Can 'Once and Again' be saved? Series' devoted fans are the latest to take the fight to the networks

By Allan Johnson

Devotees of ABC's "Once and Again" have seven weeks for a last-ditch effort to save their show, a tradition for television watchers so affected by a series that they write, telephone and do whatever it takes to keep their favorite on the air.

"Once," a touching drama about a blended Chicago area family, returns from hiatus to its new day and time, 9 p.m. Monday on WLS-Ch. 7, for the final seven episodes of the season.

ABC entertainment president Susan Lyne says the network is trying to help, putting the show back on Mondays, where during the 1999-2000 season it had its greatest success, with No. 1 ratings wins in adults and women age 18-34, and women age 18-49.

ABC will watch for an increase in the show's average 6 million viewers this season, which is down from almost 11 million viewers last season, a drop attributed in part to frequent shifts of the series' spot in the schedule. Fans will be also watching, and continuing their lobbying efforts for the series, which has been praised for its sensitive portrayal of a modern romance between a couple (Emmy-winner Sela Ward and Billy Campbell) with children, ex-spouses, siblings and other significant others in tow.

Since the beginning
Viewers' stomping for a series' survival probably has been going on since the first cult favorite got canceled. But it wasn't until the late 1960s that such an effort netted results, when rabid fans of the original "Star Trek" mounted a huge letter-writing campaign to help secure a third season for a series that NBC was about to cancel.

"It's a very public, responsive type of enterprise," says Steven Stark, author of "Glued to the Set: The 60 Television Shows and Events That Made Us Who We Are Today."

Only a handful of series have been snatched from the jaws of cancellation after public outcry. CBS' "Cagney & Lacey" was cut in 1983, but returned the following year because of fan response.

The sci-fi series "Roswell" was close to dying on the WB a few years ago, until the network was flooded by bottles of Tobasco sauce -- a delicacy for the group of teen aliens on the show -- sent in by fans. It won "Roswell" another season, although things aren't looking good for it again this year; it's now on the bubble on new home UPN.

Such shows as USA Network's "La Femme Nikita," CBS' "The Magnificent Seven" and UPN's "The Sentinel" have won reprises thanks in part to intense lobbying from viewers.

But "the level of passion that an audience has for the show, I think, is a very, very minor factor in any decisions that are made about it, because this is a money-making business," says Alex McNeil, author of the TV dictionary "Total Television."

"Once" co-creator and co-executive producer Marshall Herskovitz reluctantly agrees: "Whether something should or shouldn't stay on the air is not a moral or ethical question, but also a financial question. And even that is complicated."

Says "Once" co-star Susanna Thompson: "I am a huge believer in the power of people and activism. But there's such a feeling that it's ending. And yet, there's a little part of me that says I'm not going to go there until it's done."

Let the voices be heard
One fan is toiling to ensure viewers continue to follow Thompson's character, Karen Sammler, who on Monday's episode continues her recovery from both a debilitating depression and being hit by a car.

"We all decided that we would do a campaign to let our voices be heard," says Lynda Shulman, 32, a vice president of a Boston marketing company, about her and some seven others who met on an ABC message board for the series.

Shulman and her group have sent letters and e-mails to ABC Entertainment Television Group chairman Lloyd Braun and Lyne; set up an online petition at www.petitiononline.com/OandA/petition; contacted radio stations, entertainment shows, magazines, newspapers and others about the series' plight; sent lilies (in honor of the name of Ward's character) and gardenias (for the name of the last original episode in January before the show's hiatus) to ABC; and placed an ad in the Hollywood Reporter Jan. 29 -- with another one scheduled for Variety magazine on Monday.

"We realize that as fans, no matter how many letters we send to ABC, we're not going to change their mind if they're going to cancel it," Shulman says. "We're trying to get as much press as we can for the show, and as much buzz around the show as possible, just to make it difficult for them to cancel the show."

Where to write
The ones who will decide the fate of returning shows are the entertainment presidents for the six broadcast networks, names of which are below, as well as their addresses, and the telephone numbers where they can be reached.

Susan Lyne, president, ABC Entertainment, 500 S. Buena Vista St., Burbank, CA 91521; 818-460-7477

Nancy Tellum, president, CBS Entertainment, 7800 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90036; 323-575-2345

Gail Berman, president, entertainment, Fox Broadcasting Co., 10201 W. Pico Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90035; 310-369-1000

Jeff Zucker, president, NBC Entertainment, 3000 W. Alameda Blvd., Burbank, CA 91523; 818-840-4000

Dawn Ostroff, president entertainment, UPN, 11800 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90025; 310-575-7000

Jordan Levin, president, entertainment, the WB, 4000 Warner Blvd., Burbank, CA 91522; 818-977-5000 __ Chicago Tribune (March 4, 2002)

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