TELEVISION - March 16, 1992

Bart Burns Bill: On “The Simpsons” last week, a frustrated Homer Simpson threw a book into his fireplace, where, in a brief scene, it was seen burning alongside an uncommented-upon photo of Bill Cosby--the Fox show’s rival in the Thursday-night ratings wars. The scene turned out to be prophetic: “The Simpsons” wound up winning that night’s battle, attracting viewers in about 13 million homes compared to about 12 million for a rerun of “The Cosby Show” on NBC.