CBS sticks with diversity; PAX adds new fall shows

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By ERIC DEGGANS

© St. Petersburg Times, published May 18, 2000

For those looking to gauge CBS-TV's commitment to diversity, it's a good news/bad news thing.

In its 2000-01 schedule announced Wednesday, the network decided to keep the faltering, black-centered medical drama City of Angels on its schedule. But the series moves to Thursdays in the fall, where it faces NBC-TV's Must-See-TV juggernaut and the highly rated Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.

In all, CBS will present three new comedies and four new dramas this fall; among freshman series, only Judging Amy and Family Law join Angels in returning for a second season.

Pax-TV on Wednesday announced a fall schedule presenting three new series at 8 p.m., including The Rumfords -- a Who Framed Roger Rabbit-style show the network says is the first prime-time series to combine live action and animation.

CBS's schedule retains much of its successful Sunday, Monday and Tuesday lineups. The one exception is Yes, Dear -- a comedy about two young couples featuring the star of NBC's quickly canceled The Mike O'Malley Show -- which pushes Ladies Man off the schedule at 8:30 p.m. Mondays.

On Wednesday, CBS offers two new comedies focused on older female viewers: Bette Midler's The Bette Show and former Cybill co-star Christine Baranski's Welcome to New York (a comedy from David Letterman's Worldwide Pants company about an Indiana weatherman who moves to New York).

Inexplicably, Thursday becomes a repository for CBS's most inconsistent shows, including the newsmagazine 48 Hours, City of Angels and Diagnosis Murder. Angels has already announced it will face its second season without its best-known star, Vivica A. Fox, who was let go before the show was renewed.

Action-oriented fare dominates Fridays, with a remake of the '60s series The Fugitive starring former Wings' star Tim Daly and Forrest Gump's Mykelti Williams. Out the door are Kids Say the Darndest Things -- host Bill Cosby has now lost two series on CBS this season -- and the promising sci-fi drama Now and Again.

Sweeping away the lame-o Martial Law and Early Edition, CBS on Saturdays offers That's Life, a drama about a New Jersey girl who goes back to college, and The District, starring Coach's Craig T. Nelson as a police commissioner in Washington, D.C.

At Pax-TV, reruns of Touched By an Angel and Diagnosis Murder still dominate prime time, with original shows kicking off each night at 8.

Among the three new series, Mysterious Ways features Adrian Pasdar (Profit) and Rae Dawn Chong as academics investigating strange phenomena a la The X-Files. The Rumfords focuses on a family of cartoon characters living in the real world, while Encounters With the Unexplained explores the world's mysteries.

At midseason, country hunk Billy Ray Cyrus stars in Doc, a drama about a country doctor who moves to the Big Apple. The network also plans three new movies updating the CBS series Christy, executive produced by John Schneider (Bo Duke, Dukes of Hazzard).

Pax-TV will continue rebroadcasting material from partner NBC, including the U.S. Olympic team trials and Senior PGA tour events.

One notable absence: a rebroadcast of the NBC Nightly News, which Pax-TV and co-owner NBC had planned for fall but delayed amid complaints from NBC affiliates. The two are also negotiating to present original episodes of the canceled NBC game show Twenty One on Pax-TV.

Fox and UPN announce their fall schedules today.

CBS's fall schedule:

Monday: King of Queens, Yes, Dear, Everybody Loves Raymond, Becker, Family Law. Tuesday: JAG, 60 Minutes II, Judging Amy. Wednesday: The Bette Show, Welcome to New York, CBS Wednesday Movie. Thursday: 48 Hours, City of Angels, Diagnosis Murder. Friday: The Fugitive, C.S.I., Nash Bridges. Saturday: That's Life, Walker, Texas Ranger, The District. Sunday: 60 Minutes, Touched By an Angel, CBS Sunday Movie.

Pax-TV's fall schedule at 8 p.m.

Monday: Encounters With the Unexplained. Tuesday: Mysterious Ways. Wednesday: Twice in a Lifetime. Thursday: It's a Miracle. Friday: The Rumfords. Saturday: Twenty One. Sunday: It's a Miracle (rerun).