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ABC Rips Up Schedule, Adds 7 New Shows
By Andrew Rodgers
Monday, May 13, 2002
10:00 PM PT
The upfronts have begun and ABC is pretty much starting over. Click here to see the night-by-night breakout, complete descriptions and a photo gallery of all the upcoming shows. Check back later for video clips.
ABC executives know they have to do something drastic to turn around their declining fortunes. It's with that spirit in mind that they announced they've have thrashed their fall schedule and are picking up four new one-hour dramas and three new comedies. In fact, the network made so many changes that only the Saturday and Sunday night schedules remain the same.
"The core goal for us is to stop the downward trend in our ratings," says Susan Lyne, president of ABC Entertainment. "Nobody is expecting us to jump into first place next year. We have to stabilize our schedule, let people develop a habit when they come to ABC."
To make room for the new programming, the network has cancelled stalwarts "Dharma & Greg" and "Spin City," as well as the Dennis Leary comedy "The Job" and the highly touted Steven Bochco legal drama "Philly."
The three new comedies are:
"8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter" -- Based on the best-selling book by W. Bruce Cameron, John Ritter stars as Paul Hennessy, a loving, rational dad who can't quite figure out how his sweet little daughters morphed into hormonally-challenged, incomprehensible teenagers. Luckily, he still has a 13-year-old son who still speaks his language.
"Less Than Perfect" -- A workplace comedy with big egos, backbiting assistants and screaming deadlines. Claudia "Claude" Casey (Sara Rue, "Popular") has moved up the secretarial world of television news, from permanent floater to the anchor's desk at a television network. Her assent to the high profile secretarial job puts her into the think of a competitive battlefield of coworkers. The show also stars Zackary Levi, Sherri Shepherd-Tarpley ("Emeril"), Andrea Parker ("The Pretender"), Andy Dick and Eric Roberts.
"Life With Bonnie" -- Bonnie Hunt stars (and writes ... and produces ... and directs) in this comedy about the host of a local TV show who leads the life of a sort-of celebrity.
On the drama front:
"Dinotopia" -- Picking up where the miniseries left off, the show depicts a lost world where man and dinosaurs live together in harmony. It follows a father and his two sons as they struggle to adapt to a land technology and humanity forgot.
"Meds" -- Two renegade doctors (William Fichtner and John Hannah) at an oversized, mega-frugal HMO in San Francisco clash with the system, bend the rules and find the loopholes in a constant struggle to treat their patients. The two practice medicine with a take-no-prisoners attitude and don't-take-no-for-an-answer tactics.
"Push, Nevada" -- From the folks behind "Project Greenlight" and the never-aired "The Runner" (Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Chris Moore and Sean Bailey), comes this scripted interactive mystery where each episode contains clues that leads viewers to a cash prize hidden somewhere in the country. It all starts with a mild-mannered IRS agent who travels to a remote desert region in search of missing money and stumbles into a strange small town where mystery, danger, and peculiar characters lurk around every off-kilter corner. Every word, every sign, every gesture holds a clue toward solving the riddle.
"That Was Then" -- A 30-year-old door-to-door salesman whose one true love is married to his brother goes back in time to one week where everything went wrong -- only to return to find that his tinkering has screwed things up more.
For midseason, ABC has also ordered the following five projects:
"Dragnet" -- A new incarnation of the old franchise from Emmy Award-winning producer Dick Wolf ("Law & Order"), set in Los Angeles and fleshed out to an hour. Will premiere in January following the end of "Monday Night Football."
"Miracles" -- Part detective story, part thriller, part spiritual quest, this show stars Skeet Ulrich as a young man assigned to investigate modern-day miracles. He teams up with a paranormal investigator (Angus MacFadyen) and the duo looking into the strange and unusual to find an explanation. Will premiere in January following the end of "Monday Night Football."
"My Second Chance" -- A advertising hotshot attempts to win back his family after fame and fortune has led him astray.
"Untitled Jimmy Kimmel Project" -- The co-host of Comedy Central's "The Man Show" brings his personal brand of humor to his own hour-long late night talk show.
"Veritas" -- An hour-long drama about a father and son archeology team who investigate the mysteries of the ancient world and are swept up in a race to uncover the past before a mysterious brotherhood can stop them. From the creators of "Lara Croft: Tomb Raider."
Related Stories:
See the night-by-night schedule for ABC this fall, plus complete descriptions and a photo gallery of all the new shows. Check back for video clips.
(http://tv.zap2it.com/shows/features/features.html?25886)
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