Critics' winners are viewers' losers

If television columnists were day traders, they'd all be broke. Predictions about what viewers would tune in to this fall have fallen flat.

By ERIC DEGGANS

© St. Petersburg Times,
published December 3, 2001

[Photo: Touchstone Television] ABC’s Alias, starring Jennifer Garner as Sydney, has been a favorite among critics, but its ratings have lagged behind the competition.

With the dust settled from the end of November's "sweeps" ratings period Wednesday, it's time to ask a pointed question: What the heck is going on in prime time TV these days?

True enough, the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, coming six days before the TV season was to begin, threw a titanic monkey wrench into America's TV industry.

The season started a week later, baseball and football (two big-money industries guaranteed to draw viewers) got pushed back as well, and creative types fretted for weeks about what they could and couldn't show on screen.

TV critics, with our heightened cynicism and vulnerability to the Next Big Thing, regularly miss the boat on what viewers will watch. But it seems we couldn't have been more misguided about what people might like during the fall TV season kickoff.

Remember all those highly hyped stories about ABC's spy drama Alias? Or Fox's CIA-style real time drama 24 and college comedy Undeclared? What about NBC's medical comedy Scrubs, and the WB's kiddie sitcom Maybe It's Me?

Yes, these shows are good -- the best new programs of the season. But they're all ratings-challenged in one way or another: Alias regularly falls behind NBC's spinoff Law & Order: Criminal Intent, 24 places fourth in its time slot, Scrubs lost more than 30 percent of the audience when it aired after Friends a few weeks ago, and Maybe It's Me is overshadowed on Friday nights by a new sitcom featuring country star Reba McEntire.

[Photo: WB Television Network] WB Television Network Reba, starring country singer Reba McEntire, left, with JoAnna Garcia, is overshadowing a better sitcom on Friday nights, Maybe It’s Me.

So what are people watching? McEntire's broken home comedy Reba. CBS' drama about a fallen lawyer The Guardian. UPN's Star Trek prequel Enterprise. NBC's nonsensical drama about a rebellious medical examiner, Crossing Jordan. ABC's newest family sitcoms: Damon Wayans' My Wife and Kids and Jim Belushi's According to Jim.

Established shows are also breaking the ratings bank, including Friends, ER, NYPD Blue, JAG, Everybody Loves Raymond, The West Wing and Law & Order.

A few groundbreaking new shows have found viewer traction, including Fox's stylized sitcom The Bernie Mac Show and the WB's Superboy reinvention, Smallville. But some of the biggest ratings draws in November sweeps were specials starring Lucille Ball, Carol Burnett and Michael Jackson.

It seems there's a war going on in TV land: cool vs. comfort food.

"How do we define comfort food (TV)? Shows you are comfortable with and time periods you're used to watching," said Lloyd Braun, co-chairman of ABC Entertainment Group, who blames part of his network's ratings woes on a lack of such shows.

"In such turbulent times, to be able to go home and turn on your TV and leave reality . . . these shows are like your family," Braun added. "It's comfortable."

Some aren't buying this theory. "There has been a run for the familiar, (but) at the end of the day, it's about quality," said NBC entertainment president Jeff Zucker -- but bear in mind, he also uses this argument to explain the success of Fear Factor and Weakest Link. "You can sit and make excuses . . . (but) you have to acknowledge, quality programs have cut through."

Perhaps. But a look at the winners and losers so far this season may tell another story -- one that finds viewers passing up truly revolutionary television for TV that reassures as much as it entertains.

Here's my list:

WINNERS

TV news operations -- Before Sept. 11, with the nation in denial about a recession and a serious lack of serious news, the media seemed to be feeding on themselves. Nonstories such as Gary Condit's infidelities and Anne Heche's insanities got chewed over until even news junkies were considering subscriptions to Entertainment Weekly. But domestic terrorism and the war in Afghanistan have brought back real news, evening up the morning show race (with less chat and empty-headed features, viewers choosing programs rely less on which anchors they like) while CNN and Fox News Channel battle for cable news dominance. Now if we could only manage more substance when times are good.

Crawls -- It seems every TV critic on the planet has done some griping about the only lasting change Sept. 11 brought to TV news: those streaming text headlines at the bottom of every cable news channel. My message: Get over it! Yes, they can sometimes be annoying. But when you've tuned in midway through an important press conference, the crawl hits the highlights in a way that helps tremendously. I ask only two things: that broadcasters avoid placing commercials there (ESPN, are you listening?) and that they make sure the information there is accurate (Fox News Channel, that one's for you).

Ashleigh Banfield -- Since the Sept. 11 attacks, she's been Jenny-on-the-spot, filing reports from ground zero as the World Trade Center towers collapsed and whisking her newly brunette locks over to the Middle East before Geraldo Rivera could find Afghanistan on a map. Now she's got a primo prime time show at 9 p.m. on MSNBC, A Region in Conflict, as pundits try to figure out whether she's an empty opportunist or an aggressive reporter getting a bad media rap (hint: she's both). Katie Couric, watch out.

[Photo: Warner Bros] ER has been able to ratchet up its ratings this season by finding new depth in its characters, including Eriq La Salle as Dr. Peter Benton, fighting for custody of his deaf son, played by Matthew Watkins.

Established TV shows -- As mentioned before, they're doing brisk business. Even better: Some actually deserve the attention. Friends is presenting some of its most compelling episodes (not counting appearances by Sean Penn and Brad Pitt; don't give up your movie day gigs, dudes), ER has found new life and new depth in its characters, and NYPD Blue has made up for a creatively disappointing debut by integrating ex-Saved By the Bell stud Mark-Paul Gosselaar in an engaging, combustible story line.

The Bernie Mac Show -- Like In Living Color and The Arsenio Hall Show, comic Bernie Mac's percolating sitcom uses black culture to make its comedy distinctive and cool, not as an excuse for FUBU fashion jokes and low production budgets. That it attracts a larger audience than Grounded for Life and Titus only proves there's crossover gold in doing black-centered comedy right.

Weakest Link and Fear Factor -- Both shows have found new life in showcasing celebrities. Who knew viewers had a hankerin' to see What's Happenin's Rerun humiliated or Donny Osmond's face shoved into a vat of millipedes?

Enterprise -- Combining the best of classic Trek -- a two-fisted, macho captain and a penchant for showcasing the cast's beef- and cheesecake -- with the production values of new Trek, this prequel goes where no Star Trek series has gone before.

Crossing Jordan, According to Jim, The Ellen Show -- These series are so mediocre they should be circling the bowl right now. But Jordan's only competition on Mondays comes from CBS' limp drama Family Law and male-skewing Monday Night Football; Jim benefits from following Damon Wayans' successful family sitcom, and star Ellen DeGeneres' impressive turn hosting the Emmy Awards ensured her show's success. Hope these guys said extra prayers on Thanksgiving Day.

LOSERS

Infomercials disguised as TV shows -- Katie Couric cooing over the stars of the Harry Potter movie for an hour. A Victoria's Secret fashion show that felt more like a high-priced strip show. A Mick Jagger documentary that felt more like a commercial for his latest record. These are just a few November TV treats that have betrayed the networks' desperation for advertising partnerships and low-cost programming. Guys, I know the war coverage and downturns in ad spending are squeezing you hard, but try a little harder to disguise your come-ons in the future.

Canceled TV shows -- The unexpected bonus of the current TV climate is that networks are giving good shows more chances. So the list of canceled programs so far contains no undeserving names: Bob Patterson, Citizen Baines, What About Joan, Danny, Thieves and Wolf Lake. Some names that deserve to join this list soon: Emeril, Inside Schwartz, Pasadena, UC: Undercover and The Ellen Show.

ABC -- Last year, the brain trust running Disney's TV network swore that scheduling four nights of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire wasn't the stupidest move ever. Now they've killed the golden goose, foolishly convinced that lame-o shows such as Thieves and Philly could prop them up awhile. The only plus here is that they're hurting so badly they can't afford to cancel the quality yet low-rated family drama Once and Again.

Who Wants to Be a Millionaire -- Celebrity editions don't work because the game is too easy up to the $30,000 mark (celebs can help each other to that point, because they're guaranteed to win that much). Besides, we're tired of watching white guy lawyers and computer programmers rewarded for their insular, fact-obsessed lives.

Tuesday night viewers -- With Smallville, 24, NYPD Blue, Frasier, Scrubs, Gilmore Girls, Undeclared and Buffy the Vampire Slayer all airing on the same night, there's so much quality on screen at one time, no VCR or personal video recorder could handle it. Note to network executives: Maybe it's time to share the wealth with the rest of the week.

- To reach Eric Deggans, call (727) 893-8521, e-mail deggans@sptimes.com.

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