By BRIAN LOWRY
TIMES STAFF WRITER

Family comedies and crime dramas appear to be staging a minor comeback as the broadcast networks begin locking in schedules for next season, though the proliferation of alternative formats—from quiz shows to staged, unscripted series—continues to make inroads and gobble up precious prime-time real estate.
     NBC, in particular, seems determined to lay down the law in the fall, offering a lineup that includes three new dramas with crime-fighting themes, among them a third version of "Law & Order" subtitled "Criminal Intent," with Vincent D'Onofrio, exploring both how a crime is perpetrated and the suspects caught.
     The network will officially unveil its revised prime-time lineup today, with ABC, CBS and Fox presenting their lineups to advertisers, in that order, Tuesday through Thursday in New York.
     NBC's other new one-hour programs are "Undercover," about an elite team of youthful Justice Department operatives; and "Crossing Jordan," featuring "Law & Order" alumna Jill Hennessy as a medical examiner.
     The network is scheduling the latter Mondays at 10 p.m., a maneuver that has irked the network's two most prolific suppliers: "ER" producer John Wells—whose emergency drama "Third Watch" gets displaced and shifted to the more challenging 9 p.m. slot, opposite "Everybody Loves Raymond" and "Ally McBeal"—and Dick Wolf, who also coveted 10 p.m. Mondays for the latest addition to his "Law & Order" empire.
     Wolf declined comment, but sources say the producer felt that having the third "Law & Order" on Mondays in the same hour the original show and spinoff "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" occupy Wednesdays and Fridays, respectively, provided logical symmetry for the franchise, which will periodically cross over among the programs. In addition, "Criminal Intent" is penciled in for 9 p.m. Sundays despite adult content the producer is said to have argued is better suited to a later time slot.
     The ire over the move has led to by-now familiar rumblings that a network is favoring programs from its own production subsidiaries, since "Crossing Jordan" falls under the auspices of NBC Studios while "Third Watch" and "Law & Order" are produced by Warner Bros. and Studios USA, respectively.
     NBC's three new sitcoms include chef Emeril Lagasse—regularly featured on the little-seen Food Network—playing a version of himself in "Emeril," about the host of a cooking show who balances the demands of career and family. The series is produced by "Designing Women" tandem Linda Bloodworth-Thomason and Harry Thomason, also through NBC Studios.
     The coveted post-"Friends" slot on Thursdays belongs to the new comedy "Inside Schwartz," which stars Breckin Meyer ("Road Trip") as a young man whose thoughts are played out using sports announcers and highlights.
     "Emeril" is expected to kick off Tuesday nights, while "Scrubs"—which might be called the comedic side of "ER," an ensemble sitcom focusing on young interns—will go after "Frasier."
     Following a pattern ABC established with "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire," NBC will broadcast its new quiz show, "Weakest Link," twice a week—at 8 p.m. on Sundays and Mondays. In a blow to independent producers who earn a living from the made-for-TV movie business, the network has also made good on a promise to eliminate its traditional Sunday movie, leaving CBS as the only network still programming movies Sunday at 9 p.m.

NBC will leave only Wednesday and Friday nights unchanged. Notably, comedy will be in relatively short supply at the network, which opened the fall of 1997 with 18 sitcoms spread across five nights and is now down to just eight, with blocks of four scheduled from 8 to 10 p.m. both Tuesdays and Thursdays.
     Among series NBC canceled are "The Weber Show," the latest recipient of the coveted post-"Friends" slot that has failed to reach a second season. Other casualties are "3rd Rock From the Sun," "The Fighting Fitzgeralds" and "DAG," joining earlier victims "Deadline," "The Michael Richards Show," "Daddio," "Tucker" and "Titans."
     ABC's schedule was also taking shape Sunday, with the network expected to order three new dramas and a pair of new comedies.
     The network has gone for star appeal in its new sitcoms, which are "Bob Patterson," starring "Seinfeld's" Jason Alexander as a motivational speaker whose own life is a mess; and a family sitcom starring Jim Belushi, with "Ally McBeal's" Courtney Thorne-Smith as his wife.
     ABC's new dramas are "Philly," casting "NYPD Blue's" Kim Delaney as a defense attorney and single mom, from "Blue" producer Steven Bochco; "Alias," with Jennifer Garner playing a young spy, from the co-creator of "Felicity"; and "Thieves," which brings back John Stamos paired with Melissa George as high-tech thieves drafted by the government to retrieve stolen items.
     After running four hours of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" this season—a decision many felt diluted the franchise—ABC is expected to scale back the Regis Philbin quiz show to three nights.

The network has dropped two high-profile, first-year series, "Gideon's Crossing" and "The Geena Davis Show," but will renew a trio of comedy series that premiered in March: the Damon Wayans family sitcom "My Wife and Kids," which will be paired with Belushi's show on Wednesdays; "What About Joan," with Joan Cusack; and "The Job," starring Denis Leary.
     ABC is also ordering a third season of the romantic drama "Once and Again" despite sluggish ratings. Sources say the renewal is in part because the program is produced by ABC parent Disney, which wants to extend its relationship with the show's producers, Edward Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz.
     At press time, industry sources indicated "Once and Again" may run Fridays at 10 p.m., prompting "20/20"—a longtime fixture in that hour—to find a home elsewhere, which would surely draw the wrath of anchor Barbara Walters. ABC officials could not be reached for comment.
     The newest centerpiece of the WB network's lineup, meanwhile, will be "Smallville," a contemporary retelling of the Superboy comics, as 16-year-old Clark Kent faces the vagaries of being a teenager with super-powers. The series is expected to run Tuesdays at 9 p.m., which could be a more hospitable hour for a fantasy show given that Fox will likely shift its sci-fi program "Dark Angel" to Friday nights.
     The WB will also renew "Popstars," add a pair of new shows in that same unscripted genre and introduce five sitcoms, including a trio on Friday night following "Sabrina" designed to entice the teen-oriented comedy audience ABC abandoned by dismantling its "TGIF" franchise.
     The Friday lineup features "Maybe I'm Adopted," about a teenage girl and her eccentric family, running immediately after "Sabrina." Rounding out the night are sitcoms starring country singer Reba McEntire as a single mother and another featuring comic Bob Saget, who occupied Friday nights for years in ABC's "Full House," as the father of a teenage daughter.
     Two new sitcoms—"Men, Women and Dogs," with comic Bill Bellamy, and "Off Center," a buddy comedy from the producers of the movie "American Pie"—will join "The Steve Harvey Show" and "Nikki" on Sunday nights.
     "Angel" stays on the WB—moving to Mondays after "7th Heaven"—despite the fact that the show from which "Angel" was spun off, "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," is shifting to the rival UPN network. The network also renewed the family drama "Gilmore Girls," which takes up residence Tuesdays at 8 p.m., the slot currently staked out by "Buffy." (The WB is part-owned by Tribune Co., which owns the Los Angeles Times.)

"Dawson's Creek" and "Felicity" remain on Wednesdays, while "Charmed" comes back Thursdays without one of its three stars, Shannen Doherty, who is leaving the show. The WB is dropping the teen-oriented dramas "Roswell" and "Popular."
     In addition to Alexander's prime-time return on ABC, NBC is still pondering a vehicle for another "Seinfeld" co-star, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, to premiere early next year. Because the show was pulled from consideration for the fall, no prototype has as yet been shot.
     NBC will televise the Winter Olympics in February, which should provide the network an advantage promoting and launching additional series in the weeks following the Games.
     Here is NBC's fall schedule (new series are in bold):
     Sunday: "Dateline NBC," "Weakest Link," "Law & Order: Criminal Intent," "Undercover."
     Monday: "Weakest Link," "Third Watch," "Crossing Jordan."
     Tuesday: "Emeril," "Three Sisters," "Frasier," "Scrubs," "Dateline NBC."
     Wednesday: "Ed," "The West Wing," "Law & Order."
     Thursday: "Friends," "Inside Schwartz," "Will & Grace," "Just Shoot Me," "ER."
     Friday: "Providence," "Dateline NBC," "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit."
     Saturday: Movie.