Brooklyn Bridge Television Program

It's been almost an axiom in network TV that weekly series with a distinctly ethnic Jewish flavor will be tuned out because of limited appeal. So imagine the delight of CBS as initial episodes of "Brooklyn Bridge," a warm and witty comedy about a distinctly Jewish family in 1950s Brooklyn, have registered higher ratings nationally than in the big cities where many Jewish people live.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, top-rated CBS has come up with a surprising apparent hit for network TV's all-but-dead Saturday night schedule. If the new one-hour series "Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman," starring Jane Seymour as a frontier physician, maintains its whopping ratings, it will be an ironic success story for CBS. Why? Because viewers of "Dr.

This letter was prompted by the letter from Darcy Sinise in the Oct. 13 paper, regarding the people who spooked her fiance's horse and caused its death. That was terrible, but the results are worse when the victim is a human being. I am an avid bicyclist and, along with other cycling enthusiasts, ride on the city streets.

I remember the call well. A CBS publicist was phoning from New York. "Are we all crazy, or is this show as wonderful as we think it is?" she asked. Yes, it was. It was the premiere last year of the gentle comedy series "Brooklyn Bridge," about a Jewish family in Brooklyn in the late 1950s. The creator was Gary David Goldberg, who had given NBC one of its biggest hits ever, "Family Ties." And now CBS felt he had brought magic to its network with his fond remembrances of growing up.

Pitching a new TV series to the networks is a bit like trying to sell the Brooklyn Bridge: There aren't many takers, and those who do go for it often discover upon delivery that what they bought is not what they were promised.

The series is called "Homefront," and it will deal with triumphant GIs returning from World War II when it becomes part of ABC's prime-time lineup this fall. In the pilot episode designed to sell the show to ABC, the opening sequence begins with an American flag filling the screen. We see a newspaper headline that says: "War Ends." A woman narrator tells us, "In the autumn of 1945, America was invincible. . . . The counter tops at the soda fountain were still made of marble. Sodas cost a nickel.

I remember the call well. A CBS publicist was phoning from New York. "Are we all crazy, or is this show as wonderful as we think it is?" she asked. Yes, it was. It was the premiere last year of the gentle comedy series "Brooklyn Bridge," about a Jewish family in Brooklyn in the late 1950s. The creator was Gary David Goldberg, who had given NBC one of its biggest hits ever, "Family Ties." And now CBS felt he had brought magic to its network with his fond remembrances of growing up.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, top-rated CBS has come up with a surprising apparent hit for network TV's all-but-dead Saturday night schedule. If the new one-hour series "Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman," starring Jane Seymour as a frontier physician, maintains its whopping ratings, it will be an ironic success story for CBS. Why? Because viewers of "Dr.

This letter was prompted by the letter from Darcy Sinise in the Oct. 13 paper, regarding the people who spooked her fiance's horse and caused its death. That was terrible, but the results are worse when the victim is a human being. I am an avid bicyclist and, along with other cycling enthusiasts, ride on the city streets.

It's been almost an axiom in network TV that weekly series with a distinctly ethnic Jewish flavor will be tuned out because of limited appeal. So imagine the delight of CBS as initial episodes of "Brooklyn Bridge," a warm and witty comedy about a distinctly Jewish family in 1950s Brooklyn, have registered higher ratings nationally than in the big cities where many Jewish people live.

Pitching a new TV series to the networks is a bit like trying to sell the Brooklyn Bridge: There aren't many takers, and those who do go for it often discover upon delivery that what they bought is not what they were promised.

The series is called "Homefront," and it will deal with triumphant GIs returning from World War II when it becomes part of ABC's prime-time lineup this fall. In the pilot episode designed to sell the show to ABC, the opening sequence begins with an American flag filling the screen. We see a newspaper headline that says: "War Ends." A woman narrator tells us, "In the autumn of 1945, America was invincible. . . . The counter tops at the soda fountain were still made of marble. Sodas cost a nickel.