ABC moves Walters again and 'Again'

By Alan Pergament --
How much does ABC believe in the marriage of Lily Manning (Sela Ward) and Rick Sammler (Billy Campbell) on "Once and Again?" Enough to risk damaging its long-term relationship with news icon Barbara Walters. Enough to rearrange its fall schedule.

"We clearly love 'Once and Again,'" said Stu Bloomberg, the co-chairman of ABC Entertainment. "It would have been very difficult to have a year without these two families. No show deals with family and relationships the way these guys (co-producers Ed Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz) do."

The renewal of the critically-acclaimed but low-rated series arguably came at the expense of Walters' news program, "20-20." The news magazine is being moved way from 10 p.m. Fridays to 10 p.m. Wednesdays early in September to clear the way for "Once and Again" to try and find an audience on Fridays.

And then in November, "NYPD Blue" moves into the "20-20" spot on Wednesdays so it can directly compete with NBC's hit "Law & Order." Walters' program gets back its 10 p.m. Friday slot after the 13-week run of the ABC reality series, "The Mole," ends, enabling "Once and Again" to move once again to 9 p.m. Fridays.

Confused? One thing is clear from those scheduling gymnastics. ABC loves "Once and Again."

The renewal of "Once and Again" and the move of "NYPD Blue" to make room Tuesdays for a new series from Steven Bochco overshadowed the new programs that ABC introduced in its fall schedule here Tuesday during the annual presentation aimed at impressing advertisers into opening their wallets wide.

ABC officials acknowledged that Walters was disappointed that her program was moved, but unconvincingly added that the move wasn't meant to symbolize anything about the state of ABC News.

The victory of ABC Entertainment over ABC News for the hour is a rarity these days, suggesting that the audience for a drama like "Once and Again" (and even "The Mole") is more valuable than the older audience that usually watches a news magazine.

Advertisers greeted ABC's announcement of the return of "Once and Again" with polite applause, an indication that it will be supportive. The 10 p.m. Friday slot will be the fourth one for "Once and Again," which has also played at 10 p.m. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday in its two seasons.

Though its ratings were small, they increased in the final four weeks, which culminated with an Emmy-caliber episode in which Rick and Lily were married and their two families united. Though there was speculation that ABC would cancel the series and we'd never see how the Manning-Sammler families would react to being combined, ABC's renewal should please fans of family dramas.

However, ABC couldn't move it away from "Law & Order," which is practically everywhere on NBC's schedule next fall. But after competing against the original series, "Once and Again" will have it a little easier competing against the first sequel, "Law & Order: SVU."

(rest of the article "snipped")__The Buffalo News (May 16, 2001)