NBC, which took one ABC castoff ("3rd Rock from the Sun") and made it into a big hit this past season, is going to try to do the same with a couple of other ABC castoffs this season.
Which is not generally the sort of behavior one expects from a network that's in first place in the ratings - taking shows that haven't worked on the network that's in second place in the ratings."3rd Rock," of course, never made it on ABC's schedule. That network developed the show but was unwilling to give it a full-season commitment so, instead, it went to NBC. But both "The Jeff Foxworthy Show" and "The Naked Truth" were shows that ABC aired and decided not to renew.
But lest you think there's some sort of pattern here, NBC Entertainment President Warren Littlefield denies that.
"The fact of the matter is that we need to pick shows that are good product - that we believe in - and that's our only agenda," Littlefield told television critics. "You're playing games here in $10 million increments."
When it came to "3rd Rock From the Sun," Littlefield said, "We just loved that show. It made us laugh and we couldn't believe that we were going to have an opportunity to get it, but we did. And we're very pleased to have it on our air."
And no wonder. The show, which belongs in part to ABC's production unit, is a genuine hit.
Then there's "Jeff Foxworthy," which ABC canceled in the spring.
"We looked at Jeff Foxworthy and said, `This guy's a television star.' The show needs some work, but it's a family comedy," Littlefield said. And NBC was looking for a family comedy to replace the retired "Fresh Prince of Bel Air" on Monday nights.
Not that the show is moving to NBC intact. A new executive producer has been brought in, the setting is moving from Indiana to Georgia, the wife will be recast, a redneck grandfather is being added - as is a second child - and Foxworthy's character will get a new job.
"We thought that `Jeff Foxworthy,' with some changes and adjustments, would make a lot of sense for us," Littlefield said.
"Naked Truth" isn't on NBC's fall schedule, but the ABC castoff will return as an NBC midseason replacement show. Littlefield said his network had tried to sign the show's star, Tea Leoni, before she agreed to work for ABC. "And when it became available, because ABC didn't commit to a full season, we put our hand out and said, `There's a home at NBC,' " he said.
Like "Foxworthy," however, "Naked Truth" will undergo a number of changes. There's a new executive producer, Leoni's character will go to work for a "People"-like magazine, there will be some cast changes, and the tone will change somewhat.
"There was a lot of humor in the show that was pretty coarse and offensive," Littlefield said. "And I think we can raise the level of that - tell some better stories."
Littlefield is also counting on his secret weapon - NBC's vaunted advertising department - to turn these shows into hits.
"At NBC, we've got the greatest advertising and promotion group in all of television . . . I think we'll be able to get out there, promote and really bring a greater awareness to the product."
THE FLIP SIDE: Oddly enough, not only did NBC pick up two shows canceled by another network but two shows NBC axed - "In the House" and "JAG" - ended up on other networks. And "In the House" is a show owned by NBC Productions.
According to Littlefield, he considered making "In the House" his lead-off show on Monday nights, but ultimately decided it wasn't strong enough to fill the time slot. NBC was prepared to sign a development deal with "House" star LL Cool J for another series.
"Then along came UPN and said, `You know what? We like "In the House" just the way it is. We'll (buy) 44 episodes," Littlefield said. "We own the show. That's a better life for `In the House' and for the participants in that show than we could offer on our network. So we took the offer."
As to "JAG," Littlefield said the decision to cancel that show was based on the fact that it hadn't shown growth in the ratings and he doubted it would survive - which is what he told the show's producers at Paramount.
"They felt they could put it somewhere else. We suspected it would be CBS and said, `That's fine. Go ahead. Go do that. Maybe you will get a longer life. And maybe it can work over there,' " Littlefield said.
Not that the NBC exec could resist second guessing CBS's decision to make "JAG" a midseason replacement show.
"That, I thought, was kind of curious," Littlefield said. "But that's now their decision, not mine."
CHANGING `GUY': "The Single Guy" will be back in the fall but not without a number of changes.
Co-stars Jessica Hecht and Mark Mosely are out. (Littlefield called them the show's "boring married couple.")
An as-yet uncast female character - a divorcee "with an attitude" will come aboard. And the show will add a hang-out - either a pizza or a bagel joint - owned by a character played by Sean Michael Howard (the show's first black cast member).
NBC VIDBITS: Michelle Forbes is joining the cast of "Homicide: Life on the Street" this fall as the chief medical examiner.
"Star Trek: The Next Generation" fans may recall Forbes from her role as Ensign Ro - and for the fact that she turned down a chance to become a regular on "Deep Space Nine" so that she could pursue a movie career. (Which, obviously, hasn't worked out as well as she'd hoped.)
- Carey Lowell is the latest actor to jump aboard the merry-go-round that is "Law & Order" every year. She'll play the show's new assistant disctict attorney.
Lowell replaces Jill Hennessy, who left the show at the end of last season to pursue other roles.
- Laura Innes, who had a recurring role on the mega-hit "ER" last season, has been upgraded to a full-time regular this season. She'll return as the abrasive Dr. Kerry Weaver.
- NBC HAS ORDERED six episodes each of a couple of different hourlong dramas as midseason replacements. "One L" is a legal drama based on the autobiographical book by Scott Turow about his first year in law school.
And "Prince Street" is a police drama from the producers of "Law & Order" that will star Joe Morton and Mariska Hargitay.
GETTING SMART: Don Adams, best known for playing Maxwell Smart in the series "Get Smart," has also made a career for himself in animation. He was the voice of the cartoon penguin Tennessee Tuxedo as well as speaking for Inspector Gadget.
And while Gadget turned into a pretty good gig - including a new "Inspector Gadget's Field Trips" that debuts this fall on the History Channel - it wasn't an opportunity the Adams originally jumped at.
He was in Canada starring in a play - doing eight shows over six days every week - when his agent called and asked him to fly to Los Angeles to audition for a voice-over in an animated series.
"I said, `Audition? You want me to fly down and audition for a cartoon? . . . You want me to fly on (my day off), do it and come back and do my shows?'
"He said, `Yeah.'
"I said, `How much money is involved here? It must be a lot.'
"He said, `Fifteen hundred dollars.'
"I hung up."
Adams' agent called back, but the actor didn't want to have any part of it. "What is the future of this?" Adams asked.
"He said, `Well, if you do the pilot, you'll be signed up to do the series completely . . . To start with, 65 shows."
"I said, "How much a show?'
"He said, `Thirty-five hundred (dollars).'
"I said, `Let me get a pencil and paper.' I got a pencil and paper, did the math and I said, `When is the next flight out of here?' "
A WHOLE NEW WORLD: Fox's $2.5 billion acquisition of New World Communications - which will add 10 stations to the Fox group - probably won't have an immediate impact on Salt Lake's KSTU-Ch. 13.
The acquisition will bring the Fox station group to a total of 22 stations that reach 35 percent of the nation's viewers, according to Fox. And 35 percent is the limit that the Federal Communications Commission puts on any station group.
Had Fox exceeded that 35 percent cap, questions would have arisen about which stations the group would sell off. And KSTU would have been a possibility. But, at the moment, that does not appear to be a problem.
MEOW: Dorothy Lucey, the co-host of the forthcoming syndicated gossip/talk show "Scoop with Sam and Dorothy," said that she won't be just another Kathie Lee wannabe. "If I had a sweatshop I'd talk about it," she said.