Fall TV Preview: Sunday's Lineup

New Shows

HOLDING THE BABY
CONCEPT Single dad (Jon Patrick Walker) has to find somebody to hold the baby while he works. Enter: pretty young nanny (Jennifer Westfeldt).
THE SCOOP Baby is based on a Brit show that, according to exec producer Howard J. Morris, was ''funny but with a very different sense of humor.'' Having seen this pilot, we can only conclude he means the English version had jokes. Morris says the show will be ''driven by the baby.... There's a whole episode where he loses the baby's Mr. Hoppity, and they go through hoops to get it back.''
BOTTOM LINE We'd go through hoops to put this stinker back in Fox's development pipeline.

THE ARMY SHOW
CONCEPT A Sgt. Bilko for the '90s (i.e., dumber, without the seasoned professionalism of Phil Silvers), starring Ellen's David Anthony Higgins.
THE SCOOP In a rare display of good aesthetic taste, the U.S. Army declined to assist the makers of this show. Says creator J.J. Wall, ''They asked to see a script, and then at that point, they suddenly stopped returning our phone calls.'' Could it have anything to do with the recruits hanging out in a bar called House of Jugs?
BOTTOM LINE Typical line: ''These boots are really uncomfortable. Doesn't the Army make sandals?'' Viewers, we trust, will go AWOL to avoid this one.

Returning Shows

TOUCHED BY AN ANGEL
It's not going to be Ozzie and Harriet,'' says coexec producer Jon Andersen. ''We're not avoiding issues that are delicate and troublesome.'' A few topics on the agenda: mental illness (in an episode guest-starring Margot Kidder and Chad Lowe), autism, spousal abuse, and AIDS. Star Roma Downey has a pet cause she'd like to address: ''I'm trying to convince them that if we can take on civil rights in China [in last season's finale], we could deal with political unrest in Northern Ireland.'' Would that mean a free trip to her native land? ''I fear CBS execs will say, 'If they re-created Beijing in Salt Lake City, they can re-create Ireland.' So I have a feeling I'll be buying me own ticket home.''

THE SIMPSONS
Guest voices include Alec Baldwin, Kim Basinger, Ron Howard, George Carlin, Martin Mull, Fred Willard, Mark Hamill, and Cyndi Lauper. Yet the biggest coup will come in the Super Bowl episode: a cartoon cameo from Fox overlord Rupert Murdoch. ''He auditioned along with several other billionaires,'' quips executive producer Mike Scully. ''It came down to him, Bill Gates, and the Olsen twins.'' The annual Halloween episode will feature Homer getting a hair transplant from a serial killer, Bart and Lisa being sucked into their TV, and the revelation that Homer isn't Maggie's father. Perhaps scariest of all: ''We'll be airing an episode called 'Simpsons Bible Stories,' because I felt we weren't getting quite enough mail,'' says Scully, who, nevertheless, quickly adds that ''Homer won't be playing Jesus.''