NBC PUTS ITS MONEY ON 'FRIENDS'

After his first year on the job as NBC's West Coast president,Scott Sassa said he has learned at least one thing.

"Who said money can't buy 'Friends'?" Sassa said here Mondayduring his introduction of the fall schedule to advertisers andgeneral managers of network affiliates.

The $40 million thrown at the cast of NBC's most popular comedywas the subject of good humor through the two-hour presentation.

The audience at the Metropolitan Opera may have anticipatedseeing Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox Arquette, Matthew Perry, MattLeBlanc, Lisa Kudrow and David Schwimmer when Sassa said he wasabout to introduce the six people who made the deal possible.

"The 'Friends' legal team," said Sassa, as a group of actors withbriefcases went on stage, one doing cartwheels.

"The one doing flips is David Schwimmer's lawyer," cracked Sassa.

NBC also offered a sneak peak at Thursday's season finale of thesitcom, in which Monica (Cox Arquette) has to choose betweenmarriage proposals by Chandler (Perry) and her old and olderboyfriend, Richard (Tom Selleck).

Garth Ancier, NBC's entertainment president, said they thoughtabout showing the final scene but decided against it.

"You will cry," he promised.

If Monica doesn't pick Chandler over Richard, then some of that$40 million should go to new writers.

NBC also is trying to buy an audience on Saturdays this fall. Itis joining ABC and becoming the second network to go to mostly rerunmovies on the low-viewing night. And it also is going to hand out$100,000 on Saturdays to the winner of an Internet trivia contestduring the weekly movie, which will end its run in February when NBCbegins airing games of a new football league, XFL.

The presentation also had a priceless moment in which NBCcensored a bit by Conan O'Brien and Triumph, the opinionated dog onhis late-night show. Ancier said it was felt that the language inthe bit was too raw for the audience of advertisers. But O'Brienreportedly was so displeased at being censored that NBC is fortunatethat advertisers couldn't hear his response.

Fans of "The Pretender," "Profiler," "Stark Raving Mad," "TheOthers," "Veronica's Closet," "Suddenly Susan" and the sitcom set inour fair city, "Jesse," also may be shouting expletives deleted. Allhave been canceled by NBC, which also has cut the popular newsmagazine "Dateline" from five programs a week to three. Ancier saidthat he had to personally tell "Jesse" star Christina Applegateabout the cancellation.

"As appealing as Christina and (co-star) Bruno Campos are, I feltit was time to give another show a shot in that time period," saidAncier. "It was not that the show was bad, it was just it wasn'tquite cooking after two years."

The fate of "Jesse" may have been sealed because of thesurprising mid-season success of "Daddio," the comedy starringMichael Chiklis as a stay-at-home father whose wife works. NBCrenewed "Daddio," though it gave it the killer 8 p.m. Monday timeslot. Similarly, "3rd Rock from the Sun" moves to 8:30 p.m. Monday,which should be its final resting place in more ways than one.

The network is adding seven new series -- four new comedies andthree new dramas -- in hopes of reclaiming first place from ABC,which has ridden "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" to a first-placefinish this season.

The first of the six networks to announce its schedule here thisweek, NBC tried to anticipate ABC's scheduling of "Millionaire" byscheduling shows that appeal to younger audiences opposite it.

It has moved "Frasier" back to 9 p.m. Tuesdays and given the 9p.m. Thursday slot to "Will & Grace," followed by "Just Shoot Me."Ancier said after the presentation that "W&G" got the prized slotbecause it is a younger show than the aging "Frasier," entering itsthird season this fall.

The clips over the seven new shows on NBC's schedule wereconsiderably less than impressive, making one wonder if NBC mightconsider giving away $100,000 on other nights to get an audience.But it is unfair to judge series on the basis of short clips,especially in comedies.

Here's a capsule look at the new shows:

"Deadline," 9 p.m. Monday: Character actor Oliver Platt("Bulworth") essentially is playing Jimmy Breslin in this drama fromDick Wolf ("Law & Order"). Platt is a crusading New York newspapercolumnist who won a Pulitzer and has recruited a bunch of eageryoung journalists "to uncover what many powerful special interestswant to stay dead and buried." The clips were so deadly that Plattmay be shouting for rewrite quickly.

"The Michael Richards Show," 8 p.m. Tuesday: Richards becomes thefirst "Seinfeld" alum to head back to sitcom land, playing abumbling detective in Los Angeles with obvious similarities toKramer. Richard said the clips, which emphasized his stumbling,misrepresent the comedy, which has been given Jerry's stamp ofapproval.

"Tucker," 8:30 p.m. Tuesday: Tucker Pierce (Eli Marienthal) is a14-year-old with a beautiful but poor mom, who tells him it is timefor them to move in with her older sister (Katey Sagal of "Marriedwith Children") and her bruising 15-year-old son. "Malcolm in theMiddle" it ain't, judging by the clips.

"DAG," 9:30 p.m. Tuesday: David Alan Gier is a bumbling SecretService agent, who is reassigned to protect the first lady (DeltaBurke) after he went for cover during an assassination attempt onthe president. From the clips, it is in danger of being a one-jokepremise.

"TITANS," 8 p.m. Wednesday: Now that "Millionaire" has revivedgame shows, NBC wants to revive the guilty pleasure soap opera withthis laughable Aaron Spelling drama starring Victoria Principal,Perry King, Casper Van Dien ("Starship Troopers"), Yasmine Bleethand several others. Van Dien plays Chandler Williams, a fighterpilot who comes home to Beverly Hills to discover that his formergirlfriend, Heather (Bleeth), is about to marry his father (King).

"The Steven Weber Show," 8:30 p.m Thursday: The former "Wings"star is an advertising agent who has to overcome a hex placed on himby a blind date. It is hard to see from the clips how this serieswill break NBC's post-"Friends" hex.

"ED," 8 p.m. Sunday: CBS passed on this drama from "Late Showwith David Letterman" writer-producers Jon Beckerman and RobBurnett. It is about a New York lawyer who moves back to the Midwestafter he loses his job and discovers that his wife is cheating onhim. Then he romances a beautiful girl he went to high school withand buys a bowling alley. So maybe it will sell in Buffalo.