
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, August 27, 1994                   TAG: 9408310021
SECTION: SPECTATOR                    PAGE: S-9   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: By SCOTT WILLIAMS ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: NEW YORK                                LENGTH: Short

ABC SHUFFLES `ROSEANNE,' `FRASIER' FALL SCHEDULES

ABC pulled its aging hit "Roseanne" out of a fall schedule fight with the rising young sitcom "Frasier," sending television's top show, "Home Improvement," to face the challenge instead.

"Home Improvement" and its Wednesday night companion show, sixth-ranked "Grace Under Fire," will swap places with "Roseanne" and its Tuesday night companion show, "Ellen," beginning Sept. 20.

"Roseanne" and "Ellen" will make their season debuts the following night, opposite "Dateline NBC" and CBS' hourlong "Touched by an Angel."

"This change maximizes the strength of these assets by positioning them in a way that will keep ABC dominant in these time periods for many seasons to come," ABC Entertainment President Ted Harbert said Tuesday.

"Roseanne," has been a Top Five hit on Tuesdays since it debuted Oct. 18, 1988, starring a standup comedian named Roseanne Barr, who since has shed her surnames. It was fourth last season, behind "60 Minutes" and "Seinfeld."

"We think it is a very interesting move," said Ed Harrison, a West Coast NBC Entertainment spokesman. "It certainly shows that ABC had tremendous respect for `Frasier,' as do audiences.

"We believe that `Frasier' will perform well wherever it is on our schedule." There was no immediate word on whether NBC contemplated any countermoves to ABC's shuffle.

by CNB