Fall Programming Takes a Dramatic Turn

Prime-time drama series, an endangered species last year, are suddenly back in fashion in the new fall TV schedules announced in the last few weeks.

With “Northern Exposure” and “Beverly Hills, 90210” among the most-talked-about shows of the 1991-92 season, and viewers giving either ratings or write-in support to such other relatively new quality series as “Law & Order,” “I’ll Fly Away,” “Homefront” and “Civil Wars,” dramas will be well-represented on ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox.

Of the 102 weekly network programs scheduled for fall, no fewer than 29 are one-hour dramas, and of them 13 are new. Last fall, the four networks started their seasons with 21 dramas.

Although some of the new dramas reportedly have received short orders, the total of 13 shows in this category represents more than a third of the 35 freshman series and indicates that the networks are testing the waters again. The spearheads of the revival clearly are Joshua Brand and John Falsey, who created “Northern Exposure” and “I’ll Fly Away,” and veteran Aaron Spelling, whose company’s success with “Beverly Hills, 90210” has launched him on a major TV comeback.

Once known for such frothy entertainment as “Charlie’s Angels” and “The Love Boat,” Spelling will have four one-hour series next season--three on Fox and one on NBC--all ensemble shows dealing with the aspirations of young people as the networks focus heavily on the youth market preferred by sponsors.

Brand and Falsey will be represented on three networks: “Northern Exposure” is on CBS; “I’ll Fly Away” is on NBC, and the producers now have created ABC’s “Going to Extremes,” about a group of students who attend a medical school in the Caribbean that is fighting for accreditation. The new series already has been dubbed “Southern Exposure” by TV industry wags.

Besides the emphasis on youth--except at CBS, the lone holdout for a well-rounded audience base--other trends come fall are a slight decline in the number of comedies (49) and the strong presence of news and reality series in prime time. There will be 17 such programs, although the tabloid-tinged reality craze seems to have subsided somewhat, with only one new network entry on tap, NBC’s “I Witness Video.”

Hourlong dramas became television pariahs because of production costs and the ability of comedies to bring higher prices when syndicated as reruns. “The Cosby Show,” for instance, has thus far earned more than $800 million in syndication.

However, the flood of sitcoms glutted the rerun market, and stations rebelled against paying huge prices.

In addition, the increasingly important foreign TV market often favors buying dramas with universal stories to tell, which inevitably is leading to international co-productions.

And, most important, major hits such as “Northern Exposure” reminded the networks that to hold on to their shrinking audiences, you have to give them what they want. What’s more, 10 p.m. dramas such as “Law & Order,” “L.A. Law” and “Civil Wars” generally attract middle-aged and older audiences--the same demographics that tune in the 11 p.m. news that follows.

Spelling, in addition to “Beverly Hills, 90210,” will also have the new Fox dramas “Melrose Place,” about young adults living in a trendy Los Angeles neighborhood, and “The Heights,” about a fledgling, working-class rock group. He will also have NBC’s “The Round Table,” about young professionals in Washington.

The impact of CBS’ “Northern Exposure,” meanwhile, may be felt again at that network in a new drama series titled “Picket Fences,” says Jeff Sagansky, president of the entertainment division. “Northern Exposure” deals with life in a small Alaska town; “Picket Fences,” created by David Kelley, former executive producer of “L.A. Law,” chronicles the lives of the residents of a small Wisconsin town.

Comparing it to “Northern Exposure,” Sagansky predicts that “Picket Fences” will be “the best new drama of the season.” Fox counters by saying that “Melrose Place,” which debuts July 8 as a spinoff of “Beverly Hills, 90210,” is the most eagerly awaited series of the coming year.

Yet another new, youth-oriented Fox drama is “Class of ‘96,” which deals with a group of college freshmen and is co-produced by one of Hollywood’s top executives, Leonard Goldberg.

With TV audiences fragmenting more and more, all the networks are taking steps next season to reinforce their ability to survive. Fox, just six years old but growing rapidly--it now attracts about 13% of the TV audience--plans to expand to seven nights a week by next spring.

Meanwhile, networks such as NBC have taken careful note of statistics that indicate that blacks are the heaviest TV watchers--and it shows in the new fall lineup. Four of NBC’s five new half-hour comedy series, for instance, either star or feature black performers. The shows are:

* “Here and Now,” with Malcolm-Jamal Warner as a psychology student who works at a youth center;

* “Up All Night,” starring Patti LaBelle as the owner of a dance club and apartment building;

* “Rhythm and Blues,” set in a black radio station in Detroit;

* “Buck and Barry,” about two men, one black, the other white, whose lives become intertwined again years after they were friends in high school.

Behind the scenes, the networks are also making moves to shore themselves up. NBC, as an example, will have ownership status in four of its eight new series. It will produce “I Witness Video,” and it is a partner in “Here and Now,” “Up All Night” and “Secret Service,” an hour drama anthology based on the files of the law-enforcement agency.

Over at ABC, there are similar steps. The network’s in-house unit, ABC Productions, already has a partnership in the network’s drama series “The Commish.” In the fall, it will have a second ABC series in prime time, a sitcom tentatively titled “Camp Bicknell,” about a young divorced woman, her two daughters and teen-age brother. In addition, ABC Productions has a commitment for a backup series on the network, “Sirens,” about three rookie policewomen.

Perhaps most significantly, ABC Productions, which is allowed to sell its programs even to its network’s competition, has landed “Class of ‘96” on Fox. And, as it happens, it will compete head-on with one of ABC’s biggest hits, “Full House.”

Is it foolish of ABC? Not at all. Daniel Burke, president of the network’s parent firm, Capital Cities/ABC, told the company’s annual stockholders’ meeting earlier this month:

“When we build from within, we reduce taxes while creating long-term value. . . . ABC Productions is the most volatile of these investments but has the most long-term potential for the company: It could eventually produce enough of the network’s prime-time schedule to justify the risk.”

It could be an intriguing season: There’s the new baby on “Murphy Brown.” Bob Newhart is back in a new CBS sitcom, “Bob,” as a comic-book artist. And Tom Arnold, husband of Roseanne Arnold, plays an egocentric TV star in a backup comedy, “The Jackie Thomas Show,” which will follow his wife’s series on ABC.

The embattled networks are building picket fences.