INSIDE : 5 Characters in Search of a Concept : Sitting In on a TV Story Idea Meeting

Statistically, it’s easier to win a prize in the California Lottery than to get a new show on television. Of the 2,000 movie-of-the-week plots conceived each year by Hollywood studios and production companies, only 300 scripts are commissioned by the three networks. From this number, about 110 TV movies eventually appear. The odds are even greater for a television series--an average of 18 shows, slightly more than 1% of the 1,500 plots formally presented, debut each year.

The long road from premise to package begins in studio development offices such as the one at Paramount, where every two weeks Peter Greenberg, 36, vice president of development, assembles his staff for a review of potential projects. A former Newsweek correspondent and independent producer, Greenberg takes suggested concepts and, he says, “adds ingredients to the salad,” matching producers with writers and actors. The shows pitched to the networks are those with the potential to last the three to four years (about 70 episodes) necessary for later syndication. The immense profits that come with syndication are essential because studios lose money during the early years of a dramatic series.

Greenberg’s office is normally involved with series development, but on this particular Monday afternoon, discussion centers on ideas for potential movies.

“So tell me what we’ve got,” says Greenberg.

“Rosanne Ehrlich in New York sent me coverage of a book that’s coming out about two cops--a father who’s retired and his daughter, who is chief of the force,” says John Ferraro, a 27-year-old programming supervisor. “They work together to catch a serial killer of nuns. It’s kind of bizarre, but the relationships are nice. It’s another cop show, maybe too ‘Family Honor,’ (a recently canceled ABC show) but. . . .”

“Well, I like the reality base, but if it’s a true story I can see a problem securing the rights,” says Greenberg. “Remember your meeting with the assistant district attorney? That lady we all loved until L.A. County tells us we can’t depict or portray her in any way. Then her agent has the nerve to come back and say we should make the deal anyway. John, you’ve got a great character franchise, but rights are the problem with these stories.”

“Alan Marcil says Stonehenge (a production company) is working to acquire rights to the Walker spy case,” interjects Richard Berman, 39, Paramount’s executive director of dramatic programming.

“This is the recent case, isn’t it?” asks Ferraro, confused.

“It’s happening now, I tell you,” says Berman, a former producer for Public Broadcasting Service and Home Box Office who won an Emmy in 1979 for a syndicated children’s show, “Big Blue Marble.” “We’ve got three generations. Well, no, I guess only two.”

“A third generation could be the sequel,” Greenberg says.

“Well, in fact there is a third generation,” Berman continues, “because the daughter of one of the Walkers has a semi-estranged husband, who she claims finds out Daddy is a spy and says, ‘I’m splitting and taking our kid. If you take me to court I’ll turn your father in.’ ”

“Wow,” Ferraro says.

“So the daughter turns her father in so she can get her kid back. It’s so wonderful. The kid is the third generation.”

“More interesting than the case itself is the woman’s point of view,” Greenberg says. “That’s what’s gonna sell this story to the networks and the audience.”

“We might have a problem with this law that says a person can’t profit from a crime if he’s committed a felony,” Berman says. “It’s a very complicated problem, but our legal department is working on it.”

Outside in a grassy studio quadrangle that served as a Budapest corner in a recent episode of “MacGyver,” street lamps blink to life.

“Can I run through some projects we have in development?” Berman asks. “The Mariette Hartley and William Devane concept was passed on by NBC because it’s a romantic comedy. We’re re-pitching to CBS.

“Tomorrow I’ve got a meeting at NBC for ‘Without Wives.’ It’s about four single yuppies who move to the New Jersey suburbs to experience upscale things like PTA meetings and Little League. It’s very backdoorish.”

“How do they take advantage of these trappings without wives?” Ferraro asks.

“Therein lies the tale,” Berman says, winking.

“What happened to ‘Bookie Bob’?” Greenberg asks.

“I met with Bill Bixby and I think he’s got a pretty good Damon Runyon-esque comedy. We’ll need heavy-duty TV casting. Maybe Sharon Gless or Susan St. James.”

“OK,” Greenberg says. “So what else?”

“ ‘They Too Can Fly,’ the story about the retarded kids who build an airplane, is in script revision,” says Berman, trying to quicken the pace of the meeting. “Then there’s ‘The Mary Bacon Story.’ It’s about that woman jockey who posed for Playboy. We’re taking her to (producer) Howard Koch.” Greenberg’s telephone rings.

“Does NBC like the woman attorney in the malpractice suit?” whispers story analyst Linda Berman, 27 (no relation to Richard), as Greenberg takes the call, from a network development executive.

“Not if it’s too gynecological,” says Anita Addison, a former Time magazine researcher, now director of dramatic programming for Paramount.

“Just tell ‘em it’s a female version of that Paul Newman movie, ‘The Verdict,’ ” says Greenberg, laughing as he palms the telephone receiver. “Rick, what about the ‘Mannix’ idea?”

“CBS called a half hour ago. They’re passing on it. Maddy says it’s official.”

“Well, I just got it official from Nancy,” sighs Greenberg, his phone conversation ended.

“Now it’s doubly official.” Berman frowns.

“What about NBC?” Addison asks.

“Oddly enough, NBC seems interested in ‘Mannix,’ ” Berman answers. “They think they can’t miss on these remakes. They even redid ‘I Dream of Jeannie.’ It was the worst movie of the year, but it got a 32 share (one-third of the sets turned on were tuned to NBC).”

“Do you know what was one of the lowest-rated movies in NBC’s history?” asks Greenberg, pausing. “ ‘The Harlem Globetrotters Visit Gilligan’s Island.’ ”

“Great development trivia, Peter, but it’s getting late,” says Addison.

“OK, just one final thing,” Berman says. “Remember the story a couple of months ago about the woman who was artificially inseminated and carried her sister’s baby? I ran it by NBC today and they’re interested. I think they’ve been pitched it before, but only by people who didn’t have the rights.”

“What’s the latest on our front?” Greenberg asks.

“It looks like we’re in the running for the rights, but obviously the deal we structure will involve big bucks.”

“Wait a minute,” says Greenberg. “I’ve got it. If we’re smart we’ll wait five years and do a movie about the kid when he starts to wonder who’s really his mama.”