`FRESH PRINCE': MORE THAN JUST THE PASSING OF ANOTHER SITCOM.

Byline: Ed Bark Dallas Morning News

``Goodnight, sweet Prince'' might be too lofty a sendoff for a rapper-turned-sitcom star with a potentially big feature-film career awaiting him.

Still, Monday night's one-hour final episode of ``The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air'' signifies more than the passing of another passable TV series.

For NBC, it's goodbye to a show considered moderately daring in its day. The premiere of ``Fresh Prince'' in September 1990 marked the first sighting of a rap/hip-hop star on a mainstream network's weekly prime-time schedule.

While ``The Cosby Show'' wound down, Will Smith represented a new generation of African-American entertainers weaned on boom boxes and street slang. NBC's homogenized premise - a kid from a tough Philly neighborhood is sent to live with his rich uncle - succeeded in scrubbing away any unsightly rawness. But Smith, in tandem with his partner, D.J. Jazzy Jeff, was allowed to perform his own ``Fresh''-rapped theme song. A radical departure back then, it has stayed and played with the show throughout its entire six-season run.

``Fresh Prince'' never strayed from its 8 p.m. Monday time period, a rare occurrence in times when networks can't resist playing musical chairs.

The demise of ``Fresh Prince'' is partly due to diminished ratings, but more a case of Smith faithfully fulfilling his six-year contract while feature film offers piled up. A sequel to his hit movie ``Bad Boys,'' with co-star Martin Lawrence, already is in the works. Smith also received favorable reviews for his supporting performance in the tonier ``Six Degrees of Separation.'' For him, it's time to move on.

His departure, however, will leave No. 1-rated NBC without any series featuring a predominantly minority cast, African-American or otherwise. NBC shows such as ``Homicide: Life on the Street,'' ``ER'' and ``The John Larroquette Show'' make prominent use of African-American actors. But none of them have African-American performers in the driver's seat.

NBC also made TV history by teaming Bill Cosby and Robert Culp in the mid-1960s drama series ``I Spy.'' It was the first time an African-American had received top billing in something other than a sitcom.

CBS currently is without any series starring an African-American cast but will have at least one next season when Cosby returns to prime time in a sitcom based on the British hit ``One Foot in the Grave.''

ABC, which will announce its new fall lineup Monday, must decide whether to renew its two long-running black comedies, ``Family Matters'' and ``Hangin' With Mr. Cooper.''

Fox, which broke ground with ``In Living Color,'' lately has been giving ground. It's down to three series of color - ``Living Single,'' ``Martin'' and ``New York Undercover.''

Tellingly, NBC has imported ABC's ``The Jeff Foxworthy Show'' to replace ``Fresh Prince'' on Mondays next fall. Foxworthy's redneck-style humor is whiter than ``The Captain & Tennille'' playing the Apollo.

``In the House,'' canceled by NBC in favor of a new comedy built around a white schoolteacher, is being picked up by the fledgling UPN network. It will air at 8 p.m. Mondays, where ``Fresh Prince'' used to be.

Both UPN and the WB will have a heavy concentration of black comedies next fall. Six of UPN's nine series, including all four shows on Monday nights, have African-American casts.

On WB, five of 12 series star African-American actors. One of the newcomers, ``The Steve Harvey Show,'' showcases the comedian whose ``Me and the Boys'' series was canceled by ABC despite ranking 20th in the 1994-95 season.

Monday night's funny, affecting finale includes cameos by Sherman Hemsley and Isabel Sanford in their old CBS roles of George and Louise Jefferson. ``Movin' on up'' once again, it's the Jeffersons who end up buying the Bel-Air mansion where Will Smith spent six seasons with rich Uncle Phil and family.

Next season, Hemsley will be movin' on over to UPN, in a Monday night sitcom titled ``Goode Behavior.'' He's playing a newly paroled con artist in a show that UPN has placed between ``Fresh Prince'' alum James Avery's comedy and ``Malcolm & Eddie,'' co-starring former ``Cosby Show'' kid Malcolm-Jamal Warner.

Given UPN's barely visible Nielsen ratings, it's the equivalent of relocating to the projects. Times change - or do they?

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Photo

Photo: ``The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,'' starring Will Smith and Nia Long, ends its six-season run with a one-hour episode at 8 p.m. Monday on NBC.