European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - July 22, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                To briefs into one big for fall new York times in television these Days there a no business like the hoho business. Comedy will dominate prime time television in the coming season As never before. The three networks and Fox broadcasting will offer 20 new comedy shows this fall adding to schedules already crowded with situation comedies. Of the 93 entertainment programs not counting news sports or movies in prime time next fall 50 will be comedies Many forces Are driving the comedy explosion led by the fundamental popularity of the genre. Nine of the 10 top rated series last season were half hour comedies. Quot we Don t need social scientists to Tell us the entire country is stressed out Quot said Warren Littlefield senior vice president of programming for . Quot the country is dying for  the demographic strength of comedies has been a key to the Success of Fox which widened its audience by More than 70 percent Over the last year largely on the Appeal of its hit comedies married. With children in living color and the Simpsons. Good ratings always translate to Good business in the television Industry but comedies Are appealing for several other economic reasons. The most important comedies drive the Domestic syndication business. For years hour Long dramatic shows have largely been a bust in syndication but comedies continue to sell Well sometimes spectacularly. Hundreds of millions of dollars in sales have been racked up by the Cosby show and cheers. Even mediocre comedies like Webster and Gimme a break have made Large profits in syndication for the networks which cannot share in the profits from syndication comedies make economic sense because they hold their audiences so much better than hour Long dramas in reruns when the commercial time is pure profit. Viewers Are clearly far More willing to laugh at Murphy Brown a second time than watch Jake and the Fatmen solve a mystery again. More Beauty after All Well it s not All rerun news this morning to column fans. Lbs entertainment for instance announced it will finally air those three episodes of Beauty and the beast that never made the schedule when the network suddenly cancelled surface last Winter. The episodes will wrap up the Story of How Vincent coped following the death of Catherine when Little surface was bom. We won t give away All the secrets of the final three episodes. Suffice it to say that Vincent s new Pai in the a s office Diana Bennett gets along so Well with him she s invited to the Quot naming ceremony Quot under the streets for Little surface and is even shown the secrets of the Tunnel world. A. Unfortunately a serial killer is stalking former a Tunnel dwellers now living above ground just when Mawtha is reunited with an old Girlfriend named Jessica Fionnuala Flanagan and moves topside to be with her in sum Vincent will have plenty to growl about in those last three episodes. _ John Carmody Washington Post David Steinberg will Star this fall in a sitcom within a sitcom Quot dads a dog.11 he plays an actor who reluctantly takes the role of a Dogma voice in a to comedy. Abc in other new comedy for fall that features a show within a show Jerry Levine left Heather Locklear Alan Ruck and Hallie Todd play actors on a Quot candid camera toe series who room together in an old House in Quot going   Nielsen i he following Are he latest available rankings of television shows in America starting with the top 10 shows As compiled by the . Nielsen co the sea son to Date ranking is in parentheses or an Quot a Quot for firs time showing and the final figure is the rating which notes the percentage of the nation s 92.1 million Homes where people watched the show 1 major league baseball All Star game 1 x lbs. 18.5 rating. 2 cheers 1 Nec 16.2, 3 the Simpsons 24 Fox 14,5. 4 the Cosby show 3  14.4. 5 Rossanno 2  14.0, 6 love amp hate a marriage made in hell part t a  sunday movies 34  13.9. 7 major league baseball All Star pregame x lbs 13.6. 7 a different world 4  13.6. 9 designing women 23 lbs 13.3 10 60 minutes 7 lbs 13.2, a and these Are the 10 least watched shows the ones at the Bottom of the Nielsen ratings 75 Normal Ufa lbs 51, 75 Wiseguy is 5.1. 77 tour of duty lbs 4.9. 77 magical world of Disney  4.9. 79 Beauty a the beast lbs 4 3. 80 21 jump Street Fox 4.0, 81 comic strip primetime Fox 3.9. 82 outsiders Fox 3.5. 82 alien nation Fox 3.5. 84 Tracey Ulman show Fox 2 5 what they re watching c to plus sunday july 22, 1990