Bochco’s Defection Won’t Hurt ‘L.A. Law’--Tartikoff

ABC’s signing of writer-producer Steven Bochco to an exclusive contract should not adversely affect his hit NBC series “L.A. Law,” NBC Entertainment President Brandon Tartikoff said Wednesday.

Tartikoff told a news conference at NBC’s Burbank headquarters that Terry Louise Fisher, co-creator and co-producer of “L.A. Law,” will remain with the show and will fill in for Bochco as he becomes less involved in day-to-day production of the Emmy Award-winning series, now in its second season.

Although the news conference was intended to address questions concerning NBC’s agenda, the main topics turned out to be the announcements from NBC’s rival networks this week: ABC’s signing of Bochco and CBS’ promotion of programming vice president Kim LeMasters to president of the entertainment division.

Even before Bochco signed his six-year, 10-series deal with ABC, he had planned to become less involved in “L.A. Law” next season, Tartikoff said.

“He saw himself stepping back next season anyway and letting Terry Louise run the show,” Tartikoff said. “She deserved the chance to spread her wings and fly.”

Tartikoff said he was not worried that Bochco would try to steal Fisher from “L.A. Law” to participate in his new venture for ABC, predicting that she will not join him until after “L.A. Law” has run its course on NBC.

Tartikoff said NBC did not pursue an exclusive deal with Bochco, who had co-created its hit series “Hill Street Blues,” because the network has little room for new shows in its strong prime-time lineup, and because the top-rated network’s strength is its freedom to pursue a wide range of creative talent.

Tartikoff cited the executive producers of some of NBC’s highest-rated shows--”The Cosby Show’s” Marcy Carsey and Tom Werner and “Family Ties’ ” Gary David Goldberg--as examples of relatively new talent nurtured at NBC.

“It (an exclusive deal) may make sense for (ABC), but I don’t see it as the best course for us to follow,” he said. “A lot of producers are going to be crowded out at ABC.”

Tartikoff was also asked about CBS’ decision to promote LeMasters to the job formerly held by B. Donald (Bud) Grant, who resigned Oct. 30. LeMasters’ position has been compared to that of Tartikoff, who was charged with bringing NBC out of the ratings doldrums after the reign of Fred Silverman.

Although he disagreed with the comparison (“Kim was more hands-on with the creative side (than I was),” he said), Tartikoff praised LeMasters.

“The one thing I can say about Kim is that he is a tremendous competitor,” he said. “I like that profile--it lets you know somebody is always in there scrapping.”

Tartikoff said he was planning to have lunch Wednesday with Grant, who was rumored to have been forced out of his position at CBS because of the network’s lagging prime-time ratings.

“I just wanted to see how he was feeling,” he said. “We’re members of a very small fraternity.” He also said with a smile that he and Grant, who is entering into independent production, “will talk some show ideas.”

When the discussion returned to NBC’s issues, Tartikoff defended the network’s decision to air its “Billionaire Boys Club” miniseries, a docudrama about convicted murderer Joe Hunt that was criticized by some attorneys because it was broadcast while cases against some of Hunt’s compatriots in the Billionaire Boys Club are still pending.

He conceded, however, that had he seen some of the promotional spots for the drama before they were broadcast, he would not have allowed them on the air. The spots trumpeted the series as the program “Joe Hunt didn’t want you to see”--playing off the fact that Hunt’s attorney tried unsuccessfully to get an injunction blocking the broadcast because his client must stand trial on another murder charge.

Donald Zachary, NBC’s vice president of law, who was at the conference, acknowledged that he also “winced” at the spots and said they may have crossed the boundaries of good taste.