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NOW THAT FOX HAS ROLLED OUT SIX SERIES THIS SUMMER, FOUR OF WHICH ARE scripted, I congratulate the network for taking an aggressive programming stance. With CBS in perpetual repeats until Big Brother and Amazing Race return, burn-offs like ABC's The Drew Carey Show and just plain nonsense like NBC sitcom Come to Papa currently populating the screen, it's refreshing to know I can go to Fox for some original alternatives. But as ambitious as Fox has shown itself-and I do applaud the effort-the WB has succeeded in catching my attention with new Aaron Spelling drama Summerland.
Spelling has never really gotten the attention he deserves-no other producer comes close to his uncanny ability to find hit shows. Unlike Fox's North Shore-a cardboard drama about a bunch of pretty, shallow, twentysome-things populating a hotel in Hawaii-Spelling's Simmerlond tugs on your heartstrings as three young children cope with the recent death of their parents. While the residents on Summerland are no less attractive than the folks on North Shore, and the schmaltz is served up in equal quantities, the one key ingredient Summerland has that North Shore still lacks is characters with problems the audience can relate to. That's a signature element of any hit Spelling serial. Like Summerland...