Past TV Hits Making Their Presence Felt

TV or not TV . . .

PENDULUM: Strange goings-on in prime time.

Everyone knows the networks want young viewers because advertisers want them. NBC is thrilled when a show like “Blossom,” about a teen-age girl (Mayim Bialik), grows into a hit. ABC’s “Roseanne” and “Home Improvement” fill the bill, as does Fox’s “The Simpsons.”

But suddenly a flip side to the prime-time formula is registering dramatically--hits of the past that are coming to the rescue when a network is in trouble.

In recent days, during the competitive November ratings sweeps, NBC has plugged some weak spots with “Perry Mason,” and ABC has called on “Matlock” and “Columbo.” CBS, traditionally the home of older viewers, has also seen “In the Heat of the Night” return in strong form.

It’s not as if these longtime favorites have suddenly discovered a fountain of youth. The networks are absolutely right in saying that these series draw mainly older viewers.

And that’s where a dramatic polarization seems to be taking place in prime time--with younger viewers tuning out such series and older ones flocking to some of them in impressive numbers. What networks really want are young-skewing shows that attract families--dream series such as “Roseanne” and the retired “Cosby Show.”

At any rate, a two-hour “Matlock” special last week got a solid 22% of the audience and helped ABC win Thursday--a night that NBC cornered for years with “Cosby.”

True to form, “Matlock,” which stars Andy Griffith, scored low with viewers under 50. But the fact that it still did well in total household ratings proved--even if you don’t like the show--that it appealed to a lot of traditional viewers who feel left out by today’s prime time. They are there for the taking by shrewd advertisers.

“Perry Mason,” meanwhile, delivered a solid 21% audience share in the national ratings announced last week. And “Columbo” got an SOS on Saturday from ABC, which will use the Peter Falk series through the end of the year to replace the new dramatic shows “Covington Cross” and “Crossroads.”

COPS: The news from “In the Heat of the Night,” a former NBC hit with Carroll O’Connor as a Southern police chief, is that it seems as formidable as ever on its new network, CBS.

Against such shows as “Home Improvement,” “Seinfeld” and “Mad About You,” the police drama pulled 21% of the audience in its season premiere and 20% in its second outing.

In his role as Chief Bill Gillespie, O’Connor, the onetime star of “All in the Family,” has been having a romance with a black city councilwoman (Denise Nicholas). And he says by phone from the show’s Georgia location that mail from viewers about the interracial relationship has been running “about 50-50.” Adds O’Connor:

“I wrote to one woman, ‘What are they going to do? He likes her and she likes him.’ ”

The series is definitely trying to show some muscle during the sweeps. On Wednesday, Meshach Taylor of “Designing Women”--who got married in last week’s episode of that series--will guest-star on “In the Heat of the Night” as an ex-con.

In addition, O’Connor says that his series soon will deal with the chief’s out-of-wedlock daughter, who returns to town: “She’s about 20 or 21 and is a daughter from an old affair. He didn’t even know he had her.”

As usual, O’Connor is taking a hands-on approach to the one-hour series: “I’m running the whole thing. There’s no other way to put it. I’ve written four scripts this season, collaborated on a couple and do the final polish on all of them.

“It’s a show about small-town life that’s into human drama and human comedy. It’s something near to the bone of people. I’m not surprised people like it. We don’t do badly in cities (in the ratings), but we seem to do much higher in the country, particularly the South.”

NIGHTCAP: CNN last week started giving its hottest property, Larry King, more exposure on the West Coast. He’s now seen here nightly at 10--a rerun of his talk show that airs live at 6 p.m.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: What do you say we round up all these high-profile, former political candidates with experience as TV commentators--Pat Buchanan, Jesse Jackson and Bruce Herschenson--and put them in a show called “Pundidates”?

ON THE ROPES: “Brooklyn Bridge” creator Gary David Goldberg figures viewer reaction to the next few episodes are “a last opportunity to save our show from extinction.” Really? “Definitely,” he believes. It’s a lovely, low-rated series that CBS plugged mightily. But now? “They’re talking about buying us out of the original order (of shows),” says Goldberg. If you like “Brooklyn Bridge,” honk. Better yet, tune in Saturday.

BULLETIN BOARD: Surely you’re not going to miss Robert Morse when he does his acclaimed one-man show as the late Truman Capote, “Tru,” on KCET Channel 28 Nov. 23.

And another much-talked-about entry, “In the Life,” described as a recurring “variety/magazine/talk show series” focusing on the gay and lesbian community, premieres on KCET Nov. 27.

NIGHTMARE: How’d you like to be the guy at KCBS Channel 2--or higher up at CBS--who made the bonehead decision to let “Wheel of Fortune” and “Jeopardy!” get away to KABC Channel 7?

THE TERMINATOR: According to David Letterman, one of the Top 10 signs that President-elect Bill Clinton has gone mad with power is: “Keeps calling country ‘Clintonia.’ ”

BEING THERE: “That’s why they made tomorrow--so we don’t have to do everything today.”--Betty Jones (Lee Meriwether) in “Barnaby Jones.”

Say good night, Gracie . . .