A story of births, deaths and survival

Two fledgling networks, both backed by powerful media forces, launched in January 1995, both vying for the dubious distinction of becoming the fifth largest broadcast network behind ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox.

It was a fight to the death -- literally. After more than a decade of triumphs and misfires, massive financial losses and continuing struggles, both succumbed, replaced last year by the merger of the two, the CW. But despite their downfall, the WB and UPN made a lasting impact on popular culture and the TV landscape with landmark series such as “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and “Gilmore Girls.”

The tale of the acrimonious and often comical rivalry between the networks is explored in “Season Finale: The Unexpected Rise and Fall of the WB and UPN,” by former WB executive Susanne Daniels and veteran entertainment journalist Cynthia Littleton. The book, released last week, pivots between insider memoir -- Daniels’ chronicle of being on the front lines of the WB launch -- and a more objective account by Littleton of UPN’s highs and lows.

In “Season Finale,” the professional ambitions of the executives from both networks trying to reach a youthful, underserved viewership are interspersed with juicy anecdotes behind hits (“Buffy,” “7th Heaven,” “Star Trek: Voyager” and “Felicity”) and misses (“The Secret Diary of Desmond Pfeiffer,” “Birds of Prey,” “Kevin Hill”).

“Our motivation was to document a moment in media history that will never happen again,” said Littleton, deputy editor of news development at Variety, noting the growing influence of vertical integration, cable networks and the Internet. “A lot of the shows were signature shows of their era. Their legacy is greater than their audience.”

Added Daniels, now the entertainment president of Lifetime Television: “There’s no denying that both networks changed the face of television.”

In the process, egos clashed, reputations were bruised, stars were made. Sarah Michelle Gellar almost became a supporting cast member of “Buffy” instead of the star. Keri Russell’s untimely cutting of her trademark curly locks hurt the popularity of “Felicity.” The defection of “Buffy” from the WB to UPN after a furious dispute between WB head Jamie Kellner and the show’s studio, 20th Century Fox, may have struck a lethal blow to the WB.

“Season Finale” is more than a little bittersweet for Daniels.

“It was very intense and cathartic to go back to those times,” she said. “It was a lot more emotional for me than intellectual. Everything we worked so hard for was jettisoned for the CW.” She chronicles her meltdown after a 2001 WB presentation for advertisers.

The book is coming out in the wake of the first anniversary of the CW, which is struggling in the ratings. New shows such as “Reaper,” “Aliens in America” and “Gossip Girl” have been praised by critics but have failed to find a mass audience.

“I think the CW has some good shows, and I’m really rooting for them,” Daniels said. “I like ‘Reaper’ -- maybe that has a shot. What has happened so far has been really disappointing. I really feel like I’m invested in it. So much of the TV business has to do with the stars aligning at the same time.”

It’s a quandary Daniels can relate to, as well as the cast of characters in the executive suites of “Season Finale,” who come off almost as colorful as the fictional ones on-screen: Kellner, the driven, inspirational captain of the WB who sometimes clashed with his colleagues and his competitors; Lucie Salhany, the often-combative head of UPN who became the first woman to run a broadcast network; Dean Valentine, Salhany’s successor, whose push for the slavery-era sitcom “Desmond Pfeiffer” proved disastrous; and Daniels, who was juggling motherhood with being a top programming executive.

With a few exceptions, the book doesn’t pull back the curtain entirely to unveil personal failures or shortcomings. Several executives involved in the networks still work in the industry, some in powerful positions.

“This book was not supposed to be something like ‘[You’ll] Never Eat Lunch in This Town Again,’ ” Daniels said, referencing the late film producer Julia Phillips’ 1990 memoir of her high-profile Hollywood crash-and-burn. “I still have enormous respect for all these people and what they all accomplished. I wanted to pursue this with journalistic integrity. We didn’t set out to hurt anybody.”

The book is the realization of a long-standing dream for Daniels, who had also been a programming executive at Fox and ABC before being hired at the WB when it first launched, where she was inspired to keep a diary during those formative years.

“When I was at Fox, I had read this book called ‘Outfoxed,’ which was about how the Fox network got started,” Daniels said. “So when the WB got started, I thought there might be a book in it, so I had all these boxes and I just threw stuff in there.

“When it was all over, I really had to get some distance from it. And then when I started about trying to put it all together, I realized that the book really had to be about UPN too.” She contacted Littleton, whom she had befriended through Littleton’s coverage of the television beat.

“The stories really had to be told together,” Littleton said. “Always, one network would be up while the other would be down.”

Working on an outline with a beginning, middle but no definite end, the two had been writing for several months before the announcement of the demise in January 2006. “I remember being in the store getting medicine for my daughter when I heard the news,” Daniels said. “I immediately called Cynthia and screamed, ‘We got the ending for the book!’ ”

Now the two are waiting for reaction from their colleagues. “Those we talked to for the book were generally supportive,” Littleton said. Added Daniels: “I’m very happy with the final product. It could have been twice as long. There were so many things we couldn’t fit in. We could do a whole other book!”

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greg.braxton@latimes.com