The Road Rises to Meet the Season Thirty-Six New TV Series Go in Search of an Audience By Michael E. Hill Washington Post Staff Writer Sunday, September 6, 1998

Debra Messing is a straight woman whose friend and roommate is a gay man (Eric McCormack) in "Will & Grace." (NBC)

But for whatever reason, there's an Irish accent to a number of the shows about to debut on broadcast network television this fall.

There are other trends to be spotted among the 20 comedies and 16 dramas being trotted out by the three traditional networks, the Fox Broadcasting Network, now 12 years old, and the ambitious WB and UPN networks.

There are, for instance, two series centered on black families relocated in the suburbs.

At least two sitcoms have supporting characters reminiscent of "All in the Family's" Archie Bunker.

And speaking of Bunker, whose language was often thought shocking in its time, the '70s, it's worth noting that viewers with ears sensitive to coarse language will find no relief in the dialog of a number of this fall's shows.

Taste ranging from questionable to poor abounds. One pilot episode of a situation comedy had one of its characters thank a priest by stuffing bills in his pocket and telling him to get himself a choir boy. That line may or may not make it to broadcast.

The season's minitrend belongs to the Irish, with four series featuring Irish neighborhoods, characters or families.

But no matter what storylines, trends or crude language the networks use to beckon viewers, it will take more than the luck of the Irish for any of the new shows to succeed.

Let's count the carnage.

At this time last year, CBS was trotting out seven new shows. None of them is on this fall's schedule.

Of the 11 sitcoms and drama series rolled out last season by ABC, only "Dharma & Greg" will see another autumn.

NBC introduced eight comedies and dramas. Congratulations are in order for "Veronica's Closet" and "Working." Condolences to the rest.

The major networks had their biggest success last season in cloning their news magazine programs, and will do more of the same this year. But when it comes to programming from the entertainment divisions, this year – as last – the biggest noise is coming from other than the big three.

Last year TV critics sang the praise of Fox's "Ally McBeal." This season the early word of mouth favors a program from the WB: Prepare to hear a lot about "Felicity."

By the time the series debuts, the face of its star, Keri Russell, will be familiar to anyone who pays attention to magazine covers.

"Felicity" isn't the only show on the fall schedule, of course. The major networks bring an interesting mix of stars, writers and producers to the annual autumn dance.

But there's no denying these have not been happy times for network television. Take this past June, for example. That month, the basic cable channels were trumpeting the news from the Nielsen ratings service: During the weeks of June 22 and 29, more total viewers watched basic cable than all six of the broadcast networks.

Such a David-Goliath embarrassment may prompt the major networks to put on original programming the year around. But for now, we have the annual fall rollout of new shows.

The Big Three will usher in the new season the week of Sept. 20. Fox has already unveiled some of its shows. The WB debuts the week of Sept. 13 and some UPN shows won't show until October.

The fall rush is on. Six networks are desperately chasing an audience that gets smaller and seemingly more fickle each season. May the wind be at their backs. They'll need it.