The new ABC’s of family drama

What do TV shows about a mysterious teenager minus a bellybutton, a police officer returning to his urban neighborhood and a small town dealing with the possible end of the world have in common?

The three series are already on or will be joining ABC Family’s schedule, part of an effort to boost original programming following the network’s traditional reliance on reruns and movies.

There’s a renewed emphasis on the “Family” in the channel’s title, but with a current twist, and a more aggressive hunt for viewers in the 18-to-28 age group, says ABC Family President Paul Lee.

“Family drama is alive and well and people are rediscovering it,” says Lee, who has been guiding the rebuilding effort since 2004. “We felt we could take a brand that maybe had looked away from its core word and say, ‘Hold on, we can reclaim this word.’ “

ABC Family is counting on a slate of new series to accomplish that, including the heavily promoted “Kyle XY” (8 p.m. Mondays), about the anatomically incorrect teenage boy who is given a home by a social worker and her family and soon displays extraordinary abilities.

“Three Moons Over Milford,” a Sunday night series debuting Aug. 6 at 8 p.m., stars Elizabeth McGovern, Nora Dunn and Rob Boltin in the tale of how the town’s residents respond when faced with a cosmic crisis: An explosion has split the moon into three pieces, perhaps portending the world’s demise. They decide to live like there’s no tomorrow, quitting their jobs and indulging their whims (or vices).

Other original shows airing on ABC Family are the racehorse saga “Wildfire,” starting production on its third season, and “Falcon Beach” (9 p.m. Mondays), a soap opera about locals vs. rich kids in a New England summer resort town.

Coming in 2007 is the channel’s boldest bet, “Lincoln Heights,” about a black lawman who returns to his crime-filled neighborhood. He’s determined to make a difference but his family is put under stress by the move.

Russell Hornsby and Nicki Micheaux star in the drama from executive producers Kevin Hooks (“Prison Break”) and Kathleen McGhee Anderson (“Soul Food”). Production has started on 13 episodes set to begin airing in the first quarter of next year.

Black family dramas are rare on TV, as Lee well knows. But he says the show fits with the channel’s goal of putting on “high-quality shows about today’s families, not yesterday’s.”

While some critics argue that a blunt depiction of tough contemporary issues makes the channel less family friendly, Lee disagrees.

“We feel we’re doing our mandate here,” he says. “Families today are different from the traditional television family, and we’re not in an ‘Ozzie & Harriet’ world. We are in a ‘Lincoln Heights’ world.”

The drama also fits with ABC Family’s effort to reflect growing American diversity, Lee says. Series with Hispanic characters also are in development.

“Lincoln Heights” producer Anderson is delighted with the opportunity the channel has presented. She’s tried to develop a black drama elsewhere and been rebuffed.

” ‘They don’t work, we don’t have (another series) to put it with, how can our audience relate to these characters?’ ” she recalls hearing repeatedly from other networks. “As if the universal experience didn’t translate.”

“Kyle XY” got off to a good start. Its June 26 premiere was the best-ever for the channel, drawing more than 2.6 million viewers and ranking second in its time period among basic cable channels in both total viewers and the young adults sought by ABC Family.

The show also helped alleviate the summer doldrums a bit for sister broadcast network ABC (both are owned by Walt Disney Co.), which is airing the first four episodes. The pilot won its time slot on ABC against rerun competition.

The network is really “hitting its stride in how it’s positioned,” says Sharianne Brill, analyst for the ad-buying firm Carat USA. With young-skewing UPN and WB combining into the new CW network this fall, she says, there’s opportunity for ABC Family to lure new viewers.

A breakout hit – like, potentially, “Kyle XY” – is key, Brill says.

“All you need is one big show that gets a lot of buzz and it puts you on the map. … then one show is there to launch another,” she says.

New shows aside, ABC Family isn’t slighting tradition. Its “13 Nights of Halloween” and “25 Days of Christmas,” packaged holiday programming, are an ongoing part of the schedule.

The network’s history is unusual, even for the ever-changing business of television.

The former Fox Family channel was struggling in the ratings with its lineup of children’s programming when it caught the eye of then-Disney chief executive Michael Eisner.

Disney, which bought the channel in 2001, saw its value fall in the first few years as plans to “repurpose” – or rerun – ABC shows on the cable channel foundered.

A move to dump the new ABC Family name for something hipper-sounding – XYZ (as counterpoint to ABC) – was undercut by a contractual requirement that “family” stick in the name.

That stipulation is linked to the channel’s founding by evangelist Pat Robertson in 1977 to showcase “The 700 Club,” which is mandated to remain on the schedule.

There’s an obvious irony in ABC Family’s search for salvation in the “family” brand it once tried to reject. But Lee, who has seen ratings and advertising rise during his tenure, said he relishes the focus.

Family is “probably the most passionate thing in the lives of our audience, but it’s not being sold as such,” he says. “When tested with 18- to 28-year-olds, it’s the most important word to them.”