The latest game plan for network victory

Brides and grooms are in, stand-up comedians are out.

New dramas this fall are more of a laughing matter. New comedies are packed with characters -- the more the merrier.

And producers want more than just a casual tune-in “date” from viewers, seeking a steady commitment by offering a single compelling story that will unravel over a series’ season -- in comedies as well as dramas.

Those are a few of the key themes unveiled last week during the TV upfronts as the five networks previewed dramas and comedies that will premiere in the fall and early next year. In searching for the next “Lost” or “Desperate Housewives,” network honchos are tweaking established TV genres (cop shows, medical shows, lawyer shows), recruiting film stars (Ray Liotta, James Woods) and bringing back favorite TV alumni (producer Aaron Sorkin, Calista Flockhart).

And although there was no heavy-duty buzz around a single show like last year, when advertisers and industry insiders eagerly speculated about the prospects of the Chris Rock comedy “Everybody Hates Chris,” several new shows, such as NBC’s “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip” and “Friday Night Lights” and ABC’s “Betty the Ugly” generated positive word of mouth.

“There’s nothing that looks like a blockbuster right now, but this is usually the case,” said Steve Sternberg, executive vice president of audience analysis for Magna Global, a media-buying firm. “No one thought that ‘Friends’ or ‘ER’ looked like they would be huge hits. On this schedule, there seems to be a lot of shows that could break out.”

What is clear to Sternberg and industry honchos is that the dramas are doing better than comedies and that some dramatic creators are taking advantage of that slump by putting humorous elements in their shows.

It’s an approach that is paying off for such current shows as “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Boston Legal” and will be attempted by some new ones: “Studio 60,” from Sorkin, which features an all-star cast and takes a behind-the-scenes look at a late-night sketch comedy show; ABC’s “Brothers and Sisters,” which looks at the love and friction of a large family; and “Raines” on NBC, which stars Jeff Goldblum as a quirky LAPD detective who can communicate with murder victims to help solve their slayings.

NBC Entertainment President Kevin Reilly agreed that comedy is a challenged genre: “The audience right now is not particularly patient with comedies. It’s harder to get them to stick with comedies right now.”

And they don’t lend themselves to new takes on traditional formulas, added CBS Corp. President Leslie Moonves. “In drama, you’ve seen with the advent of ‘CSI,’ ‘24,’ shows taking existing genres and expanding them, going different ways with them. And I think that’s harder to do in comedy. It’s just a tougher nut to crack.”

To battle the trend, studios and networks are no longer relying on stand-up comedians. None of the new network prime-time sitcoms revolves around a comic. And with the departure of Ray Romano and the cancellation of “The Bernie Mac Show,” ABC’s “George Lopez” is the only comedian-driven series on the fall schedule.

Instead, most of the new comedies will go the “Friends” route, relying on ensemble casts to allow for more interplay among characters. CBS’ “The Class,” NBC’s “30 Rock,” ABC’s “Big Day,” “Help Me Help You” and “Let’s Rob ...” all have large casts of performers yelling out their punch lines.

Weddings and honeymoons are the key to several series. ABC’s “Big Day” follows the hours leading to the wedding ceremony, while newlyweds befriend a long-married couple in the new Brad Garrett comedy, Fox’s “ ‘Til Death.” “The Wedding Album,” premiering midseason on Fox, follows a top wedding photographer.

Other new series pivot on mismatched odd couples: male (“Happy Hour,” “Twenty Good Years,” “The Winner”) and male-female (“Standoff”).

Adapting the tactics of their dramatic counterparts, producers also have a new subgenre: the serialized comedy. “Big Day” and “Let’s Rob ...” will both focus on a single event that unravels through the season. In the case of “Big Day,” it’s the hours leading to the ceremony. With “Let’s Rob ...” it’s the ripping-off of rock star Mick Jagger by a gang of inept thieves.

The single-event serial form, considered key to shows such as “24” and “Prison Break,” is being employed in several new dramas as well, including “Kidnapped,” and “Vanished.”

Other layered unfolding dramas with large casts demand viewer loyalty by using the “Lost” device of bonding large groups of strangers in extraordinary circumstances, including “The Nine,” “Heroes,” “Traveler,” “Six Degrees,” “Runaway” and “Jericho.”

When asked if there were too many serialized dramas on the fall schedule, NBC’s Reilly said: “A couple years ago, everyone was saying, ‘Wow, there’s an awful lot of close-ended procedurals. Are people going to get bored of them?’ It’s really about the show. The good ones are going to work and the bad ones aren’t.

“I don’t think viewers ... ever analyze it as, ‘Oh, a close-ended, a procedural’ or ‘This seems like a serial.’ I think viewers come to it and say, ‘Give me the good shows.’ Serials require a little more of your time and attention, but they’re willing to give it when you get them.”

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Times staff writers Matea Gold and Maria Elena Fernandez contributed to this article.