Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, June 5, 1993 TAG: 9306050769
SECTION: SPECTATOR PAGE: S-15 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BILL CARTER THE NEW YORK TIMES
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
With the new shows, ABC will substantially revamp its lineup, and perhaps most boldly, has risked the wrath of its biggest star, Roseanne Arnold, by canceling her husband Tom's comedy, "The Jackie Thomas Show."
"Jackie Thomas" had performed reasonably well in the ratings, finishing at No. 16, normally a guarantee of renewal. But ABC executives were concerned that the series was losing up to 25 percent of the vast audience that watched "Roseanne," which preceded it.
Arnold had threatened to take "Roseanne" to another network after the coming season (her contract requires her to do one more year on ABC) if her husband's show was not renewed. ABC did not blink.
Now Arnold is expected to sign a deal to star in a new comedy for CBS to be written and produced by Linda Bloodworth-Thomason. An executive close to Arnold said that deal would be completed shortly.
But both Arnolds have decided to go ahead with a deal to produce shows other than "Roseanne" for ABC, even though Roseanne had threatened to pull out if the network did not renew "Jackie Thomas."
One show that ABC did renew, "Where I Live," benefited from a campaign by prominent blacks who called top ABC executives to say that the show was the most accurate and positive portrayal of black life on television. Among those who called were the Rev. Jesse Jackson, Bill Cosby and Coretta Scott King.
ABC will add six new situation comedies, and one hourlong comedy show to the schedule. Inheriting the best available spot, Wednesday at 9:30, following the smash "Home Improvement," will be "Grace Under Fire," which stars the stand-up comedian Brett Butler (not the Dodger outfielder) as a single mother working in an oil refinery and raising three young children.
The other comedies:
"Phenom," Tuesday at 8:30, concerns a 15-year-old tennis star and her obnoxious coach, who is played by William Devane. It is from the James L. Brooks ("Taxi," "Broadcast News") production company.
"Thea," Wednesday at 8, features another stand-up comedian, Thea Vidale, playing a widowed inner-city mother of four.
"Joe's Life," Wednesday at 8:30, has Peter Onorati, the star of "Civil Wars," playing an out-of-work father of two forced to run the home while his wife works.
In "Boy Meets World," Friday at 8:30, Ben Savage, younger brother of Fred Savage, the "Wonder Years" star, looks at life through the eyes of an 11-year-old.
"George," Saturday at 8, brings George Foreman, a stand-up boxer now renowned more for comedy, to television as an ex-boxer turned school guidance counselor.
There will be an hourlong comedy called "The Paula Poundstone Show," with the comic being the host of a series that ABC is saying will indeed be comedy, not variety. It will be shown Saturdays at 9.
Two new dramas could be called Drama Lite, and they emphasize adventure. In "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman," Sunday at 8, the comic-book characters ride again in a 1990s format. Most of the familiar names turn up, including Lex Luthor and Jimmy Olsen. In "Do the Strand," (Wednesday at 10), a well-read private eye teams up with an impetuous beauty for offbeat investigations, like "Moonlighting," only set in the South Beach section of Miami.
Another drama is called "Missing Persons" (Thursday at 8) and it brings Daniel J. Travanti of "Hill Street Blues" back to television as the head of a missing-persons division of the Chicago police.
A more serious drama is the latest creation of Steven Bochco of "Hill Street" and "L.A. Law." "NYPD Blue" (Tuesday at 10) is a look at a New York City detective, and his less-than-pretty life.
ABC is moving several other surviving shows around on its schedule. "Coach" goes back to Tuesdays at 9:30, after "Roseanne," (now that "Jackie Thomas" has left); "Hangin' With Mr. Cooper," which struggled on Tuesdays at 8:30, will be shifted to Fridays at 9:30, and the duo "America's Funniest Videos" and "America's Funniest People" moves up an hour to start at 7 p.m. on Sunday nights.
Among the other shows ABC is dropping because of disappointing ratings are "Delta," "Homefront," "Life Goes On," "Doogie Howser, M.D." "Civil Wars" and "The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles."
Two other ABC half-hour shows, "American Detective" and "FBI: The Untold Stories" are being dropped in favor of "Day One," the third news-magazine program from ABC News. The hourlong news program will move from Sunday night to Monday at 8.
by CNB