ABC LOOKING A LITTLE `DESPERATE,' `LOST'.

Byline: David Kronke Television Critic

`Next year, you guys get to do the Emmy nominations,'' ABC Entertainment president Stephen McPherson told those attending the Television Critics Association's semiannual press tour in Pasadena on Tuesday.

Last season, the network's ``Lost'' was named outstanding drama; this year, it wasn't even nominated. Likewise, ``Desperate Housewives'' dominated last year's nominations, and Felicity Huffman won the Emmy for best actress in a comedy; this year, the show was virtually shut out in major categories. These and other surprises were attributed to new voting rules.

``Clearly, the new system doesn't work,'' McPherson said. ``That oversight is remarkable. ... I hope the academy looks at it, realizes the changes made were not all good and that they'll go back to the old system.''

ABC has more worries than a few Emmy snubs. The network is premiering eight new series this fall, a particularly high number to ask viewers to sample. In the past, when a network has attempted to launch that many new shows, the results haven't been pretty.

``It's an aggressive schedule,'' McPherson conceded. ``We're rebuilding; we have a lot of work to do. There's risk in it, no question. To me, this is the best scenario. It's not ideal.''

Compounding the challenge is the fact that many of the new shows are serialized, which is a network's dream when they click with audiences, but a particular drag on the schedule when they don't.

``The difficult thing about serials is, these mysteries are set up, and they draw a loyal fan base; sometimes that base is small,'' he continued. ``I hope viewers will give the next serialized show a shot. But it raises the bar for serialized series. Viewers make a commitment to a certain number of these shows.''

``Lost'' is one of those shows that viewers have committed to, but they got awfully frustrated this past season as production delays forced an undue number of repeats. Next season, ABC will air six episodes before turning its time slot over to 13 episodes of another serialized drama, ``Day Break,'' after which ``Lost'' will return and run straight through to the end of the season.

``We listened to the audience as to the repeats, and it seemed like the best way to handle that,'' McPherson said.

```Lost' is difficult to produce. If we could run 22 straight in the fall, we would.'' McPherson said he considered holding the show until January and running it straight through, as Fox does with ``24,'' but ``that felt like a long time to hold it.''

McPherson also promised improvements to ``Desperate Housewives,'' which lost a lot of the heat it had established in its first season, when it emerged as a pop-culture phenomenon.

``Marc (Cherry, the show's creator) admitted that at the beginning of last year the show stumbled a little bit,'' McPherson said. ``They spent too much time setting up the mystery. This year, they'll jump right in. `Desperate Housewives' will get back to the heart of it, which tonally was a wicked comedy.''

Of ABC's decision to challenge CBS on Thursdays by moving ``Grey's Anatomy'' opposite ``CSI: Crime Scene Investigation,'' McPherson said, ``It was something we thought about all year. We needed to move it and build our audience. We needed it to become a strong self-starter on its own, and that's what it's become.''

David Kronke, [phone]

david.kronke(at)dailynews.com

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Plagued by production delays, ``Lost,'' returns with six episodes this season before giving up its time slot for 13 weeks.