By DONALD PORTER
Standard-Examiner
PASADENA, Calif. -- Tonight's the night ABC executives finally find out whether they'll be taking credit or laying blame.
At issue: their plan to schedule "Murder One" against NBC's hit "ER." Will anyone watch the legal serial? Or is the "ER" habit too hard to break? Having aired it for three weeks in "NYPD Blue" 's 9 p.m. Tuesday slot, ABC is hoping those who tuned in on that night will follow the show to Thursdays at 9 p.m., where it's going head-to-head with "ER." ("Murder One" airs locally on KTVX Channel 4.)
The network apparently has a deep commitment to the show, having ordered a full season's worth of episodes: 23. That's an unusual step, since a network typically orders between six and 13 episodes, on the theory that if the show fails, the network isn't out a full season's expense.
By DONALD PORTER
Standard-Examiner staff
Previewing tonight at 7 p.m. on KTVX Channel 4 is "The Jeff Foxworthy Show," starring comedian Jeff Foxworthy -- guess that's where they got the title -- who's most famous for his redneck-themed stand-up act.
In the series, which was not made available for yours truly to preview, Foxworthy plays Jeff Foxworthy (that way you won't get confused), a Southern-born heating and air conditioning contractor who lives with his wife and son in Bloomington, Ind.
The show's executive producer, Tom Anderson, said at the Summer Press Tour that he equates Foxworthy's brand of humor with Jerry Seinfeld's.
"Seinfeld does what he does in New York," Anderson said. "And he kind of makes fun of people. And we like him because he's so nice. But Jeff really is kind of like the Seinfeld for the rest of the country." Thus, he said, the Midwest was chosen for the setting of the sitcom.
