A New Strategy for Rebuilding NBC

It was just a few days after NBC’s most successful series, “Cheers,” had decided to call it quits.

Already in the ratings basement, NBC was jolted by the news that the TV classic would be gone by spring.

On Thursday night, in an interview, Warren Littlefield, president of NBC Entertainment, contemplated the loss--the latest bad news for the troubled network, which is constantly rumored to be up for sale by its owner, General Electric.

Asked about NBC’s future and its plans to regroup, Littlefield said: “I realize that we are rebuilding a network.”

That’s putting it mildly.

Shorn of its great names--Carson, Cosby and now “Cheers”--NBC needs a plan desperately. There’s nothing that a couple of great big hits can’t cure, but is there time with a non-show business, tight-fisted, corporate owner like GE?

Compounding the wallop from “Cheers” Monday was CBS’ grab the same day for NBC’s dissatisfied late-night headliner, David Letterman.

But addressing prime time and the coming departure of “Cheers,” Littlefield said he has a plan. Much of it concerns rebuilding the two nights that have carried NBC for years--Thursdays, which “Cheers” is holding together, and Saturdays, where “Empty Nest” is a skimpy reminder of a onetime powerhouse lineup.

The idea, said Littlefield, is to strengthen the areas where NBC at least has a foothold: “We still win Thursday. We still win Saturday. It’s important for us to build those nights back up. That is certainly a strategy.”

Among the headliners Littlefield has set for the 1993-94 season is Henry Winkler, who will star as a father in a half-hour, 8 p.m. situation comedy.

“You’ll see a lot more recognizable personalities in our comedies next year,” said Littlefield. “It will be a key part of our fall development strategy.”

Littlefield remains high on two of NBC’s best comedies, “Seinfeld” and “Mad About You,” but he clearly will have to do something to save them. At the moment, they are being clobbered on Wednesday by ABC’s “Home Improvement” and “Coach,” and also are being checkmated by CBS’ “In the Heat of the Night,” which Littlefield let slip away from NBC.

To get maximum ratings from “Seinfeld” and “Mad About You,” Littlefield would seem to have to move them because they will never beat “Home Improvement” and “Coach.”

Asked if the two NBC sitcoms might be switched to reinforce Thursdays, where “Wings” and “L.A. Law” also currently hold sway, Littlefield refused to be specific. But he said, “We’ll be moving some shows around. ‘Seinfeld’ was ‘appointment TV’ until ‘Home Improvement’ moved in.”

For the immediate future, Littlefield is looking to such mid-season drama replacements as producer Barry Levinson’s police series “Homicide,” as well as a revival of “Route 66” and two weekly shows from “Law & Order” producer Dick Wolf--”Crime & Punishment” and “South Beach.”

In addition, said Littlefield, a new comedy, “Smoldering Lust,” starring Kate Capshaw, is expected in the spring from Jay Tarses, creator of “The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd.”

Also in the immediate future is the February sweeps, a ratings period that is important because it is usually TV’s most-watched month of the year.

Littlefield said that NBC’s airing of the Super Bowl on Jan. 31 should get the network’s sweeps showing off to a strong start. He plans to present the premiere of “Homicide” following the Super Bowl.

During the sweeps, said Littlefield, NBC will also present a trio of high-profile, two-hour specials: a 25th anniversary salute to “Laugh-In,” “Lucy and Desi: The Home Movies” and a “Saturday Night Live” reprise of the series’ musical performances.

Only the wildest optimist could imagine that any of this will lift NBC out of the ratings cellar in the foreseeable future. On the surface, at least, there is nothing coming up soon that seems like the kind of breakout show that turns around a network.

You never know, of course. “The Cosby Show” didn’t cause much stir when first announced. “One hit program can change around a night,” said Littlefield. “The difference between a third- and first-place (ratings) finish is not that great.”

That’s true. “Cosby” laid waste to the notion that TV comedy was dead--a belief that was in vogue because one-hour dramas dominated at the time with such hits as “Dallas,” “Dynasty,” “Magnum, P.I.,” “Simon & Simon” and “Falcon Crest.”

Now, with such comedies as “Roseanne,” “Murphy Brown” and “Home Improvement” ruling the roost, Littlefield is relying heavily on dramas again while hoping to revive NBC’s sitcom lineup next year.

To NBC’s credit, it already has more good dramas than any other network, including “”Law & Order,” “Reasonable Doubts” and “Sisters”--but the network’s “I’ll Fly Away” is fighting desperately for ratings survival and the once-great “L.A. Law” is a shadow of its former self.

At least NBC is giving its lineup more than just a dollop of drama. But Littlefield has stirred anger among admirers of “I’ll Fly Away,” who feel it deserves a better night than Friday and are rightly vocal about the way it has been moved around.

A week ago, NBC ordered three more episodes of “I’ll Fly Away” so that it will run--after holiday preemptions--through Feb. 5, at 10 p.m. Friday.

Skeptics will note that the slot is the same one NBC gave the series to start the season. But Littlefield argued:

“Right now, (the show) is a significant financial loss for the network. I’m proud we were able to keep ‘I’ll Fly Away’ on the schedule through Feb. 5. That gives it a chance.”

At present, “I’ll Fly Away” is averaging only 13% of the audience. If it managed 17% or 18%, NBC would stick with it, Littlefield indicated strongly. The network probably would also look carefully at a 16% draw.

But NBC’s biggest need is an explosive hit, a new franchise-maker. The loss of “Cosby” has never been as keenly felt as now; even in its declining popularity last season, it provided an evening-opening thrust that held NBC’s Thursdays together.

“People said to me, ‘Get on your hands and knees and get Cosby to stay,’ ” said Littlefield. “But Bill knew that it was time to end the show.”

And “Cheers”?

“A very significant loss. A great disappointment. But I don’t think (recovery) has to be a long cycle at all.”

Whistling in the dark?

The next year should tell.