ABC’s success with “Desperate Housewives” and “Lost” proves that quality scripted dramas are not the exclusive domain of cable. The challenge for all the broadcast networks is coming up with more “Housewives” and “Losts,” and each year that seems to become harder.
  But there is a way, one they should all consider as something that's worked in the past: the umbrella series, or what came to be called a wheel. It's a concept the Hallmark Channel is resurrecting with its new Friday night “Mystery Movie.”
  In a wheel, the network rotates short-run series, packaging three or four to run in sequence. So on one Friday night you get episode No. 1 of series No. 1. The next Friday, you get episode No. 1 of series No. 2. The Friday after you're watching episode one of series No. 3. Then the following week it's episode No. 2 series No. 1. It goes on until the all three series have aired their episodes, with each series having a handful of episodes.
   The wheel originated with Warner Bros. in 1955, and it was perfected by Universal more than a decade later with “The Name of the Game,” “The Bold Ones” and the long-running “NBC Mystery Movie” rotation of “Columbo,” “McMillan & Wife” and “McCloud.”
   Hallmark’s mystery wheel premiered Jan. 7, with three series alternating in the Friday 9 p.m. slot: “Mystery Woman” with Kellie Martin, “McBride” with John Larroquette, and “Jane Doe” with Lea Thompson, which starts tonight.
   Though targeted to viewers of the old NBC mysteries (reruns of which still air on Hallmark), the new wheel could have a broader impact on television if it works. Given that, the broadcast networks would be wise to monitor the progress of Hallmark’s wheel as they plan their fall schedules.
   There are arguments against the wheel, for sure, and one is that it sounds confusing. It can confuse viewers until they get used to the idea of seeing a series returning every three or four weeks rather than weekly.
  It also means episodes must be largely self-contained, each a story in itself and less reliant on the continuity of weekly series.
   But the advantages of a wheel far outweigh its disadvantages, and chief is the appeal of a limited production schedule.  
   You're only talking about a half-dozen or so episodes, and that's something that's very attractive to big-name actors who are loath to be tied down to a regular TV series and its grinding schedule of months upon months of filming.  This allows the networks to pull in the very best acting talent.
   Indeed, it would go some way in making up for cable's big advantage over the broadcast networks in attracting talent. Cable series have fewer episodes: 13 per season as opposed to 22 for broadcast.
   An umbrella series neutralizes that advantage by dividing the 22-episode season among the number of shows in the wheel. For a wheel with three shows, that reduces the production schedules for each series down to 7 or 8 episodes.
   The limited number of episodes per season would also steal a page from reality TV.
   Successful reality shows (“Survivor,” “The Apprentice”) run 13 episodes, vacate the schedule for a period, then resurface later in the season. These shows thrive despite the gap because their audiences are geared for their return.
   Successful umbrella series have always worked for much the same reason. Viewers who preferred “Columbo” over “McCloud” or “McMillan” came to anticipate that show’s return every fourth week.
   A wheel can also help a network build its regular schedule. If one part of the wheel takes off with viewers, the network can capitalize on that show’s popularity by making it a weekly series.
   “Quincy” premiered in October 1976 as a member of the “NBC Mystery Movie” rotation. Three months later, it was upgraded to a weekly show. “Night Gallery” and “Cheyenne” also evolved from monthly to successful weekly series.
   Finally, the umbrella format is a versatile one, more so than perhaps many programmers realize.
    Because of the popularity of the original “NBC Mystery Movie,” the wheel concept came to be associated as a staple of television mysteries. Consequently, all attempts to revise the format (such as the one launched by Hallmark) have always been built around that particular genre.
   Yet the wheel has also worked as a vehicle for non-mystery dramas.
   “The Bold Ones” (NBC, 1969-1973) was an umbrella consisting of three completely different shows: “The Doctors,” a medical drama with E.G. Marshall, “The Lawyers,” a legal drama with Burl Ives, and “The Protectors,” a cop show with Leslie Nielsen. (“The Protectors” was replaced after one season with “The Senator,” a political drama starring Hal Holbrook.)
   “The Name of the Game” (NBC, 1968-1971) was a weekly drama set in the publishing industry. What made “Name” a wheel was the fact that it had three actors (Robert Stack, Gene Barry and Tony Franciosa) alternating each week as the lead.
   With pilot season upon us, no doubt we’ll see a host of dramas fighting for a spot on the fall schedule. As the networks consider their choices, they would be wise to consider the benefits of the umbrella format as part of their overall strategy.