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MONDAY

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This season, network execs have found that, as in pro sports, you can buy respectability but not necessarily the championship. CBS spent a fortune signing Bill Cosby and Ted Danson in the hope that the sitcom vets would jump-start a CBS revival. But while Cosby (15) and Ink (32) consistently win the 8-9 p.m. time slot, neither show has delivered numbers that equal the original fanfare. (After premiering at No. 6, Cosby usually ranks in the 20s.) But given the millions spent, CBS Entertainment president Les Moonves is prepared to be patient: ''There have been no new 8:00 shows in the top 10 in 10 years,'' he argues.

Younger viewers may not be as patient as Moonves. Both Cosby and Ink are drawing fewer 18- to 49-year-olds than their time-slot predecessors (The Nanny, Can't Hurry Love) a year ago. NBC's revamped Jeff Foxworthy Show and fledgling Mr. Rhodes, while running second in total viewers, usually outstrip the CBS duo among the same demographic. But the real winner here looks to be the renovated Melrose Place (57), which has beaten all competitors among adults 18 to 49. For Fox Entertainment prez Peter Roth, that takes some of the sting out of two early cancellations. ''Frankly, I didn't think the shows were very good,'' he admits of Lush Life and Party Girl.

After 9, the behemoth to beat is ABC's Monday Night Football (7). Unfortunately, few sports fans are bothering with its East Coast lead-in, the high school drama Dangerous Minds (83). ''In a perfect world, there would be a show that football viewers would watch,'' says ABC scheduling VP Jeff Bader, although even the sports-com Coach didn't have much success in this spot. ''A large part of the football audience are not regular TV viewers to begin with.'' Which means once football ends, don't expect a noticeable upsurge in ratings for the female-friendly competition: CBS' Murphy Brown (22), Cybill (26), and Chicago Hope (38).

Just a few steps up the cellar stairs from the WB dramas (7th Heaven and Savannah are tied at 133) perches UPN's lineup: NBC transplant In the House (117), Goode Behavior (126), Sparks (129), and the Malcolm-Jamal Warner comeback vehicle Malcolm & Eddie (112). In urban markets, the sitcoms sometimes top their time periods: Malcolm, for example, has beaten Ink in Houston and Detroit. ''There are some major success stories in some of these major cities,'' says UPN Entertainment prez Michael Sullivan. Even so, with Malcolm miles away from the top 10, Warner must long for the days he played a Huxtable. Then again, so might Cosby.

-- Bret Watson

[BOX]

MONDAY'S WINNER...

Cosby

...AND LOSER

Dangerous Minds