Damon Versus Bernie

The Michael Kyles and the Bernie Macs live in the town of Wednesday Night Prime. Both families reside in large, fashionable homes and have adorable kids. Though they dwell on separate blocks, they are aware of each other, being the only black families in the community.

Though all has been neighborly between them so far, the peaceful coexistence may end this fall, when the families will be forced to live next door to each other. Though there will not be a family feud, the head of one of the households insists that the block is not big enough for both of them.

“I was shocked when I learned what was going to happen,” says Damon Wayans, who plays Michael Kyle on the 2-year-old ABC sitcom “My Wife and Kids.”

What has Wayans upset is that Fox is moving “The Bernie Mac Show,” which premiered last season to critical and popular acclaim, to the Wednesday 8 p.m. slot against “My Wife and Kids.” “The Bernie Mac Show” previously performed respectably at 9 p.m. Wednesdays against NBC’s “The West Wing” and ABC’s “The Drew Carey Show.”

The shift pits the only two comedies on the four major broadcast networks featuring African American two-parent households against each other.

“My Wife and Kids” stars Wayans as the owner of a successful delivery truck company who lives in the suburbs with his wife and three kids. “The Bernie Mac Show” revolves around stand-up comedian Mac, playing a fictionalized version of himself, living in the suburbs with his wife and his sister’s three kids, who are staying with him while she is in rehab for drug use. Both shows and their stars are being heavily promoted by their respective networks for Emmy consideration.

It’s not the competition that is bothering Wayans, the primary creative force behind his show. He says “My Wife and Kids” has more than held its own against other formidable Fox comedies such as “Malcolm in the Middle” and “That ‘70s Show.”

It has to do with diversity and responsible black images on television. It has to do with the fact that “My Wife and Kids” and “The Bernie Mac Show” are the first and only sitcoms about two-parent affluent black families to achieve mainstream popularity since the phenomenally successful “The Cosby Show” left the air almost 10 years ago.

“The networks should not be playing checkers with two shows about African American families that are working,” Wayans says. “This is about the big picture. This is not about me and Bernie. This speaks to a responsibility that networks have, particularly when there’s a lack of diversity on prime time. It’s hard enough trying to put together one successful show with an African American family. Now there are two. You’re putting those against each other? It’s divide and conquer. Then there will be none.

“This frustrates me as a black man with not too much to watch. It’s divide and conquer. One of these shows will fail. And we may lose both.”

Going up against the two comedies in the fall will be “60 Minutes II” on CBS, “Ed” on NBC, “Dawson’s Creek” on the WB and “Enterprise” on UPN.

Preston Whitmore, Fox’s senior vice president of strategic program planning, says he believes the ABC and Fox entries in that hour can hold their own. Moving “The Bernie Mac Show” to 8 p.m. Wednesdays is part of the network’s strategy to strengthen its lineup, not to directly challenge “My Wife and Kids,” he said.

“When we’re setting our schedule, our goal is to look at our product and come up with our strongest schedule,” Whitmore said.

But some industry insiders and others believe Wayans has a good point.

Rose Katherine Pinkney, senior vice president of comedy development for Paramount Network Television, said, “It’s actually a compliment to both shows that their respective networks think they can stand up against such tough competition and still win the time slot.

“It is, however, ironic that with the dearth of shows with black casts on the Big Four networks, that the only two comedies--and, I must add, shows with universal appeal--would have to go head to head,” she added. Unfortunately, I think both shows will suffer.”

Darnell Hunt, director of the UCLA Center for African American Studies, echoed, “This is somewhat troubling, especially when there are relatively few opportunities to see people of color.”

Others agree with Fox’s Whitmore that both comedies will do just fine against each other.

“There’s very little duplication between the two shows,” said Stacey Lynn Koerner, senior vice president at Initiative Media, a media planning and buying firm. “Both of them will survive. Both of them have established audiences and can coexist peacefully. If one of the shows begins to suffer, the network will move it. They are committed to these shows.”

For now, Mac is not voicing a view on the showdown, at least not publicly. Regency Television, which produces “The Bernie Mac Show,” and ABC are also staying quiet.

But Wayans says he spoke to his friend and future competitor: “He’s in an awkward position. He’s not thrilled about the move.”

Fox’s Whitmore said the network complied Nielsen ratings research between March 27 and May 5 and found little overlap in audiences of the two comedies.

According to the research, on average, only 14% of “Bernie Mac Show” viewers ages 18 to 49 also watched “My Wife and Kids.”

The ABC show averaged 11 million viewers a week last season, while “The Bernie Mac Show” averaged 9.5 million. But the latter was the top-rated series among African Americans while “My Wife and Kids” ranked fifth, according to Initiative Media. “My Wife and Kids” ranked 54th among white viewers; “The Bernie Mac Show” was 94th.

The Fox research also showed that between October 2001 and April 2002, viewership for “The Bernie Mac Show” was 37% African American, while the black viewership for “My Wife and Kids” was 23%.

“We’re not being irresponsible here,” Whitmore said. “We’ve done our research. These are two very different shows, distinctive comedies that will both survive in this time period. Audiences love these shows regardless of their racial makeup.”

Show wars, of course, are nothing new.

In 1990, Fox recruited its hugely popular series “The Simpsons” to do battle with NBC’s top-rated “The Cosby Show.” Then-Fox Entertainment President Peter Chernin insisted that the strategy was not intended to topple the phenomenally successful NBC sitcom but to help the young network get established in prime time.

“The Simpsons” proved to be no competition for “The Cosby Show,” and the animated series was moved to Sundays.

Another highly publicized clash came in September 1994, when the medical dramas “ER” and “Chicago Hope” faced off in their premieres. Both series were set in Chicago, and both came from prominent producers. NBC’s “ER” was the clear winner. The series, which had author Michael Crichton as one of its executive producers, trounced David E. Kelley’s “Chicago Hope” on CBS. The network soon moved Kelley’s series out of the time slot, and the drama eventually enjoyed a six-year run.

But the battle that Wayans points to as most similar to his face-off with Mac was the late-night showdown in 1997 between the urban-flavored talk-variety shows “Vibe” and “The Keenen Ivory Wayans Show,” hosted by his brother.

The shows were compared to each other even before their debuts because of their similarities, and insiders speculated that only one would survive. They eventually both succumbed to mediocre ratings and the imminent arrival of another late-night entry, “The Magic Hour,” hosted by sports legend Magic Johnson. That series proved to be short-lived too.

“I think about what Keenen went through,” said his brother. “At one time, there were three black shows on late night. Now there are none. My fear is that is what’s going to happen to Bernie and I.”