Hopeful CBS Pairs Cosby, Danson on Monday Nights

CBS will schedule comedies starring Bill Cosby and Ted Danson back-to-back from 8-9 p.m. Monday next fall, seeking to recapture NBC’s glory days of the 1980s and begin rebuilding its prime-time schedule.

CBS officially announced its lineup Wednesday, marking the last network to set its fall schedule. The network is betting heavily on the two established sitcom stars to fortify its Monday lineup--appealing to men as well as women since the shows will air prior to “Monday Night Football” on the East Coast.

CBS gave Cosby a two-season order to woo him back to TV, as well as additional commitments on shows that he would produce. The question is whether the star of “The Cosby Show”--one of the most popular sitcoms ever--can rebound with viewers after two high-profile failures with a detective show, “The Cosby Mysteries,” and the game-show revival “You Bet Your Life.”

Setting his first schedule since joining the network last summer, CBS Entertainment President Leslie Moonves said he anticipates that the addition of “Cosby” and “Ink,” the Danson series, will improve ratings Monday by 20%. He also said the network is negotiating beyond next year for a 10th season of “Murphy Brown” but that the decision rests with star Candice Bergen.

After making radical changes last fall trying to attract a younger audience, CBS is gradually shifting back to a slightly older appeal. The network has gone with shows like “Diagnosis Murder” and “48 Hours” on Thursday, for example, settling for an older audience against NBC’s powerhouse lineup.

CBS ranks second in Nielsen homes during the May ratings sweeps but fourth among adults age 18-49, the key sales demographic in the eyes of advertisers.

The network tried introducing 11 new shows last September to stem its ratings free-fall, but those efforts proved largely unsuccessful. Only one show from that freshman class, “Almost Perfect,” has been renewed, along with the spring replacement “Nash Bridges,” which stars Don Johnson, another NBC alumnus, as are new stars Rhea Perlman and Scott Bakula.

CBS will come back with 10 new shows this September, though many of the stars have familiar faces, such as Peter Strauss (as a police psychologist in “Moloney”), Bakula (in the husband-and-wife detective show “Mr. & Mrs. Smith”), Ken Olin (chasing crime boss Joe Pantoliano in the cop drama “EZ Streets”) and Gerald McRaney (the “Touched by an Angel” spinoff “Home of the Brave”).

“Ink” pairs Danson with real-life wife Mary Steenburgen as a divorced couple running a newspaper. Danson’s “Cheers” co-star Perlman joins the party in “Pearl,” playing opposite Malcolm McDowell as a poor woman and a snooty Harvard professor.

The other comedies are “Public Morals,” producer Steven Bochco’s latest, a raunchy show about New York vice cops that may air with a parental-discretion advisory; and “Everybody Loves Raymond,” featuring comic Ray Romano as a family man in a David Letterman-produced sitcom.

The final drama, “Early Edition,” stars Kyle Chandler (“Homefront”) as a man who can see tomorrow’s headlines and uses that power to help people. It lands the slot between “Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman” and “Walker, Texas Ranger,” while “Touched by an Angel” replaces “Murder, She Wrote” after “60 Minutes.”

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Shows canceled include “Can’t Hurry Love,” “John Grisham’s The Client,” “Matt Waters,” “Bonnie,” “American Gothic,” “Good Company” and “High Society.”

The network’s new prime-time roster also adds a fourth two-hour comedy block to the prime-time mix from 8-10 p.m. on Wednesday, joining those announced by ABC, NBC and the WB Network. “The Nanny” will move from Monday to lead off that night, while another established show, “Dave’s World,” shifts to Fridays.

CBS has made at least one change on all seven nights. ABC and NBC will alter six nights, while Fox left three nights intact.

Here’s CBS’ new prime-time schedule:

Monday: “Cosby,” “Ink,” “Murphy Brown,” “Cybill,” “Chicago Hope.”

Tuesday: “Home of the Brave,” “The CBS Tuesday Night Movie.”

Wednesday: “The Nanny,” “Pearl,” “Almost Perfect,” “Public Morals,” “EZ Streets.”

Thursday: “Diagnosis Murder,” “Moloney,” “48 Hours.”

Friday: “Dave’s World,” “Everybody Loves Raymond,” “Mr. & Mrs. Smith,” “Nash Bridges.”

Saturday: “Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman,” “Early Edition,” “Walker, Texas Ranger.”

Sunday: “60 Minutes,” “Touched by an Angel,” “The CBS Sunday Night Movie.”

Times staff writer Jane Hall contributed to this article from New York.