Suddenly humble Fox takes steps to reverse run of bad luck

NEW YORK - The Beacon Theater on Manhattan's Upper West Side was certainly teeming with "Fox attitude" Thursday afternoon. Reeking with it, actually: My shoes stuck to the floor, the water in the restrooms was the color of rust, and a coil in my seat bottom was making unwelcome advances toward me. This was the place Fox chose to unveil its 2000-01 television schedule. Compared with the ritzy venues other networks chose for their galas, the Beacon was humble. But that matched the mood of the Fox executives following one of the worst seasons in the network's history. "This was a trying season for us," said its head of advertising sales, Jon Nesvig. "We hit some rough patches," said Fox entertainment chief Sandy Grushow. The chief reason, he said, was the network's "over-reliance" on "shockumentaries" like "Who Wants to Marry a Multi-Millionaire?" and "World's Wildest Police Videos." But there were also a couple of bright moments last season, and just to make sure nobody forgot it, the first person to appear on stage was Frankie Muniz, the gee whillikers kid star of Fox's midseason comedy hit "Malcolm in the Middle." He was followed by Christopher Titus, the comic whose darkly autobiographical "Titus" has done well during its two months on the air. Titus said ever since his show began, people have been asking him why he didn't take "Titus" to HBO instead. Because, he said, HBO doesn't have commercials. If you watch only HBO, "you'll never know when something's new and improved. When someone answers the phone 'whazzzaaap?', you won't know why it's funny." Thanks to commercial TV, Titus said, "I realize now that I have a soft-drink choice that fits my lifestyle." And perhaps someday commercial TV "will lead us to the Holy Grail: a 48-hour anti-perspirant." Was he mocking the roomful of advertisers? With "Fox attitude," you couldn't say for sure. Later, another comic took to the Beacon stage: Robert Schimmel, the veteran provocateur who also has a show on Fox this fall. Schimmel can be searingly funny - but only, it seems, when he's allowed to talk dirty. The 3-minute preview reel for "Schimmel," promoted as a "family show, Fox style," was embarrassingly bad. One unfunny joke followed another. The physical humor consisted of Schimmel getting hit in the groin. We also learned why Schimmel is so nonexpressive on stage: He can't act. Schimmel then told a few jokes - but once again, he "worked clean," and his punchlines fizzled. Talk about a guy who needs to be on HBO. Aaron Barnhart's expanded coverage of the 2000-01 season announcements is online at www.tvbarn.com >>>