ABC essentially began as a cast-off from rival NBC. In 1940, the Federal Communications Commission enacted a rule that said no radio station could be affiliated with a company that owned more than one network. The rule was aimed directly at NBC, which operated the profitable Red Network, and the more upscale Blue Network (which competed against CBS). Three years later, the US Supreme Court upheld the FCC decision, forcing NBC to sell the weaker Blue Network to Life Savers candy mogul Edward Noble for eight million dollars. The nation’s newest radio network (later renamed the American Broadcasting Company) was barely competitive with NBC and CBS; it nearly went out of business when it tried to compete with its larger rivals in the new medium of television. But in 1953, ABC officially merged with United Paramount Theaters, a movie theatre chain. The marriage pumped much-needed cash into the struggling network. But it would take more than two decades before ABC could compete with the big boys. (In the 1960’s, TV executives would joke, "Want to end the Vietnam war? Air it on ABC; it’ll be over in 13 weeks!")

By 1976, ABC passed its rivals to become the top-rated television network for the first time in its history. ABC was a trendsetter in many respects. It was the first US network to realize the power of appealing to young families and kids; the strategy paid off beautifully. (Such ABC staples as “Batman,” “The Brady Bunch” and “The Partridge Family” are still cultural touchstones for many of us who came of age in the late 60’s and early 70’s.) It was not the inventor of the made-for-television movie or miniseries, but ABC helped make them popular. And it earned a reputation as an innovator in sports programmeming; by the early 1980’s, ABC won new respect in the field of news coverage as well. In 1985, ABC was purchased by Capital Cities, a major television station owner. Ten years later, the company became part of the Walt Disney empire. The deal had to be satisfying for Disney Chairman Michael Eisner; in the mid-1960’s and early 70’s, he worked in ABC’s programmeming department!

I have listed in chronological order the twenty programmes that I feel have defined the ABC network over the years--and as with my recent ranking of NBC’s programmes, no show on the list premiered after 1990. And with one exception, these are regularly scheduled series. (“Roots” played such a large role in ABC’s history, I simply could not ignore what is still the highest-rated US miniseries ever). So here we go:

1. The Lone Ranger (1949-1957): One of ABC’s first TV hits, it cost the network a million dollars a year to produce 52 episodes--big money back then. Clayton Moore played the famed masked man; Jay Silverheels was his faithful Indian companion Tonto. It was fairly standard Western fare aimed at kids, but the outdoor scenery and the performances of Moore and Silverheels lifted “The Lone Ranger” above its premise. So popular was the show that when A.C. Nielsen began ranking television series, “Lone Ranger” was ABC’s first-ever top ten series. By 1957, the trend shifted toward more adult Westerns--but “ The Lone Ranger” continues to live on in reruns and home video. Hi-yo Silver, away!

2. The Adventures Of Ozzie & Harriet (1952-1966): It still holds the record as the longest-running situation comedy in US history (although “The Simpsons” will tie that record in the 2002-2003 season). Long before “The Osbournes,” this was the Ozzie TV viewers loved. Ozzie Nelson was a popular bandleader in the 1930’s; he later married his band’s singer Harriet Hilliard. The two became popular guests on various radio series, talking about their home life. “Ozzie & Harriet” actually made its debut on radio in 1944; young actors played sons David and Ricky, but the real-life Nelson brothers played themselves by 1949. Three years later, ABC brought the Nelsons to television. Ozzie did it all--he was a producer, director and scriptwriter. The show wasn’t laugh-out-loud funny, but it was a pleasant and leisurely view of what passed for the perfect suburban family of the 1950’s. Ricky (later Rick) became a best-selling rock and roll singer; an April 1957 episode called “Ricky The Drummer” helped sell thousands of copies of his first hit, a remake of Fats Domino’s “I’m Walking.” But times and tastes eventually changed; the Nelsons were given their walking papers in 1966. Critics may denounce the 1950’s as the “Ozzie And Harriet” era. But for fans of “America’s favorite family,” it was a complement.

3. Disneyland/Walt Disney Presents (1954-1961): Looking back, it’s hard to believe that CBS and NBC turned down a chance to air a Walt Disney-hosted programme, complete with proven and family-friendly Disney material. But Disney also wanted money to finish his dream amusement park in Anaheim, California, and that was the sticking point. Only ABC was willing to help fund the park, in exchange for a weekly series. “Disneyland,” as the series (and park) became known, turned into ABC’s biggest hit since “The Lone Ranger”--even airing on CBS and NBC stations in cities where there were no ABC affiliates! It also spawned what may have been one of the first examples of a mini-series--the wildly popular multi-part “Adventures Of Davy Crockett” ABC benefited from its Disney connection in other ways--the hit series ”The Mickey Mouse Club” and “Zorro,” along with profits from its share of the Disneyland park. In 1961, Walt Disney moved his show to NBC, which had the ability to broadcast in colour. Today, ABC is part of the Disney empire, and “The Wonderful World Of Disney” leads off the network’s prime time schedule every Sunday night. Talk about coming full circle!

4. Cheyenne (1955-1962): Warner Brothers was the largest movie studio at the time to begin producing series for television. The weekly “Warner Brothers Presents” rotated three filmed series based on the studio’s movies--”King’s Row”; “Casablanca” and “Cheyenne”. With a then-unknown Clint Walker in the title role, the adult western “Cheyenne” was the only one of the three to succeed; it became a series of its own a year later. “Cheyenne’s” success not only paved the way for dozens of “oaters” on all three networks, it proved that viewers didn’t care whether a programme was live or filmed, as long as it was entertaining. The ABC-WB deal signalled the beginning of the end of live television--what was known in the US as the “Golden Age” of the medium. Filmed episodic series, for better or worse, were here to stay.

5. American Bandstand (1957-1987): Until 1957, ABC had virtually no programmes running in daytime. That changed when the network picked up a local afternoon dance show from its Philadelphia affiliate WFIL. “Bandstand” had been a hit in Philly since 1952, and Dick Clark had just taken over as host in 1956, after its original host, Bob Horn, was let go. Clark always said the key to “Bandstand” was simple: The kids danced and he played the music. Clark’s good looks and adult attitude helped persuade many parents that rock and roll was not the evil its critics claimed it was. (It helped that the kids had to adhere to a dress code--no leather jackets or tight dresses allowed.) “Bandstand” weathered the British Invasion, acid rock, folk rock, disco, punk, and New Wave until ABC cancelled the show in 1987. (The show lived on in syndication and cable’s USA network for two more years.) It’s no longer on the air, but there’s no doubt that “American Bandstand” remains a true artefact of popular culture.

6. The Real McCoys (1957-1963): During its struggling years, ABC learned that situation comedy was the key to drawing audiences--especially young families with kids. By the late 1950’s, ABC had such comedies as “Ozzie And Harriet”, “The Donna Reed Show” and “Leave It To Beaver”. But its most successful sitcom of the era was “The Real McCoys”, created by two brothers named Pincus and produced by entertainer Danny Thomas. The story of a West Virginia family who settles down in the San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles, it was the first successful rural comedy. With three-time Academy Award winner Walter Brennan as cantankerous grandfather Amos McCoy and Richard Crenna as son Luke, “The Real McCoys” became ABC’s first top-ten sitcom. It went off the air in 1963 (after moving to CBS for a final season), but not before its success inspired other bucolic comedies such as “The Andy Griffith Show” and “The Beverly Hillbillies.”

7. 77 Sunset Strip (1958-1964): By the late 1950’s, the US broadcast networks were loaded with Westerns. But producer Roy Huggins, who had a hand in two of ABC’s most popular oaters--”Cheyenne” and “Maverick”--helped usher in a new dramatic format, the action-adventure. “77 Sunset Strip” (from the Warner Brothers factory) featured Efrem Zimbalist Junior and Roger Smith as two sharp private investigators, with a beautiful phone operator to attract the men and the hip parking attendant Kookie (Ed Byrnes) to bring younger viewers in. The mixture worked, and it wasn’t long before WB began cloning the “Strip” formula with such shows as “Hawaiian Eye”; “Bourbon Street Beat” and “Surfside Six”. For a time, ABC gave its rivals a run for their money (a special Nielsen survey in 1960 discovered ABC was the top-rated network in cities where each network had full-time affiliates). But each new WB detective show seemed to be the same format in a different city--”two parts private eye, one part cutie pie.” By 1962, viewers finally said “enough,” and the ABC-WB partnership was all but over. “77 Sunset Strip” gave up the ghost two years later, but its influence on action-adventure television continues to this day.

8. Wide World Of Sports (1961-Present): In 1961, ABC executives decided to become more aggressive in obtaining and broadcasting sports events; the network felt it could compete on an equal basis with CBS and NBC. A former NBC producer named Roone Arledge came to ABC, and began outlining a theory that viewers wanted to feel they were involved in the game--not only the fans, but those who didn’t care about football, boxing or other sports (especially women). Arledge’s proving ground was “Wide World Of Sports,” the first US series that presented different sporting events in one programme. From boxing and bowling to more obscure sports such as log rolling, WWS began each show by promising viewers, “the thrill of victory, the agony of defeat.” And for the most part it delivered. “Wide World Of Sports” helped ABC’s announcers and producers sharpen their skills as the network began obtaining rights to such events as various Olympics games, Monday Night Football, and major boxing matches. By the 1970’s and 80’s, ABC could brag it was “the leader in sports programmeming”--and during those glory years, no one disputed the claim.

9. The Fugitive (1963-1967): The then-president of the ABC Network, Tom Moore, did not like the show’s premise--the weekly saga of a man on the run, who escaped from authorities after being convicted of killing his wife--a crime he did not commit. To elude capture, he assumed different names and took small jobs, ready to run if he thought the cops were after him. It did sound implausible, but the show went on the air anyway--largely because it was created by the inventive Roy Huggins. David Janssen was the right actor to play the accused Dr. Richard Kimble, and “The Fugitive” became a successful drama for ABC. In a move that would set a precedent for series to come, “The Fugitive” came to a definitive conclusion when its run ended: In the final episodes, Kimble found the “one armed man” who he said killed his wife. The man who had been chasing the good doctor, Lieutenant Gerard, shot the “one armed man” before he could confess to killing Kimble’s wife. But another witness came forward, clearing Kimble once and for all. “August 29th, 1967,” said show narrator Bill Conrad, “the day the running stopped.” That final episode was the most-watched show in US television history--a record it would hold until the “Who Shot J.R.?” episode of “Dallas” in 1980.

10. General Hospital (1963-Present): The first successful ABC daytime drama (soap opera for those of us in the US), GH began as a typical sudser centring on the personal and professional lives of Dr. Steve Hardy and his devoted nurse Jessie Brewer at Port Charles’ General Hospital. By 1977, GH began losing audience and needed a shot of excitement. Enter producer Gloria Monty, who supercharged the aging show with younger characters and faster pacing--along with plenty of sex. In fact, the turning point for the show came in 1979, when disco owner and mob member Luke Spencer (Anthony Geary) “ravished” beautiful and young Laura Baldwin (Genie Frances) on the dance floor. Only in “soap land” could such an event evolve into the “romance of a lifetime.” In 1981, GH achieved the highest ratings ever for a daytime drama when Luke and Laura tied the knot. By this time, the show had become more of an action-adventure than a traditional soap. Not surprisingly, other daytime shows begin following the GH formula of beautiful young people and mysterious intrigue. “General Hospital” still has a large and loyal fan base, but in a world of increased television competition, it’s no longer the phenomenon that it was two decades ago.