Desperate networks do desperate things. And ABC is clearly desperate.
It has become relatively commonplace for broadcast-network shows to have a second showing on a cable channel — "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" and "Criminal Intent" on NBC and USA; "Charmed" on the WB and TNT; "Once and Again" on ABC and Lifetime; "24" on Fox and FX.
Well, ABC is doing that in reverse. Tonight at 8, the broadcast network will begin airing episodes of the comedy/detective series "Monk" that have previously been seen on the USA cable network.
ABC Entertainment president Susan Lyne issued a statement calling this "a win-win for ABC and USA Network."
Well, it's certainly a win for the cable channel. USA Networks president Doug Herzog is justifiably "thrilled to generate great awareness" for the show — a move that can only help ratings even after the scheduled four-week run on ABC ends.
And Lyne could well be right when she says, "In a summer of reruns and reality programming, we will be broadcasting original episodes of a quality drama at very low cost to our network and exposing the show to the ultimate focus group . . . our audience."
Yes, ABC is paying a modest license fee for "Monk." And the series, which stars Tony Shalhoub as a brilliant but obsessive-compulsive detective, is better than most broadcast network hours. Certainly better than anything ABC has coming in the fall.
But the move doesn't exactly speak well of the team currently programming ABC. "Monk" could have been on that network — it's produced by Touchstone Television, which, like ABC, is a division of Disney.
And it's not like ABC hasn't become almost entirely dependent upon Disney for its programming. Six of the network's seven new series set to premiere in the fall are from Touchstone, as are all four of the midseason replacement series ABC has announced.
As a matter of fact, the only show on ABC's fall schedule that isn't from Touchstone (and went on the air after 1995) is "George Lopez." It's no coincidence that Disney acquired ABC in 1996.
Disney's obvious mandate has been to produce as much of ABC's schedule as possible. And, just as obviously, more than was prudent. What all this in-house production has meant for the network is a huge drop in the ratings and a huge drag on Disney's profits and stock price.
And that has left ABC desperate enough to even — gasp! — go outside the company to look for shows that people might actually want to watch. In addition to the "Monk" deal, the network has announced a "first-look" programming deal with HBO Independent Productions.
Over the next two years, ABC will have first dibs on programming developed by HIP, which is Home Box Office's production company. Anything ABC thinks will work, it gets. (And the network will provide financing for pilots and retain distribution rights on programs it doesn't pick up.)
ABC Entertainment chairman Lloyd Braun issued a statement that "this new partnership with HBO allows us to tap into the creative relationships and sensibility that has made HBO so successful over the past several years. This deal further underscores our commitment to develop with the best producers in the business as we continue to rebuild ABC."
(Hate to quibble, but not only is there little evidence that ABC has been working with "the best producers in the business" but there's no evidence that ABC has even begun to rebuild its shattered schedule.)
At any rate, what Lyne, Braun and their Disney masters seem to have finally realized is that no network can rely entirely upon its own in-house programs to find hit shows. By doing so, ABC sowed the seeds of its own destruction.
E-MAIL: pierce@desnews.com.