ABC Renews Three Dramas

By Richard Huff, Daily News Staff Writer -- The often-fuzzy future of television became a bit clearer last week, with ABC's renewal of three shows for next season.

Following on the heels of CBS' renewal of eight programs, and NBC's pickup of three dramas, ABC gave the good news Friday to "NYPD Blue," "The Practice" and "Once and Again."

'The Practice' will be back next season. The trio is the first round of ABC's official drama pickups for next season, and there wasn't much question about any of the three shows returning. In earlier action, the network had announced the renewal of the sitcom "The Drew Carey Show."

Thanks to having "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" as a lead-in, David E. Kelley's legal series "The Practice" is having its best season ever. So far, the show is averaging 17,499,000 viewers and is ranked No. 9 in total audience.

For comparison, last season the show averaged 12,720,000 viewers and finished the year ranked No. 33.

"NYPD Blue," while not getting a bump from "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire," is averaging 15,910,000 viewers and is ranked No. 18 in viewers.

The Steven Bochco-produced cop drama is up from last season, when it finished No. 15 and averaged 14,610,000 viewers in a year that included both original episodes and reruns.

The weakest of the three series to be renewed is clearly "Once and Again," which through last week was averaging 10,976,000 viewers and holding 59th place in total viewers.

The drama, which stars Sela Ward and Billy Campbell as a pair of previously married fortysomethings going through the early stages of a relationship, started the season off on a high note, but then faded.

Meanwhile, there's still no word on the fate of such shows as "Sports Night," "The Hughleys" or "Boy Meets World."__NY Daily News (April 10, 2000)