ABC is the only one of the major networks to increase its ratings last year, on the strength of hits ''Grey's Anatomy," ''Desperate Housewives," and ''Lost." But the rest of its schedule was weak, forcing the network to make an uncommonly large number of pilots.
Moving the medical soap ''Grey's Anatomy" to Thursday nights at 9 sets up a battle with one of TV's most popular shows, ''CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" on CBS, and NBC's most-touted new series, ''Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip."
ABC canceled ''Commander in Chief," leaving Geena Davis as a one-year president, although a two-hour movie may be made with the same cast. ''Invasion," ''Hope & Faith," ''Jake in Progress," and ''Sons and Daughters" were among the other shows left off the schedule.
Flockhart and Griffiths star in ''Brothers & Sisters," a drama about a maladjusted family. Danson is a self-help guru going through a midlife crisis in the comedy ''Help Me Help You." Heche is a relationship counselor who moves to Alaska in the drama ''Men in Trees." Diggs is in ''Day Break," a thriller that uses elements of the movie ''Groundhog Day."
While CBS is expected to announce its fall season today, reports indicate the network picked up several shows fronted by such stars as James Woods, Stanley Tucci, Ray Liotta, Virginia Madsen, and Joe Pantoliano.
Midseason entries ''The Unit" and ''The New Adventures of Old Christine" have been picked up for a second season along with the freshman drama ''Close to Home." And ''The King of Queens" will return for an abbreviated ninth season, in order to accommodate star Kevin James's movie commitments.
With so many returning series picked up for another season, CBS has only three nighttime slots for dramas at 9 and 10: Tuesday at 10 and Sunday from 9 to 11, a period that has been home to the network's Sunday movie franchise for the past 20 years.
The crime-drama genre, which has dominated the CBS schedule for the past several years, is represented by ''Smith," about a crew of career criminals, which stars Liotta and Madsen.
Tucci will play a brilliant but unpredictable surgeon in an as-yet-untitled drama. ''Shark" is a legal drama starring Woods and Jeri Ryan. ''Jericho" is a postnuclear-disaster tale starring Skeet Ulrich. ''Waterfront," which stars Pantoliano as the ethically challenged mayor of Providence, R.I., rounds out the network's new drama picks.
Material from the Hollywood Reporter was used in this report.
