Surprise Move From NBC: Head of Miniseries Will Leave

In a meeting with television critics that was expected to be dominated by discussions of diversity and game shows, NBC dropped a surprise, announcing that its longtime head of movies and miniseries, Lindy DeKoven, is leaving this week to pursue other options.

During the network’s session with executives at the semiannual gathering in Pasadena, NBC West Coast President Scott Sassa said he announced DeKoven’s decision “with much sadness.” Indeed, NBC has had five consecutive seasons of long-form success under DeKoven, who was executive vice president of movies and miniseries.

But DeKoven’s departure will almost certainly mean a change in NBC’s recent strategy, which has relied on big-event fantasy miniseries, many produced by Robert Halmi Sr., and quick-turnaround movies jumping on whatever topic appears hot with viewers, whether the life of Jesus or the ‘70s group the Partridge Family.

While Halmi’s May miniseries “Noah’s Ark” was a huge hit with viewers, it was critically panned, and his November “Leprechauns” didn’t fare well either.

NBC is nervous about whether viewers will dedicate a full 10 hours to the February production “The 10th Kingdom,” woven around classic fairy tales. Furthermore, NBC executives said, the increasing output of original movies on cable networks makes the long-form genre particularly tough competition.

While praising the quality of “The 10th Kingdom,” NBC Entertainment President Garth Ancier said that had he been at NBC when it was ordered, he probably wouldn’t have bought a full 10 hours. Ancier, who expressed a preference for buying theatrical movies for the long-form slots, said that in the future he wants to see movies developed more like series, with “more scripts, more ideas and longer lead times.”

Following up on NBC’s announcement last week of an agreement with the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People designed to increase racial and ethnic diversity, Sassa said NBC “was surprised” by complaints from Latinos, Asian Americans and Native Americans that they were excluded from the process.

NBC had been advised that the NAACP represented a coalition of minority groups, Sassa said, and although the network will meet with some of the other coalition members Tuesday, he said NBC “stands by this plan. We think this is the right plan to add diversity.”

One of the main features of the network’s diversity initiatives is the creation of an NBC-funded, three-year writing position on each second-year show, which will probably be three to five positions next fall. Sassa said NBC is asking studios to agree to refund half of that cost--with NBC’s outlay roughly $200,000 per show per year, that would mean a rebate of $100,000 per show per year--if any of the programs ultimately enters the syndication market.

NBC also announced that its daylong diversity seminar, which will gather current and prospective producers as well as other industry executives for a discussion designed to sensitize the industry to the issue, will take place Feb. 10. “This is not going to be a job fair,” said Sassa. “This is going to be us stressing those goals with our producers.”

Even as NBC took the plunge into the recent “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire”-fueled game-show mania Sunday night with its revival of “Twenty-One,” Ancier said he is looking to the family comedy to be the newest hit-program genre in the fall. Half of NBC’s fall comedy development is family shows, he said, adding to the list a new project from Bonnie and Terry Turner (“3rd Rock From the Sun,” “That ‘70s Show”).

“It just seems with the demise of [ABC’s] ‘Home Improvement’ that there is a wide-open void” in family comedy, he said, “just like there was a wide-open void with game shows.”

While NBC has high hopes for “Twenty-One,” Ancier compared the recent game-show glut across the networks to an addiction to crack cocaine, saying the genre gets “great ratings, but nobody believes it’s going to work forever.” Both Ancier and Sassa praised ABC’s “Millionaire,” but noted that ABC has dispensed with sitcoms and dramas to make room for the show, which is “going to cool off at some point,” Sassa said, leaving a huge development void.

Among other projects, Ancier said, are “Those Who Can’t,” a comedy starring Jim Breuer, from the production company of former NBC Entertainment President Warren Littlefield, and a drama from “Homicide” producer Tom Fontana, set in Miami’s South Beach.