Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, January 30, 1993 TAG: 9301300344
SECTION: SPECTATOR PAGE: S-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LYNN ELBER ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
NEW SERIES SWEEPS MARK MISSEASON
Is Dr. Quinn the tonic for Saturday's Dwindling Audience Syndrome? Are viewers ready for a crime wave? Can anyone equal the sizzle of TV's triple-threat muse, Amy Fisher?Those are among the burning questions as the networks, at the midseason of their 1992-93 lives, cart in fresh shows. The goal is to plug ratings leaks and smoke competitors in the February sweeps.
For highflying CBS, even Saturday night is looking good. The Jane Seymour vehicle "Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman" has the network giddy.
"Everybody said, `Well, people aren't watching anymore on Saturday night.' They're watching if there's something for them to watch and to get excited about," said CBS Entertainment President Jeff Sagansky.
The dismal numbers of such CBS Saturday entries as "Frannie's Turn" and "Angel Street" are a memory. "Dr. Quinn," which enjoyed a Top 10 ratings debut in December, has slipped a bit, but is winning its 8 p.m. slot.
It's also showing promise as the kind of lollipop that CBS hopes will entice young families, part of its demographic mix the older-skewed network wants to bolster.
"Brooklyn Bridge," a critical favorite that foundered on Saturdays, will be back somewhere, sometime, in the spring. About a half-dozen episodes are to be broadcast.
"It's obviously got a groundswell of support out there, and I just pray that most of those people have televisions," joked Sagansky.
Despite its dominance, CBS has seven series ready to replace vanquished duds (is that "The Hat Squad" we hear leaving?).
They include "Dudley" starring Dudley Moore; "Walker, Texas Ranger" with Chuck Norris; "Johnny Bago" with Peter Dobson; Lee Horsley in "Bodies of Evidence" (seen last summer); and "Good Advice" with Treat Williams and Shelley Long.
"A League of Their Own," based on the movie and directed by Penny Marshall, and the reality TV show "How'd They Do That?" also are among the midseason crop.
At third-place NBC, hopes are pinned on police and courtroom dramas. "Homicide: Life on the Street" from filmmaker Barry Levinson makes its debut Sunday night after the Super Bowl and moves into its regular 9 p.m. slot on Wednesday.
"Crime and Punishment" from "Law & Order" creator Dick Wolf previews at 10 p.m. March 3. Its permanent niche has not been announced.
A sitcom with Perry King, "Almost Home," premieres Feb. 6, and a revamped version of the hit 1960s series "Route 66" is scheduled for sometime in spring.
Middle child ABC, which won the last sweeps period but has generally played second fiddle to CBS in the weekly tallies, has four new unscheduled shows in waiting.
They are sitcoms "Home Free" with Matthew Perry and Diana Canova; "Where I Live" starring Doug E. Doug; "Getting By" with Cindy Williams and Thelma Hopkins; and "Sirens," about female rookie officers.
The low-rated, critically admired "Homefront," now on hiatus, gets another chance, returning sometime in the spring.
A clutch of specials has been readied for the Feb. 4-March 3 sweeps, one of four yearly periods used by local stations to set advertising rates.
CBS' intended blockbuster is "Queen," a six-hour miniseries based on the life of the late "Roots" author Alex Haley's grandmother. It airs Feb. 14, 16 and 18.
There's also "Skylark: The Sequel to Sarah Plain and Tall," a Feb. 7 Hallmark Hall of Fame special with Glenn Close and Christopher Walken. On Feb. 28, Naomi Judd makes her acting debut in "Rio Diablo" with Kenny Rogers.
ABC's offerings include a two-hour Flintstones cartoon special, "I Yabba-Dabba Do!," on Feb. 7, a live, 90-minute Oprah Winfrey interview with Michael Jackson on Feb. 10, and the "Billy Ray Cyrus Special - Dreams Come True" on Feb. 17.
NBC is betting on, among others, "Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In 25th Anniversary," Feb. 7; "Fallen Champ: The Untold Story of Mike Tyson," Feb. 12; and "Lucy & Desi: A Home Movie," said to include rare TV and film footage on the comedic couple, on Feb. 14.
At least a half-dozen fact-based movies and miniseries are planned by the networks for the sweeps, including tales of killer dads, killer wives and killer coworkers. As yet, nothing new on Amy Fisher. But who knows? There have been press quips about a Fisher-Buttafuoco musical . . . say it ain't so, Joe.