POSTIE'S 'ONCE AND AGAIN' PROTEST

By MYRON RUSHETZKY

I'M so angry at ABC for cancelling "Once and Again" that - as of 11 p.m. last night, when the show officially went off the air - I disabled Ch. 7 on my TV set.

That's right, from now on, I'll just skip over the Alphabet network.

I have deleted Ch. 7 from my remote control "favorites" setting.

(I considered calling the cable company to see if I could drop the channel at the source, but I'm told it can't be done. My luck.)

This is no silent protest. I have friends at ABC who know that I'm going to do this.

I don't know if they're ashamed of the way their employer is behaving lately - or have informed their bosses of my personal boycott.

But I guess they know now.

I'm angry at the lack of patience that network executives have these days. Networks just don't give shows a chance anymore.

If "All in the Family" or "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" premiered today, they'd be gone after week 3.

Like most people I was initially drawn to "Once and Again" by its main stars, Sela Ward and Billy Campbell, who I had seen and liked in other shows.

But I was really impressed with the acting of the four kids - especially Julia Whalen, who plays Grace Manning. (To me, she could be the next Meryl Streep!)

The kids were so good and that's what made me stick with the show.

Will I ever go back to watching ABC?

Well, I would say never say never.

But I want the network to know that I've taken drastic measures.

Now I have to actually press "7" on my remote in the unlikely chance I want to see something on ABC - ever again.

Somebody has to get tough with these people.

Myron Rushetzky is the supervisor of The Post's newsroom support staff and a fan of "Once and Again" from Day One. __ NY Post (4/16/2002)

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