Spreading the 'Love'
WB's early renewal boosts syndie viability
Frog net has ordered 10 additional segs of the Yvette Lee Bowser-produced "Love," bringing the total number of episodes produced for the WB to 76. That figure, along with the handful of episodes produced for NBC during the show's midseason 1998 run on the Peacock, will allow Warner Bros.' syndie unit to sell "Love" in syndication.
Labor latitude
Renewal also gives the Frog some strike insurance: The 10 new episodes are all expected to be completed before the summer labor deadlines. Several episodes from the show's 22-episode order for the 2000-01 season will be held back as well, giving the WB no less than 13 -- and perhaps as many as 16 or 17-- new "Love" segs for the 2001-02 season.
"Making this order, which ensures a syndication sale for the program and gives us guaranteed original episodes for next season, is a textbook win-win deal for everyone involved," said Jordan Levin, exec VP of programming. "It's also the ninth series on the WB to make it into syndication in our brief existence, which is something that we are all very proud of."
In October, the WB pulled "For Your Love" from its Sunday lineup, just a few weeks into the current season. Frog execs said the move was not a reflection of the net's confidence in the show, but a result of a need to move frosh Friday laffer "Grosse Pointe" to Sunday nights. With one too many comedies on the night, WB officials decided to put "Love" on hiatus until sometime in 2001.
'Foxx' out of hunt
"Love" is now expected to be back on the air sometime in March, around the same time the WB's "The Jamie Foxx Show" goes off the air, having completed its 100th (and final) episode. A planned Foxx-produced sketch comedy show that had been set for midseason has been delayed due to Foxx's increasingly busy feature career. He is now expected to shoot a pilot for the skein instead, with a series pushed to 2001-02.
Last year, "Love" averaged a 1.3 rating/4 share with adults 18-49 and a 1.6/5 with women 18-49. The handful of episodes that aired Sunday nights this season averaged a 1.4/4 with viewers 18-49 and a 1.8/5 with women 18-49.
Now in its fourth season, "Love" revolves around three couples of various racial backgrounds. Show's cast includes sitcom vets Holly Robinson Peete, Dedee Pfeiffer, James Lesure and D.W. Moffett.
