Case Closed on ABC's 'L.A. Dragnet' (& WB's 'Tarzan')

Hollywood Reporter ^ | 11.7.03 | Nellie Andreeva

[mhking]

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - NBC has made changes to its Tuesday and Thursday schedules to make room for the new midseason comedy "The Tracy Morgan Show," while ABC and the WB network have bid farewell to "L.A. Dragnet" and "Tarzan," respectively.

Meanwhile, NBC has cut back the order for its sophomore series "American Dreams" from 22 to 18 episodes.

In other scheduling news, CBS has announced that it will replace the first part of its canceled four-hour miniseries "The Reagans" on Nov. 16 with a rerun of a two-episode arc of "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (news - Y! TV)." On Nov. 18, when Part 2 of the mini was to air, the network will rebroadcast episodes of "CSI: Miami" and "Without a Trace."

"Tracy Morgan" will launch Dec. 2, in what will be its regular Tuesday 8 p.m. slot, with a second original episode slated to air Dec. 4 in the post-"Friends" Thursday 8:30-9 p.m. slot.

Following "Tracy Morgan" on Tuesday will be "Whoopi," which will slide back a half-hour to 8:30 p.m. "Frasier" will stay at 9 p.m., followed by "Happy Family."

Effective Dec. 4, sophomore comedy "Good Morning, Miami," which has followed "Frasier" on Tuesday this fall, will relocate to the Thursday 9:30 p.m. time slot where it originally launched last season.

Adding to the recent flurry of prime-time cancellations this fall, Dick Wolf's sophomore crime series "L.A. Dragnet," a modern remake of the landmark cop show that starred and was created by Jack Webb (news), has been pulled by ABC after showing little traction with viewers on Saturdays this season.

This week, the network will replace "Dragnet" with a rebroadcast of the Tuesday one-hour episode of "8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter," the show's first original episode without the late star John Ritter (news).

The following two Saturdays of the November sweep, ABC will air reruns of "America's Funniest Home Videos."

Production on "L.A. Dragnet" will be shut down after the filming of Episode 10, currently underway, is completed.

Meanwhile, production officially has been shut down on Warner Bros. TV's "Tarzan," with eight episodes in the can.

Five segments have already aired, and the last three are scheduled to run on the remaining three Sundays of the November sweep.

[mhking]

[mhking]

Anybody with any sense would know that 'Tarzan' wouldn't fit The WB's formula (The "Pretty Kids With Problems" network)...

Just damn.

If you want on the new list, FReepmail me. This IS a high-volume PING list...

[Rubber_Duckie_27]

"Meanwhile, NBC has cut back the order for its sophomore series "American Dreams" from 22 to 18 episodes."

NOOOOO! "American Dreams" is one of the only shows I actually watch on network TV!

[Not gonna take it anymore]

Darn, I liked Dragnet.

[TomGuy]

Reruns during sweeps week.

And the networks think they aren't in trouble?

[Mike Darancette]

Darn, I liked Dragnet.

The only thing that "L.A. Dragnet" had in common with the Jack Webb show was that the lead guy ralked to himself.

The new show was a piece of PC crap.

[mewzilla]

LOL. I haven't seen any of the shows mentioned above. We bought a really nice flat screen TV last year after our old TV croaked. It's been a real wast of money. Except for the news, some sports, and the occasional DVD/video, we don't use it. I spend more time dusting the darn thing.

[jimfree]

I saw a quarter of one episode of Tarzan. It seemed to have possibilities but... Dragnet was okay, but I'll always compare any Joe Friday to Jack Webb. They were dealing with more contemporary issues to, but...

The only Tracy Morgan I have seen is some SNL skits. He's really great as Astronaut Jones. (60s theme song vocal while strumming a guitar with a big band: "Rocket, I'm taking a rocket, I'm packing my suitcase...") But I'm not sure how to translate that into a series. Good luck Tracy.

[mewzilla]

That's half the network's problem. They used to give shows more time. Now who wants to invest their time watching a show that may get the axe after a few episodes. The nets have done this to themselves. They turned viewers off and now we're returning the favor.

[Publius6961]

BUMP

[nospinzone]

I think the WB's version of Tarzan was made to captialize on their success with Smallville. Apparently Jane was none too convincing being remade as a cop.

They actually made another Tarzan series a few years ago, only this one was made to capitalize on the success of Hercules and Xena. Seems Tarzan can't get out of being a mere "clone" show.

[VOA]

Darn, I liked Dragnet.

While I thought it should have been better, seeing how it's part of the
Law And Order empire of Dick Wolf, it sure beats most of the other tripe on TV.

I like the episode about the corrupt cop in one of the outlying LA-adjacent towns.
And the latest episode about the grifting surrogate mother was pretty good as well.

I'm afraid the show started off weak and just didn't stretch itself enough to take
on the mantle of the Jack Webb product.

[Not gonna take it anymore]

I know what you mean, it took me a while to like it.

I just kind of tuned in off and on and then one night there was an especially good episode (which I don't even remember anymore).

I've been catching re-runs.

[Publius6961]

BUMP