Reuters/ Variety

December 12, 2002

Super Bowl Shuffle Skews ABC Schedule

By Josef Adalian

SPOILERS!

HOLLYWOOD (Variety) - ABC is moving David E. Kelley's Sunday stalwart "The Practice" to 9 p.m. Mondays as part of a rejiggered midseason schedule that will also see Dick Wolf's new "Dragnet" bow on Sundays and "Alias" get a coveted post-Super Bowl push.

The shift shift starts Jan. 26 with the post-pigskin "Alias," ABC's critically hailed 9 p.m. Sunday series has been getting decent -- but not spectacular -- numbers. The stand-alone segment will guest star Ethan Hawke and serve as the introduction to a major story arc for the second half of the season.

In a surprise, "The Practice" will shift to 9 p.m. Monday the day after the Super Bowl, Jan. 27; it leads into new drama "Miracles." "Dragnet," which had been set to air Mondays, will instead move into the 10 p.m. Sunday slot now occupied by "The Practice," starting Feb. 2. The father-and-son archaeological drama "Veritas: The Quest" is still set to air Mondays at 8 p.m.

In addition, it looks as if ABC will schedule the reality special "Celebrity Mole" Wednesdays at 10 p.m. following "The Bachelor," starting next month. The network is looking at other time slots for rookie drama "MDs," which now airs in the slot.

The moves mean Wolf will now control two hours of primetime on Sundays (NBC's "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" and "Dragnet"), while Kelley takes command again of two hours on Monday (Fox's "Boston Public" and "The Practice").

It also gives ABC a solid Monday anchor. Until now, the network had planned to launch an all-new block of dramas on the night -- a risky proposition for any broadcaster, but particularly for ABC, which is just starting to emerge from a Nielsen slump.

"We had a very long meeting (Tuesday) afternoon ... and took another hard look at Monday night," said ABC Entertainment Television Group chairman Lloyd Braun. "Ultimately, we were not comfortable launching three brand new dramas on one night."

Not surprisingly, the Kelley camp wasn't thrilled about ABC's decision to shift "The Practice" just as the show has regained momentum on Sunday nights.

"We are very concerned about this move," a spokeswoman for David E. Kelley Prods. said. "We are hoping that ABC will do everything in its power to support the show, which has garnered critical acclaim since its inception and has continually won its time slot."

What's more, it's known that Kelley's deal with ABC for "The Practice" includes a clause giving him the right to be consulted about any schedule shifts, with the network retaining the right to make changes even over Kelley's objections. However, Kelley apparently wasn't told about the decision until Tuesday evening -- after it was made and just hours before it was announced to the press, industry insiders said.

Braun said ABC had met its contractual obligations and noted that "'The Practice' is an incredibly important asset for us. We've treated it with great care in the past, and we'll continue to treat it with great care in the future."

Nonetheless, Braun added that "at the time in the life of 'The Practice,' we think it's strong enough to bring its audience over to Mondays at 9. It would be nice if we lived in a world where we didn't have to move shows that are working. But we live in a time where we want to rebuild the network quickly, and we want to be a very profitable business quickly."

By moving "The Practice," ABC assures itself "a very competitive position on Monday night," Braun said. "And from what we've seen of 'Dragnet,' that show has a huge upside on Sundays."

Indeed, the move gives "Dragnet" a much better chance to find an audience. It now faces the critically acclaimed but modestly performing "Boomtown," as well as the final hour of the struggling CBS Sunday Movie. It had been set to square off against "Everybody Loves Raymond" on CBS and NBC's resurgent "Third Watch."

"I am thrilled down to my toes," said "Dragnet" executive producer Dick Wolf. "As one of the great complainers about time slots, I have no complaints."

Still, the plan is risky since ABC could end up weakening two nights -- Sunday and Monday -- if any one element goes wrong. It also will have to move "The Practice" in the fall once Monday Night Football returns and reclaims the 9 p.m. slot.

As for "Alias," Braun said series creator J.J. Abrams "has come up with one of the best episodes of television I've ever seen.

"We think this show can still benefit from the sampling it will get from being behind the Super Bowl," he said.

Braun also hinted that Abrams will use the episode to launch a new storyline "that both diehard 'Alias' fans as well as those who have never seen it are going to love."

© Reuters/ Variety 2002

The Hollywood Reporter

December 12, 2002

ABC moves 'Practice' time slot

By Cynthia Littleton

LOS ANGELES (The Hollywood Reporter) --- ABC did an about-face Wednesday and announced that it plans to move David E. Kelley's legal drama "The Practice" out of its longtime Sunday 10 p.m. berth to 9 p.m. Monday next month to make room for its revival of the police drama "Dragnet."

ABC also revealed Wednesday that it would give its plum post-Super Bowl berth on Jan. 26 to its other Sunday drama series, "Alias," in an effort to expose the stylish spy drama to a wider audience. Still, the talk in TV circles Wednesday was all about the shuffle of "Practice."

Not surprisingly, the news did not set well in the camp of "Practice" creator/executive producer Kelley.

"We are very concerned about this move," a spokeswoman for David E. Kelley Prods. said. "We are hoping that ABC will do everything in its power to support the show, which has garnered critical acclaim since its inception and has continually won its time slot."

On Tuesday, ABC said it planned to launch its three midseason dramas on Monday -- "Veritas: The Quest," "Dragnet" and "Miracles" -- after "Monday Night Football" concludes its season in late January.

But network brass quickly reconsidered the wisdom of loading up one night with three new shows, so they opted to open up "Practice's" Sunday 10 p.m. slot to "Dragnet," which will bow Feb. 2. "Practice," a two-time best drama series Emmy winner in its seventh season, will move to its new berth Jan. 27.

"We looked at a number of different options, and this seemed to be the strongest choice we could make," ABC entertainment president Susan Lyne said Wednesday. "By moving 'The Practice' to Monday, it can anchor the rest of the night."

"Practice" will face tougher competition in its new Monday lot from CBS' dominant "Everybody Loves Raymond (news - Y! TV)," though Lyne said the legal drama would be good counterprogramming against the family comedy.

"We're asking David to do a lot by moving him to Monday ... but 'The Practice' is in extraordinarily good shape creatively, and we think it is strong enough to succeed there," Lyne said.

But the bigger problem with the move to 9 p.m. Monday for "Practice" is that the show will face another time-slot switch in fall 2003, when "Monday Night Football" kicks off again. Lyne said that issue will be dealt with in May, when the fall 2003 schedule is assembled. But she also stressed that ABC needs to lean heavily on its tentpole shows right now to climb out of the ratings slump that has crippled the network for the past two seasons.

"We've been talking all season about the fact that this is a rebuilding year for ABC and we're doing things that will probably not be necessary two years from now," Lyne said. "This year, we need 'The Practice' on Monday."

© The Hollywood Reporter 2002

Zap2it

December 11, 2002

ABC Changes Its Mind, Moves 'Dragnet' to Sundays

LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) - ABC executives had a meeting Tuesday (Dec. 10) at which they decided the network's updated version of "Dragnet" would premiere at 10 p.m. ET Sunday, Feb. 2.

The thing is, the net had already announced the show would premiere at 9 p.m. Monday, Jan. 27. Wednesday (Dec. 11), ABC took back its earlier statement and confirmed that "Dragnet" would get the Sunday spot.

"The Practice," which has anchored ABC's Sunday night for several seasons, will move to 9 p.m. Mondays to help the network launch new dramas "Veritas: The Quest" at 8 p.m. and "Miracles" at 10 p.m. The rejiggered Monday slate debuts Jan. 27.

"Monday is a really important night for ABC. It has been a strong performer for the first half of the season and we need an anchor show to keep our momentum," ABC Entertainment president Susan Lyne says. "What better anchor could we have than 'The Practice'?"

At a meeting Tuesday after the original announcement was made, network executives decided trying to establish three new series on one night would be a dicey proposition, ABC spokesman Kevin Brockman says. The move of "The Practice" to Mondays alleviates the problem, and it also gives "Dragnet" an established lead-in with "Alias."

ABC also says that "Alias" will get the plum post-Super Bowl spot on Sunday, Jan. 26. Although stylish spy show the generates big critical buzz, it hasn't thus far drawn huge audiences. Lyne hopes that will change following the Super Bowl.

"The episode that [series creator] J.J. Abrams has written to air post-Super Bowl is ... maybe the best hour of pure entertainment we've seen," Lyne says. "This is a show that we have always believed deserved a bigger audience, and the Super Bowl will help introduce it to millions of new viewers."

© Zap2it 2002

AP

December 11, 2002

ABC Shifts 'The Practice,' 'Dragnet'

By LYNN ELBER, AP Television Writer

LOS ANGELES (AP) - ABC, faced with the daunting prospect of starting three new midseason dramas on Monday, will move its popular legal series "The Practice" to anchor the night.

Beginning Jan. 27, "The Practice" will air at 9 p.m. EST, between new dramas "Veritas: The Quest" at 8 p.m. EST and "Miracles" at 10 p.m. EST, the network announced Wednesday.

Moving into the 10 p.m. EST Sunday time slot currently held by "The Practice" will be "Dragnet," an updated version of the 1950s Jack Webb police series from producer Dick Wolf (the three "Law & Order" shows).

"Dragnet," debuting Feb. 2, initially had been scheduled for the Monday slot now going to "The Practice."

The change, which follows the end of ABC's "Monday Night Football" season, was not welcomed by David E. Kelley Productions, producer of "The Practice."

"We are very concerned about this move," the company said in a statement. "We are hoping that ABC will do everything in its power to support the show, which has garnered critical acclaim since its inception and has continually won its timeslot."

"The Practice" received two consecutive best drama series Emmy Awards (1998 and '99) and has been one of ABC's best-performing series this season. Moving the series is a risk, but the network clearly felt it needed a proven commodity on Monday.

Veteran writer-producer Kelley ("Picket Fences," "Ally McBeal already received one blow this season, when his new Fox drama "girls club" bombed in the ratings and was quickly canceled.

ABC, which has been doing serious triage on its schedule since a sharp ratings slide last season, has the difficult task of attracting viewers to a large number of new shows.

ABC also announced that the prized post-Super Bowl slot on Jan. 26 will go to an episode of "Alias," the critically acclaimed spy drama that has yet to catch fire in the ratings. The post-game spot has helped boost other the visibility of other series.

The network's two Monday night newcomers share elements of mystery.

"Veritas: The Quest," is about a rebellious teenager who embarks on dangerous adventures with his father, the head of a foundation seeking "the truth behind the mysteries of history and civilization."

"Miracles" stars Skeet Ulrich as a man investigating strange events that could point to a "larger mystery" possibly affecting the fate of the world.

The new "Dragnet" will star Ed O'Neill ("Married ... With Children") as Joe Friday and Ethan Embry as his junior partner, Frank Smith. The original series ran from 1952-59, and resurfaced from 1967-70. A 1989-90 syndicated version aired briefly.

© AP 2002

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