Alan Spencer

Producer-writer-actor-etc. Mel Brooks, along with producer Alan Spencer ("Sledge Hammer") and Disney Television will collaborate on a new fall series for NBC called "The Nutt House," the network announced Wednesday. The comedy, which will star Harvey Korman and Cloris Leachman, takes place in a hotel owned by a family named Nutt. Brooks and Spencer are co-creators and co-executive producers.

Producer-writer-actor-etc. Mel Brooks, along with producer Alan Spencer ("Sledge Hammer") and Disney Television will collaborate on a new fall series for NBC called "The Nutt House," the network announced Wednesday. The comedy, which will star Harvey Korman and Cloris Leachman, takes place in a hotel owned by a family named Nutt. Brooks and Spencer are co-creators and co-executive producers.

The network's first response was not encouraging. "An executive at ABC called me and said, point-blank: 'I don't get this,' " recalled a cheerful Alan Spencer. The 28-year-old producer was talking about "The Ghost Writer," a series he created starring Anthony Perkins as a writer of horror novels. Despite the initial reservations on the part of the network and the production company, New World, the show is slated as a mid-season replacement for the 1988-89 TV season.

The network's first response was not encouraging. "An executive at ABC called me and said, point-blank: 'I don't get this,' " recalled a cheerful Alan Spencer. The 28-year-old producer was talking about "The Ghost Writer," a series he created starring Anthony Perkins as a writer of horror novels. Despite the initial reservations on the part of the network and the production company, New World, the show is slated as a mid-season replacement for the 1988-89 TV season.

"Hexed" (citywide) more than lives up to its title. Cursed with a lack of inspiration from start to finish, this vastly unamusing action-comedy finds director Alan Spencer desperately trying to pump up his stale script at every turn. Once again, you're left to wonder not only how a studio could justify the expense of releasing "Hexed" but also how the project managed to get a green light in the first place. Direct-to-video would have seemed the logical route for this loser.

"Sledge Hammer!" premieres at 8:30 tonight on ABC (Channels 7, 3, 10 and 42) with an episode that lends itself to great on-air promos. You've probably seen some, with David Rasche as the quick-draw Sledge, a Rambo and Dirty Harry sendup, having conversations with his .44 magnum. Very funny. In fact, the first 10 minutes of this special premiere, written by producer/creator Alan Spencer, are very funny, topped by Sledge's blowing up of a building to get a sniper.

NBC, riding a record-setting crest of 47 consecutive weekly prime-time victories, said Monday that it will stick with a good thing come fall by adding only four hours of new programming to its nighttime lineup. Befitting its standing as ratings leader for four years running, NBC said four nights of programming will return intact, two will be freshened up with one half-hour comedy apiece and Friday night will be overhauled with three new hourlong dramas. It was the first announcement by any network of plans for the 1989-90 season.

In his new position as president of network television for Walt Disney Studios, Garth Ancier, former programming chief for Fox Broadcasting Co., said Wednesday that he will be returning to the thing he likes best: developing shows for the mainstream network audience.

The decided angle of "Calling Cyrano to the Film Set" (July 3) seems to be that certain writers are merely perks for stars that studios are forced to tolerate, like a big trailer or a personal yoga teacher. It is true that, in many instances, the lead actor has a strong voice, along with the director, studio and producers, in determining who rewrites a script that is headed for production. Who has the strongest voice in that decision depends on the particular project and people involved.

The end of the TV season each May has traditionally been a time for production companies to box up failed shows and ship them out to the vast canceled series graveyard. Lately, however, some of those hearses are being replaced by moving vans. Several programs on the bubble in terms of coming back next fall could find homes on other networks, reflecting shifting standards of what justifies survival in today's fragmented television landscape.

Hollywood occasionally contributes to its own image problems, presenting fictional portraits in movies such as "The Player" and "Swimming With Sharks" that feed perceptions that the place can't be found with a moral compass. Recently, such depictions have begun to emanate from the small screen, such as last season's Hollywood-murder plot in the ABC drama "Murder One" and now NBC's "Law & Order," with a three-episode story being showcased in "ER's" time slot.