Video: Autumn Goofs, Winter Repairs

The networks study their Nielsen report cards and try again

Watching a new TV season unfold may be mind numbing for some viewers, but for network executives it is an intense learning experience. Huddled over their weekly Nielsen report cards, they chart the winners and losers, try to divine trends and make mid-course corrections. Judging from the replacement series joining the prime-time schedule this month (the traditional start of TV's "second season"), the networks have done their homework. Herewith, the major lessons of autumn:

Keep soap operas in the family. Of all the flops of last fall, perhaps the most unexpected was ABC's Paper Dolls. Set in the chic world of...

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