WB Network to Expand With a Tuesday Night Slate

Despite low ratings, the new networks continue to forge ahead with expansion plans, with the WB to add a fourth night of programming in the fall by introducing two dramas on Tuesday.

The WB (which airs on KTLA-TV Channel 5 locally) will renew most of its existing programs, with the exception of “Savannah,” a prime-time soap opera from producer Aaron Spelling; “Brotherly Love,” a sitcom starring brothers Joe, Matthew and Andrew Lawrence; “Kirk,” which starred Kirk Cameron; and the comedy “Life With Roger.”

Both the Monday and Wednesday lineups will return largely intact, with “7th Heaven” and “Buffy, the Vampire Slayer” occupying the former night and the sitcoms “Sister, Sister,” “Smart Guy,” “The Jamie Foxx Show” and “The Wayans Bros.” holding down the latter.

The only new comedies, which will air from 9-10 p.m. Sundays, star Tom Arnold and comedian Carol Leifer. In the former, Arnold’s character moves home to the Midwest after being fired from his wife’s TV show, lampooning the actor’s relationship with ex-wife Roseanne. In “Ocean Beach,” Leifer plays a single businesswoman living in Miami.

One Wednesday show, “Nick Freno: Licensed Teacher,” will move to Sundays, joining the returning comedies “The Parent ‘Hood” (starring Robert Townsend), “The Steve Harvey Show” and “Unhappily Ever After.”

The new dramas are “Dawson’s Creek,” about a pair of teenagers living in a quirky small town; and “Three,” a sort-of updated version of “Mission: Impossible,” involving a master thief working for the government.

Interestingly, none of the new programs comes from Warner Bros., the network’s parent company. The rival UPN network also plans to add a fourth night in the fall and will announce its roster next week.