CBS Drops ‘Max Bickford’; ABC Sets a ‘Happy Hour’

Add a few more names to the list of film stars who have failed to conquer prime-time television, with CBS canceling its Richard Dreyfuss vehicle “The Education of Max Bickford” and its Supreme Court drama “First Monday,” starring Joe Mantegna, as the network prepares to unveil a fall lineup featuring five new dramas and a pair of new sitcoms.

ABC, meanwhile--the network controlled by the Walt Disney Co., which operates a theme park known as “The happiest place on Earth”--on Tuesday officially announced a major overhaul of its schedule that the network will try to make more cohesive by marketing 8 to 9 p.m. weekdays as “The ABC Happy Hour,” offering a mix of sitcoms, “America’s Funniest Home Videos” and the fantasy adventure “Dinotopia.”

CBS--which presents its new programming roster to advertisers in New York today as part of the so-called upfront market, a programming showcase meant to impress media buyers--has also dropped “Family Law,” the Monday night drama in its third season.

“Max Bickford,” with Dreyfuss as a professor going through a midlife crisis and co-starring fellow Oscar winner Marcia Gay Harden, was given the coveted slot between “60 Minutes” and CBS’ Sunday movie in September, but after a strong opening, the program’s ratings dropped substantially. Moreover, the show’s creators left a few weeks after the series made its debut over a dispute regarding the program’s creative direction.

The decision to ax “First Monday” means both of the Supreme Court-themed series introduced this year failed to reach a second term. ABC yanked “The Court,” starring Sally Field, in April.

CBS will again rely on familiar faces in its new series, along with a heavy dose of crime. Newcomers in that genre include “Without a Trace,” with Anthony LaPaglia heading the FBI’s missing-persons unit; “RHD/LA,” a series from director Michael Mann, who produced “Miami Vice,” starring Tom Sizemore as the head of the LAPD’s robbery/homicide division; “Hack,” featuring David Morse (“St. Elsewhere”) as an ex-cop-turned-taxi-driver who helps people, co-starring Andre Braugher; and “CSI: Miami,” an already previewed spinoff of the network’s top-rated show, “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation,” featuring David Caruso, who previously struck out at CBS in the drama “Michael Hayes.”

The other drama is “Presidio Med,” a medical show starring “China Beach” alumna Dana Delany from “ER” producer John Wells.

CBS’ new comedies are “Still Standing,” with Mark Addy (of the film “The Full Monty”) and Jami Gertz as a blue-collar couple; and “Bram and Alice,” starring Alfred Molina--who previously starred in CBS’ short-lived “Ladies Man”--as a famous novelist, from former producers of “Frasier.”

Although ABC officials might be forgiven for craving cocktails after the difficult year they’ve endured, the network said it’s hoping the “happy hour” concept will evoke family-based hits such as “Roseanne” and “Home Improvement,” a niche “that the network got away from the past several years,” ABC Entertainment Television Group Chairman Lloyd Braun told reporters Tuesday.

Given that ABC’s prime-time lineup has witnessed a ratings decline of more than 20% this season, Braun added that the network’s goals for its first “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire”-less schedule since January 2000 are modest.

“Nobody expects us to jump into first place next year,” Braun said. “We are looking to show progress.... We have to stabilize our schedule.”

ABC’s biggest gamble is Tuesday nights, when it will combine three new comedies with the first-year series “According to Jim,” which moves over from Wednesdays. Notably, John Ritter, who spent seven years chasing women each Tuesday on the network in “Three’s Company,” will play an overprotective father of teenagers in “8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter.”

The network’s enthusiasm regarding the decision to schedule “Dinotopia,” meanwhile, may have been tempered somewhat after Monday night, as viewing of the three-part miniseries slipped to 13.4 million viewers--still a solid performance by ABC’s standards, but a significant drop from the 17 million who viewed Part 1 on Sunday.

Even before the program premiered, ABC had ordered episodes of a weekly series, but the producers will still face a formidable challenge getting a program that relies so heavily on computer-generated graphics ready for the fall.

Here is ABC’s fall schedule (new series in italic):

Sunday: “The Wonderful World of Disney,” “Alias,” “The Practice.”

Monday: “The Drew Carey Show,” “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” “Monday Night Football.”

Tuesday: “8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter,” “According to Jim,” “Life With Bonnie,” “Less Than Perfect,” “NYPD Blue.”

Wednesday: “My Wife and Kids,” “The George Lopez Show,” “The Bachelor II,” “Meds.”

Thursday: “Dinotopia,” “Push, Nevada,” “PrimeTime Thursday.”

Friday: “America’s Funniest Home Videos,” “That Was Then,” “20/20.”

Saturday: Movie.