Paramount Signs 14 TV Writer-Producer Teams : Entertainment: The $30-million commitment reflects the studio’s belief that the one-hour drama is coming back.

Paramount Pictures has signed deals with 14 new writing-producing teams in a move that may signal a renewed commitment to the one-hour drama in television.

Long-form dramas have been shunned in recent years because of their high costs and low value in syndication. But Paramount executives said Wednesday that they foresee a rekindled interested in the format, based on the recent success of shows such as CBS’ “Northern Exposure” and Fox’s “Beverly Hills 90210.”

“We’re trying to take our roster and make it as well-rounded as we can,” said John Pike, president of Paramount’s network TV division. Pike added that there’s also a demand for action/adventure programs overseas.

The new roster of creative executives, which includes rising stars at rival studios, is the first major recruitment drive under the new management team of studio chief Brandon Tartikoff and TV division head Kerry McCluggage.

They include Don Johnson, former star of “Miami Vice,” who has a series commitment at ABC, veteran drama writer William Sackheim, longtime director Michael Zinberg and Janet Leahy, former executive producer of “The Cosby Show.”

Paramount has also hired away from Disney the principals of KTMP Productions, the writing team behind “The Golden Girls.” Industry sources pegged the value of the new writer-producer deals at more than $30 million.

In recent years, Paramount has been known chiefly as a “comedy shop” because it produced such hits as “Cheers,” “Family Ties” and “Wings.” Now the studio is trying to forge a presence in one-hour television, as exemplified by its involvement in programs such as “The Young Indiana Jones” on ABC and the syndicated series “Star Trek: The Next Generation.”

The studio is also taking a high-stakes gamble next season when it introduces into syndication two costly one-hour series, a spin-off of “Star Trek: The Next Generation” and an updated “The Untouchables.”

In the past, those series would have gone to network TV. But Paramount figures that it may be considerably more profitable to take the shows directly into syndication, allowing it to sell the reruns and foreign rights at the outset rather than years later.

Unlike several Hollywood studios, Paramount largely sat out the bidding wars for talent in the 1980s that drove up the cost and resulted in significant losses at some production companies.

Pike said the more than 20% increase in the number of Paramount TV writing teams was necessitated by what the studio believes is a rising demand for “network-quality” programs to supply to the emerging markets of syndication, cable and home video.

“You can no longer look at the networks as the primary customer,” he said.