REPORT: Cable TV targets next great comedy

Like moths to a flame, cable television networks can't seem to resist swarming to narrative comedy series--no matter how many channels get burned.

The elusive genre continues to challenge just about every network, from Comedy Central to Lifetime. All are determined to launch a healthy half-hour, live-action comedy, but whether scripted or improvised, or shot with single or multiple cameras, little success has been achieved.

"We're not giving up on this format; we've got to give it a shot," said Lauren Corrao, a programming and development executive at Comedy Central. "There's no better way to get an audience to tune in week after week than to fall in love with the characters and the storytelling."

Even as cable proves its hit-making abilities in other genres, like the record-breaking 8.2 million-viewer haul last week of TNT detective drama The Closer, narrative comedies can barely crack 1 million viewers.

Two such underachievers launched this month, Comedy Central's Dog Bites Man and Lifetime's Lovespring International, the first narrative comedies from both networks in years.

Last month, VH1 watched its first scripted comedy, So Notorious, end its underwhelming rookie season to an average of 762,000 viewers. The network had fared much better in its Sunday berth with such unscripted fare as Flavor of Love and Hogan Knows Best.

There are, however, exceptional exceptions like Entourage, the HBO series that may finally be coming into its own in after two seasons of ratings that paled in comparison to the standard bearer of scripted cable comedy, Sex and the City. Entourage opened its third season last week to a robust 2.7 million viewers.

But even the mighty HBO is not immune to missteps in comedy. Despite having Entourage as a lead-in, the multicamera Lucky Louie grabbed 1.5 million viewers and earned some of the most scabrous reviews the network has ever received.

"You might not get an argument if you called it the worst series HBO ever created," sniped a critic for the San Francisco Chronicle. (Louie did experience strong growth in rebroadcasts that week, mushrooming to 3.8 million).

Despite the high degree of difficulty, plenty more cable channels are coming to narrative comedy.

FX is returning It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia on June 29 for a second season after an unremarkable debut last year. Showtime also will be back in August with Weeds, which got more buzz than audience. TBS plans to move into scripted comedy as well by year's end, while TV Land and ABC Family are developing in that arena, too.

Ask any a cable exec and they will tell you there is just too much upside in cracking the comedy code to ignore its potential.

"I'm not a cockeyed optimist, but you can't be in this job and say, 'I'm not going to go there,'" said Michael Wright, a senior programming executive at TBS and TNT. "I acknowledge the risks and the track record, but it doesn't mean the form is dead."

Cable gospel dictates that developing a hit original series is key to establishing a channel's brand identity, especially with scripted material.

That hasn't been a problem on the drama side, where The Shield put FX on the map, as did Monk at USA and The Sopranos at HBO. Unscripted fare did the same for Bravo (Queer Eye for the Straight Guy) and A&E; (Dog the Bounty Hunter).

The kiddie cable channels have had less difficulty with scripted comedy, as Disney Channel and Nickelodeon have more than a few to their credit, including That's So Raven and Zoey 101, respectively.

But cable hasn't been able to elude the malaise that has affected broadcast as well in recent years, though CBS and NBC have a handful of such bona fide live-action hits as Two and a Half Men and My Name Is Earl, respectively. Still, the very paucity of hit comedies on broadcast is the main reason cable feels the need to counterattack.

"I think when people started talking about the situation comedy being dead, it certainly inspired me and a lot of others working in cable to prove people wrong," Corrao said.

Often enough, cable even mines for gold in the detritus of the broadcast development process. Man and Notorious both were discarded by NBC before being snatched up. ABC Family is considering The Other Mall, which once was a Fox development project.

Comedy Central has scored hits in a variety of comedic formats, from sketch shows (Chappelle's Show), mock newscasts (The Daily Show With Jon Stewart), and animation (South Park).

But narrative comedies have been a tougher road to hoe, from outright bombs like the 2001 sitcom That's My Bush! to the relatively successful improv Cops spoof Reno 911!, which kicks off its fourth season next month. Reno 911! has been a reliable addition to the network's schedule but has never approached true hit status.

Nevertheless, Corrao has made developing narrative comedies her top priority in the past year. Whether or not Man finds an audience, more are coming, including The Sarah Silverman Programme and Halfway Home.

The key for Comedy Central, though, is giving TV's most traditional format a distinct tweak, as it did with Man, which blurs genres by mixing improv comedy with Daily-style ambush interviews with real people. You wouldn't catch Halfwayon a broadcast network anytime soon, given its cast is a group of parolees, including a drug dealer and gigolo.

"You always run a risk when you attempt to do something brand new," Corrao said.

But Wright believes reinvention isn't always the answer to breaking through in comedy. He recalls the eight years he spent before Turner at CBS, where Everybody Loves Raymond was as conventional as comedies come, but he believes the key to its success was its authenticity.

"When Raymond came on there was nothing distinctive about the idea, but the writing and performing were so authentic that it worked," he said. "I'm not sure comedies fail just because they're not fresh or innovative."

For John Landgraf, president and general manager at FX, the key to grooming comedy is patience. That's why he's taking a second shot at Sunny, a risque but amiable comedy about friends running a bar, though it barely did better in the ratings than another canceled FX comedy, Starved, with which it launched as a block last year.

FX has never succeeded in comedy going back to Lucky, a 2003 half-hour set in Las Vegas gambling dens that died after one season.

Sunny returns with the addition of a high-profile cast addition in Danny DeVito, who Landgraf hopes will bring the comedy more attention. With a little luck, Sunny could catch fire. "There's a history of comedies that aggregate a larger audience over time," he said, noting the slow emergence of Cheers and Seinfeld.

Such shows as Queer Eye and Monk have such heavy comedic elements to them that cable may very well be cannibalizing the half-hour format with success in other genres. And then there are networks like Lifetime, which have been devoid of comedy for so long that getting something going in the genre is a part of ensuring the brand is well-rounded.

"I think that the general viewer has a general perception of Lifetime as being a very somber network," said Susanne Daniels, Lifetime's president of entertainment. "Lifetime should have broader appeal."

Cable may end up finding more success with comedy on new platforms. Nearly every channel in existence is sprouting broadband offshoots, like Comedy Central's MotherLoad, which is becoming a whole new breeding ground for comedy.

For Landgraf, a great comedy from cable is a matter of time. "Any time a genre is dead, that means the genre that is alive--drama--is getting more and more oversaturated every year. And every year the appetite for a great comedy is getting whet."