Although many fans - including your local television editor - are still bitter about ABC's shabby treatment of "Homefront," the series' co-creator and co-executive producer isn't.
"We were thrilled to be able to do 42 episodes of a series we loved. I'm just glad we got to do it," said Lynn Marie Latham. "Knowing how many shows are canceled after six episodes, I think having 42 episodes was a gift. And, also, we were able to end it. It was very satisfying for the viewers."And a lot of people loved the series, so it was very gratifying."
What wasn't so gratifying was ABC's constant shifting and pre-empting, which caused the show's premature death after just two somewhat abbreviated seasons.
"(ABC Entertainment President) Ted Harbert called to say they were going to pre-empt us all this time. We had three shows on in eight weeks - three," Latham said. "And we said, `Ted, has any series survived this kind of scheduling?' And he said, `No, but if anyone does, I'm sure it will be you.' It was a very, very disheartening year."
"But, again, I'm glad we got to do it."
As disheartening as it was, Latham and her partner (and husband) Bernard Lechowick, are jumping back in with a new series on CBS - "Second Chances," an outstanding new serialized drama that debuts tonight at 8 on Ch. 5.
"I think when you're going into a project and you put your heart and soul into it, you can't think about scheduling or what night they're going to put you on or is the audience going to like this. You just throw yourself into it and do the best you can and see what happens," she said.
The strength of Latham and Lechowick's shows - they were also writers and producers of "Knots Landing" for several seasons - has always been the writing. The pair is able to weave compelling stories around a large cast, as in the case of "Second Chances," which has 11 regulars.
There's also a good deal of planning that goes into creating a season's worth of episodes. (And "Chances" has been picked up for 20 hours this season.)
"We approach it as a novel, and the individual episodes are chapters in the novel," Latham said. "And so we do sit down and map it out like that. And, in fact, we even write what is a novella - one or two hundred pages. And yet, because we've been doing it a long time, we always have to retain the flexibility to change stories as we go."
A prime example of their flexibility came on "Homefront," when the Jeff-Ginger romance was scheduled to last for only three episodes and ended up become the centerpiece of the series.
Although they're "Hollywood producers," Latham and Lechowick see themselves as regular people creating television they themselves like to watch.
"I think it's one of our strengths - we don't separate ourselves from the audience. I feel like, I am the audience," Latham said. "I'm a tired working parent. I have two little boys (7 and 11). Right now I need to help one of them build a covered wagon for his pioneer project in second grade. So I come home from work, and I'm very, very tired. I want to spend time with my kids and play with the puppy outdoors. And when I sit down to watch TV, I really want to be entertained. And so I write the kind of things I want to see.
"I don't know. I'm probably making too much of this, but that's really what I do. So it's important to me what people think."
They also use incidents from their lives in their shows. Tonight's premiere of "Second Chances" includes the lead character's young son getting into his father's computer to access games he shouldn't. "My son did that," Latham said.
As a television writer, she feels most comfortable with stories that continue from week to week.
"It's easier, because in real life people grow and change . . . If you meet somebody in real life whose mother died or whose spouse died and they weren't changed, that would seem strange to you," Latham said. "Actually, I find it not only easier but more realistic. It's less realistic to me to wrap everything up in the fourth act. Some things may be solved, but you can have continuing problems."
And, through the course of a series, the viewers become extremely involved with the characters. A prime example was "Knots," which continued to draw a large audience through 14 seasons on the air.
"You begin to really know a character (on a television show)," Latham said. "I mean, 42 hours with one character as opposed to a feature film, which is two hours, you really learn that character and I think you invest a lot in them."
And it's not only the viewers who become involved in the lives of the characters.
"I got very wrapped up in ("Homefront"), too," Latham said. "They were people to me. So that's why I say I think I'm a regular viewer.
"And I think that's what has to happen when you're writing a show - they have to become real to you. If they don't become real to the writer they're not going to become real to the viewers.
"I sit at the computer, and I either cry or laugh. I get very wrapped up in it. You know, Laura's death (on "Knots"), when I was writing that I was just sobbing at the computer."
As excited as she is about "Second Chances," Latham admits to some pangs for the lost "Homefront."
"At first, I thought, `How can I ever change loyalties?' But I'm not really changing loyalties, this is a new project," she said.
CHANGING WEATHER: Despite consistent denials from KUTV executives, longstanding reports that Jerry Brown was on his way out as Ch. 2's lead weathercaster have finally been confirmed.
His replacement will be a familiar face - backup (and former KSL) weathercaster Sterling Poulsen. And it couldn't happen to a more deserving guy who's worked harder to improve his on-air performance in the past year or so.
Ch. 2 has also hired Bill Boss away from a Green Bay, Wisc., station as 6 a.m. and noon weather anchor.
RIDING THE RAILS: American Movie Classics comes across with another of its theme-documentaries - "All Aboard! Riding the Rails of American Film" (7 p.m. and 11 p.m.).
And, while it lacks the magic of some of AMC's previous efforts, it's a must-see for film buffs.
Narrated by Jason Robards, this trip down the rails follows movies in film from "The Great Train Robbery" (1903) through "Stand By Me" (1986). Actors, directors and historians are interviewed, and - of course - there are dozens of clips.