UPN Considering 'Buffy'/'Roswell' Combo

When UPN unveils its Fall schedule on Thursday, it is now expected to announce that Roswell will be airing after fellow former WB series Buffy the Vampire Slayer on Tuesday nights.

After two years of struggling ratings, the WB officially cancelled Roswell yesterday when it announced its own Fall schedule. However, MediaWeek reported today that UPN was intending to pick up the series and air it on Tuesdays at 9:00pm, after Buffy. Airing as Buffy's lead-out show, a position held by Angel over the past two years, should certainly be beneficial to Roswell, which this year was paired with non-SF show Seventh Heaven.

Speaking to the New York Post today, Roswell executive producer Kevin Brown agreed with that. "I know that UPN has been seriously interested in Roswell for several weeks," he said. "We very much appreciate [that]. We think now that UPN has taken this step in enlarging their audience with Buffy, I don't think anyone can imagine a more killer night than putting Buffy and Roswell together. To me that has got homerun written all over it."

If Roswell is indeed acquired by UPN, this will at least in part be due to its very dedicated fanbase. Last year, the fans sent the WB thousands of bottles of Tabasco sauce (the spicy sauce that the show's aliens like to add to their sweet food), a campaign that was credited with winning the show's renewal. To persuade UPN to take over Roswell, over 10,000 bottles were sent to the network over the past month. "Aren't these the kind of fans that networks pray for?" Brown said.

With Buffy and Roswell expected to fill UPN's Tuesdays, much of the network's Fall schedule is now already known. Mondays will continue to be filled by the succesful urban comedy block. Enterprise and Dead Zone are expected to be shown on Wednesday, while Thursday remains 'Smackdown' night. Unless UPN drops its Friday movie or expands to another night of programming, this will likely mean former Voyager lead-in shows Seven Days and Special Unit 2 will not be renewed for another season.

In related news, Reuters reported yesterday that News Corp. was no longer interested in taking a stake in UPN. "I guess we toyed with it but decided not to," the company's chairman, Rupert Murdoch, was quoted as saying. After News Corp. acquired several important UPN affiliates last year it entered negotiations with UPN parent Viacom over getting full or partial ownership of the network, but when it already extended its UPN affiliation agreement as part of the Buffy deal Viacom was no longer under as much pressure to give News Corp. an interest in UPN.

Viacom itself, meanwhile, appears to be fully supporting UPN. With the acquisition of several high-profile science-fiction drama series, it will be hopefully be able to significantly improve its image next year and in turn strengthen ratings. Full details on how the network attempts to accomplish this will likely be released on Thursday.

For the original article by Don Kaplan for the New York Post, please follow this link.

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