Hall Set for ABC Series; ‘Ink’ Hits Snag on CBS

DreamWorks SKG woke up to some good and bad news Monday, announcing a major deal on an ABC series starring Arsenio Hall while reports surfaced about behind-the-scenes changes that could render another DreamWorks show, Ted Danson’s new CBS sitcom “Ink,” temporarily invisible.

ABC confirmed that Hall will star in a romantic comedy in which he’ll play a recently married sportscaster, with Vivica Fox--who appeared as Will Smith’s stripper girlfriend in the summer blockbuster “Independence Day”--as his wife. The untitled program has a 13-episode order and is expected to premiere early next year.

Although Hall co-starred in 1988 with Eddie Murphy in “Coming to America” and has done cameos in other films, he hasn’t starred in a prime-time network series. Hall quit his popular syndicated late-night show, which ran more than five years, in 1994. At the time he said he wanted to focus on feature films. In addition to the TV series, he has a trio of movie projects in development.

Fox Broadcasting reportedly offered to buy as many as 35 episodes to land Hall, but DreamWorks still went with ABC. The partnership of Steven Spielberg, producer David Geffen and executive Jeffrey Katzenberg is partly owned by ABC and currently produces another new ABC comedy, “Spin City,” which marks Michael J. Fox’s return to prime time.

ABC is understood to have committed about $900,000 per episode of the show, considerably more than networks usually pay for a new comedy. By way of comparison, CBS is shelling out more than $1 million for each half-hour of its new Bill Cosby sitcom, “Cosby.”

As for “Ink,” insiders say production has halted while CBS and DreamWorks seek a new producer to oversee the program.

“Murphy Brown” creator Diane English has reportedly been approached to run the show, which stars Danson and real-life wife Mary Steenburgen. Sources say English has also been mentioned in regard to taking over “The Naked Truth,” the Tea Leoni sitcom that’s moving from ABC to NBC.

Whether “Ink” creator-producer Jeffrey Lane (“Mad About You”) will stay with the show remains unresolved. Though four episodes have been completed and the current break in production had been scheduled, any extended delay could jeopardize the scheduled Sept. 16 premiere date. “Ink” has been set to air 8:30 p.m. Mondays, following “Cosby.”

CBS and DreamWorks both declined comment regarding the matter, as did Lane’s agent. A spokeswoman for English said there was no deal at present.

“Ink” has been the subject of prior speculation about off-screen discord. James Burrows, part of the creative trio behind “Cheers,” left after directing the pilot episode. DreamWorks maintained it was always planned that Burrows’ involvement would end after the show was up and running.