The Turning Pointe

Rumors of Grosse Pointe's death and dismemberment have been greatly exaggerated. Or have they? Although the network swiftly denied a recent report in Time claiming the revered yet ratings-challenged soap spoof — which wrapped its freshman season last month — had been axed, talk persists that the former bane of Aaron Spelling's existence will never see a second year.

WB entertainment co-president Jordan Levin — who just announced to TV Guide Online the imminent renewal of the network's other low-rated critical darling, Gilmore Girls — confesses that he can't make the same declaration about Grosse Pointe. However, he insists that should not be interpreted as any kind of cancellation notice.

"We all love the show. We're thrilled with the critical support it has received, and it is a show that will be considered in our scheduling session," Levin says. "It has so much to do beyond the quality of the show... There are a lot of variables that we don't know enough about yet. What are our needs going to be? What does our development [slate] look like?"

And if that sounds suspiciously like company-speak for "buh-bye," Levin points out that actions speak louder than words. "While other networks have been casting the Grosse Pointe stars in other pilots, we have refrained from doing that," he explains. "I think the fact that we know we have a fabulous cast — and [yet] we're letting other networks get their hooks into [them] and not doing it ourselves for other projects — speaks to how much we still believe in the show. We held together all of the pieces in case we want to bring it back.

"We're a pretty honest and straightforward network," Levin adds. "If there was something that wasn't working, we would tell everyone, 'Move on.' But that's not the way we feel about the show."

Levin also has a message for Grosse Pointe's diehard fans, who have been mailing bars of soap to the WB offices in a show of support. "If you want to tell your readers to send us bottles of scotch, I love scotch, so I'd be happy to get them," jokes the exec, who admits letter-writing campaigns will likely have little impact on their final decision. "I know there are huge fans out there, but I think we count as the biggest fans of the show; everyone in our company loves it."