‘Classic’ Series To Fill Network

Thanks to Nick at Nite, there’s been more of Lucy to love, Samantha to study and Mary to muse.

And now, those same folks who turned reruns of “I Love Lucy,” “Bewitched” and “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” into prime-time contenders are spinning off themselves by creating an all-new “classic” TV network.

It’ll be called Nick at Nite’s TV Land, and it will run old television favorites around the clock, with plans to include shows from all genres - cop shows, hospital dramas, variety shows, sitcoms and Westerns - and all decades, from the ‘50s to the ‘90s. Among the shows that’ll be part of NAN Land’s launch schedule: “Gunsmoke,” “The Honeymooners,” “Hill Street Blues,” “St. Elsewhere” and “Sonny & Cher.”

The spinoff network will launch early next year.

Rich Cronin, NAN’s senior vice president and president of the new NAN Land, said the new cable net, in dedicating itself fully to classic television, will fill a void that its popular predecessor can’t because of its commitment to kids programming.

It was just over 10 years ago that the kid-oriented Nickelodeon began running kid-safe programs, such as “Donna Reed,” “The Partridge Family” and “Mister Ed,” in prime time in an effort to draw in adult viewers. It worked, and worked so well that it made old TV episodes a hot commodity.

Nickelodeon, Cronin said, will continue to carry Nick at Nite, although after the new NAN Land launches, the original NAN will stick strictly to sitcoms. NAN Land, on the other hand, won’t follow the same family-friendly mandate as its parent network.

“Shows like ‘Hill Street Blues,”’ Cronin said, “don’t really have any kid appeal.”

Hootie hits 10 million

Hootie & the Blowfish has joined the exclusive 10-million-seller club, a feat especially rare as the group did it with its debut album.

The Recording Industry Association of America certified Hootie’s “Cracked Rear View” at 10-times platinum in its November report, only the 29th time the honor has ever been bestowed.

And it’s only the fifth time a new artist has broken the 10 million barrier.