ABC on the Offense as CBS and NBC Counterattack.

Gearing Up for the L.A. Screenings

ABC is eyeing a heap of new pilots to make up for this year's meager schedule as CBS and NBC continue to mine TV gold. Although the Peacock and the Eye are topping the charts, they have attained success with the same old shows. Granted, hits like Friends and Everybody Loves Raymond may never take a ratings dip, but execs need something new to ensure future rewards. Then there is ABC, which has to recover from last season's strategy of relying on one game show to make it to the top.

Studio heads have been gearing up to submit their best products for the upcoming season, greenlighting comedies and a large number of dramas. With the L.A. Screenings approaching and pilots in production, TV network execs must select shows to be approved or tossed in the dumpster. Due to the expenses of TV production, network bigwigs cannot afford to make hasty decisions. Each affirmed project must be preceded by analysis, projections and a gut feeling. Will this series be the next Will & Grace? Or will it follow the fate of The Trouble with Being Normal? Don't remember that show? There's a reason. After only a few airings on Friday night, ABC yanked it due to low ratings.

Those at the top of the tube totem pole ponder such issues as they pinpoint one show as red-hot and another as dust in the wind. Then there are midseason replacements to consider. With the onslaught of new shows cluttering the fall frequencies, midseason becomes a viable option. A program may not blossom in September or October, but it could skyrocket with a March launch date, as did 3rd Rock from the Sun.

NBC and CBS have been topping the ratings charts with a stellar menu of hits. Despite their lean selections, additions for the 2001-02 season are expected to keep the Peacock and the Eye flying high. CBS has already injected medical drama Heart Department into the mix, which stars Tony Shaloub, Felicity Huffman and Mark Feuerstein and is produced by Columbia TriStar. Big Ticket tossed CBS the innovative one-hour series Destiny, which follows characters in emotional dilemmas a la Short Cuts. Also on the CBS slate are werewolf thriller Wolf Lake, an untitled Richard Dreyfuss drama and the already picked-up The Senator.

NBC's spotlight shines on Paula Marshall, formerly of the now-defunct investigator series Snoops, and Mad About You dog walker Hank Azaria. In efforts to beef up its "Must-See TV" Thursday, the Peacock network ladles the untitled Marshall vehicle produced by Touchstone with executive producers Paul Reiser and Betsy Thomas. Touchstone was granted a second "yes" from NBC for the untitled Azaria and Seth Kurland comedy. The timeslor for the gritty Law & Order spin-off Criminal Intent will be investigated.

Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? -- it was ABC's crown jewel. But what other shows were part of the networks fall 2000 lineup? Can't recall? Perhaps because ABC didn't have much else in store. When the Regis Philbin-hosted game show began dwindling in the Neilsens, ABC didn't have much to fall back on. This year, execs did an about-face. So far, ABC has a heap of offerings in its TV catalog. Putting the government's judicial branch in the hot seat, The Bench gets court-focused from the point of view of law clerks. From executive producers Green Shephand and Michael Robin, The Brothers Grimm realize that their family tree isn't what they expected as they tumble into fantastical situations. ABC tunes in to the digital age with Imagine TV's Silicon Follies and an untitled project written by Charles Randolph. ABC doesn't fall short on laffers either, stockpiling two of them in its fall 2001 cart. James Belushi nabs his own comedy series as a married father of three. HMO prescribes humor in the laugh-a-minute health maintenance world? Maybe with The Larry Sanders Show's former EP Peter Tolan on board, it's better than it sounds. One definite is Philly, a Kim Delaney vehicle (she's leaving NYPD Blue) helmed by Steven Bochco and Alison Cross.

Reality television has enticed viewers and kept them hooked, which piqued the interest of many a TV executive. What's the next idea for a reality format? Fox experienced ratings success with sexy Temptation Island, so now they want to top that. Combining drama, actors and average Joes and Josies while shelling out wads of dough, this one seems tailor-made for success. Described as The Real World meets Twin Peaks, Fox presents a hybrid scripted reality series created by George Verschoor. With possible plans to launch internationally, the show brings a group of players into a small town to untangle a caper. Some of the townspeople are actors and some are just local citizens. The contestants must solve the mystery before being sabotaged.

That's not all Fox is relying on. Execs are also bringing a comedy and a thriller to the table. Ex-Conan O'Brien sidekick Andy Richter moves into the sitcom world as an imaginative single guy in Anything Can Happen. From executive producers Joel Surnow and Robert Cochran, 24 unfolds in real time as a government agent investigates an assassination. Studios USA unveils the romantic mystery The Third Degree. Fox gave a thumbs-up to Paramount's When I Grow Up, which centers around infidelity. Darren Star, along with Jeff Rake, is producing a show that adjusts the 90210 mentality to a beachfront hotel.

The WB has a few dramas vying for a fall season slot. The front-runner so far is Smallville, examining the life of adolescent Superman. Dawson's Creek creator Kevin Williamson takes another crack at the WB with Glory Days, about a burned-our writer. The Partridge Family is back! Didn't mean to scare you. In a modern tale, The Clarks Brothers follows a musical traveling clan.

Many pilots are in development at UPN -- drama, comedy and game shows. From Spelling Television, producer Morgan Gendel has a project about undercover female socialites. Wes Craven and Mark Kruger take a stab at the supernatural. Lions Gate is the studio venue for Dead Zone, an adaptation of Stephen King's novel.

Not only do the the busy bees behind the scenes have to watch their broadcast rivals, they also must deal with the growing popularity of cable series, which have dented the viewership of programming on CBS, ABC, NBC, Fox, the WB and UPN. The critical success and burgeoning &n base of such series as Sex and the City, The Sopranos and Oz have made HBO a competitor that the TV suits should consider during pick-up season. Why has cable become so crowd-pleasing recently? First of all, cable heads do not need to worry about advertising and can therefore take more risks with content. Plus, if a fan misses the show, it is often repeated several times during the week.

The broadcast networks have more competition than ever before with cable channels boasting new programs. HBO has two series this year to enhance its schedule. Six Feet Under focuses on a Los Angeles family that runs a funeral home. The dramatic series is scripted by American Beauty Best Screenplay Oscar winner Alan Ball. On the comedy front, Mind of the Married Man, written by and starring EP Mike Binder, observes a marriage from the husband's point of view.

The Cartoon Network is competing for kids' attention in a big way by investing $500 million in new original programming. This fall, children will have two animated comedies added to 'toon town with Time Squad, which follows historical enforcers as they go back in time, and Grim & Evil. Also part of The Cartoon Network's skein is the actioner Samurai Jack, about a warrior who is lost in the future.

Comedy Central has been tickling the funny bone with favorites like the primetime cartoon series South Park and satirical news show The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. The channel has more in store this season. Comedian Martin Short takes the driver's seat in Primetime Glick. With a September 2001 launch, Sweet Spot highlights golf and the comical Murray brothers: Bill, Brian Doyle, Joel and John. FX, which gained notoriety with Howard Sternproduced laffer Son of the Beach, premieres Bad News Mr. Swanson. The comedy series spotlights a man who is diagnosed with cancer and abandoned by his wife.

Are Advertisers Becoming Suppliers?

Are current primetime series becoming too risque for TV sponsors? Well, that's what advertisers think and they are doing something about it. Some major advertisers are becoming ambivalent about putting their money into today's YUA (Young Urban Audience) ratings royalty which, as sitcoms go, are overloaded with sexual content and double entendres.

How about less (sex) talk and more action? Enter The Family Friendly Programming Forum, a group of advertisers that support primetime shows, which they feel are family-oriented. Advertisers do not just want to sell to a specific group like YUA; they want to sell to everyone in a family. Since advertisers do not appreciate what is on television, they decided that they should be the ones to change it. Instead of placing their ad dollars with networks, whose TV content they deem questionable, 13 companies contributed to a $1 million pot for script development deals. This fund supports scripts which have a family focus. Even though this could be seen as censorship, the Forum has no creative control over the shows' content, however they can back out if they disagree with a plotline. Ultimately, the Forum will notify the shows it plans to sponsor.

Sound like a new concept? It's been done before with a show one may not remember called Young Americans on the WB. Coca-Cola backed this series, but it had only 1.6 million viewers and was eventually canceled. Some feel that the cancellation was due to clumsy product placement in the drama. Does this spell "disaster" for future affiliations between advertisers and TV shows? Not really. With remote switching and digital video recorders as a growing part of the television experience, advertisers are in need to do more than just produce commercials. As a matter of fact, the Forum, which backed several shows on the WB during the 2000-2001 season including Gilmore Girls, now has deals with CBS, ABC and the WB. Touchstone's Being Brewster, about a family with seven children, will be supported by the Forum on ABC's fall schedule.