Analysis: Reality still rules prime time

LOS ANGELES, May 26 (UPI) -- A look at the fall schedules posted by the major TV networks last week shows that reality still rules, and comedy is definitely no longer king, in prime time.

Probably the most striking feature of the upcoming prime-time landscape is the new look at Fox, which announced last month that it will launch six new series in June as part of a campaign to replace the conventional TV-programming season with a new model.

The network will premiere the scripted dramas "The Jury" and "North Shore" in June, along with scripted comedies "Method & Red" and "Quintuplets" and reality-based shows "The Casino" and "The Simple Life 2."

In another departure from prime-time custom, Fox will add repeats of the new series to its regular schedule.

Gail Berman, president of entertainment at Fox Broadcasting Company, called the move a significant step forward in the network's two-year campaign to develop a year-round programming schedule.

Network TV has changed over the years, but the current round of changes is more substantial than anything that has come before. If the approach takes hold and spreads to other networks, change will resonate well beyond the corporate suites of TV programmers.

Development and production of TV shows has been a seasonal business since the earliest days of commercial network television. Abandoning the conventional prime-time season will require producers to change their entrenched routine for pitching, developing and shooting pilots -- all leading up to the spring announcement of schedules.

Advertisers, who still plan their fall prime-time media buys based on the upfronts -- the prime-time schedules released in New York last week -- will have to adjust their conventional wisdom.

Entertainment journalism will have to come around to the new way of organizing its coverage in the absence of the old, predictable ways.

Viewers may be least affected by all of this, since they are largely driving the change with new viewing habits and media-consumption patterns. Network programmers apparently hear viewers saying they want more unscripted shows and not so many conventional comedies.

Fox is expanding its commitment to reality-based programming with "The Casino" and "The Simple Life 2: Road Trip," as well as the home-improvement challenge, "The Complex: Malibu," and "The Billionaire: Branson's Quest for the Best." The network is also jumping into the boxing ring with a show tentatively called "The Next Great Champ." "American Idol" returns for a fourth season in January.

In addition to its two new comedies, Fox is bringing back "That '70s Show," "The Bernie Mac Show," "King of the Hill," "The Simpsons," "Malcolm in the Middle" and "Arrested Development."

The network is also planning to add several dramas to its schedule later in the season, including one set in the legal profession, one set in a small town, another about a young woman working undercover duty at a high school, and one about a young man trying to put his life back together after doing time for drug possession.

Fox also brings back the long-running "Cops" and "America's Most Wanted."

ABC is adding two new comedies, but it is relying far more on scripted and unscripted dramas.

The network is adding super-producer David E. Kelley's legal drama, "The Practice: Fleet Street," as well as the new dramas "Desperate Housewives," "Life As We Know It" and "Lost." "NYPD Blue" returns for a 12th season.

New unscripted shows joining ABC's lineup include "The Benefactor" -- in which billionaire Mark Cuban gives away tons of money -- and "Wife Swap," based on the British TV hit in which women from two households switch places for 10 days.

ABC has renewed "8 Simple Rules," "My Wife and Kids," "According to Jim," "George Lopez," "Hope & Faith" and "Less than Perfect." The network is adding the comedies "Rodney" and "Savages."

"Rodney" is based on the standup comedy of Rodney Harrington, and "Savages" -- executive produced by Mel Gibson -- is based on Gibson's own experience raising his at-times unruly sons.

NBC, which lost "Friends" and "Frasier" and dropped "Whoopi," has added the animated comedy "Father of the Pride." The new comedy likely to draw the most scrutiny from critics and advertisers is "Joey," the "Friends" spinoff starring Matt LeBlanc.

The traditional Thursday comedy lineup has been cut in half, with the unscripted "The Apprentice" taking over the 9 p.m. hour, leading into the long-running medical drama "ER." "Survivor" creator Mark Burnett and "Rocky" creator Sylvester Stallone bring the unscripted boxing show "The Contender" to Tuesday nights.

NBC brings Heather Locklear back to series TV in "LAX," a drama set in the security-challenged environment of a major international airport. The network has two other new scripted dramas: the Apocalypse-themed "Revelations" and "Medical Investigation," about a team of doctors who travel to hot spots to troubleshoot difficult medical cases.

CBS comes into the new season with the hottest hand -- with plans to add just five new shows to the lineup that performed so well in the ratings during the current season.

Three of the new shows are dramas, including "CSI: NY," which will join "Crime Scene Investigation" and "CSI: Miami" on the CBS schedule.

"Everybody Loves Raymond" and "Two and a Half Men" return to the comedy lineup, along with two new entries: "Listen Up" and "Clubhouse."

Holdovers include two editions of "60 Minutes," "48 Hours," "Judging Amy," "The King of Queens," "Without a Trace" and "Joan of Arcadia." "Survivor," "The Amazing Race" and "CBS Sunday Movie" are also returning.

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