Comedies dominate NBC fall

In recent years, NBC has come to stand for "no better comedies" as the network has led the ratings with such shows as "Cheers," "Seinfeld" and "Frasier." So it's no surprise that six new sitcoms are on the network's autumn schedule, along with only two new dramas.

Here is a listing of the peacock's new fall feathers:

* "Built To Last" puts another barely known stand-up comic, Royale Watkins, in a working-class comedy. When Papa (Paul Winfield) gets ill, his son (Watkins) must leave his own computer career to take over the family contracting business in Washington, D.C. NBC's press material describes the other family members as "fun-loving...outspoken...no-nonsense." Will "Built To Last" come in first?

* "Jenny" stars Jenny McCarthy as Jenny McMillan (creative, huh?), a young woman who moves from Utica, New York, to her new inheritance: a bachelor pad in Hollywood. Along for the ride is her best friend, and the duo tries to make it there instead of nowhere. Expect a sort of Brooke-Shields-meets-Friends-in-Caroline's-apartment show.

* "Sleepwalkers" is another one of those creepy shows about serial killers and UFOs that NBC seems to love. In this one, dreams, reality and how they mingle are studied by the head of the Morpheus Institute. Oh, yes, his wife is conveniently in a coma. He meets her at night in Dreamland, literally. The producers hope this show's title doesn't become "Sleepinducers."

* "The Tony Danza Show" puts the popular sitcom star in a vehicle that is not a taxi. This time, he's a sportswriter with two daughters (no wife, of course; no one on TV is married). They want their way; he wants his to be theirs. The action is at home and in the office as he struggles against modern times, including computers and children with minds of their own.

* "Union Square" brings an aspiring actress from Miami to the Great White Way as she chases her dream of becoming a Broadway star. But the road to stardom is paved with a minimum-wage job among cooks, waitresses and patrons. Will this show close on opening night?

* "Veronica's Closet" stars Kirstie Alley of "Cheers" in what NBC describes as "an adult comedy" about a woman who runs a store dealing in "romance," as in lingerie and books. Like most other sitcom leads, she has "a wrecked marriage." Others on hand include her father, a loyal assistant and "a hunky publicist." There is no word yet about "Victoria's Secret" suing over the title.

* "Working" answers the question, "Whatever happened to that kid who starred in 'The Wonder Years'?" Fred Savage, older and hopefully wiser, returns in this comedy about a young man trying to succeed in the corporate world. He got the show because Michael J. Fox already has another series.

(Next: PBS's new shows, including an art-loving nun.)

(08-21-97) [[In-content Ad]]