ABC moves 'Practice' time slot
'Practice' moving
Dec 12, 2002
ABC did an about-face Wednesday and announced that it plans to move David E. Kelley's legal drama "The Practice" out of its longtime Sunday 10 p.m. berth to 9 p.m. Monday next month to make room for its revival of the police drama "Dragnet."
ABC also revealed Wednesday that it would give its plum post-Super Bowl berth on Jan. 26 to its other Sunday drama series, "Alias," in an effort to expose the stylish spy drama to a wider audience. Still, the talk in TV circles Wednesday was all about the shuffle of "Practice."
Not surprisingly, the news did not set well in the camp of "Practice" creator/executive producer Kelley.
"We are very concerned about this move," a spokeswoman for David E. Kelley Prods. said. "We are hoping that ABC will do everything in its power to support the show, which has garnered critical acclaim since its inception and has continually won its time slot."
On Tuesday, ABC said it planned to launch its three midseason dramas on Monday -- "Veritas: The Quest," "Dragnet" and "Miracles" -- after "Monday Night Football" concludes its season in late January.
But network brass quickly reconsidered the wisdom of loading up one night with three new shows, so they opted to open up "Practice's" Sunday 10 p.m. slot to "Dragnet," which will bow Feb. 2. "Practice," a two-time best drama series Emmy winner in its seventh season, will move to its new berth Jan. 27.
"We looked at a number of different options, and this seemed to be the strongest choice we could make," ABC entertainment president Susan Lyne said Wednesday. "By moving 'The Practice' to Monday, it can anchor the rest of the night."
"Practice" will face tougher competition in its new Monday lot from CBS' dominant "Everybody Loves Raymond," though Lyne said the legal drama would be good counterprogramming against the family comedy.
"We're asking David to do a lot by moving him to Monday ... but 'The Practice' is in extraordinarily good shape creatively, and we think it is strong enough to succeed there," Lyne said.
But the bigger problem with the move to 9 p.m. Monday for "Practice" is that the show will face another time-slot switch in fall 2003, when "Monday Night Football" kicks off again. Lyne said that issue will be dealt with in May, when the fall 2003 schedule is assembled. But she also stressed that ABC needs to lean heavily on its tentpole shows right now to climb out of the ratings slump that has crippled the network for the past two seasons.
"We've been talking all season about the fact that this is a rebuilding year for ABC and we're doing things that will probably not be necessary two years from now," Lyne said. "This year, we need 'The Practice' on Monday."
ABC also revealed Wednesday that it would give its plum post-Super Bowl berth on Jan. 26 to its other Sunday drama series, "Alias," in an effort to expose the stylish spy drama to a wider audience. Still, the talk in TV circles Wednesday was all about the shuffle of "Practice."
Not surprisingly, the news did not set well in the camp of "Practice" creator/executive producer Kelley.
"We are very concerned about this move," a spokeswoman for David E. Kelley Prods. said. "We are hoping that ABC will do everything in its power to support the show, which has garnered critical acclaim since its inception and has continually won its time slot."
On Tuesday, ABC said it planned to launch its three midseason dramas on Monday -- "Veritas: The Quest," "Dragnet" and "Miracles" -- after "Monday Night Football" concludes its season in late January.
But network brass quickly reconsidered the wisdom of loading up one night with three new shows, so they opted to open up "Practice's" Sunday 10 p.m. slot to "Dragnet," which will bow Feb. 2. "Practice," a two-time best drama series Emmy winner in its seventh season, will move to its new berth Jan. 27.
"We looked at a number of different options, and this seemed to be the strongest choice we could make," ABC entertainment president Susan Lyne said Wednesday. "By moving 'The Practice' to Monday, it can anchor the rest of the night."
"Practice" will face tougher competition in its new Monday lot from CBS' dominant "Everybody Loves Raymond," though Lyne said the legal drama would be good counterprogramming against the family comedy.
"We're asking David to do a lot by moving him to Monday ... but 'The Practice' is in extraordinarily good shape creatively, and we think it is strong enough to succeed there," Lyne said.
But the bigger problem with the move to 9 p.m. Monday for "Practice" is that the show will face another time-slot switch in fall 2003, when "Monday Night Football" kicks off again. Lyne said that issue will be dealt with in May, when the fall 2003 schedule is assembled. But she also stressed that ABC needs to lean heavily on its tentpole shows right now to climb out of the ratings slump that has crippled the network for the past two seasons.
"We've been talking all season about the fact that this is a rebuilding year for ABC and we're doing things that will probably not be necessary two years from now," Lyne said. "This year, we need 'The Practice' on Monday."
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