CAN NBC'S 'KINGPIN' SETTLE SCORE WITH HBO'S TONY SOPRANO?

Network Known for Sexy Dramas Aims to Win Back HBO Viewers With Its Dark
Drug-Cartel Pilot

To create NBC's coming show "Kingpin," writer David Mills drew upon the
famously grisly movies "Scarface," "The Godfather" and "Traffic." He also
studied up on "Macbeth."

As it was in Shakespeare's work, revenge is a major theme in the tale of how
"Kingpin" came to be.

NBC, while still No. 1 among the broadcast networks, has watched cable run
away with its mantle as the king of critically acclaimed, must-see dramas.
People once talked about NBC's "ER" and "Hill Street Blues." Today, they're
more likely to buzz about HBO's "The Sopranos" and "Sex and the City."

So, NBC is seeking reprisal with "Kingpin," a show heralded by industry
executives as perhaps the most daring primetime series ever on network
television. Scheduled to launch in March, the show will chronicle a Mexican
drug cartel. In the spotlight is Miguel, the No. 2 man in a heroin, cocaine
and marijuana smuggling ring as he ascends in power, and his wife, Marlene,
an American attorney with a coke habit. The show, with panoramas of the
dusty Texas-Mexico border, includes actors drinking whiskey, smoking opium
and gunning each other down.

In addition to positioning a dark character as its primary star, the pilot
stands out for its dense and complicated tale; it is often hard to decipher
the relationships among the many characters. This is part of
cable-television fashion: Some executives feel such complexities reinforce
audience loyalty by making viewers feel part of an exclusive club.

So far, NBC has screened the show for its executives and a test audience in
Los Angeles. While it tested below normal, the network says it isn't
bothered, noting that groundbreaking shows seldom score well initially.
Soon, NBC plans to mail advance tapes to critics because their praise is
essential; it helped launch Fox's "24" last year.

A rough cut of the first episode shows "Kingpin" to be bold in some ways,
but the pilot is relatively tame by cable standards. There is no nudity,
although there is an intimation of oral sex. There's also nary a swear word,
unlike cable shows or even ABC's "NYPD Blue." After NBC executives recently
saw the show's first three episodes, writer Mr. Mills says they told him
"the show needs to be sexier."

The difficulties of fulfilling this mandate illustrate the obstacles network
writers face that their cable brethren don't. For instance, NBC, owned by
General Electric Co., told the show's producers not to worry about typical
broadcast standards on violence, Mr. Mills says. Yet when he included the
word "a -- h -- " during a comical moment in a script, the network said "no
way." Another edict: "We're not going to see needles going into veins," Mr.
Mills says. NBC plans to sell another version of "Kingpin" on DVD, borrowing
a page from HBO's profitable model, and will tart up the "Kingpin" DVD
episodes by including extra scenes with nudity and cursing.

Unlike AOL Time Warner Inc.'s HBO, which as a pay channel is funded by
subscribers, NBC and the other networks depend upon advertisers and fear
offending them with extensive violence, profanity and nudity. While there
aren't any concrete rules for what's acceptable, the networks monitor
themselves and the boundaries have shifted over time. NBC's "Friends" and
other shows that kick off at 8 p.m., in what used to be called the "family
hour," now brim with sexual references. At the same time, shows like
"Seinfeld" and "Will & Grace" that were originally broadcast later in the
evening are now airing reruns in the early evening without an objection from
advertisers. "Kingpin" will air at 10 p.m.

Advertisers aren't the only worry when it comes to dicey content. Networks
need bigger audiences than cable channels, and some experiments were too
racy for viewers. Past casualties include the CBS drama "EZ Streets," ABC's
"The Job," and "Action" from Fox. In contrast, "NYPD Blue" became a hit,
thanks to controversy over a male character hurling the epithet "b---- " at
a woman in an early episode (and frequent scenes with violence and nudity).
It also enjoyed a certain cachet from the reputation of its producer, Steven
Bochco, who had "Hill Street Blues" and "LA Law" on his resume. Even then
ABC met some resistance from advertisers, media watchdog groups and some
affiliate stations who wouldn't run the show.

With "Kingpin," NBC is pushing limits in new ways too. On the networks,
prevailing practice requires that characters be reproached for smoking
cigarettes by another character. Not on "Kingpin." When a CIA agent casually
lights up a cigarette, Miguel, played by Yancey Arias, tells him: "Those
things are addictive," a line NBC says is merely ironic -- given that other
characters are consuming a steady diet of heroin and cocaine.

NBC is starting slowly with "Kingpin," ordering only six episodes, with six
more scripts being prepared if reaction is favorable. The network faces
favorable launch conditions: Demand for advertising time on TV is high.
Executives who buy airtime for marketers, say there is so little commercial
time for sale advertisers are more likely to try a new, riskier show. NBC
also can hope to win over "Sopranos" fans who will be doing without their
favorite gritty hero, as that show had its season finale Sunday night.

Mr. Mills, who had written for shows like "ER" and "NYPD Blue," made this
winning pitch to NBC: "His first words were, 'I want to do Macbeth in the
drug wars,' " says Chris Conti, NBC senior vice president for drama
development.

Mr. Mills didn't actually read the play. "I went out and bought Cliff
Notes," he says.