Thursday, April 29, 1982

HESTER RICHES

BY HESTER RICHES A FTER HOLLYWOOD strikes disrupted the beginnings of the last two seasons, the three U.S. networks are gearing up for a traditional fall launch in September. NBC's first draft of the new schedule was revealed yesterday, and ABC and CBS will make announcements next week.


NBC is cancelling six regular series on its schedule (Barbara Mandrell, Bret Maverick, Flamingo Road, Teachers Only, Chicago Story and McClain's Law), and is revamping six of seven prime-time evening schedules.

Monday night stays as it is, with Little House on the Prairie (Michael Landon and Karen Grassle are leaving the cast, though Landon will remain as executive producer) and a movie from 9 to 11 p.m.

Fame has not caught fire in the ratings this season, but good reviews and a loyal following have earned it a reputation as "this year's Hill Street Blues." Fame will lead off the Tuesday night schedule, followed by two new, one-hour MTM Enterprises series: St. Elsewhere, a hospital drama styled as a Hill Street Blues in white; and Remington Steele, about a female private detective (Stephanie Zimbalist) who hires a handsome rogue (Pierce Brosnan) to front for her agency.

Wednesday night's lineup is Real People, Facts of Life, Family Ties (about flower children of the sixties who have grown up to become parents of conservative teenagers) and Quincy. "Hammocking" is the strategy for Thursday night, stringing two new sitcoms, Silver Spoon and Cheers (from the makers of Taxi), between the successful Diff'rent Strokes, the marginal Gimme A Break, and the powerful Hill Street Blues.

Three new shows take over the troubled Friday night: The Powers of Matthew Starr, which was announced for last season but failed to get on the air because of production problems; Knight Riders, an adventure show; and Gavilan, an action series starring Robert Urich.

Father Murphy has been repositioned to Saturday at 8 p.m. (from previous Tuesday and Sunday slots), followed by Mama's Family, which reunites cast members of the popular Carol Burnett Show (Burnett and Harvey Korman will make only three guest appearances), Love Sidney and The Devlin Connection, a Rock Hudson series that was postponed last fall because of the star's health problems.

Sunday's CHiPs and movie combination remains unchanged, but the 7 p.m. opposition to CBS' formidable 60 Minutes is now The Voyagers, a Time Bandits-type fantasy story that presents a view of history through the wide eyes of a 10-year-old. CBS has ordered the most pilots of any network (36, to NBC's 29 and ABC's 31) and will probably commit to the fewest series. Left dangling by CBS are such stars as Susan Saint James, McLean Stevenson, Bob Newhart, husband-and-wife team Lucie Arnaz and Laurence Luckinbill, Suzanne Somers, Gil Gerard and Ralph Waite. Some of the more interesting series premises involve a new kind of Bewitched, The Good Witch of Laurel Canyon (starring Canadian actors Kim Cattrall and Art Hindle), an updating of Seven Brides for Seven Brothers called The Might McFaddens, and Square Pegs, a comedy about "socially awkward 14-year-old girls" written by Anne Beatts of Saturday Night Live and directed by National Lampoon alumnus Kim Friedman. ABC has lined up some stars of its own, including Sam Elliott (as Travis McGee), Lindsay Wagner, Paul Williams, Farrah Fawcett, William Devane, Perry King, Richard Crenna and Patty Duke Astin. One of the more intriguing concepts is a black remake of The Odd Couple, which is sure to go under the auspices of original producer Gary Marshall. Another proposal is for a U.S. version of a Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, which is a popular sci-fi fantasy series in England.

One strong contender for a spot on the ABC schedule is Callahan, an adventure spoof about a museum curator (Hart Bochner) and his assistant (Jamie Lee Curtis). The pilot was produced by two former ABC executives and was written by Ken Finkleman, who once upon a time did skits for Canada's 90 Minutes Live. After a screening last week, ABC executives apparently stood up and applauded Callahan, which has been described as having a "unique" look partly provided by imaginative opening sequences created by Edie Baskin, who did the titles for Saturday Night Live. Finkleman, who is preparing to direct the sequel to Airplane, says: "The show is the best, most mind-blowing thing I've seen on TV in years." Doug Garraway, director of program services for CKVR in Barrie, is a big fan of the old He and She series, and has decided to air some of the show's episodes as part of Channel 3's weekend all-night theatre. He and She was a witty, humane comedy about a couple of happily married but slightly combative professionals. It starred two movie personalities who were married in real life, Richard Benjamin and Paula Prentiss, and was created by the team that brought us Mary Tyler Moore. He and She barely lasted the 1967-68 season, but it acquired a loyal, although marginal, audience. The first broadcast is scheduled for the Victoria Day holiday weekend.

A recent screening of one He and She episode, which co-starred Jack Cassidy, Kenneth Mars and Hamilton Camp, shows that the basic humor holds up after all these years, and is historically interesting if viewed as a TV ancestor to the classic Mary Tyler Moore Show. One more reason to look forward to summer.