In one of the more gutsy moves of the new fall season, the WB is launching a comedy block on Thursday nights opposite NBC's Must-See TV juggernaut. Leading the charge against Friends at 8 pm/ET will be the Frog network's update of the '60s sitcom Family Affair, with Gary Cole and Tim Curry in the respective bachelor and butler roles.
"I'm sort of relishing [the competition]," Curry tells TV Guide Online. "I think it's enormously brave of the WB to put on a comedy night on Thursday, and I'm rather proud that we're a part of it. Somebody's got to go there, so why not me?"
And the 56-year-old Brit — best known for his gender-bending turn as Dr. Frank-N-Furter in The Rocky Horror Picture Show — insists that he won't have to don fishnets and high heels to lure audiences away from their dear, departing Friends. "I think it's smart alternative programing because [Family Affair]'s a show for the whole family," he says. "Friends I don't think is that."
That's all well and good, but didn't shows featuring butlers and the crazy kids who annoy them go out with Mr. Belvedere? What's more, are there any American families left who still employ manservants? "People do indeed still have butlers," Curry maintains. "I've met at least two English butlers in New York who actually came from rather good families. This is a very good way of still living an extremely privileged life while taking care of somebody else."
