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Marc Berman

Fall 2002 Programming Snapshot:
What to Expect at ABC

-Already Renewed:
Monday Night Football, My Wife and Kids, According to Jim, Drew Carey, NYPD Blue, Whose Line is it Anyway?, Wonderful World of Disney, Alias, The Practice, America’s Funniest Home Videos

-Also Expected Back:
The Bachelor, George Lopez and, of course, 20/20 and Primetime
Thursday (with the number of individual 20/20 hours a question mark).

-On the Fence:
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, Philly, The Job

-Waiting for the Axe to Swing:
Dharma & Greg, Spin City

-Canceled (or on Hiatus):
Once and Again, The Court, Bob Patterson, What About Joan, Wednesday 9:30 (8:30 Central), The Chair, The Mole: The Next Betrayal, Thieves

-Total Number of Hours in Need of Fixing: 9-12

Time Periods in Need of Potential Repair:
-Monday 8-9 p.m.
-Tuesday 8-9 p.m.
-Wednesday 9-10 p.m. or 9-11 p.m.
-Thursday: 8-10 p.m.
-Friday: 9-10 p.m. or 8-10 p.m.
-Saturday: Unless the low-rated movie returns a total revamp of the
night could be in the works.

-What to Expect:
Yes, we all know what a mess ABC is in. Drew Carey is down,
Millionaire may be out, Dharma & Greg and Spin City are waiting for the axe to swing

--you know the drill. But instead of immediately focusing on the
negative, let’s take a look at what’s working. Monday Night Football is a given, NYPD Blue is holding up better than anyone probably expected, My Wife and Kids is promising and Sunday is -- thankfully -- not in disarray.
Add time period Band-Aid America’s Funniest Home Videos, marginal According to Jim and potential keeper Philly to the mix and that’s the good – err, pretty good -- on ABC.

Now it’s time to face reality. Even if Millionaire returns after a
summer hiatus the once killer game show is all but over. Although Monday Night Football has the male audience locked up in fourth quarter, 8 p.m. Monday is weak and the network will need to think about what to do in first quarter after football ends. The lead-off Tuesday hour must be fixed, Drew Carey is killing Wednesday from 9-10 p.m., 20/20 is off across-the-board, Friday is a veritable ghost town and the Saturday
Movie is time period filler.

What to do? Well, as hard as it will be for ABC to pick up steam,
patience and promotion -- lots of series promotion -- are the tools
the network needs to get back on the map. Instead of scheduling shows and immediately pulling them (think The Chair, The Mole, What About Joan), ABC must choose the new series they believe in and let the audience eventually find them. And while you can’t fault the network for giving a show like
Once and Again three seasons to attract an audience, constantly moving it put the final nail in its coffin. If ABC can look past the erosion and find the right vehicles, patience and promotion might get them out of this hole. Of course, that’s a big if.

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I honestly can not remember the last time I really enjoyed a show on ABC.

Yeah, I agree with you Kristen. Abc is going to have a lot of new pilots this upcoming season. I've heard mostly family sitcoms, and they are bringing back tgif. I think abc is also bringing in the most pilots for this upcoming season too.

It seems that ABC, itself and more than any other network, has great potential to be a strong Number 1 network.

Exploiting their ancilliary properties....A&E and ABCFamily... to create a strong brand identification with viewers outside of the ABC Network location, who wouldnt ordinarily look at an ABC program.

For example, The View is not only broadcast at it's morning time slot on ABC Network, it replays at noon est and 6PM on A&E.

ABCFamily uses it's weekend and primetime weekday slots to strengthen the fanbases of certain shows like "Alias" that wouldnt ordinarily just get a small core fan following.

It's a little dicey, because of the little money they are spending on new programs and strengthening what audience have now for their other properties. But they do save lots of licensing money for new shows...and they strengthen that brand identification which is as good as gold in advertising dollars.

It's a patented Uncle Walt Disney strategy that has made steadfast that word in the marketplace for decades. It just takes time.

It's success depends on the time....the time it takes to work, in relation to how the stock market price is affected. This is a situation where patience is more than a virtue...it's a necessity.



ABCFamily

I believe that ABC has the same potential as NBC and CBS to be number one. I love their programs, it's just that some of them are scheduled poorly. I know ABC has taken some heat for re-airing some of their programs on ABC Family, but FOX is doing the same thing on FX. If ABC has patience, their network will one day be number one as it was in the late 70s and in the early 90s. ABC does have viewers, but theyre mostly younger people that advertisers do not usually market thier products to. If ABC keeps it around, "My Wife & Kids", "According to Jim", and "Alias" will most likely gain in the ratings if the shows are kept at their slots and maintain the level of quality from those shows. ABC has had a hard time with some of their shows that have been major ratings winners in the past--such as "Spin City", 'Drew Carey', and "Dharma & Greg"--falling in the ratings. Every week, ABC either has a terrible time in the ratings or an average week, sometimes above average. Well that's enough of my own rant! :wave:

I think maybe if they brought back some type of version of "full House" for TGIF, or a more modern version of "Three's Company", maybe Jack being the landlord... or just try out some pilots for family-oriented type shows like Family Ties, The Cosby Show, etc.

We'll see this fall! :)

ABC hasn't developed any good series (with the exception of The Job) while they let their veteran series slowly burn out.
They need some new sitcoms right away.

I'm still pissed they canceled "Sportsnight."

My various comments on the shows shown here:

Who Want's to be a Millionaire is underrated and should be resumed. Good luck to the syndie version if it is cancelled.

Wasn't Micheal J. Fox set to return to Spin City? I've never watched the show, but I heard that somewhere.

America's Funniest Home Videos is great. While Bergeron is not a Saget, he's much better than the dull team of Daisy Feuentes and that other guy.

Of course, the Wonderful World of Disney is groovy. They showed Toy Story 2. Nuff said. :)

Whose Line is it Anyway? is starting to grow on me. I might start watching it regularly.

MOnday Night Football is looking up with John Madden joining Al Micheals and the amusing Dennis Miller. Not the Sega Sports team of Dan Stevens and Peter O'Keefe by any means, but it could be good.

Oh I forgot to put this last time, but I'm surprised "Whose Line is It Anyway?" is being renewed even though I like it. Right now it's ABC's lowest rated show...last week it fell below the top 100.

Originally posted by ClassicComedyFan2
Wasn't Micheal J. Fox set to return to Spin City? I've never watched the show, but I heard that somewhere.

MOnday Night Football is looking up with John Madden joining Al Micheals and the amusing Dennis Miller. Not the Sega Sports team of Dan Stevens and Peter O'Keefe by any means, but it could be good.

Michael J. Fox returned for a couple of episodes at the start of the season I think.

MNF will be a 2 man booth with Madden and Michaels - Dennis Miller, Dan Fouts, and Eric Dickerson were all let go..

I have found it hard to find a show worth watching on ABC as well. I do enjoy "According to Jim," and I loved "What About Joan" (which I still think was unfairly canceled). But besides that, nothing. "Millionaire" was WAY over-aired. It was on, like, four or five times a week?! I loved it when it was on once or twice, but then I got sick of that SO FAST! :happyface :happyface :happyface