By Steve Gorman and Michele Gershberg
NEW YORK/LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - NBC, looking to regain lost ground in its
ratings, unveiled a fall prime-time schedule on Monday that will include new
dramas about homeland security, infertility and sea monsters, plus an
"Apprentice" spinoff starring Martha Stewart.
Following the breakout success enjoyed by rival network ABC with dramas this
season, NBC is turning to a fall programing slate that introduces three new
hours of drama, along with one new half-hour sitcom and two reality shows.
The biggest shake-up of NBC's schedule will comes on Wednesday night with the
launch of "The Apprentice: Martha Stewart" and "The E-Ring," a suspenseful
drama starring Benjamin Bratt and Dennis Hopper as Pentagon-based guardians
of homeland security.
NBC's longtime Wednesday night anchor, political drama "The West Wing," is
being moved to Sundays.
The two other dramas coming to NBC in the fall are "Fathom," an
action-adventure show about the search for a mysterious sea creature, and
"Inconceivable," a serialized ensemble drama set inside a fertility clinic.
New sitcom "My Name is Earl," starring Jason Lee as an ex-con determined to
follow the straight-and-narrow in spite of himself, has been added to NBC's
Tuesday night bloc. And "Three Wishes," a reality show hosted by recording
artist Amy Grant, will launch on Fridays.
Another change to the Friday schedule is the departure of the struggling "Law
& Order: Trial By Jury," the short-lived fourth incarnation of producer Dick
Wolf's popular cops-and-courts franchise. The 1960s-era drama "American
Dreams" also fell under the programing ax.
NBC also said it plans to launch two new comedies later next season -- "Four
Kings," from the creators of "Will & Grace," and "Thick and Thin," a show
from "Saturday Night Live" producer Lorne Michaels about a formerly
overweight woman embarking on her new life as a thin and single gal.
NBC was the first network to present its new prime-time programing roster
during the annual "upfront" marketplace, when advertisers book the bulk of
their commercial time in advance.
The General Electric Co.-owned network GE.N is eager for new hits after
plunging to fourth place this season behind CBS, Fox and ABC in both total
viewers and the 18-to-49 age group advertisers most cherish and that NBC has
long dominated.
The network's ratings slide makes it likely that stronger rivals such as CBS
and ABC will reap higher upfront dollars at NBC's expense.
Industry analysts expect the total take of upfront dollars for prime-time
shows will be flat to slightly lower compared to the $9.1 billion booked last
year as television struggles with viewer migration to cable, the Internet and
other media.
Reuters 2005. All Rights Reserved.
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