ABC shoots not at hip but at heartland

At ABC, prime-time success hasn’t been easy to come by since the red-hot “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” days flared then faded three years ago. The most recent ratings face-off in November saw the network in a disappointing third place, steamrollered by such heavyweights as CBS’ “CSI” and “Everybody Loves Raymond” as well as NBC’s still potent “Friends” and “ER.”

This news landed just as parent Walt Disney Co. erupted in a very public feud -- triggered by Roy E. Disney’s resignation from the board of directors accompanied by his scathing indictment of Chairman/CEO Michael Eis- ner’s handling of the company. ABC Television’s creative and economic slide was singled out. All in all, not the best time for the network to be under-performing.

But TV has become a competitive landscape where success is increasingly measured in small increments. At the moment, for ABC that comes in the form of “According to Jim,” the Jim Belushi showcase that launched to mediocre reviews and weak ratings in 2001. Yet since then, it has quietly built a following on Tuesday nights, and this season the comedy has regularly topped NBC’s once-dominant “Frasier” among the 18- to 49-year-old young adults that networks and many advertisers care most about.

“Jim” is still ranked only 19th in young adults for the season, and “Frasier” isn’t the creative competitor it was just a few years ago. Nonetheless, hit-starved ABC sees it and similar shows such as “My Wife and Kids” and “8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter” as part of a rebuilding strategy. Two more sitcoms are ready to debut this season.

“Our ultimate goal is that we believe we can get to a 12-comedy schedule,” said Lloyd Braun, chairman of the ABC Entertainment Television Group.

And executives aren’t counting on a breakout hit to rescue ABC either.

“I’m not saying it’s impossible, but in today’s competitive environment, I think that is very very difficult,” Braun said. “And when you are rebuilding and plugging holes, we’re OK with hitting singles and doubles.”

In “Jim,” one can see ABC’s strategic template -- one that runs counter to current industry conventions, from leaving marginally performing shows on the air longer to give them a chance to find an audience to eschewing an edgy, urban tone in favor of a heartland sensibility. “According to Jim,” for example, finds Belushi as a contractor, living in an Illinois town with his wife, Cheryl (Courtney Thorne-Smith), and children. Not a “Friends”-style Central Perk coffeehouse in sight.

There is renewed pressure on this strategy to succeed in the face of the current Disney storm, but network executives are encouraged by the results. Many on Wall Street find positive indicators as well.

In a Nov. 21 report issued after Disney’s fourth-quarter earnings release, Merrill Lynch analyst Jessica Reif Cohen noted that “for the first time in years, ratings at ABC are steady,” adding that “we anticipate operating improvement throughout the year.”

That ABC is building its future on comedies is in itself surprising, since sitcoms have lately been consigned to the category of endangered species. No new powerhouse like NBC’s “Friends” or cultural touchstone like HBO’s “Sex in the City” has emerged from the recent development seasons.

The network has launched 10 sitcoms in the last two years. Its four new comedies this fall were more than any of the other members of the Big Four.

For now, not one of ABC’s efforts could be called a breakout hit. Critics trounced several of the shows that debuted this fall, with particular scorn heaped on “Married to the Kellys” and “It’s All Relative,” which air on Fridays and Wednesdays, respectively. The network, however, classifies them as successes because in season-to-date ratings, all but one of ABC’s comedies have regularly won their time slots in the coveted younger demographic.

All have been picked up for the season, and ABC recently ordered extra episodes of three of the shows, a signal of faith in their continued strength. For the more marginal shows, ABC executives are hoping that audiences will eventually find the programs and, when they do, the shows themselves will have improved, because the writers, actors and production teams will have had more time to gel.

“Part of the strategy is to leave shows that are doing ‘just fine’ in place and see if we can grow an audience for them,” said ABC Entertainment President Susan Lyne. “We think it’s better to let a show percolate, let the creators find their voice and let the audience sample.”

“Life With Bonnie” was one show that got a reprieve -- returning to the schedule this fall after marginal ratings last season when it aired on Tuesday nights. This year, despite lower ratings on Friday nights, when fewer viewers are around, it is winning its time period among young adults and helped ABC reintroduce the “TGIF” franchise. Then there was the heartland shift in plot lines and characters.

“I’m a New York Jew who moved to West L.A. I’m not America. And you better learn that real fast when you have this job,” Braun said.

That meant listening to Midwesterners who complained that the pilot of “Back to Kansas,” about a New Yorker who returned to Kansas to be near his wife’s family, was offensive. Before the show premiered this fall, some jokes were removed and the title changed to “Married to the Kellys.”

Indeed, Lyne said that this season again showed the “mistake that executives make when they try to program for themselves,” noting the disappointing ratings for Fox’s “Skin” and “Arrested Development,” both of which had lots of good buzz in the Hollywood creative community.

ABC’s 10 comedies revolve around distinct characters and situations, unlike just a couple of years ago, when the network focus was on “Friends”-like clones that sought to appeal to hip, urban singles. The urban phase was followed by a brief fascination with edgy comedies such as “Sports Night” and “The Job,” which drew critical acclaim but not viewers.

In a sense, the creative shift is returning ABC to its roots. Its signature comedies over the years -- “Roseanne,” “Laverne & Shirley,” “Happy Days” and “Coach” -- have all been set in Middle America.

Like those popular series, ABC’s new comedies are, for the most part, broad family programs such as “My Wife and Kids” and “The George Lopez Show,” attempting to appeal to several age groups at once, just as in the old ABC heyday of “Happy Days” and “Laverne and Shirley.”

Through the first seven weeks of the season, ABC claims the most “family viewing” of any network, when shows are ranked by the percentage of 18- to 49-year-olds who are watching with children or younger teens present, with seven ABC comedies in the Top 20.

There are financial benefits to this approach: There is more advertising time available in an hour of comedy than in an hourlong drama, which means an extra chance to squeeze in commercials from competing advertisers who refuse to run their ads next to each other.

But ABC’s strategy isn’t without risk. By sticking with slow-building shows, it can’t open up time periods to try something new that could become the next “Friends.”