‘SNL’ Ready to Become a Player in Prime Time

President-elect George W. Bush received some bad news Monday: Not only can he expect to be skewered more often on “Saturday Night Live,” but the show is moving to prime time as well.

NBC’s late-night comedy franchise, which has enjoyed a resurgence thanks to a post-presidential election mess that seemed to write its own sketches, will be showcased Thursday nights on NBC during the first two weeks of the February ratings sweeps period, with a 20-minute version of “SNL” to follow extended episodes of “Friends.”

The move represents a two-pronged strategy by NBC to counter the hairy beast of reality shows, “Survivor: The Australian Outback,” which CBS will air Thursday nights from 8 to 9 p.m. after its debut following the Super Bowl on Jan. 28.

Indeed, “SNL’s” writers, as a way of issuing their mordant reply to NBC’s programming moves, have suggested that Scott Sassa, NBC’s West Coast president, and Jeff Zucker, the network’s new entertainment chief, serve as special guest hosts Feb. 1, explaining to viewers their fear of “Survivor.” Insiders say it was Zucker, making his first bold move in setting strategy, who wanted to put “SNL” in prime time.

NBC will expand “Friends” to 40 minutes, from 8 to 8:40 p.m., for four weeks beginning Feb. 1. Original “SNL” sketches will air from 8:40 to 9 p.m. the first two weeks, and NBC is expected to schedule special clip packages of “Friends” to round out the hour on Feb. 15 and 22.

Though the “Friends” cast will not be paid extra for the expanded episodes, they would receive money for the clip shows, in which cast members select their favorite “Friends” moments. The expanded episodes are not expected to present a challenge given that sitcoms typically trim scenes.

NBC’s inability to develop a hit comedy Thursday nights at 8:30 is giving “SNL” exposure on the network’s most-watched night of the week, in one of the key sweeps months stations use to determine advertising rates.

“Saturday Night Live” is enjoying its best ratings this season since 1994-95, averaging 9.2 million viewers, a 14% increase over a year ago. The show parodied the presidential campaign to greatly popular effect, with cast members Will Ferrell and Darrell Hammond doing impersonations of Bush and Vice President Al Gore, respectively. Hammond has since dropped Gore to hone Vice President-elect Dick Cheney, a caricature he introduced Saturday.

An NBC spokesman couldn’t say yet whether the additional 20-minute “SNL” would have a guest host or would simply contain several sketches. The show’s Saturday edition has a scheduled hiatus the first week of its Thursday run.

In addition to the prime-time exposure Thursdays, some cities on the West Coast will air “SNL” in prime time for eight weeks beginning in early February, when NBC launches the XFL, the new football league backed by the network and the World Wrestling Federation.

Locally, KNBC-TV will run XFL games live at 5 p.m., followed by news and the weekend edition of “Extra.” “Saturday Night Live” will then be shown in prime time, at 9:30 p.m., with the same installment repeating in the show’s regular 11:30 p.m. slot after late local news.

KNSD-TV in San Diego, which is also owned by NBC, will employ a similar pattern of running “SNL” at 9:30 and 11:30 p.m. for the duration of the XFL season. The network is urging affiliates in the Pacific time zone to do the same--perhaps even carrying the show live at 8:30 p.m., when it is broadcast on the East Coast.

Some stations may balk, however, concerned about both the late-night show’s racy content as well as sacrificing time to the network when they might earn more money by running local or syndicated programming. In fact, NBC’s Palm Springs affiliate is currently planning to run XFL games on a delayed basis, at 8 p.m., the same time they will begin in the Eastern time zone.

Additional discussions regarding affiliates’ scheduling plans are expected this weekend, when the network and stations meet at the National Assn. of Television Program Executives convention in Las Vegas.