For WB, it's more laughs
and some nip and a tuck

Six new shows, five of them comedies

By Kevin Downey

     The WB, bent on comedy, is adding six new shows to its fall primetime schedule, and only one is a drama.
     Its fall schedule is being presented to advertisers today. 
    Only three nights have seen shifts in their schedules: Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays.
     Mondays are unchanged, and Tuesday’s vampire night is returning with "Buffy, the Vampire Slayer" and "Angel." 
       Wednesday is staying put with "Dawson’s Creek" and "Felicity," although that show will run for 11 weeks, then "Jack & Jill" will take its place for 13 weeks. "Felicity" then comes back for another 11 weeks.
       The WB’s Friday night lineup of comedies has been moved over to Sunday. Returning shows like "Jamie Foxx," "The Steve Harvey Show," and "For Your Love," will be joined by Eddie Murphy’s "The PJs," which moves over from Fox.
    Also on Friday will be "Hype," a sketch comedy from the team behind Fox’s "MadTV," and "Nikki," starring Nikki Cox and produced by Bruce Helford, both from "Drew Carey."
   "Roswell" is returning for a second season and will stay on its current Monday spot following the long-running "7th Heaven."
    "Gilmore Girls," the only new drama, about a 32-year old mother of a 16-year-old girl, moves into the Thursday slot before "Charmed." "Popular" has been moved to Friday night.
    Starting out the night on Friday is "Sabrina, the Teenage Witch," which makes its move from "TGIF" on ABC. That show is followed by the new comedy, "Grosse Pointe," about the behind-the-scenes life on a sitcom, from the creator of HBO’s "Sex in the City."
    The WB suffered a series of blows this season, which resulted in its adult 18-49 rating falling to a 1.4 while rival UPN’s rating jumped to a 1.6 on the strength of "WWF Smackdown."
   Plus The WB’s teen-skewing dramas, once its trademark, like "Felicity" and "Dawson’s Creek" struggled in the ratings and were not certain to return.
    Still, four nights on the new schedule are all dramas with Friday and Sunday shaping up as The WB’s nights for comedy.

Here is The WB’s fall schedule:


Monday
8 p.m. - "7th Heaven"
9 p.m. - "Roswell"

Tuesday
8 p.m. - "Buffy the Vampire Slayer"
9 p.m. - "Angel"

Wednesday
8 p.m. - "Dawson's Creek"
9 p.m. - "Felicity" / "Jack & Jill"

Thursday
8 p.m. - "Gilmore Girls"
9 p.m. - "Charmed"

Friday
8 p.m. - "Sabrina the Teenage Witch"
8:30 p.m. - "Grosse Pointe"
9 p.m. - "Popular"

Sunday
7 p.m. - "The PJs"
7:30 p.m. - "The Jamie Foxx Show"
8 p.m. - "The Steve Harvey Show"
8:30 p.m. - "For Your Love"
9 p.m. - "Hype"
9:30 p.m. - "Nikki"


-Kevin Downey is a staff writer for  Media Life.


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