Stoddard Says ‘Slap’ Demise Not ABC’s Fault

Creative differences between producer and star, not ABC’s lack of artistic sensitivity, led to the demise of ABC’s first-season dramedy “The ‘Slap’ Maxwell Story,” said ABC Entertainment President Brandon Stoddard on Thursday.

At an informal press conference, Stoddard responded to published complaints by “ ‘Slap’ Maxwell” producer Jay Tarses about the show’s being dropped off the fall schedule.

Tarses told The Times this week that part of the reason for “Slap’s” downfall was the network’s insistence that he soften up the show’s title character--a blunt, abrasive sports writer played by Dabney Coleman--to make him more appealing to women.

Stoddard, however, said that a dispute between Tarses and Coleman, not Tarses and ABC, led to the show’s end.

“We never had an opportunity to cancel or renew it,” he said. “We were told that if Jay were to continue to work on the show, then Dabney wouldn’t, and if Dabney were to continue, then Jay wouldn’t. So we never had a chance to renew it, coming or going.

“It was rather extraordinary, I thought.”

Neither Tarses nor Coleman was available for comment.

Stoddard conceded that the network could have renewed the show with just Tarses or just Coleman, but implied that was a moot point.

“The ‘Slap’ Maxwell Story” was among last season’s sophisticated, literate half-hour shows blending comedy and drama which were hailed by critics but never made much of a splash in the ratings.

Stoddard acknowledged that ABC believed the show had trouble attracting a female audience, but refuted Tarses’ charge that the network painted Tarses into a creative corner.

“We did talk to them about the possibility of making ‘Slap’ more accessible to women,” Stoddard said. “However, Jay runs his show, very clearly, as all our producers do. We say what we believe, and then they do what they’re going to do.”

Turning to the well-publicized cancellation of “Dolly” after one dismal season, Stoddard refuted recent published reports that the cancellation of the show was costing the network millions because its star, Dolly Parton, had a hefty two-year contract. Stoddard also refuted press estimates that “Dolly’s” cancellation left ABC owing Parton as much as $11 million.

“The deal with Dolly Parton was not $40 million for two years (as was widely reported), it just wasn’t,” Stoddard insisted. “It was a two-year deal with an option to cut back to one. And the payments to her and her company are very small as a result of going to one year.”

Stoddard declined to reveal either the cost of the original deal or the remaining debt to Parton.

Stoddard also was unwilling to predict the effect of the ongoing Writers Guild of America strike on ABC’s fall season plans, but did confirm that the 31-hour miniseries “War and Remembrance” is in production and should be on the air next February. “You ain’t seen anything like this program ever,” he said.

“I think ‘War and Remembrance’ is going to bring in a lot of people who haven’t been looking at network television for a long time.”