THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, August 2, 1994 TAG: 9408020039
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: LARRY BONKO
DATELINE: LOS ANGELES LENGTH: Medium: 73 lines
FOR THE MOMENT, the popular sitcom starring Roseanne Barr Pentland Arnold and her nicely dysfunctional family living in Lanford, Ill., is where it has always been on the ABC schedule - Tuesday night at 9.
But do not be surprised, channel surfers, if ABC Entertainment President Ted Harbert moves ``Roseanne'' to Wednesday night at 9 and replaces it on Tuesdays with ``Home Improvement.''
Move ``Home Improvement,'' the most-watched show on network TV? Re-locate ``Roseanne,'' which is still a Top 10 sitcom?
Has Harbert gone mad?
No, he's trying to stay one jump ahead of the competition, NBC. Harbert and the other network executives are playing a chess game in which millions of dollars in advertising are at stake.
This chess game began when NBC's No. 1 programmer, Warren Littlefield, decided to move ``Frasier'' from it's 9:30 p.m. time slot on Thursday, after ``Seinfeld,'' to Tuesday night at 9 in direct competition with ``Roseanne.''
The NBC brass believes that ``Roseanne,'' in its seventh season on ABC, is a show in decline and can be overtaken in the ratings by a hot new series such as ``Frasier.'' That show has been nominated for 11 Emmys, and recently ascended to No. 1 in the ratings during the summer rerun blahs.
When Harbert met the TV press here, he acknowledged the rumor that he will move the network's most popular show, ``Home Improvement,'' against ``Frasier,'' thereby blunting NBC's move to sweep the Tuesday night ratings.
``We've been kicking around the idea since May,'' said Harbert. ``We . . . could make the move at any time.''
Does Roseanne know that ABC is thinking of moving her show to Wednesday at 9 p.m.?
No, she doesn't. Harbert said he hasn't discussed these plans with Roseanne because she's been vacationing far from Hollywood.
It wouldn't surprise me if Roseanne erupts like Vesuvius when she hears talk of ABC's pulling her show from the time slot where it has prospered and made millions for her and the network. What she thinks won't matter, however.
``Frasier'' is a threat to ABC's Tuesday night lineup, Harbert said. ``With that in mind, we'll do what's best for us.''
If ``Frasier'' goes head to head against ``Roseanne,'' the real loser is you - the viewer. You'll have to decide which of TV's two best sitcoms you want to watch. Same deal on Thursday night at 10, when both NBC (with ``E.R.'') and CBS (with ``Chicago Hope'') will air two better-than-average dramas about life in big-city hospitals at the same time. Which to choose?
Rumor has it that CBS will move ``Chicago Hope'' to Friday at 10 p.m. and bring in ``Picket Fences'' to battle ``E.R.'' at 10 on Thursday night. The producers of ``Chicago Hope'' want the ``Northern Exposure'' time slot at 10 Mondays but won't get it, said CBS execs.
And NBC is rock-solid about ``Frasier.'' It's at 9 p.m. Tuesday night to stay, Littlefield said.
Your move, Mr. Harbert.
Because ``Frasier'' has vacated the time slot after ``Seinfeld,'' what show has been scheduled for 9:30 Thursday night on NBC, one of the hottest time slots on TV? It's a new series starring Dabney Coleman, ``Madman of the People,'' and not a very good show at that, judging by what I saw of it here.
Not good. But not a disaster.
That honor - worst new show of the season - goes to a sitcom NBC has scheduled for 8:30 Tuesday night preceding ``Frasier.'' It's a mess, starring Martin Short - another of those TV shows about a TV show. Short is out of control here.
Martin's show will be gone before Halloween arrives. But ``Rose-anne'' and ``Home Improvement'' will be around for years.
But in what time slots? MEMO: Larry Bonko's Infoline number is 640-5555, Category 3333. The wrong
number was giving in Monday's column.
by CNB