Networks to dance again with 'family hour' TV industry is asked to reconsider what goes into 7 to 8 p.m. time slot.

LOS ANGELES - The "family hour" is dead. Long live the family
hour.
From Capitol Hill to the Hollywood Hills, that is the new
rallying cry as yet another political crusade for the betterment of
television has taken center stage. No sooner did the ink dry on an
agreement between senators and broadcasters on a revised TV ratings
system than parents' groups took on a new mission: persuading
networks to reinstate the family hour, whose obituary many observers
assumed was written years ago.
The 7 to 8 p.m. hour used to be considered a safe haven for TV
shows the whole family could watch. Some, like "The Waltons," were
edifying; others, like "CHiPs," less so. But the networks saw to it
that all 7 p.m. shows were acceptable to even young audiences. It was
part of a broader, voluntary code of conduct the industry
self-enforced and which some - notably Sen. Sam Brownback of Kansas -
would like to see the networks voluntarily take up again.
In May of this year, 100 members of Congress signed an open
letter to the presidents of the six broadcast networks, asking them
to bring back the family hour, which faded in the late '80s (see
accompanying story), as a "voluntary covenant with the viewing
public."
More recently, House Speaker Newt Gingrich and outgoing FCC
Chairman Reed Hundt - a close friend of Vice President Al Gore - have
endorsed the family hour as well.
But getting the networks to comply may be tricky. CBS alone is
boasting about a family-friendly lineup of programs during the first
hour of prime time, and doing so quietly. Instead of promoting its
five new family-oriented sitcoms, the network's fall campaign will
emphasize overall show quality and star power, including new
additions David Caruso, Danny Aiello, Gregory Hines, Bob Newhart and
Judd Hirsch.
Then again, it may be that CBS knows it hasn't lined up seven
nights of shows that are universally regarded as family friendly.
Mark Honig, director of the Parents Television Council, which
sponsored the congressmen's open letter, said that several
family-hour programs on CBS, including "Everybody Loves Raymond" on
Mondays, "JAG" on Tuesdays and "The Nanny" and "Murphy Brown"
on Wednesdays, violated several standards of a good "TV-G" program.
"'The Nanny' is completely full of sexual innuendo every episode
and is wholly inappropriate for that first hour of prime time,"
Honig said. "'Murphy Brown' is adult oriented and if it's not going
to change its content, it's going to get 'TV-PG' ratings."
CBS' top programmer, Leslie Moonves, bristles at such criticism.
"We're pretty family-friendly," Moonves said last week, "and I
would hesitate to say that children cannot watch any show we have on
at (7) at night."
At any rate, Moonves expects to hear a lot more about TV and the
family. Last week he accepted President Clinton's invitation to sit
on a panel that will examine broadcasters' responsibility to the
public. The commission is expected to review many of the concerns of
parents' groups that sparked Capitol Hill's recent interest in
television content.
Whether the president or Congress can twist the networks' arms
any further remains to be seen. The recent TV ratings compromise was
rejected outright by NBC as an impingement on free speech. Parents'
groups complained the new system - it adds such content designators
as "S" for sex and "V" for violence - will not be much of an
improvement over the current age-based ratings instituted last
January.
Still, nothing settles disputes in the business of television
quite as effectively as a hit series, and the future of family
programming may rest on whether families turn out in sufficient
numbers to watch CBS.
From failure to family
Like many developments in the TV industry, CBS' family-friendly
strategy was borne out of desperation bred by spectacular failure.
Two years ago, with advertisers clamoring for CBS to lower the
age of its overall viewership, which at one point averaged 51 years,
the network failed with a new lineup of shows aimed at the same
young-adult audience that was watching "Friends," "Roseanne" and
"Melrose Place" on other networks.
Moonves' predecessor had also foolishly relegated the hit program
"Murder, She Wrote" to Thursday nights from its comfortable perch
on Sundays. These moves conspired to send audiences away by the
millions.
CBS was headed for an unprecedented fourth-place finish in the
ratings - and then it found new life on the wings of a dramatic
series starring Roma Downey and Della Reese.
"Touched by an Angel" created a powerhouse when CBS moved it to
Sunday nights. The show inspired another successful drama, "Promised
Land," now entering its second season, and led to a repositioning of
the network along warmer, more sentimental lines, evidenced by the
current CBS slogan, "Welcome Home."
Now CBS is a solid No. 2 and ready to take on NBC, which appears
to be vulnerable on every night except Thursday (admittedly a mighty
big exception). NBC is taking an unusual number of risks with its
fall lineup, rescheduling half of its current series and arranging
them in ways that may prove costly. On Monday nights, for instance,
NBC will pit four lightly regarded sitcoms against ABC's "Monday
Night Football" and CBS' successful block of comedies, including
"Cosby," "Everybody Loves Raymond," and "George and Leo," a new
series that pairs TV veterans Newhart and Hirsch.
CBS has also become a contender on Fridays, thanks to its
acquisition of two established ABC comedies designed for all ages,
"Family Matters" and "Step by Step. " The two shows are produced
by a company that also created "Meego," which stars Bronson Pinchot
as a space alien and will air after "Family Matters."
But joining this wholesome threesome is "The Gregory Hines
Show," possibly the most promising new comedy of the entire fall
season. Hines is featured as a father of a 12-year-old son played by
Brandon Hammond ("The Fan"). It's not that "Gregory Hines" is
inappropriate for all young children, but it is far more complex than
the shows that surround it. In the pilot episode shown to TV critics
last week, Hines' character, a recent widower, is wooed by a woman in
his office building who plainly wants him in bed - and she's spurned
only after Hines discovers she is separated, not divorced, from her
husband.
Moonves conceded that Hines' show had "a bit more
sophistication, certainly, than some of the other Friday shows," but
added, "I think that young boy is a breakout star and the
relationship between the father and son makes it especially a great
family opportunity."
Hines agreed.
"We're going to deal with adult issues like dating and
relationships, but we're going to do it with taste and style and
consideration. " he said. "We are going to be responsible."
Still, if any one show puts CBS over the top this season, it may
well be "Brooklyn South," a disturbing new series from "NYPD
Blue" creator Steven Bochco whose extreme violence and adult content
is about as far from family entertainment as a broadcast show can go.
Of that one, Moonves said, "There will be 400 letters in front
of that show," a joking reference to the content codes that will be
added to TV ratings in the fall. The show is likely to get a
"TV-MA" rating.
"Brooklyn South" should do well with audiences - at least until
the V-chip arrives early next year.with a young son. "We're going to deal with adult issues," Hines
says, "but we are going to be responsible."
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