NBC’S SCHEDULE STRATEGY: PEPPER THE LINEUP WITH SOME OLD FRIENDS

NBC will take its first step toward life after “Friends” and “Frasier,” both of which are entering their final season, by announcing a fall schedule today with new comedies starring Whoopi Goldberg and network veteran John Larroquette, plus dramas featuring Rob Lowe, Alicia Silverstone and James Caan.

Schedules for ABC and the WB network were also taking shape Sunday, as programmers finalize which programs to buy, keep or throw away. All six broadcast networks unveil their lineups to media buyers this week -- an annual rite of spring triggering advance sales of billions of dollars in ad time. CBS, Fox and UPN all announce their lineups later in the week.

NBC officials have conceded this is a crucial year for them, with some long-running hits nearing the end and Fox posing a formidable challenge to its demographic supremacy thanks largely to “American Idol.” As a result, the network must establish newer programs to remain both a destination for viewers and darling of advertisers, who covet the upscale young-adult skew of its audience.

Seeking to revive Tuesday nights, NBC will place new star-driven sitcoms featuring Goldberg and Larroquette (in his third NBC show) around “Frasier.” The lone Thursday change involves the addition of “Coupling” -- a racy half-hour about young singles adapted from a popular BBC series -- replacing “Good Morning, Miami” between “Will & Grace” and “ER.”

“Miami” could still end up on Tuesday nights. Part of the uncertainty has hinged on a last-minute attempt to sign Heather Locklear to join the series, after her own new-series vehicle failed to make the cut.

In the tentatively titled “Whoopi,” Goldberg plays a former singing star who now runs a hotel with her brother. “Happy Family,” meanwhile, pairs Larroquette and “Cybill’s” Christine Baranski as parents whose grown children move home.

As for dramas, “The West Wing” alumnus Rob Lowe didn’t take long to find his way back to the old neighborhood, starring in “Lyon’s Den,” which casts him as an attorney at a Washington, D.C., law firm. The series is expected to precede “Wing” on Wednesday nights.

Likely joining the Monday lineup will be “Las Vegas,” starring James Caan as a casino security chief, with Molly Sims as his daughter and Nikki Cox as a high-priced escort. “Miss Match,” from “Sex and the City” creator Darren Star, will lead off Fridays, featuring Silverstone as a divorce attorney who starts a second career as a professional matchmaker.

Among programs renewed that weren’t assured of coming back heading into the schedule-setting derby are “Ed” and “Boomtown.” In addition, “Crossing Jordan” -- bruised by competition from another forensic crime drama, CBS’ “CSI: Miami” -- is expected to be shifted off Mondays, with “Third Watch” moving to 10 p.m. after “Las Vegas.”

Existing NBC programs that will reportedly be canceled include “Just Shoot Me,” “Watching Ellie” and the first-year sitcoms “Hidden Hills,” “In-Laws” and “A.U.S.A.” All told, NBC will leave only one night, Sunday, unchanged.

Facing a bigger rebuilding task, ABC is planning to add four new comedies to its lineup and try to revive its “TGIF” franchise of Friday-night family sitcoms, moving “The George Lopez Show” from Wednesdays to help prop up that night.

The network has also secured an 11th-hour renewal agreement on “The Practice,” with plans to return the legal drama to Sunday nights. The show’s producer, David E. Kelley, blasted ABC after the program struggled upon being moved to Mondays in February.

Sources say ABC might also move “The Wonderful World of Disney” to Saturday nights, after disappointing ratings this season; not incidentally, the network is owned by the Walt Disney Co.

Among the new shows is a sitcom starring “Live With Regis & Kelly” host Kelly Ripa and Faith Ford as mismatched sisters, “Hope and Faith.” The project will be shot in New York, allowing Ripa to stay with the talk show, which is also distributed by Disney.

Two other ABC sitcoms both sound similar to popular films. “I’m With Her” is a “Notting Hill”-like premise about a man dating a famous woman (Teri Polo), while another untitled sitcom focuses on the son of a conservative couple who becomes involved with the daughter of gay parents, bearing a resemblance to “The Birdcage.”

ABC is also ordering one direct movie adaptation, “Karen Sisco,” starring Carla Gugino as the marshal that Jennifer Lopez played in the movie “Out of Sight.” Several other crime-fighting shows are in the works, with the network expected to renew its “Dragnet” revival (moving it to Saturdays) and order “Threat Matrix,” a series dealing with government efforts to thwart terrorism.

The WB network will tap into the comic-book vein again with “Tarzan and Jane,” an update of the classic that brings the wild man to New York City and pairs him with a female detective.

The WB is also expected to renew “Angel,” the “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” spinoff that has garnered modest ratings this season but which, like its forebear, enjoys a strong cult following.