EIGHT-WEEK `NYPD' DROUGHT HAS STAR FRANZ HOPPING MAD.

Byline: Orange County Register

From the Television Critics Association winter press tour in Pasadena:

Dennis Franz is incredulous. He can't believe ABC is pulling his Emmy-winning, hugely popular series ``NYPD Blue'' off the air for eight weeks beginning March 4, so the network can try out new legal drama ``The Practice'' in ``NYPD's'' 10 p.m. Tuesday berth.

``NYPD'' will return for a few episodes in May. And Franz - one of the nicest guys in Hollywood - is frankly annoyed when he hears the news at a recent ABC party in Pasadena.

``Eight?'' Franz bolts, startled. ``They said eight? Two months? I think it's unfair to the audience is what I have to say. You tantalize them and then you take it away from them.''

Franz isn't the only one fuming. Thursday, a steamed Ellen DeGeneres walked off the set of her ABC sitcom, ``Ellen,'' after learning that Arsenio Hall's untitled comedy series will replace her at 9:30 p.m. Wednesday starting March 5 for eight weeks.

And NBC's ``ER'' and ``Homicide'' also are going on hiatus. New Kellie Martin drama ``Crisis Center'' will bump ``Homicide'' from its 10 p.m. Friday home Feb. 28 for six weeks. ``ER'' will take a five-week vacation, with new undercover cop series ``Prince Street,'' starring Joe Morton, premiering March 6 in ``ER's'' 10 p.m. Thursday slot.

Then March 13-April 3, NBC's ``Law & Order'' evicts ``Prince Street'' from the ``ER'' slot for four weeks, with ``Prince Street'' shifting to ``L&O's'' 10 p.m. Wednesday slot.

And on April 9, the new Aaron Spelling Southern California-set soap - yes, there's another one - tentatively titled ``Pacific Palisades'' will oust ``Party of Five'' from its 9 p.m. Wednesday roost on Fox. ``Party of Five'' will have an early season finale April 2.

``Murder One'' wraps as a weekly series at 9 p.m. Jan. 23, returning as a three-part, two-hour-a-night miniseries April 13, 14 and 17.

Last season, the networks caught huge flak for stuffing their seasons with reruns of dramas that are too costly to do new every week. Viewers will be more accepting of new tryout shows than encores, the nets think, But not Franz.

``You know, you take a long time in nurturing audiences and nurturing viewing habits, and then you break that habit and expect them to come back afterward,'' Franz said, sounding piqued. ``You know they (viewers) don't like to have their habits broken.''