Geraldine Laybourne knows how far a light touch can go on cable TV. During her 15-plus years at Nickelodeon, she helped launch some of the coolest kids' shows of the '80s and gave reruns hipster cachet.
Now as president of Disney/ABC Cable Networks, her latest challenge is that outpost of estrogen on the cable dial, Lifetime Television. "I would like to see a sense of humor," says Laybourne, reflecting on a network that isn't exactly famous for its laugh-a-minute pace. "There's a lot that's funny about women's lives."
So far, she's shaken up Friday nights with a block of programs referred to as "The Place." Viewers can tune in to such non Valerie Bertinelli fare as Three Blind Dates - a kind of Singled Out meets The Real World but with less hooting - or The Dish, a buffet of pop culture that's as breezy as an IKEA ad.
"At my very first board meeting my words were, 'If it ain't broke, fix it anyway,'" Laybourne recalls. "Lifetime earned the place it's in. It has an audience. Now we can afford to do more original programming." The generation that grew up watching Nick at Nite eagerly awaits.
- Mary Elizabeth Williams
ELECTRIC WORD
Spectrum Wants to Be (Almost) Free
Chickelodeon
