Bring on the Copycats, However Briefly

Everything old is new again--and that’s never more true than at the annual gathering of television executives known as the National Assn. of Television Program Executives.

“Judge Judy” is hot this year. That means station executives can choose for fall from copycat courtroom shows including “Judge Greg Mathis” and a remake of the old “Divorce Court,” this time featuring real-life cases.

Rosie O’Donnell’s celebrity guest talk show is the only new program in its genre to have gained traction in the last couple years, doing so by shunning the heavy issues of its rivals. So next fall, stations are being offered “The Martin Short Show,” which will feature the comedian doing improvisational bits and celebrity interviews, and “Latifah,” hosted by the rapper and actress.

And don’t forget the revivals of “Let’s Make a Deal” and “Family Feud” that are looking for airtime now that “Hollywood Squares,” with center square Whoopi Goldberg, has been successfully remade.

Copycat programming has been a fact of the television industry for many years, despite the reality that the copies often fail. Worse, it can help hasten the demise of the shows that are working, by flooding the airwaves with similar shows, so that viewers burn out.

But with competition for viewers increasing as cable outlets proliferate and the Internet offering new forms of information and entertainment, program producers here at the convention are still betting that familiarity will give them an edge. That doesn’t please station managers; 34% of those polled by Broadcasting & Cable magazine complained about the quality of the fare being hawked for next fall.

Contending With

Springer--Twice

But stations often give two daily airings to shows that are successful, such as “The Jerry Springer Show,” leaving fewer time slots for new shows to give it a try. And as station groups get bigger and bigger, encompassing dozens of stations, they are attempting to get better deals by buying shows as a single entity, making it harder for some shows to break through.

In fact, familiarity doesn’t mean that viewers will watch. A full three-fourths of all game show revivals don’t make it to a second season, says Janeen Bjork, senior vice president and director of programming at Seltel, which advises stations on what shows to buy. She says new programs need to be ready to go from Day One, because viewers with so many choices are increasingly less forgiving of shows, such as the new “Roseanne” talk show, that attempt to rework themselves while on the air.

Short’s New Show Is

Something of Mystery

Still, a number of new shows here are hawking themselves on concept alone, forgoing the pilot tapes of the past. Stations are buying “The Martin Short Show,” for example, solely on the strength of the entertainer’s resume, which includes “Saturday Night Live” and movies such as “Father of the Bride.” Even Short says he’s not sure what the program will look like; he says he’ll turn his attention to the new show in March, after finishing his current Broadway run in “Little Me.”

“I haven’t picked out wallpaper [for the office], let alone a set,” he says. “The main gimmick is going to be, do we want to spend an hour a day with this guy?”

One genre that viewers will watch over and over is reruns of shows that first appeared on the broadcast networks. CBS’ “Everybody Loves Raymond” has had strong sales for the year 2001, and also completed a deal for showing on cable channel TBS, beginning in the year 2004.

Raunch radio jock Howard Stern made a pitch for stations to take his late-Saturday night CBS show, citing its originality. “Yes, it’s dangerous television,” he told executives in his keynote speech, “but we start the trends.” But few stations were expected to bite: His show has been losing outlets, not gaining them, as stations shy away from the controversial content.