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American Morning
A Look at ABC's Fall Lineup
Aired May 15, 2002 - 08:57 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Time now to continue our weeklong serious of sneak previews into the fall network television lineups. Last night, it was ABC's turn. How do you breathe new life into a listless lineup? How do you do what the execs at ABC did and bring out the scalpels. Well, ABC needed to do some major surgery to avoid flat-lining after losing nearly a quarter of its primetime audience this season.
And our Michael Okwu was in the operating theater.
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MICHAEL OKWU, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): There aren't too many ways to spin this. ABC is cleaning house, and that's their final answer.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You got it right.
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OKWU: Say goodbye to "Dharma & Greg," "Spin City" and the once juggernaut game show that guided the network to ratings gold four nights a week.
KEN TUCKER, "ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY": They really overused it, and then didn't use the time while "Millionaire" was on the air to develop shows to replace it. So they found themselves in a real pickle.
OKWU: "Millionaire" will air as an occasional special, but that will be all. They unveiled a new lineup they hope will reverse its 23 percent drop in viewership. This fall, seven new shows, 5 1/2 new hours of programming.
SUSAN LYNE, PRESIDENT, NBC ENTERTAINMENT: We are trying to keep expectations at a rational level. This is not a one-year proposition. It takes time to rebuild the schedule. We're really hopeful that a few of these shows will stick.
OKWU: The new shows will kick off on Thursdays with comedies like "The In Laws," "Life With Bonnie," "Less Than Perfect," and "Eight Simple Rules for Dating My Daughter," starring veteran TV actor John Ritter and Katie Segal. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Girl, don't make your mother come up there.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Maggie.
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OKWU: Hospital drama "Imagine (ph)" takes the 10 spot on Wednesday. Thursdays, look for "Dinotopia," and the interactive mystery series "Push Nevada," produced by Ben Affleck and Matt Damon. Fridays, a trip back to the '80s with "That Was Then."
TUCKER: I think ABC really regrets losing Friday night TGIF Friday programming bloc that they had a few years ago when they thought that they could get away with it. They realize know that's exactly the sort of programming that people really want.
OKWU: That same theme was echoed at The WB with new dramas and comedies targeted for the entire family.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You quit the job, you grow this ugly ass beard, you look like you wear your clothes to bed, and you move us to the middle of Nowheresville, USA!
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OKWU: The network introduced six new shows, all geared toward family, and continuing to attract that coveted younger audience advertisers love.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You ever have a perfect song?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Several. Really.
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JAMIE KELLNER, PRESIDENT, WARNER BROS.: We're the only place that focuses ourselves on this demographic. So there's a lot of demand for it, and we don't have that much supply. So the price keeps going up.
OKWU: Experts say ABC could make $200 million less in ad sales this season compared to last. That's why they're also promoting their staple programs along with their new. It may take time, but the brass at ABC is determined to reclaim the old mantel -- America's broadcasting company.
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OKWU: The big news will be the CBS up front will take a look at their new "CSI" series, "CSI Miami" -- Paula. ZAHN: And I understand CBS is going to try to use a bunch of hunky film stars, beautiful film stars?
OKWU: There are going to be some hunky film stars. Also more -- there are going to be some hunky film producers and making, Michael Mann, Jerry Bruckheimer. Bruckheimer was one of the guys behind "CSI." Michael Mann will have a new series out. So they really want to do edgy, edgy, edgy programming to continue to get the young viewers that they've been attracting.
ZAHN: Those are some big names .
OKWU: Very big names. I mean, what's going on is CBS, there was a time when it was pretty much the Metamucil network. Clearly, they want to change that.
ZAHN: Michael, thanks for the preview.
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