Cops and docs dot CBS

Four new dramas plus three new situation comedies equals CBS's new season this fall.

The network hopes those numbers add up to something singular.

As we continue my fall preview columns, let's take a look at what CBS has to offer in the way of enticements for your evening viewing. Here are the trio of comedies:

* "The King of Queens" is a lovable schmo who has everything he wants (big-screen TV, green grass) and then gets something he doesn't need: move-in in-laws, including Jerry Stiller, who tortured George Costanza for years on "Seinfeld." Throughout the summer, CBS has chosen to promote this show with a one-liner about his genitals.

* "The Brian Benben Show" is not about someone who stutters. Rather, it stars the unusually named Mr. Benben (of HBO's "Dream On") as a Los Angeles anchorman displaced by a cute news duo. He plots his revenge and return to power while coping with being reduced to covering trivia. This continues the recent trend of placing TV comedies in media settings (see "Sports Night" on ABC and "NewsRadio" on NBC).

* "Maggie Winters" returns Faith Ford to comedyland after she was missing for only a few weeks. A ten-year regular on "Murphy Brown" as the somewhat dim Corky, Ford this time drives back to her small-town home from a failed marriage and lost jobs. Gee, sounds an awful lot like Corky redux.

As for drama, CBS has this quartet of offerings:

* "L.A. Doctors" says it all in the title. Chicago medicos have been exhausted through "E.R." and "Chicago Hope," so this series looks at a group of physicians in Lotus Land.

* "To Have and To Hold" links a cop and a defense attorney as lovers and adversaries. His family includes two other policeman, a fireman, a worried mom and a silent dad. Her family includes a mother and sister.

* "Buddy Faro" cannot be described except through the overwrought PR material sent out by CBS, which says that the title character is "the quickest-thinking, hardest-hitting, wildest-loving investigator of them all." Well, it could also be described as a rip-off of "Remington Steele" since it involves a missing detective who returns to help an amateur.

* "Martial Law" aims to give you all the karate kicks, judo jumps and tai kwon do tussles you can stomach (assuming you don't get enough via "Walker, Texas Ranger"). The show follows the adventures of a Chinese cop tracking down bad guys and gals in Los Angeles.

CBS NOTES: This fall, ABC has added a third night of "20/20," so CBS has countered with a second night of "60 Minutes," set to begin in January..."Saint Maybe," based on one of the best novels of the century, will be a Hallmark Hall of Fame movie on Nov. 22...Laura Ingalls Wilder, the author of the "Little House on the Prairie" books, is the subject of a TV movie biography..."Monday After the Miracle," a TV film, tells the story of Helen Keller's adult life...On Saturday mornings, your kids can watch animals cavort by tuning in to "Franklin" about a turtle, "Anatole" about a mouse; "Dumb Bunnies," "Flying Rhino Junior High" and "Birdz"....

(Next: What's coming up on NBC.)

(09-03-98) [[In-content Ad]]