
DATE: Monday, September 8, 1997             TAG: 9709060129

SECTION: DAILY BREAK             PAGE: E1   EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: Column 

SOURCE: Larry Bonko 

                                            LENGTH:  124 lines

THE NEW SEASON NEWHART, HIRSCH AND ALLEY ARE AMONG FAMILIAR FACES RESURFACING THIS FALL

BYE-BYE, Courtney Thorne-Smith. Hello, Courtney Thorne-Smith.

Just when we thought we'd seen the last of Miss Blonde Wholesome All-American Girl Thorne-Smith on Fox on Monday nights, she's come back home. Shortly after leaving behind the role of the alcoholic, abused-as-a-child, unlucky-in-love, can't-hold-a-job, Amanda-hating Alison on ``Melrose Place,'' Thorne-Smith joined the cast of ``Ally McBeal.''

It premieres on Fox tonight at 9 after ``Melrose Place'' begins its sixth season an hour earlier. Thorne-Smith moves up from waitressing at Shooter's on ``MP'' to practicing law on ``Ally McBeal.''

Courtney Thorne-Smith: An old face in a new place.

She is not alone.

As the networks launch 40 new shows this summer and fall - UPN and Warner Brothers already have five on the air - it's as apparent as the hair on Kramer's head that old is new and experience is good. Producers long ago realized that familiar names in the cast help to get their shows on the schedule.

And so we have . . .

Kirstie Alley of ``Cheers'' returning to NBC in a sitcom about models in lingerie, ``Veronica's Closet.'' David Caruso, who left ``NYPD Blue'' for a career in films that never took off, is back in primetime with ``Michael Hayes,'' a drama on CBS that deals with federal attorneys.

Bob Newhart and Judd Hirsch, who have five primetime sitcoms between them, co-star in another, ``George & Leo'' on CBS.

Tony Danza plays a character named Tony for the third time in ``The Tony Danza Show,'' an NBC sitcom. Fred Savage of ``The Wonder Years'' put his senior year at Stanford on hold to star in ``Working,'' a comedy on NBC. Robert Pastorelli, who was a supporting player as Eldin the painter on ``Murphy Brown,'' stars in ``Cracker'' on ABC. It's a remake of a British drama.

Annie Potts, who starred in a drama (``Dangerous Minds'') last season for ABC, plus two other recent sitcoms (``Love & War,'' ``Designing Women''), is back with another comedy, ``Over the Top.'' Jenny McCarthy leaves her sketch comedy series on MTV for ``Jenny'' on NBC, a sitcom set in Los Angeles.

Richard Lewis, who had a fling in primetime with ``Daddy Dearest'' and ``Anything But Love,'' returns with ``Hiller and Diller,'' an ABC sitcom. His co-star is Kevin Nealon of ``Saturday Night Live.'' Tom Arnold's third try at finding a sitcom that works is ``The Tom Show'' on Warner Brothers.

Co-starring with Arnold is Ed McMahon, who's been on TV as Johnny Carson's sidekick, beer pitchman, ``Star Search'' host and Dick Clark's partner in commercials and blooper specials for 43 years.

Scott Baio (remember ``Joanie Loves Chachi''?) was to make a comeback in ``Rewind'' on Fox, but the launch of that sitcom has been postponed. Fox revived ``Living Single'' to replace it.

John Corbett, who was the voice of Cicely, Alaska, as KBHR disc jockey Chris Stevens in ``Northern Exposure,'' stars in a science-fiction drama, ``The Visitor,'' on Fox. Bronson Pinchot, who gave seven years of his life to ``Perfect Strangers,'' is back in sitcoms with ``Meego'' on CBS.

And is there any bigger comeback than that of Bryant Gumbel, formerly of NBC's ``Today'' show, who will host a primetime newsmagazine for CBS on Wednesday nights?

In syndication, look for the return of James Brolin (``Hotel'') in ``Pensacola: Wings of Gold,'' which WVBT will carry 9 p.m. on Fridays. Not changing shows but changing networks is the cast of ``Clueless,'' moving from ABC to UPN. Steve Urkel (played by soon-to-be-21 Jaleel White) and his friends on ``Family Matters'' slide over from ABC to CBS.

The stars with battle ribbons on their chests from previous service in the primetime wars have assorted reasons for coming back to weekly TV. Thorne-Smith said she couldn't say no to producer David E. Kelley when he offered her a supporting role in ``Ally McBeal,'' a sophisticated drama with laughs about a self-doubting Harvard-educated lawyer (played by Calista Flockhart).

Good move, Courtney. It's the best new show of the season.

Pinchot as Meego, a likable 9,000-year-old alien, is back with Nielsen families because he's found a script that allows him to improvise. ``The sky is the limit,'' he said.

Corbett says he simply wanted to get back to work.

Caruso returns to primetime, but not before he sought and received permission from Steven Bochco, the producer of ``NYPD Blue,'' who had Caruso under contract. ``What brought me back to television,'' said Caruso, ``Is that unlike today's bigger-than-life motion pictures, television allows you to explore characters and their relationships. I'm looking forward to developing my character on `Michael Hayes.' ''

There's no mystery why Newhart is doing a sitcom again. Retirement bored him. He tired of golf. ``I missed the creative process. I missed coming to work on Mondays and working on a show all week long until we taped.''

Potts said she was reluctant to rush into another network series so soon after ``Dangerous Minds.'' But when the chance to do a sitcom with Tim Curry came along, she signed on. ``I do love the half-hour sitcom. I'm comfortable with it.''

Savage also had an offer he couldn't refuse from the producers of ``Working.'' Said the college senior who earned fame and fortune playing 12-year-old Kevin Arnold on ``The Wonder Years'' for five seasons, ``I'm really excited about the opportunity to play a grown-up guy on television.''

Alley is in TV for the money, and said so. ``I'm in `Veronica's Closet' because I get to be the star. All I care about is being paid more than anybody else.''

The 74-year-old McMahon, on the other hand, says he sought the role on ``The Tom Show'' - even auditioned for it - not because he needs the salary, but because he's too young to retire. ``I'm full of vim and vigor,'' he said.

And what of Carson? Is he also full of vim and vigor? ``We had lunch not long ago. John looks good. He's healthy and happy in retirement. As for his future in television, his attitude is that he's done it, and it's over for him. I doubt if you'll ever see Johnny Carson doing television again.''

So this will not be the season of Carson's return. But it is the year we welcome back McMahon, Danza, Newhart, Hirsch, Alley, Savage, Arnold and Caruso. Alley's show is in primetime's sweetest time slot - Thursday night on NBC between ``Seinfeld'' and ``ER.''

``I feel like I've won a prize,'' Alley said of being told her show would air Thursday night at 9:30. It's a great place for the former Rebecca Howe of ``Cheers'' to begin her second life in primetime. ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photos]

NBC

ABC

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ABC

AP GRAPHIC

[For a copy of the graphic, see microfilm for this date.]

Left: Annie Potts and Tim Curry star in the sitcom ``Over the Top.''

Right: Robert Pastorelli of ``Murphy Brown'' fame returns in

``Cracker.''