NBC to Unveil Fall Pilots in Summer : Television: The network will try to hook viewers early as a reaction to a fiercely competitive prime-time environment.

In a dramatic break with tradition necessitated by the increasingly competitive television arena, NBC on Monday spelled out its plans to unveil five of its new fall series a month before the prime-time season officially begins.

By the time the 1990-91 season gets under way Sept. 17, in fact, NBC will have previewed eight of its nine new series--most of them twice.

While it has been common for networks to launch a few shows each year shortly before the traditional start of the season in mid- to late-September, NBC’s decision to introduce five programs during the week of Aug. 20 is unprecedented for a major network.

NBC officials argued that precedent is of little value in the new TV environment. With Fox expanding its program service to five nights this fall, there will be a record 33 new series fighting to gain a foothold on the four networks.

“I think the competition is more fierce than ever--certainly in the 10 years I’ve been at NBC,” said Warren Littlefield, president of NBC Entertainment. “And it’s not just from Fox. It’s from cable, it’s from superstations, it’s from people’s lifestyles. So one of our greatest obstacles is, how do we get America to find our shows and start building a loyalty and anticipation for them?”

NBC’s answer was to take a page from Fox’s book. Noting the success that Fox has had the past couple of years rolling out fall series during the summer, while the competition was still in reruns, NBC decided to do the same--and, in the process, try to blunt the impact of a new series debuting Aug. 23 on Fox.

“This allows us to get out there without much competition and try to create some excitement for our shows and get the lion’s share of the audience’s attention,” Littlefield said in a telephone interview.

On Monday, Aug. 20, NBC will broadcast the pilot episodes of three series: “Hull High,” a musical drama set at a high school; “Parenthood,” a family show based on the feature film; and “Lifestories,” a medical anthology.

Jane Curtin’s new comedy, “Working It Out,” will be unveiled Aug. 22, and “Ferris Bueller,” a comedy about a boy in high school, will debut Aug. 23, opposite the opening installment of the new Fox comedy “Babes.”

The biggest risk in NBC’s early-launch plan, Littlefield said, is that not enough people will tune in to warrant the big promotional expenses involved. “As we’ve observed already this summer, just because a show is original doesn’t mean the audience wants to see it,” he said.

But the network has moved to deflate this concern: All five pilots will be shown a second time before the season begins to give viewers an additional opportunity to “sample” them. Two of NBC’s other new series also will get what the network termed this “double pump” strategy: “The Fanelli Boys,” a comedy premiering Sept. 8, and “Law & Order,” a crime drama debuting Sept. 13.

Littlefield also acknowledged the possibility that many viewers could watch the previews and not like them enough to come back in September. He contended, however, that if such a reaction is going to happen, it would have occurred anyway had the network stuck to introducing them in a more traditional manner in September. That potential drawback was outweighed by the headier prospects of hooking viewers now so they’ll be primed when the season begins, he said.