Wednesday, December 13, 2000

"Blue" is back.

Following the same strategy it employed last year, ABC has held "NYPD Blue" back, allowing "Once and Again" to air in its time slot until January. On Monday, ABC announced "Blue's" official return date, 10 p.m. Jan. 9, in its regular Tuesday night time slot.

Last year when "Blue" returned, "Once and Again" moved to Mondays after "Monday Night Football" ran its course. But this year ABC will put "Once" on Wednesday at 10 p.m. beginning Jan. 10, which will bump freshman medical drama "Gideon's Crossing" to 10 p.m. Monday starting Jan. 15.

ABC programmers think low-rated "Once and Again," with its core audience of women, will fair better competitively on Wednesday than on Monday.

(Rob Owen, Post-Gazette TV Editor)