Entertainment

10:37 AM CDT on Friday, May 19, 2006

By MANUEL MENDOZA / The Dallas Morning News

NEW YORK – "I have no reason to trust you," a newly hired writer tells a network executive in the upcoming NBC series Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. "You work in television."

The scene was part of NBC's sometimes self-deprecating pitch to advertisers Monday, kicking off the so-called "upfronts," when broadcast networks hawk their new wares to the people who pay the bills.

"It's overwhelming," Rob Donnell of Brand Arc, a Los Angeles product-placement company, said at the NBC after-party under the skating rink at Rockefeller Center. "By the time the week is over, you don't remember what you've seen. At some point, it all starts to blend together."

ABC follows with the unveiling of its fall prime-time schedule Tuesday while CBS, Fox and the newly created CW trot out their dog-and-pony presentations later in the week. Name stars make jokes at the networks' expense, extended clips roll on giant video screens, and network executives tout the new product. But can they be trusted?

Early advertising commitments are expected to be down, thanks to falling ratings and a wait-and-see attitude by media buyers, who now have more options with the spread of Internet-based entertainment for computers and handheld devices.

"You're starting to see a lot more integration across platforms," says a media supervisor for a Las Vegas ad agency who attended the NBC upfront and didn't want to be quoted by name. "The advertising community is pushing networks to think outside of the box."

"It's all about how to get the most bang for your buck," Mr. Donnell says. "It's not just about television ads."

Paul Drinkwater / NBC

Taylor Kitsch, Scott Porter and Gaius Charles in the NBC series Friday Night Lights

That wasn't lost on NBC. Its show of shows played out in the cavernous Radio City Music Hall, where NBC Universal executive Jeff Zucker talked about the company's expanding initiatives for the Web. But before the network got down to business, it tried to wow the crowd.

John Lithgow and Jeffrey Tambor, starring in an Odd Couple-style comedy called 20 Good Years, zoomed onto the stage on motorcycles. Later, Jerome Bettis and Cris Collingsworth tossed footballs into the balcony – and to Regis Philbin and Donald Trump down front – to promote the network's acquisition of Sunday night NFL games.

Matthew Perry, Bradley Whitford and the other stars of Studio 60, West Wing wunderkind Aaron Sorkin's highly anticipated comedy about the backstage doings at a Saturday Night Live-type show, kidded that the series probably would fail.

Writer-producer Paul Haggis (Crash, Million Dollar Baby), whose Irish-gangster series The Black Donnellys is on the midseason schedule, also gave fourth-place NBC the what-for. "You win a couple Oscars and you think you'd be on the No. 1 network," he said.

When entertainment president Kevin Reilly was introduced at the start, Rainn Wilson, one of the stars of The Office –a rare bright spot for NBC – came out and began pleading for money, like it was a telethon. Mr. Reilly interrupted with the admission that NBC has been experiencing some hard times.

The No. 1 network with younger viewers for years, NBC fell to No. 4 during the 2004-05 season and stayed there. Another star of The Office , B.J. Novak, made a joke at Mr. Reilly's expense. "I might be the highest-paid temp on television," he said, "except for maybe Kevin Reilly."

Ouch.

But it's true: In a volatile business with billions of dollars at stake, entertainment presidents come and go, and the upfronts are one place where they take a stand. As other network executives will do all week, Mr. Reilly also spun a more positive message, much like the way he's trying to turn around NBC's fortunes.

Torturing his metaphors, he said that the network needs "rocket fuel" for its schedule and a "bumper crop" of successful shows. "I'm ready," he confessed, "for this season to be over."

Each fall in network television, hope for hits springs eternal.

E-mail mmendoza@dallasnews.com