. . . While Summer Brims With Series Premieres

Summer isn’t exactly synonymous with the launch of great new television.

In the past, when television was dominated by the three major networks, series debuted in the fall or in the spring, and summer was devoted to reruns.

But this year, summer series are popping up like dandelions--including two tonight: “Julie” on ABC at 8:30, and “Vinnie and Bobby” on Fox at 9:30.

CBS, where programmers hit pay dirt two years ago when “Northern Exposure” and “Top Cops” were launched during the summer, is planning to launch eight new shows between June and August. Fox has four new series planned, ABC has five and NBC has one.

“We sat down and tried to evaluate why audience shares were slipping in network television,” said Sandy Grushow, executive vice president at Fox. “And one of the things we identified was the fact that for three or four months out of every year, the networks basically closed up shop.”

That was fine when there was no competition, Grushow said, but when cable, and later Fox, came along, viewers weren’t content to watch only reruns. And once they got out of the network habit over the summer, they didn’t necessarily return in the fall.

The networks have been moving toward more original summer programming for the last few years. And while some of series are, in fact, overstock--shows that were intended for the regular season but didn’t get on--this looks to be the most bountiful summer ever for first-run network fare.

Although TV viewing in general is lower during the summer because people are on vacation or outdoors taking advantage of the warm evenings, network executives say there are some pluses to introducing new series then, such as less competition.

Airing in summer “definitely beats being thrown in a crummy time period in a (fall) season,” said Ted Harbert, executive vice president for prime time at ABC. “Jack’s Place,” for example, which ABC unveiled last Tuesday and is set in a restaurant, was a program that did not make the schedule during the regular season, but now it is getting more attention than it would have last fall, he said.

In summer, said Steve Warner, an executive vice president at CBS, “We try shows that we think will take a longer time to build, and will build in a sort of cleaner environment, without as much competition.”

To that end, Warner said, the network is hoping summer launches will allow audiences to develop for “Middle Ages,” a baby boom comedy-drama set to premiere in August, and “2000 Malibu Road,” a Terry Louise Fisher creation about a retired madam who takes in three roommates, also scheduled for August.

In June, the network plans to debut “Grapevine,” about gossip and relationships in Florida; “Bodies of Evidence,” about a homicide squad; “Raven,” an action drama starring Lee Majors, and “Hollywood Game,” a prime-time game show based on movie and TV trivia. CBS also plans a July debut for “Howie,” a variety show featuring comedian Howie Mandel.

Both Fox and CBS are quick to take credit for reinventing the summer season: Fox because its decision to air original episodes of “Beverly Hills, 90210” last summer won the program a wide new following, and CBS because its 1990 summer launch of the quirky “Northern Exposure” resulted in one of the network’s most popular shows.

“Our feeling is that we need to be in the programming business 52 weeks a year,” said Grushow. He said that Fox developed the new series “Down the Shore,” which debuts June 21 and is about people living at the New Jersey seaside, specifically for the summer.

Besides launching new shows, Grushow said, Fox is also taking advantage of the slow competition offered in summer to move its schedule around in some unusual ways. For example, the network will air fresh episodes of “Beverly Hills, 90210” on Wednesday nights--with reruns in the program’s regular Thursday night spot--just to attract attention to the show’s new spinoff, “Melrose Place,” which debuts July 8. A new episode of “The Simpsons” is also being created as a lead-in to the premiere episode of “Melrose Place,” Grushow said.

Still, it appears unlikely that the standard fall-to-spring television series will disappear any time soon.

One reason is money: Industry executives say the networks are too strapped for cash to commission original series to run throughout the year. Moreover, broadcasting reruns is a financial necessity.

“The only chance to make money is by putting on repeats,” said ABC’s Harbert. “First-run programming is pretty much a losing proposition, except for some big hits.”

Another reason is simply habit.

“I think there will be an end to the traditional season when there is an end to the traditional school season,” said CBS’ Warner. “For a lot of people, the year begins (in the fall) when they go home and school is starting and they get back to their normal routine. The barbecue sets are going inside and the fall clothes are coming out. As long as that happens, there will be a traditional fall season.”

* RELATED REVIEW: Julie Andrews stars in the ABC sitcom “Julie.” F12