ABC’s Emmy Winners Will Have Late Starts

ABC will not be able to immediately cash in on the new celebrity of its two Emmy Award-winning series, “The Wonder Years” and “thirtysomething.”

The network said Monday that “The Wonder Years,” which Sunday night won the Emmy as best comedy series, won’t begin its second season until Nov. 30, and “thirtysomething,” winner of the best drama award, won’t return with new episodes until Dec. 6.

An ABC spokesman said the shows were delayed primarily by the 154-day Writers Guild of America strike, but their late start dates are also necessary to avoid conflict with the network’s miniseries “War and Remembrance,” which will air in mid-November.

“They’re both film shows, so it obviously takes them longer than a sitcom to get ready,” the spokesman said in explaining why these series were delayed longer than others. “And (the decision to delay even longer) was quite simple: We didn’t want to air them until ‘War’ was over.”