CBS to Pull Plug on ‘Schoolbreak’ Series

Despite a commitment to increase the number of hours of educational programming for children, CBS has abruptly halted production on its award-winning “Schoolbreak Specials” for this season.

The 13-year-old weekday afternoon series--which produces hourlong dramas for teenagers on topics ranging from teen pregnancy to hate crimes--is unlikely to return next year.

Two producers who were set to go into production on “Schoolbreak Specials” for this spring were told Tuesday by CBS children’s programming chief Judy Price that the network was pulling the plug on their projects and eliminating funding for the rest of the season. A third producer was told that the entire series was being canceled and that his drama, scheduled to air on Tuesday, would be the last one.

CBS Entertainment President Leslie Moonves confirmed in an interview Wednesday that the series is probably dead.

“We believe that our resources can be better spent doing more educational programming for kids on Saturday morning,” Moonves said. “The ‘Schoolbreak Specials,’ while an admirable tradition, are getting very low ratings. We have problems getting affiliates to clear them. When you’re losing a lot of money, as our network is, you have a finite amount of resources.

“It’s possible that we may do some ‘Schoolbreak Specials’ in the future. But we think it’s better to put our money for children’s programming where kids are watching, on Saturday morning.”

At ABC, meanwhile, programming executives recently told children’s TV suppliers that the network was no longer accepting pitches for its 23-year-old “Afterschool Specials,” another intermittent series of weekday afternoon dramas for young people. Network sources confirmed that ABC--which is in the process of being acquired by Walt Disney Co.--considered canceling the series but had decided against it.

“We are committed to the ‘Afterschool Specials’ next year,” corporate spokeswoman Sherrie Rollins said Wednesday. ABC is producing four new programs this season--down from the one a month that it used to offer during the school year when the series was in its heyday.

NBC has no comparable series for young people.

CBS had been scheduled to air five new “Schoolbreak Specials” this season. Instead, the third one, “Crosstown,” arriving Tuesday, will be the last original, with repeats planned in place of the other two.

Moonves said that the budget for “Schoolbreak Specials” would be used to add an hour of educational programming for children on Saturday mornings next fall. The additional hour will be directed at younger children, not the teens who are the intended audience for “Schoolbreak Specials.”

CBS says it currently offers two hours of educational children’s programming per week. After a children’s advocacy group challenged the CBS-Westinghouse merger before the Federal Communications Commission last year, Westinghouse agreed that it would increase the programming to three hours per week.

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Producers of the “Schoolbreak Specials” lamented the sudden loss of the series, which has won numerous Emmy Awards, Humanitas Prizes and other honors.

“Neither the producers nor the networks make any money on these shows--in fact, we lose money making them,” said David Eagle, producer of “Crosstown,” about a teenager who moves to a poorer neighborhood. “We do them because they’re one of the very few places where the commercial networks deal with teen-oriented topics in an entertaining way. If that’s not fulfilling their obligation to young people, I don’t know what is.”

“Everyone involved, including the actors, does these shows as a labor of love,” said David Ginsburg, president of Citadel Entertainment, who was scheduled to go into production on a “Schoolbreak Special” about a teenager with chronic illness. “If this genre is over, it will be a real loss.”

The producers said the series was a casualty of economic considerations. Since launching “Day and Date,” a syndicated talk show, CBS has moved “Schoolbreak Specials” in some markets from 3 p.m. to 2 p.m., a time when few young people are home from school. At the same time, many affiliates would rather air revenue-generating syndicated programs than clear time for the sporadic specials.

“The networks lose money on these shows, and they don’t do much to promote them, even to the Federal Communications Commission,” Eagle said.

Producer Brad Wygor’s company was scheduled to go into production for this season with a “Schoolbreak Special” about a teenage runaway who returns home.

Now, he said, “I’m afraid TV movies for young people are an endangered species.”