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New Lineup If You’re Looking For Laughs, You’ll Want To Check Out The New Fall Schedule On Nbc

Ray Richmond Los Angeles Daily News

NBC unveiled a new fall prime-time schedule on Monday that’s heavy on comedy and light on changes, adding just four hours of new programming and keeping two nights (Monday and Friday) intact while moving Thursday night stalwarts “Friends” to a new time and “Mad About You” to a new day.

A handful of shows with iffy ratings - including the acclaimed “Homicide: Life on the Street,” “Sisters,” “The Fresh Prince of BelAir,” “The John Larroquette Show” and “seaQuest DSV” were all renewed for next season, with “Larroquette” moving from Tuesdays to 9 p.m. Saturdays and “seaQuest” from Sundays to 8 p.m. Wednesdays.

Getting the ax were “The Cosby Mysteries,” the Sunday sci-fi drama “Earth 2,” “Sweet Justice,” “Something Wilder,” “Pride & Joy,” “Amazing Grace” (filmed in Coeur d’Alene and Spokane) and “The Martin Short Show.” The cancellations of “Blossom” and “Empty Nest” had already been announced.

Unlike last season, when NBC moved “Frasier” to Tuesdays to take on “Home Improvement,” there was no blockbuster risk this time.

The splitting up of NBC’s vaunted Thursday night lineup was perhaps its boldest - and yet most predictable - move. It shipped “Mad About You” and “Hope & Gloria” to the 8 o’clock hour on Sundays, opposite CBS’ vulnerable “Murder, She Wrote”; moved the freshman hit “Friends” up to anchor Thursdays at 8 p.m. after running this season at 9:30; and added a pair of new comedies.

Those Thursday comedies are “The Single Guy,” starring Jonathan Silverman of “Weekend at Bernie’s” fame as a bachelor who hangs around with a bunch of married buddies, and “Caroline in the City,” featuring Lea Thompson of “Back to the Future” as a single cartoonist living in New York City.

Both shows are blessed with protected, plum time periods, “The Single Guy” at 8:30 following “Friends,” and “Caroline” at 9:30 after television’s top-rated series, “Seinfeld.”

Five first-year shows - the blockbuster hit “ER,” “Friends,” “NewsRadio,” “In the House” and “Hope & Gloria” - received fall renewals, as did all three nights (Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday) of “Dateline NBC.”

The network added six new comedies and a single new drama to its prime-time mix for next season. Besides “The Single Guy” and “Caroline in the City,” the comedies include:

“Brotherly Love”: A “Blossom” spinoff starring Joey Lawrence and his real-life brothers Matthew and Andy in a sitcom about a family of stepsiblings.

“Pursuit of Happiness”: An ensemble comedy from “Cheers”/”Frasier” producers David Angell, Peter Casey and David Lee about a wacky extended family and their travails, starring Tom Amandes, Brad Garrett and comedian Larry Miller.

“Minor Adjustments”: Stand-up comedian Rondell Sheridan stars as a child psychologist and a father who finds it’s a lot harder to raise kids than talk to them at his office.

“The Home Court”: Pamela Reed (“Grand,” “Family Album”) stars as a tough Chicago family-court judge and a single parent of three rambunctious teen-agers.

The lone new NBC drama is “JAG,” an adventure drama starring David James Elliott as a Navy lawyer who is assigned to investigate the murder of a Navy pilot and winds up uncovering more than he bargained for. From “Quantum Leap” creator Don Bellisario.

The 1995-96 NBC prime-time schedule follows:

Monday: “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” (8 p.m.), “In the House” (8:30 p.m.) and “NBC Monday Night at the Movies” (9 p.m.)

Tuesday: “Wings” (8 p.m.), “NewsRadio” (8:30 p.m.), “Frasier” (9 p.m.), “Pursuit of Happiness” (new series, 9:30 p.m.) and “Dateline NBC” (10 p.m.)

Wednesday: “seaQuest DSV” (8 p.m.), “Dateline NBC” (9 p.m.) and “Law & Order” (10 p.m.)

Thursday: “Friends” (8 p.m.), “The Single Guy” (new show, 8:30 p.m.), “Seinfeld” (9 p.m.), “Caroline in the City” (new show, 9:30 p.m.) and “ER” (10 p.m.)

Friday: “Unsolved Mysteries” (8 p.m.), “Dateline NBC” (9 p.m.) and “Homicide: Life on the Street” (10 p.m.)

Saturday: “JAG” (new series, 8 p.m.), “The John Larroquette Show” (9 p.m.), “The Home Court” (new series, 9:30 p.m.) and “Sisters” (10 p.m.)

Sunday: “Brotherly Love” (new series, 7 p.m.), “Minor Adjustments” (new series, 7:30 p.m.), “Mad About You” (8 p.m.), “Hope & Gloria” (8:30 p.m.) and “NBC Sunday Night at the Movies” (9 p.m.).