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(Still, "Millionaire" wasn't able to turn ABC's jarring new mental hospital drama, "Wonderland," into a hit; the show followed "Millionaire" for two Thursday nights before being yanked.)

"People say, in the day of the remote control and short attention span, there's no such thing as lead-in. Well, 'Millionaire' just shows how important flow is," says Ron Fredricks, executive director of national broadcast at J. Walter Thompson.

Or take ABC's Tuesday-night comedy "Dharma & Greg." Last season it racked up solid but not spectacular numbers. Now, riding the wave of "Millionaire" every week, the show has jumped to No. 17 for the season. It's perfect timing for the show's creators, too. Having just concluded its third season, "Dharma & Greg" now has enough episodes in the can to hit the highly lucrative syndication circuit, where local stations pay big bucks to air popular reruns every night at 5:30 or 7 p.m. Just three weeks into the syndication market, "Dharma & Greg," thanks to this season's blockbuster numbers, was purchased by TV outlets in eight of the top 10 markets.

Of course, there's a flip side to all the "Millionaire" joy that ABC is feeling. Take CBS. The network had been nursing its hospital drama "Chicago Hope" for years, even managing to boost the show up near the top 20. But since January, when it started facing off against "Millionaire" on Thursday nights, the show's ratings have collapsed. Even after paging James Garner for some guest spots, the show lingers at 67th for the year. The blow could prove fatal; the program may not be renewed for next season.

The staff at "Chicago Hope" is not alone. Judd Apatow is the executive producer of "Freaks and Geeks," NBC's critically acclaimed yet ratings-challenged high school drama. Apatow recalls what he was thinking when his show was given one last shot at survival last January: "When I heard that our big relaunch was facing Regis, I knew it was over. It's smart scheduling for ABC but it does nip a show like ours in the bud. The sad part is that a show like 'Millionaire' makes every network think there is a quick, cheap fix to their schedules. It makes them panic. They become less interested in supporting harder-to-sell quality shows when they think there is a golden calf out there that can solve all their problems."

As it has for well over a decade, NBC still owns Thursday night. But whereas last year it easily cruised to victories by 12 ratings points, this season its lead has shrunk to half that, according to TN Media's analysis. "Frasier," an anchor for NBC's showcase "Must See TV" lineup, is now regularly beaten by "Millionaire," even among viewers in the crucial 18-to-49 demographic.

NBC's not walking away from the Thursday-night fight, though. The network is reportedly moving its brightest comedy, "Will & Grace," into the 9 p.m. must-see slot next season and returning "Frasier" to its previous Tuesday-night home.

"Obviously we've taken a hit," says Wurtzel at NBC. "They now have a toehold on Thursday that they haven't had in 10 or 12 years." Actually, you'd have to go back to the "Barney Miller"/"Soap" days of the '79-'80 season to find an ABC offering that performed as well as "Millionaire" has on Thursday night.

Yet if you talk to agency media buyers, they'll tell you everyone in network TV should be happy with the success of "Millionaire," not just the suits at ABC. "It's a good story for network TV overall," says Greco at BBDO. "The networks have been hit over the head for years by cable and the apocalyptic theory that the networks would end up niche players like cable. 'Millionaire' proves that programs well done, and marketed and promoted well, can attract large audiences with a wide demographic. That's the whole idea of broadcast television. It doesn't just have to work with the Super Bowl or award shows."

The fact is, after years of runaway growth, cable's ratings finally slowed during this year's first quarter, the same quarter that "Millionaire" debuted as a weekly series. (Last fall and summer the show aired nightly for two weeks at a time.)

That seems to be small comfort to competitors. There are some industry Cassandras: They point out that the "Millionaire" audience skews older, which at some point may turn advertisers off, and that the show will inevitably come back to earth. And if its descent is as rapid as its rise, ABC could be in for some trouble scrambling to fill three hours of prime time. (ABC execs told TN Media that "Millionaire" will be around for at least five years; others aren't so sure.)

"It's a double-edged sword," says one network executive. "To sleep really well at night you want to have consistently performing, regularly scheduled programs. That's what keeps you on top. With 'Millionaire,' what nobody knows is how long it's going to last."

But as prime-time historian Brooks points out, the television business has always been about the here and now, not about fretting over next season. He recalls the advice a programming colleague gave him years ago: "When the limo is there, take it." No doubt ABC will take the limo as often as possible.
salon.com | May 15, 2000

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