If You Just Have to Have That Dress You Saw on TV, Log On

For those who take their fashion and decorating cues from television shows (who doesn’t?), there’s a Web site that aims to get viewers the same outfits and home furnishings that make up the scenery of series like NBC’s “Titans,” Showtime’s “The Chris Isaak Show,” UPN’s “The Hughleys,” VH1’s “Back in Black” and CBS’ “Diagnosis Murder.”

The site, AsSeenIn.com, launched last spring with merchandise from a number of Aaron Spelling-created dramas--”Beverly Hills, 90210,” “Charmed” and “7th Heaven” among them. That’s no coincidence, as Spelling is an equity partner in the venture and many of the site’s featured shows are part of the Viacom family, home to Spelling’s production company.

A newly revamped version of the site, launching today, gives virtual tours of the sets and links fans directly to the manufacturer or retailer of the clothing, accessories and furniture on its featured shows. The brands range from the tony--Tahari and Ethan Allen--to the everyday trendy--Steve Madden and Skechers.

“Studios and networks have always gotten calls about the products on TV shows, everything from the carpets on the floors to the makeup and wardrobe people are wearing,” said Sam Baldoni, a 20-year veteran of product placement who is the site’s chairman and CEO. “This is intended to be the place fans can go to find out where this stuff came from and how to get their hands on it.”

Gimmicks Include Sweepstake Giveaways

A “Look Like a Titan” sweepstakes, also launching today, will give away an ABS slip dress worn by Yasmine Bleeth, a Tadashi gown off the back of co-star Elizabeth Bogush and a set of Lenox china like the one used by the show’s rich and dysfunctional family. The prime-time soap premieres tonight.

Because the Web-surfing audience is demographically broad, the site’s executives said they wanted a mix of dramas, sitcoms, music shows and specials. Upcoming: product from the “Miss U.S.A.” pageant.

The site is designed both to generate revenue and to help drive viewers to the shows, particularly new ones, providing “insider’s guides” and behind-the-scenes tidbits. Commerce is key, however.

In addition to its spotlighted shows and products, a “by request” button lets fans ask about any item they see on screen. AsSeenIn.com will find the product and send an e-mail back, telling the fans where they can buy it.

So far, those who stop by the site have had an ongoing fascination with the clothes in “Charmed,” a WB series starring Shannen Doherty, Alyssa Milano and Holly Marie that attracts a large teen girl audience, and the furniture in “Any Day Now,” a Lifetime drama with a 25- to 49-year-old skew.

Carsey-Werner, one of the more prolific independent TV producers, is in talks with AsSeenIn.com about putting virtual set tours and merchandise on the site for a number of its current shows, which include “3rd Rock From the Sun,” “That ‘70s Show” and the upcoming “Normal, Ohio.”

“We look at it as a way to expand the promotional platform of our shows, and it’s a new avenue to reach our core constituency,” said Bob Raleigh, Carsey-Werner’s president of domestic television. “And it may prove profitable.”

The process that will enable viewers to become buyers is only going to get easier as the technology advances. Baldoni’s prepping for the day, sometime late next year, he predicts, when viewers will see a dress or lamp on a show, click on that item through their digital Internet-linked televisions, and buy it, all without interrupting their show-watching.

AsSeenIn.com, which also peddles the music heard on TV shows, has formed movie and music video divisions (the company works with these TV productions, from the nascent stages, on product placement).

Long-term plans include movies. As the world moves increasingly to wireless, Baldoni is looking at a plan that would allow the site to send a message to a movie-goer’s cell phone just after the lights come up that gives the fan a chance to buy some of the products just seen in the film.

More immediately, fans who click through to a site, such as Macy’s, to buy clothes or housewares they’ve seen on a show, will be able to print out a coupon for a discount on those goods. Baldoni expects that feature to arrive by the holidays.

“There won’t necessarily be hundreds of [high-appeal products] like the ‘Ally McBeal’ pajamas each season,” he said, referring to the PJs that everyone just had to have after Calista Flockhart wore them in the now-famous “dancing baby” scene from two years ago. “But we think it can involve millions of people buying product.”