Fox, the network that began as a late-night presence, still doesn't have one.
And the one it was supposed to have in January has been "redirected" to prime time.Almost exactly a decade ago - Oct. 9, 1986 - the fledgling Fox network debuted with "The Late Show starring Joan Rivers." And we all know how Rivers fared against Johnny Carson.
That was followed by the ill-fated comedy show "The Wilton North Report," which had only a brief run.
(And, despite what some people seem to think, Wilton North was not a person. It was the studio from which the show originated.)
Then there was the disastrous, utterly awful "Chevy Chase Show" that was launched amid much ballyhoo in September 1993 - and was torpedoed by dismal ratings just a couple of months later.
Since then, Fox has consistently insisted that it was going to get back into the late-night game. That it was too lucrative a venture for any network to ignore completely.
After considerable hemming and hawing, Fox announced that it was going to go in a completely different direction in the time period. Instead of trying to compete with the late-night talk shows and news shows, it would try alternate programming and go with a late-night soap opera.
For more than a year, the network has been developing "13 Bourbon Street" for a January 1997 launch.
Not gonna happen.
Fox announced this week that "13 Bourbon Street" will indeed be joining the Fox schedule at some point - but as a weekly, prime-time program instead of a five-nights-a-week late-night serial.
This once again leaves the fourth network without a late-night show.
"Fox and our affiliates remain committed to a late-night television project in the future, and we will continue to look for a dynamic program for the daypart," said Fox Entertainment President Peter Roth. "But, for now, our affiliates will continue to program the time period locally, and we will focus our programming and promotional energies on our prime-time schedule."
(This is, of course, good news to local viewers who like to watch "Star Trek" reruns weeknights at 10 on KSTU-Ch. 13 - even if they are "Deep Space Nine" reruns.)
You can draw two conclusions from that. First, Fox does indeed have terrific problems with its prime-time schedule at the moment. The network has suffered a big decline in both household ratings and in 18-to-49-year-old viewers since the season began.
Fox can't afford another risky move into late night until it fixes some of its prime-time problems.
And, second, Fox once again is committed to getting back into late-night programming. It just doesn't know when or with what.
Same song, different verse.
BUSY MAN: Fox's Roth has certainly been a busy man since he took over the network's entertainment division last month.
He's canceled two shows - "Lush Life" and "Love and Marriage." He's sent another show - "Party Girl" - on hiatus.
He brought back "America's Most Wanted" from cancellation. He's moved "Married . . . With Children" to a new night.
And now he's canceled Fox's late-night plans.
If all of this sounds like Roth is a man in charge of a network with problems, that's because he is.
MORTON SURFACES: Bob Morton, who hasn't been seen much since he was dumped as executive producer of the "Late Show with David Letterman," will be executive producer for an ABC sitcom.
"Missing Links," a half-hour comedy based on the novel by sportswriter Rick Reilly, has been given a six-episode commitment by the network and will air sometime next season. It's about a group of friends who play golf at a public course adjacent to an exclusive country club.
Screenwriter Kevin Wade (who wrote features such as "Working Girl," "True Colors," "Junior" and "Mr. Baseball") wrote the pilot and will also serve as one of the show's executive producers.
The announcement was made by ABC Entertainment President Jamie Tarses who, by the way, is dating Morton.
QUOTABLE: The "Late Show's" David Letterman:
"Bob Dole's campaign I think now is starting to show signs of real trouble. They're slipping in Florida, a state that Bob Dole was virtually assured of winning. Here is the problem: The people in Florida, some of them admire him because he served in the war. Others are still holding a grudge because he fought for the North."