ABC, WB have 1 idea in common

NEW YORK - Was it "Back to the Future" or "Groundhog Day"? For those of us attending the TV networks' fall season announcements, Tuesday offered bizarre confirmation of the adage that imitation is the sincerest form of television. That morning, at the WB network's presentation, we watched a trailer for a new show called "Do Over," about a 30-something loser who is transported back in time 20 years and his old teen-age life. Since he has full knowledge of what lies ahead, he tries to "do over" those crucial years in the hopes of resetting his life along a more promising trajectory. And then, that afternoon, we saw it all over again. ABC Entertainment chief Susan Lyne said, "Have you ever wished you could go back and do over ... " and to the amazement of nearly everyone around me, there it was: same show, new title, with a virtually identical trailer - right down to the scene where the star freezes before speaking to a school assembly. ABC's show, called "That Was Then," went off the buzz-o-meter scale but almost certainly for the wrong reason. The immediate reaction of grizzled industry veterans was to blame the ineptitude of ABC's executives for ordering a carbon copy of a competitor's show. Of course, ABC may have had the idea first. But WB presented its schedule first, and what's more, WB's trailer was flashier and funnier than ABC's. Then again, no one will know if either show works until the season starts. The truth is you can't entirely judge how new shows will do from their reception here at the upfronts. That's the nickname for this week of network galas, so given because it initiates the annual feeding frenzy of upfront ad selling for next season. Still, there's almost one casualty every year from the upfronts, a new show that will vanish from the fall schedule after just one five-minute preview before a hostile audience. When I last attended two years ago, that show was "Schimmel," an ill-advised family sitcom for Fox starring the family-unfriendly comic Robert Schimmel. But it's harder to referee this battle of the time-travel shows because the two networks take such different approaches to upfronts. While the other networks favor entertainment shrines like Radio City, the WB holds its upfront in the ballroom of the midtown Sheraton. It is a humorless, corporate affair, where stars and suits read off the same prompter (only wild man Jamie Kennedy was allowed to ad lib). Afterward, attendees are handed a packet with so many charts and graphs in it you'd think CNBC was putting it on. ABC, by contrast, had a free-flowing presentation. That was to be expected, since not even Enron's most skilled numbers-crunchers could have turned out a favorable chart or graph from the beleaguered network's performance this season. Its big hit from two years ago, "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire," will not even appear on the ABC schedule this fall, though it is expected to return as a series of specials. Perhaps as a diversionary tactic, ABC offered attendees a monologue from comedian Jimmy Kimmel. Kimmel, the smarmy prognosticator on Fox's NFL pregame show and beer-swigging co-host of Comedy Central's "The Man Show," had signed the day before to take over Bill Maher's late-night spot in 2003. And speaking of politically incorrect, Kimmel roasted his new employers with a vehemence that got the biggest laughs of the night. "I don't know what I'm doing here," Kimmel cheerfully admitted. "Two months ago it looked like David Letterman was coming to ABC. Instead you got me. This is definitely not a step in the right direction." Referring to Lyne and Lloyd Braun, his new bosses, Kimmel said, "I want to thank Lloyd and Susan now, because it's doubtful either of you will be around when the show goes on the air. Better luck next time! Good night!" While Kimmel may have had the best lines, the most sublime came a few minutes later when Ted Koppel took the stage. Koppel, who off the air brandishes a wicked wit, noted Kimmel's Lebanese features and said, "It's funny. Arafat told me he was sending one of his kids over here to do a show to follow 'Nightline' and I thought he was pulling my leg." You can reach Aaron Barnhart through the TV Barn Web site at www.tvbarn.com @ART CAPTION:Bill Maher (left) is out. Jimmy Kimmel is in. @ART:Photos (2)