Since Who Wants to Be a Millionaire fizzled last fall, ABC executives have vowed to “go back to what made ABC great,” the family comedy.

        In recent years, ABC has steered away from family shows in favor of more adult comedies, which have been so successful at NBC. It scrapped the family-oriented “TGIF” comedy block, let Sabrina the Teenage Witch go to the WB, and invested in sitcoms such as Dharma & Greg, Spin City, Drew Carey, The Job, Norm and Two Guys and a Girl.

        “Those kinds of shows are almost exclusively what we've developed, at the expense of what I think is the core strength of ABC comedies — strong point-of-view, family-oriented comedies,” says Lloyd Braun, ABC Entertainment chairman.

        In George Lopez, viewers will see a throwback to the first season of Roseanne (1988). The Latino comic and Los Angeles DJ plays a blue-collar father of two working in an airplane parts factory that looks like Roseanne's Wellman's Plastics plant (where George Clooney played her boss).

        Like Roseanne, Mr. Lopez constantly bickers with a stubborn, insensitive mother (Belita Moreno, Perfect Strangers).

        With Lopez, ABC has a funny fellow who brings a wealth of observations with a sharp edge from his stand-up act, as did Roseanne, Tim Allen, Jerry Seinfeld and Ray Romano. That was a fatal flaw in Jason Alexander's Bob Patterson on ABC.

        “When you have a strong point of view behind your comedy, it is an enormous advantage. Most of the shows we've seen work in the half-hour genre have had that,” Mr. Braun says.

        Unfortunately, the similarities end there. The Lopez lines aren't nearly as funny as Roseanne. But they could improve, in the cushy 8:30 p.m. Wednesday slot between Damon Wayans' My Wife and Kids and Drew Carey.

        What's encouraging is that finally a network sees value in more 8-9 p.m. family comedies. They had all but disappeared, as networks blindly copied NBC's Friends, Frasier, Seinfeld, Will & Grace, NewsRadio, Just Shoot Me and 3rd Rock from the Sun.

        NBC changed TV's 8 p.m. landscape by putting Cheers there in 1993, the season after The Cosby Show signed off. Now 10 years after Cosby's Huxtable clan vanished, NBC doesn't have any children on any sitcoms. Unless Three Sisters returns, a child isn't expected until Rachel has her baby on Friends in May sweeps.

        Does NBC stand for No Babies or Children?

        “It's something we'd like to correct” says Jeff Zucker, NBC Entertainment president.

        “It's a coincidence, and it just happened . . . I would actually like to see us have a show or two that has some kids, and we've talked about that,” Mr. Zucker says. He has signed Chevy Chase to star in a comedy as the father of three daughters.

        Since Family Ties and Cosby left the air, NBC has been chastised for overdosing on urban comedies about white, upscale singles. “We've been criticized for putting on clones of Friends, and that's a valid criticism,” Mr. Zucker says.

        But NBC failed with family comedies starring Tony Danza as a single dad (1997) and Christina Applegate as Jesse the single mom (1998). Says Scott Sassa, NBC West Coast president: “We tried and either couldn't do it, or the NBC audience wouldn't accept it.”

        Chef Emeril Lagasse's ill-fated Emeril started out as a family comedy, though it was quickly transformed into a workplace show. “We took a shot and it didn't work,” Mr. Zucker says.

        CBS has adopted a different strategy. Everybody Loves Raymond, CBS' top-rated sitcom, has succeeded at 9 p.m. by focusing on the parents and grandparents of children seldom seen or heard.

        “You put the kids on too much, and the parents lose interest,” explains David Poltrack, CBS executive vice president for research and planning.

        Mr. Poltrack admits the time is right for more family sitcoms. “A main part of viewing America is younger children and families,” he says.

        So ABC, owned by the Walt Disney Co., has reboarded the laugh track.

        “It's a logical thing for us to be doing, when you look at our parent company's strength,” says Susan Lyne, the former ABC movie executive named ABC Entertainment president in January.

        “It's also become clear to us that there is a need,” she says. “(People) are looking for shows that they at least won't be embarrassed watching with a child or parents.”

        Some parents may be uneasy watching George Lopez. A subplot involves George's 13-year-old daughter (Masiela Lusha) having her first menstrual period. (The program is rated TV-PG-L; may be unsuitable for young children; contains “coarse or crude indecent language.”)

        ABC also faces another challenge: Viewers who watched Full House, Family Matters and the old “TGIF” lineup have switched to WB's family-friendly Friday comedies or other channels.

        “ABC had that franchise — and it was a valuable franchise — and they lost it. And that was big strategic error,” Mr. Poltrack says. “The WB, with shows like Reba (9 p.m. Friday, Channel 64), has really cut deeply into that franchise.”

        But ABC will keep trying, and that's good news, despite some questionable show content.

        “It's a great (family sitcom) heritage we've had at ABC . . . and we're hopeful we're going to be doing many more,” Mr. Braun says.

        “There's nothing more gratifying than when parents can watch shows with their kids.”

       Contact John Kiesewetter by phone: 768-8519; e-mail: jkiesewetter@enquirer.com.

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