ABC is now entering its third season of rebuilding after the Great 'Millionaire' Collapse of 2002. It has a new boss in entertainment president Stephen McPherson and eight new series debuting in the fall, more than any other network.

But really, what's different about the network this time is that ABC is entering the 2004-05 season with some honest-to-goodness positive buzz. Some of that probably stems from McPherson's enthusiasm for his job, but it also has a lot to do with the fact that the network will offer up several series that could reverse its whipping-boy status among critics and industry observers.

Shows like "Desperate Housewives" and "life as we know it" are early critical favorites, and "Lost" has its champions as well. Advertisers apparently liked the new stuff too, keeping ABC's take in upfront sales steady despite the network's drop in ratings last season.

That's all great, but of course rave reviews and upfront sales don't mean a lot unless the shows perform well. In that regard, McPherson is preaching patience.

"We really are not looking at it and saying, 'How do we change the whole schedule? How do we change the whole network overnight?,'" he says. "We want to look at time periods, look at nights, and we want to hopefully improve in those specific places and build out from there.

"I do think [being in fourth place, as ABC was last year] allows you to be a little more patient, but you also have to be better. You absolutely have to be more competitive, more strategic than the people who are right now beating you."

Although McPherson has only been on the job since late April, he has the advantage of having been involved with several of the new shows as head of Touchstone TV, ABC's sister studio. As such, he has a sense of where the shows might go and who the people behind them are.

And if they're good enough, he says, he'll stick with them, even if big ratings don't come right away.

"Patience is going to be something that is going to be driven by how good the material is," McPherson says. "Being patient with shows that are great is what makes great television. I mean, it's what made 'Raymond.' It's what made 'Seinfeld.' So I really think it's going to come down to, Do we have the material, do we have the shows to be patient and to build this schedule and build this network back?"

If buzz counts for anything, he might -- unless the buzz is, once again, viewers clicking to another network.