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Grant Tinker, the best-ever network TV president, operated under an admirable, if illogical theory.

Illogical at least for network TV.

"First be best and then be first," theorized Tinker, who ran NBC during its halcyon days of the '80s.

Tinker and the late Brandon Tartikoff, his creative entertainment president, premiered and nourished such high-quality series as "Cheers," "St. Elsewhere," "Family Ties," "Remington Steele," "The Cosby Show" and "The Golden Girls."

And while Tinker's predecessor, Fred Silverman, put "Hill Street Blues" on the air, it was the Tinker-Tartikoff duo who kept the groundbreaking cop drama in the lineup even though initial ratings were mediocre.

Tinker, of course, was no stranger to top-quality TV.

As founder, with then-wife Mary Tyler Moore, of MTM Productions, Tinker and his crew were responsible for Moore's Emmy winning comedy series, the two Bob Newhart comedies, "The White Shadow," the aforementioned "St. Elsewhere" and "Hill Street Blues," and several other high-quality series.

Thoughts of Tinker's career surfaced after reading reports that NBC Entertainment President Kevin Reilly and other network officials are debating the future of freshman series "Friday Night Lights" and "30 Rock" - neither of which has been a ratings hit.

Some NBC executives, lobbying for the return of the two next fall, have used Tinker's mantra as a case for the series' renewal.

In case you haven't noticed, NBC is in fourth place in national prime-time audience ratings.

So, unfortunately, Tinker's philosophy probably would not work today.

Tinker and Tartikoff operated in a decidedly different environment, consisting of three networks and a group of independent stations that thrived on network reruns.

Fox Broadcasting wasn't around.

Neither was the CW nor a zillion cable channels.

The Internet? Wasn't that a new type of volleyball game?

As noted earlier, NBC's fall schedule is in flux.

Even the venerable "Law & Order," after 17 seasons, is on the bubble.

Meanwhile, ABC, running third behind CBS and Fox, has announced obvious fall renewals : "Grey's Anatomy," "Lost," "Boston Legal," "Dancing With the Stars," plus three freshman series, "Ugly Betty," "Brothers & Sisters" and "Men in Trees."

Also on the renewal list: "Super Nanny," "Wife Swap," "America's Funniest Videos," "The Bachelor" and "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition."

The renewal of the last five shows graphically illustrates the sad sign of reality times.

None of the five has any hint of the creative juices of "Friday Night Lights" and "30 Rock," both of which might catch ratings fire during sophomore seasons.

TV history shows that "Cheers," in its 1982 premiere season, finished as the 82nd series on Nielsen's ratings list.

But we watch in a different TV era. Tinker's successful mantra has been replaced by: "First be first. Nothing else matters."