A BETTER MOUSETRAP?

By Richard Zoglin

WHEN ROSEANNE CONNER took her television family on vacation to Disney World a month ago, TV's most cynical sitcom clan seemed to have been injected with happy juice. "Man, it's so clean!" marveled Dan, on first seeing the home of Space Mountain and giant Goofy impersonators. "I want to be worthy of living here!" exclaimed Roseanne's sister Jackie. Daughter Darlene was a sour holdout at first, but even she was won over--by a big hug from Winnie the Pooh.

The Conner family came to its senses a week later in another Roseanne episode, which satirized a Disney-style theme park where workers are brainwashed into cheery uniformity. Yet viewers could be excused for feeling a bit like outsiders at a family dinner where all the conversation consists of in-jokes. Ever since the Walt Disney Co. announced its $19 billion purchase of ABC last summer, Hollywood has looked for signs that the network of Home Improvement, Ted Koppel and NYPD Blue is being transformed into a subdivision of the Magic Kingdom. Leave it to Roseanne to get the issue out in the open.

Never before has a network been subsumed by another media company with as polished an image and as relentlessly focused a way of doing business; how this plays out, both financially and contentwise, will be one of the most watched show-biz stories of the '90s. Of course, ABC hasn't become the Disney Network just yet--and most sources insist it never will--but even casual viewers will start noticing little mouse footprints soon. Along with Roseanne, two other ABC shows--Boy Meets World and Step by Step--have traveled to Disney's Orlando theme park to tape episodes this year. Producers of the shows and network officials insist that these trips were not related to the merger or to one another, pointing out that such on-location episodes usually do well in the ratings. Of course, they're not bad for company image either (Disney World has script approval of all programs shot there; among the verboten scenes are any that reveal human beings inside those Mickey and Goofy costumes).

The Disney touch could become even more apparent by next fall. The network is planning to launch a two-hour Disney family movie on Saturday nights, with Disney chairman Michael Eisner as the probable host. Six of the 29 pilots that ABC is considering for next season come from the Disney studio--a not uncommon bit of corporate synergy now that networks are allowed to own their own programs (and now that studios like Warner Bros. and 20th Century Fox own their own networks), but one that has nevertheless raised fears among other Hollywood studios that they will eventually be shut out. ABC executives deny that they'll play favorites, saying they will pick the best shows regardless of supplier, since drawing the biggest possible audience is what matters most. Some producers are also worried that Disney's wholesome image will lead to tighter standards on sex and violence. More immediately, industry observers expect to see cross-promotional efforts linking ABC TV shows, Disney movies, theme parks and merchandise. "The Disney marketing machine will take over, and no network has ever had access to anything like that before," says International Creative Management agent Alan Berger. "General Electric does not paint the name of NBC's shows on their jet engines."

Chairman Eisner and his No. 2 executive, former Creative Artists Agency chief and legendary dealmaker Michael Ovitz, have so far kept a low public profile and declined all interviews. But their hands have been evident in a number of major moves since the merger. One of Ovitz's former colleagues at CAA, Michael Rosenfeld, has been hired as an entertainment-division senior vice president, and more personnel shake-ups are expected, particularly after a disappointing season in which ABC fell to a weak No. 2 in the ratings--and third in the important February sweeps, the same month the merger became official.

Eisner told a meeting of ABC affiliates that the poor February showing was "unacceptable" and vowed it "would never happen again." To insiders, that was code language for "Heads are going to roll." Eisner and Ovitz are "evaluating the team that's in place every day," says a well-placed ABC executive, who adds that the current development season, which will determine next fall's schedule, is key. Eisner has been reading some pilot scripts himself (his favorite: Spin, a DreamWorks sitcom starring Michael J. Fox as a big-city deputy mayor). Thought to be most vulnerable among the existing ABC regime is programming chief Ted Harbert, who (aside from not finding any new hits lately and letting one get by, NBC's 3rd Rock from the Sun) is said to have alienated his Disney bosses by pushing for a big raise after he was offered a top TV job at MCA.

In the meantime ABC has been pursuing a highly regarded NBC program executive, Jamie McDermott, for a top post, and the tug-of-war over her services has prompted one of the bitterest network feuds of recent years. According to reports in the New York Post and New York magazine, McDermott--who had a role in developing such hit shows as Friends--sought to get out of her NBC contract by charging sexual harassment against the network's top West Coast executive, Don Ohlmeyer. McDermott's charges have been seen by some as a cynical ploy to free her for the ABC job. Insiders say Jack Welch, chairman of NBC's parent, General Electric, even contacted Eisner personally to complain about ABC's role in the episode.

Ohlmeyer, in an interview with TIME, heatedly denied the sexual-harassment charge and placed the blame squarely on Ovitz, whom he accused of fomenting "rumors and innuendo that have no basis in fact." Said Ohlmeyer: "Michael Ovitz is the Antichrist, and you can quote me on that." Ovitz would not comment. Sources close to McDermott confirm she was upset at Ohlmeyer's behavior (though she never threatened to bring formal charges) and say ABC approached her only after Ovitz learned she was unhappy and seeking to leave NBC.

If McDermott winds up at ABC, she'll find a company in the throes of corporate culture shock--or at least culture adjustment. Signs of Disneyfication have so far been small but symbolic. A new E-mail system on ABC computers is decorated with Mickey and Minnie icons, and Disney's annual report prompted snickers by referring to Capital Cities/ABC employees, in traditional Disneyese, as "new cast members." At a corporate retreat in Phoenix, Arizona, Eisner and Ovitz joined in the wholesome fun as a group of ABC execs was dragged off to a bowling alley.

Behind the scenes, Eisner has been a visible and involved boss, paying visits to Capital Cities/ABC newspapers and radio stations and playing host (along with Ovitz) to a breakfast meeting with 50 top ABC News executives, producers and correspondents in New York City to reassure them that Disney will not interfere in the network's journalism. While Eisner has focused on programming, ABC sources say, Ovitz has concentrated more on dealmaking and strategic matters like international business and new technology.

ABC executives insist that their authority has not been usurped by the Disney overlords. "They have been very supportive," says Capital Cities/ABC president Robert Iger, who runs the TV, radio and publishing operations from New York. Iger points out that most of the big moves attributed to Disney--including the recently announced plans to launch a 24-hour cable news channel--were in the works before the merger. He acknowledges, however, that the news channel might not have happened without Disney's deep pockets and aggressiveness: "It would have been a tougher sell with [former Capital Cities/ABC chairman] Tom Murphy."

The impact of the two Michaels--Me and Mo, as some Hollywood wags have begun calling them--will be even more apparent when ABC picks its fall schedule later this spring. Those trips to Space Mountain will get old fast, but Mr. Eisner's (and Mr. Ovitz's) Wild Ride is just beginning.

--With reporting by Jeffrey Ressner/Los Angeles

With reporting by Jeffrey Ressner/Los Angeles