ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, May 28, 1996 TAG: 9605290051
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 2 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: HOLLYWOOD
SOURCE: BRIAN LOWRY LOS ANGELES TIMES
CBS will schedule comedies starring Bill Cosby and Ted Danson back-to-back from 8 p.m.-9 p.m. Mondays next fall, seeking to recapture NBC's glory days of the 1980s and begin rebuilding its prime-time schedule.
CBS, the last network to set its fall schedule, announced its lineup last week. The network is betting heavily on the two established sitcom stars to fortify its Monday lineup - appealing to men as well as women, since the shows will air before ``Monday Night Football'' on the East Coast.
CBS gave Cosby a two-season order to woo him back to television, as well as additional commitments on shows he would produce. The question is whether the star of ``The Cosby Show'' - one of the most popular sitcoms ever - can rebound with viewers after two high-profile failures with a detective show, ``The Cosby Mysteries,'' and the game-show revival ``You Bet Your Life.''
Setting his first schedule since joining the network last summer, CBS Entertainment President Leslie Moonves said he expects the addition of ``Cosby'' and ``Ink,'' the Danson series, to improve Monday ratings 20 percent.
He also said the network is negotiating beyond next year for a 10th season of ``Murphy Brown,'' but that the decision rests with star Candice Bergen.
After making radical changes last fall trying to attract a younger audience, CBS is gradually shifting back to a slightly older appeal. The network has gone with shows such as ``Diagnosis Murder'' and ``48 Hours'' on Thursday, for example, settling for an older audience against NBC's powerhouse lineup.
CBS ranks second in Nielsen homes during the May ratings sweeps but fourth among adults age 18-49, the key sales demographic in the eyes of advertisers.
The network tried introducing 11 new shows last September to stem its ratings free-fall, but those efforts proved largely unsuccessful. Only one show from that freshman class, ``Almost Perfect,'' has been renewed, along with the spring replacement ``Nash Bridges,'' which stars Don Johnson, another NBC alumnus.
CBS will come back with 10 new shows this September, though many of the stars have familiar faces, such as Peter Strauss (as a police psychologist in ``Moloney''), Scott Bakula (in the husband-and-wife detective show ``Mr. & Mrs. Smith''), Ken Olin (chasing crime boss Joe Pantoliano in the cop drama ``EZ Streets'') and Gerald McRaney (the ``Touched by an Angel'' spinoff ``Home of the Brave'').
``Ink'' pairs Danson with real-life wife Mary Steenburgen as a divorced couple running a newspaper. Danson's ``Cheers'' co-star Rhea Perlman joins the party in ``Pearl,'' playing opposite Malcolm McDowell as a poor woman and a snooty Harvard professor.
The other comedies are ``Public Morals,'' producer Steven Bochco's latest, a raunchy show about New York vice cops that may air with a parental-discretion advisory, and ``Everybody Loves Raymond,'' featuring comic Ray Romano as a family man in a David Letterman-produced sitcom.
The final drama, ``Early Edition,'' stars Kyle Chandler (``Homefront'') as a man who can see tomorrow's headlines and uses that power to help people. It lands the slot between ``Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman'' and ``Walker, Texas Ranger,'' while ``Touched by an Angel'' replaces ``Murder, She Wrote'' after ``60 Minutes.''
Shows canceled include ``Can't Hurry Love,'' ``John Grisham's The Client,'' ``Matt Waters,'' ``Bonnie,'' ``American Gothic,'' ``Good Company'' and ``High Society.''
LENGTH: Medium: 67 linesby CNB