TV With a Hitch in It : Wedding Bells Are Ringing on at Least a Dozen Series This Season

It is springtime, when the television community’s fancy turns to thoughts of the ratings sweeps, season finales . . . oh, and love. Last year, babies figured prominently in the ongoing quest for the ultimate viewer-grabber. This season, weddings are supremely chic.

At least 12 prime-time series will be going to the chapel through the end of May, including CBS’ “Northern Exposure,” ABC’s “Perfect Strangers” and NBC’s “L.A. Law.” And while weddings are always popular, the sheer number of them this season has even the shows’ own producers flabbergasted.

“I am astonished. I think it’s phenomenal,” said Bernard Lechowick, executive producer of ABC’s “Homefront,” whose marriage of Anne and Al on Wednesday night officially kicks off the wedding-o-rama.

Lechowick, like most of his peers, has little time to follow rival shows and denies that TV producers meet in secret to develop national trends. “It is amazing, but I am going to swear this is a coincidence.”

Coincidence? Others think not.

Lots of writers are baby boomers, and some speculate that the mass weddings reflect the desires of their generation.

“They’ve gone through the yuppie phase and are looking for fundamental values,” said “Northern Exposure” co-executive producer Andrew Schneider of about-to-wed characters Adam and Eve, whom Schneider describes as twisted yuppies. “Adam has come to a point in his life where he is looking for an anchor.”

“We see other people going through this,” added Schneider’s wife, Diane Frolov, the show’s supervising producer.

Susan Fales, co-executive producer of NBC’s “A Different World,” agrees that the weddings are a sign of the times.

“Romance is a big seller these days,” said Fales, whose hourlong season finale includes a large-scale wedding with all the trimmings. “The return to quote, unquote, traditional values seems to be in vogue.”

Among those who believe that television both mirrors and shapes social trends is Elizabeth Thoman, executive director of the nonprofit Center for Media and Values, an organization that promotes “media literacy.” Thoman sees the prime-time wedding boom as reflecting a “growing interest in people having a kind of normal life. It is interesting that the dramatic form this season happens to be weddings. We’ve seen a lot of divorces, a lot of strange family combinations on television. This is just a little more ordinary.”

So agrees “Life Goes On” executive producer Michael Braverman, whose show has also been hit with chapel fever. “I’m a firm believer in Zeitgeist ,” said Braverman. “There is a trend toward stable families. We’re leaving a generation where divorce was more common than fidelity, and a new generation is seeking the commitment of secure marriage.”

This new generation includes, of course, the 18- to 49-year-old women coveted by television advertisers. With sweeps beginning April 22, it appears that during the recessionary, AIDS-aware ‘90s, “Who Shot J.R.?” may be less appealing to these consumers than “What color are the bridesmaids’ dresses?”

As ratings dwindle, said Fales, “people are looking for ways to garner a big crowd, and other than killing somebody, weddings seem to be big attention-getters.”

The numbers seem to bear that out. Ratings researchers at ABC, which is having as many weddings as CBS, NBC and Fox combined, report that a wedding episode can boost a series’ average rating by as much as three points.

Part of the reason may be a renewed interest in real-life marriages, said Barbara Tober, editor-in-chief of Bride’s magazine. “We have watched weddings grow in popularity over the last decade, to the point where they are almost the ultimate fantasy. Think of it: There are 200 people, more or less, at every wedding. That means that virtually every adult in America will attend a wedding during the year.”

Some of the producers, however, view their weddings as a reflection of their series’ time, not of current values. “Homefront,” set during the years right after World War II, “was a time of marriages and baby making,” said Lechowick. “This was the beginning of the baby boom.”

Similarly, a hippie-style hitching on “The Wonder Years” also makes sense in the historical context of the show, said executive producer Bob Brush. “We’re the only wedding set in 1972, and this particular story in some ways cuts against traditional values.”

But “Homefront’s” Lechowick, who says he is leery of sweeping generalizations about the national pulse, admits that “two things would inform ‘90s sensibilities: AIDS, which certainly affects the thought process of every sexually active person, and the wretched excess of the ‘80s.”

Lechowick adds that as in real life, a TV wedding brings major change to the lives of the characters involved. “The wedding is simultaneously a culmination, a payoff and a promise of things to come. These characters’ lives have changed, so their story changes.”

But in true television fashion, some of the TV characters scheduled to tie the knot never actually do. By throwing ratings-grabbing parties without the commitment of a new relationship, are these shows trying to have their wedding cake and eat it too?

“For us, it was a matter of scheduling,” confessed one producer, whose characters ultimately decide not to marry after all. “The actor our character is marrying just got another series. That sort of forced our hand a little bit, but this is how television is made.”

‘I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do. . . .’

Series episodes with weddings scheduled to take place over the next four weeks: “Homefront” NETWORK: ABC HAPPY COUPLE: Anne and Al WEDDING NOTES: Bride is over 40 and pregnant THE DATE: Wednesday

“L.A. Law” NETWORK: NBC HAPPY COUPLE: Bloom and Mikhail WEDDING NOTES: Groom needs a green card THE DATE: *Thursday

“Perfect Strangers” NETWORK: ABC HAPPY COUPLE: Marianne and Balki WEDDING NOTES: Best man loses key item THE DATE: Saturday

“Civil Wars” NETWORK: ABC HAPPY COUPLE: Denise and Jeffrey WEDDING NOTES: Family causes typical troubles THE DATE: Next Tuesday

“Wonder Years” NETWORK: ABC HAPPY COUPLE: Karen and Michael WEDDING NOTES: No train, no tuxedo and no church THE DATE: *April 29

“Baby Talk” NETWORK: ABC HAPPY COUPLE: Maggie and James WEDDING NOTES: Wedding snafus aplenty THE DATE: May 1

“Beverly Hills, 90210” NETWORK: FOX HAPPY COUPLE: Jackie and Mel WEDDING NOTES: Guests have spats THE DATE: May 7

“Golden Girls” NETWORK: NBC HAPPY COUPLE: Dorothy and Lucas WEDDING NOTES: Bride leaves series THE DATE: May 9

“Life Goes On” NETWORK: ABC HAPPY COUPLE: Paige and Kenny WEDDING NOTES: Guests get romantic ideas THE DATE: May 10

“Northern Exposure” NETWORK: CBS HAPPY COUPLE: Adam and Eve WEDDING NOTES: Pregnant bride, neurotic groom THE DATE: *May 11

“A Different World” NETWORK: NBC HAPPY COUPLE: Whitley and Byron WEDDING NOTES: Is the bride making a mistake? THE DATE: May 14

“Cheers” NETWORK: NBC HAPPY COUPLE: Woody and Kelly WEDDING NOTES: Everything that can go wrong, does THE DATE: May 14

Note: ABC won’t reveal the outcome of Tony and Angela’s romance on “Who’s the Boss?,” which concludes this season on April 25.

* Not the season finale.