NBC Stands Pat; ABC Draws

Can dinosaurs help breathe life into a network whose ratings have been on the brink of extinction?

ABC will apparently find out, attempting to jump-start a prime-time schedule perceived to be in free fall during the current television season by offering family-based programming at 8 p.m. Monday through Friday next season--including a weekly series version of the just-premiered “Dinotopia” to go up against “Friends” and “Survivor” on Thursdays.

The network, which will present its revised fall schedule to media buyers today in New York, is assembling a prime-time roster that includes seven new series while making this spring’s unscripted hit “The Bachelor” and “America’s Funniest Home Videos” components of its lineup.

“NYPD Blue” is also expected to return to its former 10 p.m. Tuesday beat, though ABC has canceled producer Steven Bochco’s other drama, “Philly,” along with the existing comedies “Dharma & Greg,” “Spin City” and “The Job.”

ABC will also be without “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire,” which occupied four hours on its schedule less than two years ago. The show will return later in the season, after a daily, early-evening version makes its debut on local television stations.

ABC had already initiated production on episodes of “Dinotopia,” though it wasn’t thought the fantasy-oriented concept could be ready when the season gets underway in September because of its special effects. The six-hour production opened to impressive ratings Sunday, averaging nearly 17 million viewers and building over the course of its two hours.

“Dinotopia” represents a major gambit for ABC Entertainment President Susan Lyne, who oversaw movies and miniseries before being promoted to her current position in January, with ABC’s poor performance leading to the ouster of predecessor Stu Bloomberg.

The network’s steep ratings decline has prompted officials at the Walt Disney Co., which owns ABC, to acknowledge their active involvement in putting together the lineup, with six of the seven new series produced by Disney.

ABC wasn’t discussing its plans Monday, but sources said “The Drew Carey Show” and “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” will move to Monday nights, where they will precede “Monday Night Football” in most of the country and follow it on the West Coast.

Three new comedies will join the Tuesday lineup along with the first-year sitcom “According to Jim,” while “The George Lopez Show”--which premiered this spring--will apparently retain the Wednesday slot following “My Wife and Kids.” “The Bachelor” finds a home Wednesdays versus “The West Wing,” with ABC seemingly emboldened by the fact that CBS and Fox enjoyed some success in that hour with unscripted series “The Amazing Race” and “Temptation Island,” respectively.

The new comedies are “Eight Simple Rules,” featuring John Ritter as the father of teenage daughters; “Life With Bonnie,” starring Bonnie Hunt as a talk-show host; and “Less Than Perfect,” being likened to “Bridget Jones’s Diary.”

The other dramas are “That Was Then,” about an adult man who gets to go back to high school as a teenager knowing what he knows now, expected to follow “Funniest Videos” on Fridays; “Push, Nevada,” an interactive mystery targeted for Thursdays; and “Meds,” about crusading young doctors, penciled in for Wednesdays.

NBC, meanwhile, officially unveiled its lineup Monday, which NBC Entertainment President Jeff Zucker proclaimed “the most stable schedule of any network,” allowing NBC to focus its promotion behind a handful of new properties. Four nights remain unchanged, with NBC introducing a pair of Sunday-night dramas and a trio of comedies designed to pump some new blood into the aging “Must-See TV” franchise.

Zucker also stated that NBC’s expectations are “incredibly realistic” for “Scrubs,” the first-year show that will shift from Tuesdays to follow “Friends” in the fall--a time slot that has claimed its share of casualties. The network has been quick to proclaim the show a hit, even though it is declining 25% from “Frasier’s” audience in the preceding half-hour.

NBC also said that “Watching Ellie,” its comedy starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus, will return sometime next season, albeit minus the ticking clock in the corner of the screen that counted down the time. Despite the show’s poor ratings, Zucker said the network still feels Louis-Dreyfus is a bankable TV star. The network has three episodes left from this season and would not discuss how many more will be ordered. Competitors were quick to characterize the renewal as a face-saving maneuver for NBC, which bombarded those tuning in for the Winter Olympics with promos for “Ellie” and “Leap of Faith,” which has been canceled.

NBC’s new hourlong shows are the L.A.-based crime drama “Boomtown” and the 1960s coming-of-age series “American Dreams.” The sitcoms are “In-Laws,” about newlyweds who move in with the bride’s parents, played by Dennis Farina and Jean Smart; “Hidden Hills,” a satiric look at couples in the suburbs; and “Good Morning Miami,” about a struggling morning TV show.

Here is NBC’s fall schedule (new programs are in italic):

Sunday: “Dateline NBC,” “American Dreams,” “Law & Order: Criminal Intent,” “Boomtown.”

Monday: “Fear Factor,” “Third Watch,” “Crossing Jordan.”

Tuesday: “In-Laws,” “Just Shoot Me,” “Frasier,” “Hidden Hills,” “Dateline NBC.”

Wednesday: “Ed,” “The West Wing,” “Law & Order.”

Thursday: “Friends,” “Scrubs,” “Will & Grace,” “Good Morning Miami,” “ER.”

Friday: “Providence,” “Dateline NBC,” “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.”

Saturday: Movie.