FOX IS UNVEILING FOUR NEW SERIES--FIRST, THE FANGS

Jamie Kellner, president and chief operating officer of Fox Broadcasting Co., recently noted (with eyebrows significantly raised) that there would be a full moon for the debut episode at 8 tonight of “Werewolf,” the newest entry in the program service’s fledgling prime-time schedule.

Well, not quite a full moon, Kellner. That was Friday.

Still, the moon will be full enough to make tonight’s launch of Fox Broadcasting’s Saturday night lineup--with a special two-hour “Werewolf”--eerily appropriate. (Also eerily appropriate: The show’s creator is named Frank Lupo --Italian for wolf .)

Fox Broadcasting Co., a satellite-delivered national program service that supplies programming to KTTV Channel 11 here and other independents nationwide, made its first prime-time programming splash in April with a lineup of Sunday night programs; the service had joined the late-night circuit last October with its first program, “Late Night With Joan Rivers.” Fox still airs “Late Night” but without Rivers, following the comedienne’s controversial removal from the show in May.

Saturday night marks not only a new phase of the moon but the newest phase in the Fox plan to launch one night of new prime-time programming every six to 12 months (next will be Friday, then Thursday, and so on). Fox chose to start with weekends on the theory that it would be easier to get audiences thinking in terms of a new viewing alternative then, rather than on some random weeknight.

Tonight and over the next two Saturdays, Fox will unveil four series: “Werewolf,” a half-hour horror drama about a young werewolf on a quest to rid himself of the curse; “The New Adventures of Beans Baxter,” a comedy about a teen-ager who becomes entangled in top-secret espionage; “Down and Out in Beverly Hills,” a comedy based on the movie, and “Karen’s Song,” starring Patty Duke as a 40-year-old who falls in love with a 28-year-old man.

“Werewolf,” slated to find its permanent home at 9 p.m., was thought to be the best show to compete with the strongest network show in that time slot, NBC’s “Golden Girls,” because it should appeal to males 18-49 who don’t watch “Golden Girls.” Kellner predicts that, although lead werewolf Eric Cord (John York) is post-college age, the show will have wide teen-wolf appeal as well.

“There hasn’t been, to my knowledge, any kind of action-horror series since (the 1974-75 series) ‘The Night Stalker,’ ” Kellner said. “It has a young male lead, a handsome male lead--at least, half the time he’s handsome.”

Fox programming chief Garth Ancier added: “It gives us something more defined than just going for another cop show.”

Fox changed its original plans to begin the Saturday schedule May 30 to allow more time to concentrate on promoting its Sunday lineup, which includes “21 Jump Street,” an action-adventure show that has turned out to be the most popular Sunday entry; “Married . . . With Children,” an insult-comedy featuring unhappy couple Al and Peg Bundy; the romantic comedy “Duet,” “The Tracey Ullman Show,” featuring British comedienne Ullman in an unconventional blend of skits and animation, and “Mr. President,” starring George C. Scott as the chief executive.

For Sundays, the delay paid off. Kellner and Fox programming chief Garth Ancier both said that ratings have steadily increased over the last few months, and all the Sunday shows were considered successful enough to be renewed.

“Actually, we had to have these shows work,” Ancier said. “We had some back-up shows, but not enough to cover if anything had been a dismal failure. If you get talented people, there is a growth period--they can usually fix a show. The shows have gotten better throughout the season. That’s true of any show--the first season of ‘Cosby’ was not as good as the second. We’re really looking forward to our second season.”

Ancier does not believe that “The Late Show” falls into the “dismal failure” category despite the demise of Rivers. “What Joan did for us was launch us as a station group in this venture,” he said. “It would have been much more difficult to do without a person to rally around. I think the challenge for us now is discovering what a late show is without Joan Rivers as host, somebody the show was really built around.”

Kellner said that advertisers have become increasingly interested in Fox’s young, affluent demographics. “Advertisers are saying that we’re where NBC was five years ago,” Kellner chortled, referring to NBC’s rise to No.1 both in the ratings and with advertisers for targeting young audiences. “Major advertisers are treating us like one of the three networks. They’re treating us like a big guy!”

For the Saturday lineup, however, postponement of the debut had both pros and cons. On the positive side, the new programs may provide a welcome alternative to the endless reruns that constitute the networks’ summer schedules; on the down side, it’s more difficult to lure audiences, particularly young ones, indoors to watch TV during the summer. The July start date also requires the show’s producers to go straight into creating new fall episodes without a break.

Both Kellner and Ancier did point out one advantage to being the new network on the block: They can wait until they have good shows before launching each new night, rather than having to fill the whole schedule regardless of the quality of what’s available.

The same theory that led Fox to delay Saturday night caused the company to launch its new shows one or two at a time rather than all at once: Only so many promotional spots were available on Fox stations. Beginning with two hours of “Werewolf” (studded with plenty of promotional spots for the upcoming new shows), Fox will then add “Beans Baxter” and “Karen’s Song” July 18 and will complete the package with “Down and Out” on July 25.

“We don’t have the financial power to do more than that,” Ancier said.

Ancier said that Sunday nights have taught Fox that it’s easier to promote a “young” show such as “Werewolf” than one such as “Karen’s Song,” which might draw a slightly older crowd, simply because young audiences familiar with cable and video are more likely to sample new alternatives.

Along with “Werewolf,” Fox makes another debut today: Fox Broadcasting will join the Big Three in the A.C. Nielsen Co.’s national ratings. The new network will be included in the widely distributed Nielsen Television Index, which Ancier called a historic event.

They know they will be at the bottom. They don’t care. They just want to be there.

“I think it will be a psychological shock--I’m ready for it, I hope other people are--that, starting next week, they’ll get an NTI listing with four networks on it,” Ancier said. “And the shows ranked 65 through 70 (the lowest) will be Fox Broadcasting shows.

“It won’t say that our shows aired on smaller stations in some markets, or that we got only 85% coverage or less (the networks reach about 95% of households in most markets),” Ancier continued. “But it’s better than not being on there. I think it’s a thrill that they decided to include us.”

Kellner agreed. “We’re supposed to be last,” he said. “ABC took 20 years to get anywhere. (But) we’re not in this business for six months or a year, we’re in this business forever, and major users of (advertising) time consult that (NTI list) first in tracking to see what shows are doing what. And while our total numbers may be lower, what they want is to see that we show growth. If we can do that, believe me, they’ll be rooting for us.

“It’s hard to get people to try something new when they’ve only had the three networks for 30 years. The key is, we should stay young, and we should stay good. The feedback I’m getting is that people who have tried our shows think our shows are as good or better than what is on the three networks.

“Fox Broadcasting is the best-kept secret in the world.”