ABC OPTIMISTIC IN RECOVERY NO. 3 NETWORK 'FURTHER ALONG' THAN EXPECTED.

Byline: Greg Hernandez Staff Writer

BURBANK - ABC may rank third in overall viewers this season, but top network executives cheerfully insisted Friday that they are No. 3 with a bullet and recovering well from last season's disastrous ratings free-fall.

``We are actually a little further along than we thought we'd be,'' Susan Lyne, president of ABC Entertainment, said in an interview. ``We were hoping to hold our ground, not to see the same kind of double-digit dips this season and start moving the needle slightly in the other direction.''

But a slate of new and returning sitcoms, the immense popularity of ``The Bachelor,'' the ongoing draw of ``Monday Night Football'' and high-profile celebrity interviews on its newsmagazines ``20/20'' and ``PrimeTime'' helped the network climb out of the ratings cellar, making it the second most-watched network among viewers aged 18-49 - the demographic most coveted by advertisers - during the recent November sweeps.

`'The fact that we came in second in the 18-49 demo was a very nice surprise,'' said Lyne.

Lyne joined ABC Entertainment Television Group Chairman Lloyd Braun, actors John Ritter and Katey Sagal of ``8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter,'' Tisha Campbell-Martin of ``My Wife and Kids'' and Victor Garber of ``Alias'' for a brief ceremony unveiling giant billboards of each show outside the soundstages on the Disney lot. Also on hand were Disney Chairman and CEO Michael D. Eisner, Disney President Robert Iger and Stephen McPherson, president of Disney-owned Touchstone Television, as well as Mickey Mouse himself.

``It's a great honor to have our shows displayed on these venerable studio walls for the very first time,'' Braun said to a large crowd of Disney employees. ``We're all just beginning to enjoy the fruits of everybody's hard work. They represent the future.''

After the ceremony, executives were tight-lipped about some of their future prime-time scheduling plans, but Braun was adamant that ABC was not writing off Thursday nights, where the canceled ``Push, Nevada'' and the ratings-challenged ``Dinotopia'' have languished against NBC's popular two-hour comedy block and CBS' top hits ``CSI'' and ``Survivor.''

``We are absolutely committed to having a credible schedule on Thursday, and we're not going to wait until next September to do it,'' he said. ``You'll start seeing some of that in February, and from there on, I think we are going to be doing significantly better on Thursday.''

But the executive declined to share specifics.

``I'd rather wait and see rather than tell everybody else this is what we are doing and let them counter-program us,'' he said.

Braun and Lyne said the new Tuesday night comedies ``8 Simple Rules,'' ``Life With Bonnie'' and ``Less Than Perfect,'' along with the second season of ``Life According to Jim,'' have served as the building blocks for the network's turnaround.

The returning sitcoms ``My Wife and Kids'' and ``George Lopez'' kick off the Wednesday night prime-time line-up, which went into high gear during the fall run of ``The Bachelor'' and has continued with highly-rated specials such as last week's Diane Sawyer interview with Whitney Houston and this week's ``Extreme Makeover,'' which will be repeated next Wednesday.

``Basically, we've had to rebuild the entire foundation of the network,'' Braun said. ``These (new) shows are growing in every way. They withstand brutal competition, they were launched without the benefit of any lead-in whatsoever and yet still perform and most of them win their time period week in and week out.''

Some of the network's plans for January and beyond include moving ``The Practice'' from its longtime Sunday 10 p.m. slot to Monday nights, where it will be the lead-in for the new drama ``Miracles.'' An updated version of ``Dragnet'' will replace ``The Practice'' on Sundays.

``We really had to look hard at our assets going into the second half of the season because we launch a whole new Monday night in January after football is over,'' Lyne said. ``We really believe 'The Practice' is a strong enough show that it will bring its audience with it and we need an anchor for Monday.''

On Friday, the network officially pulled the plug on the low-rated Wednesday night drama ``MDs,'' which was unable to capitalize on the monster ratings of lead-in ``The Bachelor.'' It will be replaced by the reality series ``Celebrity Mole.''

With reality series such as ``The Bachelor'' and ``The Mole'' doing so well for ABC, Braun and Lyne confirmed that along with the January debut of ``The Bachelorette,'' the network is planning a summer launch of ``The Will'' which will revolve around a wealthy benefactor who bequeaths his fortune to the winner of a game-show style contest among relatives.

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2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) ABC executives Susan Lyne and Lloyd Braun are optimistic about the state of their network's recovery from a ratings free-fall.

(2) Disney CEO Michael Eisner, left, joins ABC actors and executives during the unveiling of posters touting some of the network's more popular shows.

Gus Ruelas/Staff Photographer