Grammer

HOLLYWOOD — ABC has had a tough year in the ratings, but its programmers think they know the way back into viewers’ hearts: comedies with such familiar stars as Kelsey Grammer, Patricia Heaton and Courteney Cox.

Disregarding the generally dismal environment for network comedies lately, the network, which made its presentation to media buyers will try in the fall to build a Wednesday comedy bloc made up of four new family sitcoms. Leading off the night will be Hank, with ex-Frasier star Grammer as a washed-up chief executive who reconnects with his brood. Heaton will follow with The Middle, about the foibles of a small-town mom.

The night will end with Eastwick, a one-hour series adaptation of the 1987 movie comedy Witches of Eastwick, which seems like nothing so much as an effort to duplicate the female-skewing success of ABC’s Desperate Housewives.

The hunt for laughs represents a major gamble for ABC, which has had trouble finding successors to aging shows such as Housewives. The new comedy bloc “is our biggest risk, but I think [it has] our biggest upside as well,” ABC entertainment chief Steve McPherson told reporters.

But viewers had better be ready for some sharp mood swings. Elsewhere on the new schedule, ABC is going darker — much darker.

The Forgotten, booked for 10 p.m. Tuesdays after the Dancing With the Stars results show, is a bleak-looking forensics crime drama from producer Jerry Bruckheimer about a team of volunteer sleuths who try to solve murders of victims who are unidentified. Its competition will include Jay Leno’s new nightly talk show on NBC.

ABC will lead off its crucial Thursday lineup — which includes its once-formidable hit Grey’s Anatomy — with Flash Forward, a high-concept drama about what happens after millions of people black out simultaneously, allowing them to see their own futures. Judging from a brief clip shown to reporters, the show’s tone and premise recall those of The Nine, an ambitious serialized drama that tanked quickly a few seasons back.

To help make way for the new shows, ABC canceled Samantha Who?, the Christina Applegate comedy that never recovered from a disruption caused by the writers strike that ended in February 2008. “It launched very well and then it seemed to run out of steam,” McPherson said.

According to Jim, Jim Belushi’s long-running family sitcom, is likewise gone. But the network feels it can find bigger audiences for Castle, the crime drama slotted for 10 p.m. Mondays. And the low-rated comedy Better Off Ted will return on Tuesdays paired with Scrubs, once Dancing With the Stars wraps its run.

Meanwhile, the ratings-challenged Ugly Betty will move to the low-traffic zone of 9 p.m. Fridays. “You have to make some bold moves sometimes,” McPherson explained.