The Television Critics Association’s summer press tour finally ended this weekend with the fledgling WB and UPN networks presenting fall schedules and stars to weary reporters, some of whom had spent three weeks watching closed-circuit TV.
– Saturday, WB execs defended the strategy of targeting teens, pointing to statistics that show roughly one-third of the U.S. population falls within the network’s core audience of age 12 to 34. They rejected the notion that WB has become “the teeny-bopper network,” but those viewers made “Dawson’s Creek” and “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” hits and dropped the median age of its audience to 24 (compared with 21 at MTV; 40 at NBC; 41 at ABC; 53 at CBS; and 59 at CNN).
– Sunday, UPN officials said they’re seeking middle-class adults ages 20 to 50 who might be more inclined to sample their lineup of science fiction and ethnically diverse shows, as well as “Love Boat: The Next Wave.” Among shows previewed were the medical drama “Mercy Point,” set on an outer-space medical facility; “Seven Days,” a time-travel thriller in which agents try to correct government blunders before they occur; and “The Secret Diary of Desmond Pfeiffer,” featuring an addled Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln making a butler their chief confidante.
“There’s room on TV for sometimes offensive, sometimes silly, sometimes brilliant political satire,” argued UPN President Dean Valentine, when challenged by surly critics on “Secret Diary.”
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– WB is picking up “For Your Love,” which made its debut at midseason on NBC but failed to make the network’s new schedule. The sitcom is set in Oak Park and features a multiethnic cast including Chicago’s D.W. Moffett.