ABC PROMISES TO STICK TO SCRIPTS WITH ITS FALL LINEUP

After being roundly criticized for overdosing on so-called “reality” shows such as “Are You Hot? The Search for America’s Sexiest People,” ABC executives pledged Monday to stick with scripted programming through the coming season.

Addressing the semiannual gathering of TV critics and reporters in Hollywood, ABC Entertainment Television Group Chairman Lloyd Braun and ABC Entertainment President Susan Lyne also said that they deserve credit or blame for the schedule premiering this fall -- as opposed to higher-ups at parent Walt Disney Co., who they acknowledged put their imprint on the lineup. They also expressed cautious optimism about an overhauled version of “The Practice” that has eliminated roughly half the legal drama’s cast.

ABC is still in what network representatives call a rebuilding mode, recovering from the hangover left after “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” occupied nearly a fifth of the network’s 22-hour prime-time schedule in the 2000-01 season. For the season that ended in May, ABC finished tied with the “American Idol”-boosted Fox for third in overall viewing -- an unprecedented lowlight for one of the elder networks.

Still, Braun stressed that the spring quick fix unsuccessfully sought with the likes of “I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here” has reinforced ABC’s dedication to nurturing scripted fare. He also emphasized that the network won’t become awash in “reality” as soon as new programs fail. That’s a backup strategy all the networks seem poised to employ, with others to meet the press starting later this week.

ABC’s “reality” misfires and the fact that few of this summer’s programs have drawn sizable ratings demonstrate that the genre is “subject to the same laws as every other kind of television, which is that the good shows survive and the bad shows don’t,” Braun said.

That isn’t to say that ABC will be out of the game: “The Bachelor” will continue and the plastic-surgery show “Extreme Makeover” will join its regular lineup. In addition, ABC will devote four hours, spread over three weeks, to the marriage of “The Bachelorette’s” Trista Rehn, likely to begin airing in late November. Rehn and fiance Ryan Sutter are being paid $1 million, according to a document posted by thesmokinggun.com, with the contract granting the producers final say over details such as Rehn’s dress and the cake.

ABC has placed most of its emphasis on broad family comedies such as “According to Jim” and “8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter,” which have enjoyed modest ratings success despite a tepid response from critics. ABC has struggled, however, to establish dramas, which explained the decision to renew “The Practice” as well as “L.A. Dragnet,” the crime show that will follow “Wonderful World of Disney” on Saturday nights -- a lineup that Braun conceded lacks logical flow from one show to the next.

On the eve of setting its prime-time schedule in May, ABC slashed its fee for “The Practice” in half, only to discover afterward that producer David E. Kelley planned sweeping cast changes in part because of the reduced budget. Braun said ABC has since slightly sweetened the deal to allow Kelley to hire some marquee actors, among them James Spader.

One of ABC’s new dramas, “Threat Matrix,” focuses on homeland security issues, as an elite team attempts to thwart terrorist threats. Lyne likened the show to “Mission: Impossible,” and said she was not concerned about how it would be perceived next to real-life events.

“It’s not something I think people are going to look at as a documentary,” she said.