ALONG WITH LEFTOVERS, NETWORKS TOSS VIEWERS A FEW NEW BONES.Byline: Rick Kushman Scripps-McClatchy Western News Service Summer is coming, which means we can get back to one of the grand American For sports car racing association formed in 1999, see . Grand American was a NASCAR sanctioned series of pony car stock cars. The series ran from 1968 until 1971. The series was sometimes called the Baby Grand series. traditions - reruns. However, two things are different this year, at least a little. Different thing No. 1: It seemed like the past season already was stuffed with reruns. Different thing No. 2: Most of the major networks - ABC ABC in full American Broadcasting Co. Major U.S. television network. It began when the expanding national radio network NBC split into the separate Red and Blue networks in 1928. , CBS (Cell Broadcast Service) See cell broadcast. , NBC NBC in full National Broadcasting Co. Major U.S. commercial broadcasting company. It was formed in 1926 by RCA Corp., General Electric Co. (GE), and Westinghouse and was the first U.S. company to operate a broadcast network. and Fox - are going to try to keep at least a few fresh series on the air this summer on the theory that they cannot afford to let viewers roam free through the vast reaches of cable channels. Overall viewership for the major networks is down - again - this season (to just below two-thirds of the available prime-time audience), and there are lots of reasons, starting with a headlong rush this season to capture 18- to 49-year-old viewers, which alienated everyone else. There are also several reasons under the heading of competition - from things such as computers, videos and cable. Especially cable, which climbed from a 25 percent to 30 percent share of the audience. This summer, there is some movement toward keeping things interesting. All the major networks are spending more for summer specials and movies, but a few also will be airing new series. Fox: This network regularly has introduced series in the summer and is in the lead again. On Monday, Fox premieres two new series, ``L.A. Firefighters,'' a drama that has been picked up for the fall schedule, and ``The Last Frontier,'' a comedy that is probably headed for the boonies boon·ies pl.n. Slang Rural country or a jungle. [Shortening and alteration of boondocks.] . The network also will start the fall season early by airing new episodes of ``Party of Five'' sometime in August, just as it did last season. In the meantime Adv. 1. in the meantime - during the intervening time; "meanwhile I will not think about the problem"; "meantime he was attentive to his other interests"; "in the meantime the police were notified" meantime, meanwhile , Fox will run some new episodes of ``Sliders sliders a species of tortoise kept as pets. They have a black shell and a red stripe behind the eye. Called also Chrysemys scripta elegans, red-eared sliders. ,'' a sci-fi series that has bounced around and is scheduled for the fall season, and finish out the unseen episodes of ``Too Something,'' a gentle but underwatched comedy renamed ``New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of Daze.'' CBS: Starting Wednesday, CBS will begin airing an overhauled ``Central Park West'' - even the name has been changed to ``CPW'' - featuring new stars Raquel Welch Jo Raquel Tejada (born September 5 1940), best known by her stage name Raquel Welch, is an American actress who reached fame during the 1960s. Early life and Gerald McRaney. CBS also will run the last four unaired episodes of the canceled ``Picket Fences.'' In July, ``Nash Bridges,'' one of CBS' hottest new series, will come back, first with reruns, then with new episodes to give it a running start for the fall. ABC: The network originally planned to air new episodes of ``High Incident,'' the cops-on-the-beat drama from Steven Spielberg, but - surprise, Steve - the series was picked up for the fall. Now, ABC programmers have not decided whether to hold everything until September or give the series some earlier air time. NBC: Besides a few more episodes of ``Boston Common,'' a midseason comedy that will return in the fall, NBC has the best summer programming available: the Olympics. |
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