Fox Broadcasting Co. will put out the Bat-signal in an attempt to rescue its Sunday lineup, scheduling Batman: The Animated Series at 7 p.m. and axing freshman comedies Great Scott and Woops!

In conjunction with the move, which is effective Dec. 13, Fox will shift skitcom The Ben Stiller Show into the Woops! slot at 10:30 p.m. and schedule the new Lorimar TV sitcom Shaky Ground, starring Matt Frewer, in its vacated 7 :30 slot.

Great Scott, from Castle Rock Entertainment, and Woops! from Touchstone TV, have been canceled, though unused episodes could be burned off at a later date.

The former has averaged a not-so-great 4.4 rating, 7 share in Nielsen (the same as Stiller), while Woops! - a last-minute pickup from Witt-Thomas Prods. originally developed for NBC - has averaged a 4.6/8.

By using Batman in prime time, Fox hopes the show will provide a fertile cross-promotional opportunity for the Fox Children's Network, where Batman (produced by Warner Bros. Animation) will continue to air Monday through Friday in the afternoon.

Fox has made a major investment in the children's programming arena, with 19 hours a week-four on Saturday morning, an hour weekday mornings and a two-hour block weekday afternoons, more than the weblet's current load of 12 hours in prime time.

Cross-generational hit

Fox believes Batman can attract young adults in addition to children and teens, reporting that 40% of its weekday audience is 18 or older, an unusual split for an animated series.

In its one previous prime time airing (to pump up its daytime premiere), Batman captured a 4.6/11, better than any share for Great Scott in that timeslot.

While making the schedule changes, Fox also sought to give a vote of confidence to Ben Stiller, from HBO Independent Prods., which has garnered some critical acclaim but scant audience at 7:30.

Great Scott and Woops! mark Fox's first cancellations of the nine series it's introduced, although the drama The Heights has been put on hiatus.