Off-net sitcoms get last laugh

With outlook for quality comedy hazy beyond 2002-2003, syndicators may find stations hungry for yaks

By Susanne Ault -- Broadcasting & Cable, 1/8/2001

Over the holidays, off-net comedy syndicators may have had visions of themselves offering the next Seinfeld or Friends dancing in their heads. And with networks recently favoring dramas, reality, and game shows over sitcoms in prime time, those visions may come true even if their programs don't offer the hit status of Seinfeld or Friends.

Why? Sure, there are some strong 2001 off-net contenders in Columbia TriStar's Just Shoot Me and CBS Enterprises-King World's Everybody Loves Raymond, both prime time winners for their networks. And in 2002 Twentieth Television's Dharma & Greg, Carsey-Werner's That '70s Show and Warner Bros.' Will & Grace -current network franchises on ABC, Fox and NBC, respectively-are positioned as potential powerhouses.

But because the networks aren't turning out quality sitcoms for the syndication pipeline the outlook isn't so great beyond 2002. And that might mean that stations hungry for comedies will be open to shows that aren't exactly guaranteed hits.

"The six broadcast networks are producing 31% fewer sitcoms than they were five years ago," says Steve Mosko, Columbia TriStar Television Distribution's president, "They're running more news magazines, shows like Millionaire, etc. There's not a lot of [sitcom] product coming into the pipeline, that's the bottom line."

Syndicators' 2001-2003 comic efforts are in good shape with weak upcoming competition, and "because there really isn't anything out there, all [a studio] needs is a sitcom with a strong male lead and you'll be successful," Mosko maintains.

Guy-appealing comedies are thought to be the best bets for stations, since past off-net gold mines, such as Married With Children, Seinfeld, Friends and The Simpsons skewed male.

"[Syndicators] are definitely helped by less competition; they won't have the same challenges," notes Katz TV's Bill Carroll. "Lesser sitcoms won't always be considered premium choices. With fewer choices, stations might go with the tried and true, going with shows for their second and third cycles."

Carroll expects high interest in the second cycle of Friends (available in 2004) and second cycles of Home Improvement (2002) and The Drew Carey Show (2002).

Still, Carroll acknowledges that stations "have a sweet tooth" for sitcoms, describing one-hour series, currently popular with the networks, as "spotty" syndication performers.

"Hour-long dramatic shows don't strip well," says Robert Raleigh, Carsey-Werner Domestic Television Distribution's president. There are a few exceptions, he adds, Beverly Hills 90210 and 7th Heaven among them.

Seconding that observation is Mosko, explaining that hour-long dramas tend to do better on cable outlets. Shows such as ER and The X-Files have landed weekend runs in syndication, but "what works are the action hours."

However, one-hour dramatic shows are headed stations' way, come 2002 and beyond, including Twentieth's Judging Amy (2003), Paramount's Charmed (2002); Buena Vista's Once & Again (2004), Columbia TriStar's Dawson's Creek (2002), Warner Bros.' The West Wing (2003), and Studios USA's Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (2003).

"Our business is cyclical," explains Raleigh. "Right before The Cosby Show went on, the rage had been one-hour dramas like Magnum P.I. and Murder, She Wrote.But when Cosby came out, it was like bam! all these sitcoms came out. Now we're back to the dramatic one-hour."

Making sitcoms even more attractive is that stations are trying to recover from this fall's slew of lackluster rookie first-run efforts like Dr. Laura and Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus that haven't to date been a hit with viewers. So studios peddling sitcoms at this month's NATPE could be catching stations at just the right time.

"Historically, the most predictably successful genre in television is the half-hour situation comedy," says Raleigh. "Stations say that, with first-run, they can find the next big franchise. But do you know how many stations launched Judge Judy and still have her? 35 stations. [Everyone else] lost out to the highest bidder. So the odds are long that you'll find a hit, and there's the likelihood that you won't own the show once it becomes a hit."

Raleigh, who while at Worldvision Enterprises was head of Judge Judy's initial sales, adds, "Stations better take a long, hard look at some of the traditions in the business like going with sitcoms." He explains that most stations look at first-run because it's usually a low-risk, one-year commitment, rather than a three-year deal. "But if they get a lot of low-rated shows is that really low-risk?" he asks.