Creative, dynamic stories reappear

With the surprising popularity of the summertime quiz show "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire,'' it might be tempting to envision next-millennium television as a variety of game shows broken up by the news magazine programs proliferating throughout the prime-time network schedule.

But as the final television season of the 1900s gets into full swing this week, a different, if short-term, vision appears.

The Storytellers are back.

Courtesy of Touchstone Sorkin, who wrote for the praised "Sports Night," is working on "The West Wing."

They are the creative and dynamic forces behind programs, the ones who generally work under the titles of creator and executive producer.

Several of network television's best have programs on this season's prime-time schedule, giving the fall season a sense of narrative drive - and occasional originality.

Some of these producers and creators have programs on the air from seasons past and, yes, some cloning has been going on.

But judging from a preview of available pilot episodes, the season's dramas and comedies offer some new ideas and new settings, giving curious viewers a variety of plots and twists from which to choose.

One fall program that has attracted favorable comment from advertising buyers and critics is the Washington-based drama "The West Wing.''

The series has as well-credentialed a creator-executive producer team as you could want.

John Wells, the executive producer of "ER,'' one of television's most successful current dramas, is teamed with creator-executive producer Aaron Sorkin, who gave television one of last season's most praised new shows, "Sports Night.''

Sorkin's distinct writing pattern - his work on "Sports Night'' totally abandoned the set-up, punch-line cadence of half-hour comedy - is brought to bear here in dialogue that may get under some viewers' skin. One such scene is part of the pilot episode in which Martin Sheen, as the president, skewers a group of religious conservatives with what at first seems to be a light-hearted anecdote.

But Sorkin promises the show will not be politically one-sided. "Enjoyment of the show won't depend on how a viewer feels about politics,'' he said recently. "There will be characters who can argue all sides of an issue.''

Meanwhile, Wells gives the White House, with its many staffers and minions working on a set borrowed from "The American President,'' a sense of urgency and importance on a scale with the work of the "ER.'' In this case, the blood on the floor is figurative.

And no, there won't be an intern.

Here are some other creators and executive producers offering fall shows:

David E. Kelley, creator of "The Practice,'' "Chicago Hope,'' "Picket Fences'' and "Ally McBeal,'' this season offers "Snoops'' on ABC.

Edward Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz, creators of the critically acclaimed series "thirtysomething'' and "My So-Called Life,'' are executive producers and co-creators of ABC's "Once and Again.''

Glenn Gordon Caron, who created "Moonlighting'' after writing and producing the first 10 episodes of "Remington Steele,'' is the executive producer, director and writer of CBS' "Now and Again.''

Chris Carter, creator of "The X-Files,'' this season offers "Harsh Realm'' on Fox.

Paul Haggis, the man behind quirky "Due South'' and the densely plotted "EZ Streets,'' this season heads the more conventional "Family Law'' on CBS.

Christopher Keyser and Amy Lippman, from "Party of Five,'' are the creators and executive producers of "Time of Your Life'' on Fox.

Judd Apatow, executive producer of NBC's new "Freaks and Geeks,'' helped write and later co-executive produced "The Larry Sanders Show.''

Two producers extend their franchises. Dick Wolf of "Law & Order'' has "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,'' which will feature some cross-casting between Wolf's NBC series.

And "ER's'' Wells offers "Third Watch,'' an NBC series centered on emergency personnel.

Later in the season on CBS, Stephen Bochco, producer of "NYPD Blue,'' "L.A. Law'' and "Hill Street Blues,'' will offer "City of Angels,'' set at an inner-city emergency hospital.

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