‘Brooklyn’ Begins Its Off-Season Fade-Out

TV or not TV. . . .

DOG DAYS: Thousands of letters from admiring viewers didn’t help the ratings, so CBS is putting “Brooklyn Bridge” to sleep in the off-season.

The canceled family comedy, which CBS once trumpeted because of its quality, starts running out four remaining new episodes on July 16.

The fade-out of the half-hour series, set in Brooklyn in the 1950s and starring Marion Ross, Danny Gerard, Amy Aquino, Peter Friedman, Louis Zorich and Matthew Siegel, comes nearly two years after its premiere with a memorable 60-minute episode on Sept. 20, 1991.

It should have been an hour series all along. Nonetheless, the flood of letters--many of them clearly from educated and concerned TV viewers--indicated that the show had a human impact well beyond its ratings.

That’s something, but in today’s boom-or-bust TV world, it’s no longer enough.

WISEGUYS: PBS takes the cake with the come-on for its TV press tour here July 27-28: “From the network that didn’t bring you the Amy Fisher story!”

ADVISORY: I’ve now watched nearly 30 of the 38 new fall network TV series, and you might want to start thinking about renewing your library card.

ON TAP: Just so you’re up on everything, Sally Jessy Raphael’s topics this week include: “I Got Fat and My Husband Left Me,” “I’m Jealous of My Wife’s First Love,” “I Was Forced to Fake My Death” and “The Man I Love Took Me for Everything.”

TALK: In an interview with Larry King for Television Quarterly, the journal of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, journalist Arthur Unger recounts this anecdote as it occurred at a Washington restaurant:

“As we began to chat, John Sununu walked in and came over to say hello to Larry. ‘What did you think of Clinton’s speech?’ Larry asked.

“ ‘I still don’t know what he’s saying,’ Sununu replied. ‘It was very dramatic,’ Larry insisted. ‘So is “Hamlet,” ’ Sununu said. ‘Well, “Hamlet” has had a long run,’ Larry retorted as Sununu retreated to his own table.”

Elsewhere in the interview, Unger asks King: “How do you decide to extend an interview or cut it short?”

King: “You know within the first three minutes if it’s going well.”

And why is Richard Nixon a good guest?

“Because,” says King, “he’s brilliant, he’s brooding, he has all the elements you want.”

OUT TO LUNCH: In recent weeks, viewers have been alerted again about TV violence and, through a Hollywood study, reminded also of the medium’s second-class treatment of minorities, older people, women and the disabled.

A cynic might say that TV is simply reflecting society-at-large. Another way of looking at TV’s disturbing values is that if it is your main source of information and role models, get a life.

MISSIVE: Several months ago, we wrote a column about the current lack of weekend network religious series such as “Lamp Unto My Feet” and “The Eternal Light,” which once gave spiritual and cultural texture to everyday events.

Marjorie Wyler, director of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, gives some perspective on the earlier network period in a letter:

“In those halcyon days, the networks each had a religion programs unit directly or indirectly under the aegis of the news departments. We religious institutions--this seminary, the National Council of Churches and the United States Catholic Conference--served mainly in a consultative capacity. . . .

“The networks produced the programs, and paid all costs. NBC produced 39 programs a year, the other two networks slightly fewer. Their reward came from the accolades they received for public service, from both the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) and the television audience. With deregulation, there was less attention to public service.

“Fewer programs were produced--fewer hours set aside for religious programming. Costs became a major consideration--networks made profits from the use of the airwaves, but paid for this access only by providing what they and their advertisers believed, rightly or wrongly, the public wanted. Gradually the religious program units were dispensed with--too costly.”

There are occasional network religious programs nowadays, but Wyler speaks of a “spiritual void.” And you don’t have to be religious to agree.

NUMBERS GAME: NBC is making a big deal about how well it’s doing with 18-to-49-year-old viewers--but meanwhile, only two of its shows, “Seinfeld” and “Cheers,” ranked among the Top 20 programs for that audience in the national ratings released last week.

ENCORE: The late Audrey Hepburn’s “Gardens of the World” series, hosted by the actress, will be rerun by KCET-TV Channel 28 on three consecutive Sunday nights beginning July 18.

BROADCAST NEWS: Eight of the Top 20 programs in the ratings for the week of June 21-27 were news or reality series. Finishing in the Top 10 were “PrimeTime Live,” “60 Minutes,” “20/20” and “48 Hours.” Close behind were “Rescue 911,” “Day One,” “Unsolved Mysteries” and “Eye to Eye With Connie Chung.”

SLEEPERS: Of all places, the deadly network time slot of 10-11 p.m. Saturdays is shaping up as a surprise battleground this fall. ABC’s cop series “The Commish” is doing well there. So is the NBC drama “Sisters.” And now Chuck Norris’ new action entry, “Walker, Texas Ranger,” off to a fast start this spring, takes them both on. With CBS’ “Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman” leading off as the night’s hottest show, Norris seems a good bet.

“Sisters,” by the way, impressed the Lifetime channel enough so that the cable outlet picked up the series for reruns starting in January.

BEING THERE: “If you tell the truth often enough, people will find you out.” --Jack Paar

Say good night, Gracie. . . .