The Why and How of First-Run Syndication

The fall season no longer belongs just to the four networks. First-run syndication is giving the big guns a run for their money--and ratings.

Several new series are being unveiled in syndication this year, including Aaron Spelling’s “Robin’s Hoods” and “Heaven Help Us,” “Lonesome Dove: The Series,” “Hawkeye,” “High Tide,” “Forever Knight,” “Sirens” and the sci-fi action-adventure “Space Precinct,” with Ted Shackleford. And shows already doing quite nicely in syndication--including “RoboCop,” “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine,” “Renegade” and “Highlander,” plus the phenomenon known as “Baywatch”--are all returning for new seasons.

But it’s not so easy to hit it big in first-run syndication. Most successful syndicators agree, however, that at least two things are necessary: a marketable title or stars.

“In syndication, probably more than any other medium, you have to fight for your time period,” says Jamie Bennett, president and CEO of ACI, the distributor of “High Tide,” which stars Rick Springfield, George Segal and newcomer Yannick Bisson.

“You have to come up with a very strong cast and concept, whereas in network TV, the network can make the series by having a strong lead-in. In syndication, since you are selling it station by station, every station is going to have it on a different place. You can’t assume you’re going to have a natural lead-in. In the network business, there’s an old saying that the show makes the stars. In the instance of syndication, either you need a show that has a lot of foreknowledge of it, or you need a concept which is easily understood with a cast that has a built-in interest.”

In the case of “High Tide,” which is about two brothers who surf and fight crime in exotic locales, “the title doesn’t say much. It could be anything. In the case of Rick Springfield and George Segal, when you raise their names, you have people who say I would like to see it because I’m a fan.”

The demographics of a syndicated series are generally different from those of a network show. “It’s more male-oriented than a network audience is,” says David Balkan, executive creative consultant of “Sirens.” The police drama dealing with three female rookie cops in Pittsburgh originally aired for 13 episodes on ABC in the spring of 1993.

“It’s also an audience that wants a more gritty, action-oriented show,” Balkan says. “ ‘Sirens’ was in many ways a strange choice for syndication and a choice of very good fortune. It was a strange choice because the original 13 episodes did not fall into that category, but what made it a choice of good fortune was was that they had a springboard from which to jump off into a new venue. They had a show that had a patina of quality associated with it, they had some returning actors (Adrienne Joi-Johnson, Tim Thomerson and Liza Snyder) who had committed themselves to being part of a first-run syndicated show. They could use that spine or heart to create another being.”

The new “Sirens” is much more action-driven. “The show was originally more of a story about women who happened to be cops. This show is more about cops who happen to be women. It’s more active and less reactive. It’s a grittier show.”

That’s not the case with “Forever Knight,” which developed a cult following over the past few years as part of CBS’ now-defunct “Crime Time After Prime Time” lineup. The offbeat series stars Geraint Wyn Davies as a 13th-Century vampire who works as a cop on the night beat in order to redeem himself so he can become mortal.

“I think the show is what it is,” says executive producer Jon Slan. “It’s kind of a quirky show that has elements of action, but it has some interesting characters. I know that when somebody does an action show for syndication they are looking for the male audience, but by the same token you look at someone like Aaron Spelling who has done two shows looking for female demographics. Our show is primarily a female audience. The lead actor is a very good-looking, Shakespearean-trained actor.”

Despite some interest from the networks, the producers opted to bring “Forever Knight” to syndication because the medium provided an opportunity for longevity, which they felt the networks didn’t.

“We had 22 episodes which we made for CBS, then the whole late night got dumped when Letterman came over. We felt we needed a forum that could provide longevity for the show. You can run six shows with the networks and be out. We already had 22 which we felt were successful and wanted a forum in which we could get to 65, which would be strippable. This gave us an opportunity to do another 26 rather than 13.”

Stephen J. Cannell, who has produced such popular network shows as “Wiseguy” and “The A-Team,” has done several series for syndication in the last few years. Among them: “21 Jump Street,” “Street Justice,” “Cobra” and “Renegade,” which is going into its third season.

His latest foray into syndication is “Hawkeye,” which is set during the French and Indian War and is based on James Fenimore Cooper’s “The Leatherstocking Tales.” Lee Horsley stars as the rugged hero and former “Wonder Woman” Lynda Carter is a prim married lady who hires him to find her kidnaped husband. And like “Forever Knight” and Spelling’s shows, “Hawkeye” has its eye on the female audience.

“I don’t come up with the idea and then say this show is a perfect network show or a perfect syndication show,” Cannell says. “What we try to do is come up with an idea that we really think we want to do, that we haven’t seen before. In first-run syndication, we did a lot of action hours and one of the things I’m trying to do is not keep running down the same track but present something different in the market.”

Kim LeMasters, the president of Cannell’s television company and former head of programming at CBS, brought Cannell the idea. “He sat down and started to explain why he wanted to do this. He’s a real fan of that character. He wanted to do a show that had a kind of unrequited romantic quality.”

Hopes are high for “Lonesome Dove: The Series,” which is based on Larry McMurtry’s best-seller and the two popular CBS miniseries. Executive producer Suzanne de Passe, who was the executive producer of both miniseries, says the audience expectation is “very, very wonderful and very daunting at the same time, because in effect, if people expect a weekly show to supply the wallop of the miniseries, it’s not going to be a happy outcome. But if they are willing to get to know our characters and stay with the stories, then the wallop comes over time. But it is a different application.”

The three leads of “Lonesome Dove’--Scott Bairstow, Christianne Hirt and Paul Johansson--are unknowns. “Yet we have wonderful guest stars--Dennis Weaver, Robert Culp, Jack Elam, Diahann Carroll, Paul LeMat,” de Passe says. “That enabled us to establish stars as opposed to start off with them.”

The series picks up a few days after “The Return to Lonesome Dove” ended and follows the adventures of young Newt Call (Bairstow). “It’s being done with Newt in advanced age in the 1920s looking back,” de Passe says. “He has become sort of a surprise author having written down details of his life as a young man.”

De Passe says she’s finding “the key to the series is that you learn as you do it. It’s character-driven with a good deal of action. But I’m sure, as we all know, it’s not action that keeps anything on the air. It has got to be centered around characters that you come to care about. So our window into these characters is Newt. We are are introducing new characters but from his point of view.”

Cannell says syndication is an “awful big lure” for producers because they have a guaranteed full-season commitment. “With most of us who do dramatic TV, there’s a learning curve on every show. You have to figure out what your show is about, what your strengths are, who your leads are and how to most effectively capture the quality that has all of the elements.”

On network TV, Cannell says, “you get the six-show order and you are begging them for the seventh and eighth episodes. Then you get triggered. You never know whether or not the show you got triggered was a hit or a miss. With a first-run syndication show, you have 22 episodes and you know you are going to have 22. You are going to have six or seven episodes to figure it out, and you are going to be able to build a show.”

“High Tide” premieres Sunday at 4:30 p.m on KCBS; “Forever Knight” airs Sundays at 11:30 p.m. on KTLA; “Heaven Help Us” airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. on KCOP; “Robin’s Hoods” air Thursday s at 9 p.m. on KCOP; “Lonesome Dove: The Series” premieres Friday at 8 p.m. on KCOP ; “Sirens” airs Fridays at 9 p.m. on KCOP; “Hawkeye” airs Saturdays at 10 p.m. on KCOP; “Space Precinct” premieres Oct. 7 at 3:05 a.m. on KCBS.