Ghosts of seasons past

The battleground of Wednesdays at 9 p.m. this fall yields perhaps the best clue about what the broadcast networks are up to this season.
At least in name, every network has a new series in that time slot, with one notable exception. But look a little closer and the fresh is revealed as the familiar. "Private Practice" is ABC's much-anticipated spinoff of "Grey's Anatomy." NBC's "Bionic Woman" is a noir-ish, post-feminist spin on the 1970s sci-fi staple. Fox is going with "Kitchen Nightmares," a culinary-reality sequel of sorts with "Hell's Kitchen" chef-star Gordon Ramsay.
The one returning series during the hour, "Criminal Minds," will feature a new lead (Joe Mantegna replacing Mandy Patinkin), but it's unlikely CBS' reliable-if-unsurprising profiler drama will otherwise become a font of innovation.
In their bid to stem continued audience erosion, the networks evidently hope viewers will gravitate toward the already proven or at least the comfortably recognizable (even though a skeptic could reasonably wonder why executives seem to believe the ratings drop-offs can somehow be reversed by shows that resemble shows that have already aired). The thirst for the familiar explains why ABC, for example, is banking on "Women's Murder Club," based on the bestselling crime series by James Patterson, and Fox is trying to revive the sitcom with "Back to You," a deliberately old-fashioned premise starring two comedy veterans, Kelsey Grammer and Patricia Heaton. ABC borrowed inspiration from an immensely popular insurance ad for its new comedy "Cavemen."

Even ABC's "Pushing Daisies," the whimsical resurrection fantasy that some critics have singled out as the most original show of the season -- a backhanded compliment, perhaps -- has a darkly comic tone and bright palette recalling "Desperate Housewives."

Why the lack of programming ambition? Especially at a time when some of the bold choices made by cable networks have many observers proclaiming a new "golden age" of TV?

Well, look at the circumstances. The network television business has plenty of reasons to feel anxious these days. It's not just that viewers are defecting to cable and the Internet; the ones who remain are getting older. Every network has seen its median viewer age climb significantly over the last five years. Fox, the youngest of the big four networks and No. 1 in adults 18 to 49, has nevertheless aged from 35 to 42, according to Nielsen Media Research. That's very bad news for a business that has traditionally sold advertisers on the youth appeal of its programming.