What a week it's been in New York City, where media buyers have been whisked from one upfront to the next before they've even digested the after-party goose liver pâté. At least the foie gras will be easier to stomach than the softening ad market.
    Primetime schedules have a way of changing from May to September, but the upfronts offered a clear view of the directions in which the networks are headed. 
    Here are some highlights:
    D.O.A.: Each year, there's always one pilot that seems so bad that network executives are already spinning about a summer "revamp." 
    That distinction goes to NBC's "Emeril," the show-within-a-show series featuring Food Network icon Emeril Lagasse. 
    Word has it a sneak peek of the series had the upfront audience holding their noses like it was day-old flounder at the Fulton Fish Market. As a comedic actor, Lagasse is reportedly stiff as a cutting board.
    NBC will probably try to kick the series up a few notches over the summer, just like last year's "DOA" winner: NBC's "Michael Richards Show," whose Tuesday 8 p.m. time slot "Emeril" will inherit.
    Buzz Builder: Interestingly, no one pilot emerged this year as the new "It" show. 
    Perhaps after the underwhelming results of CBS's "Bette" last year, and the WB's "Felicity" the year before, the buzz generators don't want egg on their faces from counting chickens before they hatch. 
    Still, a few series picked up some faint huzzahs. The WB sitcom "Men, Women and Dogs" elicited some hearty guffaws, while NBC's emergency room comedy "Scrubs" looks primed to capitalize on its post-"Frasier" time slot.
    Time Slot to Watch: Wednesdays, 10 p.m. ABC got gutsy and moved its best crime drama, "NYPD Blue," against NBC's own premiere crime drama "Law & Order." This is a true clash of TV titans, but the advantage goes to NBC.
    "L&O" has the edge both creatively and ratings-wise, plus "Blue" benefited from a rerun-free schedule this season, thanks to a delayed debut in January. Don't be surprised if such sturdy competition gives "Blue" a reason to exit the airwaves in 2002.
    Biggest Surprise: The recent cast addition of Valerie Bertinelli wasn't enough to keep CBS from moving the sagging "Touched by an Angel" to Saturday, a kiss-off if there ever was one. The new "Education of Max Bickford" will get its plum post-"60 Minutes" time slot.
    This move has been the subject of rumors for several years running, but did anyone actually think CBS would have the cajones to actually displace their once-prized franchise?
    It would have taken the casting of Madonna to avert that one.
    Riskiest Move: Fox raised some eyebrows by sending the impressive rookie series "Dark Angel" to the anchor slot on Friday night. 
    That's a big gamble any way you look at it: "Angel" may not be ready to carry a night by itself, let alone Friday, which has given Fox fits for years, thanks to stillborn sci-fi fare. 
    Then again, there isn't much for males to watch on Friday, and "Angel" might just be up to the task. Still, moving Monday's "Boston Public" would have been a better idea, considering its soapier tone would be a better match for the 9 p.m. drama entry, the new "Pasadena."
    Buffy Bitterness: The WB reportedly took the high road at its upfront, saluting the departing "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" for helping put the network on the map.
    But there may still be bad feelings between the WB and 20th Century Fox.
    How else can you explain the scheduling of "Buffy" counterpart "Angel" Mondays at 9 p.m.?
    It will be opposite Fox's "Ally McBeal," ABC's "Monday Night Football" and CBS's "Everybody Loves Raymond." "Angel" will get its wings clipped.
    The WB hasn't made anything work in this time slot for years.
    Back From the Dead: Kudos to Fox for bringing back the sorely missed animated series "Family Guy," which returns to the schedule after more than a year off the air.
    Then again, its time slot is Thursday at 8 p.m. opposite CBS's "Survivor" and NBC's "Friends." Maybe cancellation wasn't such a bad thing after all.
    AWOL: It's always interesting to see which pilots didn't make the cut, especially the ones that were already attracting attention during the development season. This year there were quite a number of pre-cancellations whose deaths won't get nearly as much coverage as their near-births.
    CBS seemed to do the most stranding, abandoning four high-profile projects featuring Rob Morrow, Randy Quaid, Ernie Hudson and Felicity Huffman. 
    ABC passed on a sitcom featuring Jeffrey Tambor and a legal reality show from Jack Kevorkian attorney Geoffrey Feiger.
    Fox dropped Darren Star's hotel drama "One Ocean Drive" and "King of the Hill" spinoff "Monsignor Martinez." 
    Former ABC entertainment chief Jamie Tarses had her big comeback project, "Tikiville," scrapped at NBC, and what happened to that strange pairing of Bob Newhart and rapper Sisqó that NBC entertainment chief Jeff Zucker trotted out to media buyers several months ago?
    Maybe they will reappear in the midseason. And you can bet I'll be there to mock them.

May 18, 2001 © 2001 Media Life

-Andrew Wallenstein is the television critic for Media Life.

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