler.”

Sunday: “Dateline NBC,” “3rd Rock From the Sun,” “Boston Common,” “The NBC Sunday Night Movie.”