ABC News Heads for Fall

ABC News which for years has filled at least three hours of the network’s prime-time lineup and whose big-name anchors have historically wielded considerable clout over network scheduling--was rocked by word the division will at least temporarily be reduced to one hour in the fall. In the process, “20/20” will shift out of the Friday time slot the Barbara Walters-anchored program has occupied for more than a decade.

ABC will officially announce its revised lineup for the coming TV season today in New York. As part of the presentation to advertisers, the network is expected to announce that “Once and Again,” a drama produced by parent the Walt Disney Co., will move to 10 p.m. Fridays in the fall, sending “20/20” packing to Wednesday nights.

Moreover, sources say ABC plans to move “NYPD Blue” from the Tuesday time slot the police drama has patrolled for eight years to Wednesdays at 10 p.m. in November. When “Blue” premieres, “20/20” would go on hiatus for seven weeks until the “Monday Night Football” season ends in December, at which time ABC intends to relocate some dramas to Mondays and shift “20/20” back to Friday nights.

“NYPD Blue” is expected to be replaced on Tuesdays in the fall by “Philly,” a new drama teaming producer Steven Bochco and “Blue’s” Kim Delaney, who plays a defense attorney. Bochco has lobbied for his existing show to again begin its season in January, allowing the program to run through May without reruns, as the series has the past two years.

Though ABC is not commenting about its schedule, “20/20” staffers were informed of the change Monday. About 40 producers and correspondents attended a meeting that included Walters, correspondent Connie Chung, ABC News President David Westin and “20/20” executive producer David Sloan.

According to a source at the meeting, ABC-TV President Alex Wallau walked in and noted that he had seen a few producers in the elevator who looked as if they were about to cry. “You’re going to be fine,” Wallau reportedly said. “What I’m about to tell you is going to be a disappointment.”

Walters tried to be a calming influence, telling staff she was disappointed but focusing on the opportunity to reach new viewers on Wednesday nights. Chung, however, made an impassioned speech about the staff’s loyalty and dedication being “rewarded” with the move, at which point Walters teared up and briefly left the room to compose herself, said one attendee.

In an interview Monday, Walters acknowledged she was “surprised” when notified of the switch. “We have been very happy and very successful on Friday nights, which in a way is why they feel they can move us: We’re strong enough to survive in every time period,” she said.

Noting that the show endured its shift to Fridays in the 1980s, Walters said, “Is this something we would cheer for? No. But we will do very good shows on Wednesdays and do the best we can. . . . I’m not being Pollyanna, I didn’t wish for this, but it’s not the end of the world.”

As for the possibility of a hiatus, Walters said it would be “nice to go to the South of France for seven weeks” but added that whether the show will end up off the air for an extended period remains unclear. “There are a lot of ifs that may still be taking place,” she said.

ABC News had no comment, but a network executive also sought to put a positive spin on the scheduling moves, stressing the hiatus for “20/20” is not a fait accompli given all that has to happen with “NYPD Blue” to meet the November schedule. Bochco, who has clashed with ABC over efforts to move “Blue” before, could not be reached by press time.

Whatever the outcome, morale at ABC News clearly appears shaken. Not helping matters is continued downsizing at the division, with “20/20” correspondent Sylvia Chase the latest to be cut loose as part of that process.

All the networks are unveiling their lineups this week as part of what is known as the upfront market, when advertisers buy time in advance of the TV season that begins in September.

As reported, ABC’s lineup will include a trio of new dramas and a pair of comedies starring Jason Alexander and Jim Belushi. The network is also expected to reduce the quiz show “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” to just two hours per week--down from four currently--while bringing back the staged, unscripted series “The Mole” for a second edition.

With advertisers generally willing to pay more for scripted series, some time periods allocated to alternative programs such as “Millionaire” and “The Mole” are coming at the expense of newsmagazines.

“Reality programs have taken the place of newsmagazines in many respects,” said NBC Entertainment President Jeff Zucker, who came from the network’s news division, having previously served as producer of the “Today” show.

The networks also appear to be emphasizing targeted lineup changes, as opposed to the wholesale moves sometimes witnessed in the past. NBC presented a schedule Monday that includes a half-dozen new shows, with only one alteration--the addition of a new sitcom, “Inside Schwartz,” to follow “Friends” on Thursdays--from Wednesday through Friday nights.

“What that speaks to is, stability equals success,” Zucker told reporters during a conference call.

CBS, meanwhile, was cementing its new-series orders in advance of announcing its schedule on Wednesday. The network will add at least four new dramas: “The Education of Max Bickford,” starring Richard Dreyfus as a college professor at an all-female institution; “The Agency,” with Gil Bellows (“Ally McBeal”) as a CIA agent; “The Guardian,” about a lawyer with a large firm who, after an arrest for drug use, becomes a child advocate at Legal Aid Services; and “Citizen Baines,” featuring James Cromwell as a three-term U.S. senator who, in the wake of defeat, must try to reconnect with his family.

The last of those series is under the aegis of John Wells, who already produces NBC’s “ER,” “The West Wing” and “Third Watch.”

CBS has also ordered a sitcom starring Ellen DeGeneres, whose ABC series ended in 1998. In the show, titled “Ellen, Again,” DeGeneres plays a downsized dot-com entrepreneur who moves back home to her small town, moving in with her mother, who is played by Cloris Leachman.

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Lowry reported from Los Angeles and Jensen from New York. Times staff writer Dana Calvo in Los Angeles also contributed to this story.

Telemundo Faces Reality

* The Spanish-language network adds an unscripted show to its lineup of reliable telenovelas. F9