Some networks are hoping for a dramatic turnaround.

Some networks are hoping for a dramatic turnaround.
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Fox plans to launch its new series in June, August, November and January -- nearly every month but the traditional September start of the television season.
UPN, on the other hand, knows how to keep things short and simple.
After losing two of its signature comedies -- "Friends" and "Frasier," NBC will add five new series in the fall.
ABC and the WB, two television networks badly in need of hits, promise advertisers an extreme makeover. And CBS has crafted a traditionalist's schedule, bringing in Jason Alexander, Rob Lowe and John Goodman to anchor new series and setting up a grudge match between two crime franchises.
After a week in which the big TV networks unveiled their fall broadcasting plans to advertisers -- who are then expected to buy some $9 billion worth of commercial time --this is what the picture looks like:
NBC
Casting Heather Locklear as an airport chief and bringing a crime drama back to the 50th state.
Locklear stars with Blair Underwood in "LAX," while "Hawaii" recalls the long-running series "Hawaii Five-O," which ran from 1968 to '80, and "Magnum, P.I.," from 1980 to '88 (both on CBS).
As previously announced, Matt LeBlanc's "Friends" spinoff, "Joey," will take over his old show's key time slot Thursday at 8 p.m.
NBC's Tuesday night undergoes the biggest makeover, with the comedies "Whoopi" and "Happy Family" getting the ax.
The "Frasier" time slot at 9 p.m. Tuesday will be filled with an animated comedy, "Father of the Pride," about the lions that perform in Siegfried and Roy's Las Vegas show.
NBC said that it's emphasizing a year-round schedule, with new original programming premiering throughout the season. Besides the traditional fall schedule announcement, NBC picked up seven additional new series that will come on at some point next season.
Some already have time slots: "Revelations," a thriller starring Bill Pullman as a scientist worried about Armageddon, will fill in for "The West Wing" in midseason; and "The Contender," Mark Burnett and Sylvester Stallone's boxing reality series, will go up against "American Idol" on Tuesdays.
In something of a surprise, the anticipated third spinoff of "Law & amp; Order" starring Jerry Orbach wasn't included on the fall schedule.
Dennis Farina will join the cast of "Law & amp; Order"; the comedy "Scrubs" has been renewed for two seasons; and Carson Daly has signed up for three more years as host of "Last Call." Daly will also take after his mentor, Dick Clark, by being host of a New Year's Eve special.
Additional shows ordered by NBC:
U"Medical Investigation," a drama based on true stories about medical mysteries from the National Institutes of Health. It's on the fall schedule for Friday.
U"Crazy for You," a midseason comedy with Jennifer Finnigan ("Crossing Jordan") and Josh Cooke as a mismatched romantic couple.
U"The Men's Room," a midseason comedy about three men -- aged 22, 32 and 42 -- trying to come to grips with life at different stages.
U"The Office," an American remake of the popular British series, scheduled for midseason.
CBS
Alexander will try to break the "Seinfeld curse" that has doomed new series featuring himself, Michael Richards and Julia Louis-Dreyfus. In "Listen Up," he'll play a character based on Washington Post sportswriter Tony Kornheiser. CBS also gave him a comfortable time slot among its hit Monday comedies.
Lowe, who played a lawyer last year in NBC's short-lived "The Lyon's Den," will be a doctor at a Las Vegas casino in "Dr. Vegas."
In "Center of the Universe," Goodman plays a security company owner with Ed Asner portraying his father, Olympia Dukakis his mother and Jean Smart his wife.
The spinoff "CSI: NY" which was set up in a highly rated episode of "CSI: Miami" last week, will compete against NBC's franchise show "Law & amp; Order" in the same Wednesday time slot. Gary Sinise and Melina Kanakaredes are the new "CSI" stars.
CBS is canceling "Hack," "The District" and "The Guardian." The comedy "Yes, Dear" is off the schedule, but CBS has ordered 13 episodes.
The network will make a midseason comedy starring Jenna Elfman, from the creator of "Dharma & amp; Greg."
CBS will punt Saturday nights, the least-watched night of the week on broadcast television. Instead of three costly dramas, it will go a less expensive route with the newsmagazine "48 Hours Mysteries," the reality show "The Amazing Race" and "CSI" reruns.
The fifth new series will be "Clubhouse," about a 16-year-old boy who becomes a batboy for the mythical New York Empires.
ABC/WB
ABC is planning a whopping 11 new series, eight of them to premiere in the fall. They include only two new comedies, a shift for a network that has tried with limited success to build behind laughs.
The WB will bring in six new series in the fall, including sketch comedies starring Drew Carey and Jeff Foxworthy and the first scripted series by reality king Mark Burnett.
Both networks have suffered this season. ABC is behind CBS, NBC and Fox. The WB has seen its young and hip reputation take a fall, with prime-time viewership declining from 4.1 million to 3.6 million.
"This past season was a wake-up call," said WB chairman Garth Ancier.
ABC's new entertainment president Stephen McPherson swung an immediate ax, canceling four comedies: "It's All Relative," "Married to the Kellys," "I'm With Her" and "Life With Bonnie." The drama "The D.A." was also canceled. The spinoff series, "The Practice: Fleet Street," will bring James Spader and add William Shatner to the cast, and will have the feel of "L.A. Law," he said.
The new season of "Alias" will be held until midseason. The final season of "NYPD Blue" will give way to another Steven Bochco drama, "Blind Justice," about a blind detective.
ABC will introduce two new reality series: "Wife Swap," about real-life women who switch families, and "The Benefactor," in which Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban will give away $1 million.
The comedy "8 Simple Rules" has survived for another season, a surprise after star John Ritter died in September and forced an emergency revamp. It will move to a Friday family lineup.
Also from ABC:
U"Desperate Housewives," a prime-time soap about suburban neighbors, with Teri Hatcher.
U"Life As We Know It," a coming-of-age drama about three teenage boys, described as a male version of "My So-Called Life." Kelly Osbourne is in the cast.
U"Lost," a drama about 48 plane crash survivors marooned in the South Pacific.
U"Rodney," a sitcom revolving around the life of standup comedian Rodney Carrington.
U"Savages," a comedy, executive produced by Mel Gibson, about a single dad raising four boys.
U"Eyes," a midseason drama starring Tim Daly as the head of a private investigation firm.
U "Grey's Anatomy," a drama about medical residents that will start Monday night after football ends.
The WB has completely revamped its Wednesday and Thursday nights. Only "Smallville" returns.
On Wednesday, Foxworthy will star in "Blue Collar TV," an adaptation of a popular concert series and DVD. "Drew Carey's Green Screen Show" is an improvisational series, similar to one he did at ABC.
Burnett's first scripted series is "Commando Nanny," based on his own life as a former British paratrooper who moved to Los Angeles and worked as a nanny.
Michael Davies, executive producer of "Super Millionaire," will make a reality-game show hybrid called, "Studio 7," where eight college-aged youngsters come to New York to live together and compete in a trivia contest for a $770,000 prize.
The WB's most promising drama, "Jack & amp; Bobby," is about the boyhood of a future president. "The Mountain" is about a young man who inherits a ski resort.
Steve Harvey's show will be expanded to an hour and moved to Sunday.
The critically acclaimed but ratings-challenged comedy "Arrested Development" has been renewed, and Fox will shift two of its most popular dramas: "The O.C." will move to Thursday nights in November, and "24" will shift to Monday in January.
Fox has been the most aggressive network in advocating for a year-round scheduling strategy, with new series launching all the time instead of just in September.
That's partly out of belief that viewers' habits and expectations have changed, and partly because Fox's prime-time schedule is pre-empted for baseball in October.
Fox took the odd step of releasing not one, but three separate future schedules: one for June to October, another for November to January 2005 and another for January to June. It risks confusion for advertisers who are being asked to buy commercial time.
The network previously announced it was debuting five new series next month, the same time its rivals essentially shut down for reruns. They include "Method and Red," a comedy starring rappers Method Man and Redman, and the Mark Burnett-produced reality series, "Casino."
The second visit to Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie's odd world, "The Simple Life 2: Road Trip," also will premiere in June.
In November, Fox will premiere "House," a medical mystery series.
Three new reality series also will premiere in November, all of them familiar to fans of the genre. Burnett, who is producing a boxing reality series for NBC, has grumbled about Fox nicking his idea with "The Next Great Champ," which has Oscar De La Hoya trying to spy boxing talent.
With "The Billionaire: Branson's Quest for the Best," Virgin founder Richard Branson joins Donald Trump and Mark Cuban as rich guys looking to give away money on TV. "The Partner" matches a team of Ivy Leaguers" against "street smart" lawyers looking for a job in a major firm.
Fox will premiere three dramas and three comedies in January, including a sketch comedy show starring "Frasier" star Kelsey Grammer.
"Family Guy" creator Seth MacFarlane will produce a new cartoon, "American Dad." Next summer, he'll start making new episodes of "Family Guy."
UPN
UPN's schedule is simple enough to even be understood by the cast of "The Mullets." The network has two new dramas, a new comedy and all the episodes of "America's Next Top Model" most will be able to stand.
UPN's only real bubble drama was "Star Trek: Enterprise," and genre fans won't have to contemplate life without a single franchise. The Scott Bakula drama will be back, even if it means the death of UPN's mostly unsuccessful Friday night movie series.
Several of the network's popular Monday and Tuesday comedies have changed homes.
Monday night now begins with "One on One," which replaces the departing "The Parkers." "Half and Half" moves up to 8:30 p.m., with "Girlfriends" remaining in its 9 p.m. home, followed by "Second Time Around," featuring real-life couple and "Soul Food" veterans Boris Kodjoe and Nicole Parker.
Tuesday sees "All of Us" move up to 8 p.m., followed by Monday night transplant "Eve." The network has pulled two comedies to schedule the Joel Silver produced private eye drama "Veronica Mars" at 9 p.m.
UPN's strong Wednesday night begins with the return of the network's smash reality show "America's Next Top Model." "ANTM" should provide a strong lead-in to "Kevin Hill," a new drama featuring Taye Diggs and Jon Seda. Thursday nights should remain strong for UPN with the return of "WWE Smackdown!" for two hours.
UPN is starting Friday nights with a repurposing of "America's Next Top Model." "Star Trek: Enterprise" will find a new 9 p.m. Friday home.
UPN also announced that "The Missy Elliott Project," featuring the Grammy winning superstar, will premiere after the conclusion of the "America's Next Top Model" season. The network has a second cycle of "ANTM" ready to begin after the conclusion of the "Missy Elliott" show.