The return of adult television

Remember the start of this fall season, when the other networks decided to play the WB's game and ordered up a batch of new series that tried to emulate WB's youth-oriented formula?

Well, guess what? The other networks could imitate the WB but they couldn't beat that network in the 18-to-35 demographic wars. Most of the new series not only were not very good but barely lasted into October.

In particular, Fox really self-destructed with ``Ryan Caulfield,'' ``Harsh Realm'' and the good but viewer-impaired ``Action'' already canceled and ``Time of Your Life'' on life-support. One of its new WB clone series -- ``Manchester Prep'' -- never even got on the air after both conservatives and advertisers criticized its sexual content. (The show had the potential to be the new ``Melrose Place'' of camp.)

The problem was that the other networks tried to clone the WB's programming without successfully deconstructing how it worked. While shows such as ABC's ``Wasteland'' crashed and burned, the WB churned merrily along and created several new shows -- ``Angel,'' ``Roswell'' and ``Popular'' -- that were just as good as ``Buffy'' and ``Felicity.''