Show I The Herald Journal Logan Utah Wednesday October 29 2003 — C5 I SHERMANS LAGOON nm&oniNm HPVnTfRN completely obsolete? UHIT£9 6TAJT8 ON MWMRAP10 NEW YORK (AP) — Literary agent Rick Broadhead worked out took a shower ate dinner and settled into a chair earlier this month to watch a new episode of his favorite show “The West Wing” Yet it wasn’t on Less than 24 hours earlier NBC executives decided to replace it with a “Law & Order" mun reasoning “The West Wing” would be crushed in the ratings by a baseball playoff game “I was incredibly disappointed" said Broad- head a Toronto Canada resident “It was a huge letdown As a viewer you look forward to it You sometimes plan your evenings around certain shows” Better keep those plans fluid Television schedules often seem written in disappearing ink particularly around this time of year so it’s worth asking: Is the whole idea of stable lineups becoming obsolete in a multichannel world? “I thinkjhe world is completely different from when I grew up knowing that ‘Happy Days' and ‘Laverne and Shirleywere on ABC on Tuesday nights" said Jeff Zucker NBC Entertainment president Already this season NBC has blown up its struggling Friday night lineup moved “Third Watch" from Monday to Friday and taken the touted comedy “Coupling” off the air with no inkling of when it will return Some of NBC's schedules particularly for ' Fridays are set week to week leaving so much uncertainty that a Washington Post reporter trying to keep track wryly called it “cubist origami" Zucker is an aggressive businessman and he’s adopted several strategies designed to wring as many ratings points out of a night as he can lb’s “supersized” popular shows experimented with different time slots and ' : aired programs on different nights for extra exposure He’s intent on keeping NBC domi-- : ear-onant among the 1 8 demographic — so far he’s succeeded — but the job is becoming more difficult in a season where no r network can claim any new hits Like Broadhead one television historian questions whether the price paid for frequent changes is alienating viewers: “I have a lot of trouble keeping track of £ shows and 1 do this for a living’! said Tim : of Brooks a Lifetime executive and “The Complete Directory to Primetime Net- ' work and Cable TV Shows” ” Over the past few years broadcasters have been able to charge more for commercials even though fewer people are watching' Ratings are down again this season — particularly among young people — creating the prospect that net- works will have to give refunds to advertisers ABC generally hat kept its lineup of shows intact while Fox delays the debuts pf many of its shows because of postseason baseball — a product this year highly rated prime-tim- e CATHY r THE ORIGINAL UPC BARCODE LAST ENCLOSE 3 IXMTS OP person MIES' ZPC0D6 ums CORO PLASTIC BAG AC MRS WRAPPED M 1060 FROm LEFT SIVROfMWI CORNER PACKING INSERT UHTH BCmOM PLACE M ALPHABETICAL ORDER M 7x1 ENVELOPE VNAUD UNLESS AIL ORIGINAL TWIST TIES ARE f GOAL: A SEAR HEM CAREER GOAL: GET 50 REBATE CHOR OLD CAREER EARN 0 0 MCKffl I 1WEM MT”fflE TUST TIES'! ue ’ 500000 ID ATTACHED OP PURCHASE PRICE OROED N LAVENDER 6EL PEN w71 hyper-competiti- BEETLE BAILEY H AGAR THE HORRIBLE -49-y ve ld : ’ or PEANUTS I V- 6000 MORNING U1E&E ! ' HERE TO TELL VDU ALL ' ABOUT THE '6REAT PUMPKIN !L ' : Are stable TV schedules nePKKWOp MIES RECEIPT ' it7 — IF YOU RE NOT OFF THIS PORCH IN TUIO 5EC0NDS ILL SC MY D06 ON YOU!! - AP Photo Martin Sheen as Joel ah Bartlet appears in a scene from NBC’s The West Wing NBC executives decided to replace The West Wing" with a Taw & Order” rerun this month reasoning the show would be crushed in the ratings by a baseball game CBS believes that maintaining a stable schedule provides a comfort level to viewers said DaVid Pollrack the network's chief ' researcher “We think we have gained over the last sev- eral years by virtue of the fact that we have the least amount of change in our schedule" he said Research shows that a high percentage of ' viewers return to their favorite shows week after week — the concept of appointment viewing — and that hasn’f changed much over the years Poltrack said What’s broken down is the idea that' viewers will stick with one net- work for a night the remote control has set them free This time of year — right before the important November ratings “sweeps" — is particularly tough for schedulers They must o weigh with only a few weeks of evidence whether new shows should be nurtured or pulled from the lineup for strategic reasons If a show comes back after a hiatus viewers might not Zucker said his schedule flipping this year is exaggerated probably because of i the decision to pull original series J on big baseball nights vJ r Z Contrary to his image as an executive with an itchy trigger finger Zucker said he’s kept : shows such as “Good Morning Miami”-an“Third Watch" on the air longer than some people advised to build an audience i “There are appointment shows and appointment nights that you don’t screw with" he said “But let’s be honest if people aren't ' Z watching a show — iev ‘Boomtown’ Friday ' nights at 10 — then whose greater good am I serving by letting it sit there and not changing the schedule?”' I : last-minu- te v ‘ Shoshone Trail A novel by David J Hawkes oming face to face with the lieutenant Moroni said in a quiet but firm voice “Lieutenant pick up your hat and apologize to the1 other gentlemen here” “I’ll never in my life apologize to the likes o’ you” Carver sneered ' don’t want your apology sir but an officer in the Army of the United States does not use such language or lose his temper in front of his fellow officers” “Now” Moroni said more forcefully “apologize” Looking around Carver could see no friendly faces at that moment Shrugging his shoulders he glanced at the colonel and said sullenly! “I am sorry to ye fer my outburst” d Then with a glance at Moroni he stalked out into the gathering dusk Turning and facing the other officers Moroni said “And I offer my apology to all of you for any disturbance I may have caused” As Moroni started to walk back to his Heat Colonel MacLeod stood and added “Your apology is not necessary Captain Stewart but it will be accepted by all” The rest of die officers’ assignments were made without further discussion D Company’s second lieutenant was a Lieutenant Clark He didn’t look old enough to shave let alone be an officer in the dark-visag-ed FOX TROT DEREK HERE WON FIRST PRIZE M OUR COSTUME CONTEST BUT HE'S NOT WEARING A COSTUME NOT WEARING A COSTUME?? ARE TOU BUND?? rM20TH- CENTURY QCKOVM VAR TREK I ' DO THE ACCENT ITS IMS A JUST PLAMPUNCH RIGHT? — 1 hate-fille- UNCANNY VOYAGE HOME"! THE REAL LIFE ADVENTURES CLOSE TO HOME AND TO 6CT TO TH DONUTS MAK THNt WALK PAST THC SUNf-OIC- K By Phillip Alder slo— tahomouoonlcoxom p In Alslt 3 to O’Toole” The days turned into weeks and weeks into months for the men in D Company In February of 1862 they started moving south sometimes by train and sometimes marching Soon the regiment had joined other regiments from Illinois Ohio Michigan and Missouri and were sent to be part of the Army of Tennessee with Generals Grant and Sherman See tomorrows Herald Journal for the next installment of this story Win at bridge There are two independently published bridge magazines in England First let’s look at Bridge Magazine which began in May 1926 making it the world's oldest It has a varied content but aims primarily at tournament players Here is a problem devised by Patrick Jourdain Assume you are South the declarer in six How would you the after West leads play plan a low spade? Jourdain lucky fellow didn’t have to give an auction This is the best I could produce with two hearts being fourth-su- it Of course in the real world South would probably select no-tru- Laugh-u- Army but he did seem eager enough With bright ' red hair freckles and blue eyes Clark looked ' more like a schoolboy playing hooky But after the meeting as he and Moroni were walking back to the company area Lieutenant Clark made a f comment that surprised Moroni: “Sir I asked to be assigned to your company” Startled Moroni looked at the young lieutenant and asked why “Well sir it’s like this” Clark began “I’ve spent two years in a private military school and it's clear to me that your company is the only one that has any idea of what is going on So I volunteered to be your second lieutenant” ' “Thank you for your vote of confidence” Moroni replied dryly “What do we do with our other lieutenant?” Smiling back Clark replied “Just give him AtSlN "OK you guys! Break time Is overt” game-forci- ' t ng six dubs which should makei easily enough If we ignore obscure squeeze chances you should try for these 12 tricks: two spades three hearts two diamonds and five clubs However your communications are tenuous making ir difficult to get those three heart tricks The best line is to win trick one with duifiriiy’s spade king then to play a club to your 10 finesse taking a first-rouAssuming it wins unblock the king-queof hearts cross to dummy's club king and cash both major-su- it aces discarddiamonds from ing your hand if Finally necessary repeat the club finesse nd North 4 V A K 7 5 2 A 6 S 3 4 8 K 4 JIII4 V I 4 2 4 East West 4 ' IF 7 Q 7 6 4 4 Q 10 J 10 9 J 10 9 Q 9 9 7 South 4 3 4 Q A K 9 3 2 A J 10 S 3 V K Dealer South Vulnerable: Both en CNEA 20031 Opening lead: 46 : ' |