ABC Looks Back, Hoping It Will See the Future

Nostalgic TV was all the rage last season, as blockbuster ratings for CBS’ “The Carol Burnett Show” special triggered a reunion invasion of vintage series during the May sweeps, with programmers piling on that sprig of inspiration the same way beefy linemen pounce on a loose football.

One network, however, appears determined to keep living in the past. Indeed, after examining ABC’s new prime-time lineup, as well as a flurry of deals that have left many in the TV industry scratching their well-coiffed heads, there’s reason to believe the ailing network might be able to engineer a ratings turnaround--provided, that is, it somehow finds a way to roll back the calendar to the 1970s.

It shouldn’t be a surprise that Walt Disney Chairman Michael Eisner would yearn for a simpler time, specifically for those halcyon days when he was a young ABC programming executive, as opposed to being the one running the network’s parent studio and being dogged by the question, “Honey, who shrunk the stock price?”

Life sure seemed easier then. Under founder Leonard Goldenson, ABC rose to the top of the ratings, riding a wave of breezy low-octane hits like “Happy Days,” which also described the prevailing mood inside the network.

Small wonder that the ABC “cast members” (as Disney refers to all employees) under Eisner’s direction would seek to rotate the globe back to an era before the sky fell in on them--bringing to mind the heroics of a square-jawed Christopher Reeve, whom ABC will feature in a prime-time special next month in 1978’s “Superman.”

From that perspective, it’s probably no accident ABC’s great hope heading into the fall is “8 Simple Rules...,” a sitcom about an overwhelmed dad starring “Three’s Company’s” John Ritter, an alumnus from the network’s class of ’77. The main difference--to quote an honest-to-gosh ABC radio spot--”This time he’s not chasing the girls, he’s raising them!”

Similarly, the network is promoting its early-evening fare as the “ABC Happy Hour,” trying to unify a disjointed roster of programs by evoking images of the lighthearted chuckles “Happy Days” and its ilk engendered. Either that or ABC hopes people in Nielsen’s ratings sample will imbibe liberally between 5 and 7 p.m., then fall asleep with the TV on.

ABC’s breadcrumb trail to the past doesn’t end there. Programming guru Fred Silverman, who oversaw the network during those years, has been retained as a consultant. In addition, ABC recently appointed Steve Sohmer, who helped turn “Dallas” and “The Cosby Show” into hits for CBS and NBC in the 1970s and early ‘80s, as its head of marketing.

There have been some more forward-looking maneuvers too, although, truth be told, most appear as confusing or disconnected from reality as those already cited, as if closing your eyes and wishing the average viewer still received a handful of channels, instead of 90, could make it so.

This shouldn’t be construed, by the way, as criticism for calling upon old pros like Silverman and Sohmer, who bring considerable experience and savvy to the tasks at hand. Those hires, however, have to be viewed in the larger context of the Fantasyland that ABC has occupied since Disney took over, a reign characterized by instability and chaos, in contrast to the no-nonsense approach that characterized the former management at Capital Cities and before that Goldenson.

Most of ABC’s recent moves, in fact, amount to little more than cleaning up earlier messes. Sohmer, for example, must compensate for such misfires as the network’s much-lampooned yellow ad campaign, which operated from the premise that splashing a sunny color across the screen would inspire people to watch mediocre shows. (As an aside, he may discover that it’s a lot more fun promoting “Cheers” than “Life With Bonnie,” comic Bonnie Hunt’s latest series.)

ABC also announced with considerable fanfare an agreement forging ties to HBO, the pay cable service that waters its lawn with Emmy nominations, to develop programs for the network. It’s one of those deals that look great on paper, generating enough headlines to foster the impression ABC is taking steps to fix things.

Yet even the HBO deal, on closer inspection, is puzzling. After being frustrated by critically acclaimed also-rans such as “Once and Again” and “The Job,” ABC stated that it’s looking for more accessible fare. As ABC Entertainment President Susan Lyne put it last month, “We’ll leave groundbreaking to someone else.”

Fair enough, but then why plunge into business with a pay network renowned for boundary-pushing edginess? Granted, HBO did play a role generating “Everybody Loves Raymond,” but that was its last hit for a major network, and crafting a companion for “America’s Funniest Videos” is hardly a chore worthy of the swagger exemplified by the channel’s slogan “It’s not TV. It’s HBO.”

Moreover, hooking up with HBO represents a tacit admission that ABC erred by relying almost exclusively on Disney to generate this year’s crop of prime-time programming. And though most producers welcome seeing the networks admit that corporate inbreeding can be anathema to creativity, for ABC to do so now hardly sounds like a ringing endorsement of its new series.

Not surprisingly, Lyne says she is enthusiastic about those shows, while maintaining that program development for the coming season--when Disney produced all but four of the network’s 30 new series candidates--was “an anomaly.”

“What I’m trying to do is bring some balance to it,” she said, referring to the deal with HBO and others designed to cultivate projects from outside studios. “I am really committed to trying to cast the widest net we possibly can.”

Fortunately, ABC knows one TV trick that never goes out of style: aping the success of competitors, this week enlisting the producer of Fox’s “American Idol” to create a new contest show titled “Supergirl.” The competition will seek to find the “most talented” girl--based on “athletic ability, mental agility, performance in the popular arts and, of course, beauty”--with the survivor to earn $1 million in endorsements.

Actually, if the winner can do all that, maybe ABC should consider letting her run the network.

For a studio that introduced the world to a magic mirror that predicts the future, Disney has been plagued by remarkably shortsighted and fuzzy vision regarding ABC. At this point, just empowering the well-regarding Lyne to formulate and pursue a coherent strategy for more than a few months would be progress, though based on the uphill battle the network faces, soliciting help from a fairy godmother shouldn’t be ruled out.

Lyne says she knew the challenge would be formidable when she accepted her current post in January, and network officials insist they recognize what needs to be done; still, given ABC’s apparent resolve to turn back time, even “Supergirl” would be pushed to the limit. No, this looks like a job for Superman--or maybe Cher.

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Brian Lowry’s column appears Wednesdays. He can be reached at brian.lowry@latimes.com.