Will it matter if UPN fails?

HOLLYWOOD — Is there actually a reason for UPN to exist? Eight years after the broadcast-network wannabe was launched, the jury is still out.

It's hard to argue with CBS president and CEO Leslie Moonves (who also runs UPN) when he says, "We feel like we have the finest crop of shows that UPN has introduced in many, many years."

But, frankly, that's not exactly high praise. So many UPN shows have been so bad that this fall's crop of mainly mediocre shows looks good in comparison.

A couple of the new shows are just plain bad. "The Mullets" — a sitcom that wants to be the TV version of "Dumb and Dumber" — is a show that critics are tossing around as possibly the worst new program of the year. And "Rock Me Baby" is another nominee in that category — tasteless, humorless comedy about a radio shock jock who's a new father.

A couple of other sitcoms aren't awful. "Eve" centers on the hip-hop star, who plays a fashion designer looking for love. "All of Us," loosely based on the lives of Will Smith and Jada Pinkett-Smith, is an OK half hour about a guy, his new wife, his ex-wife and his son.

UPN's best new show, "Jake 2.0," is no sure thing. It's about a young man who accidentally becomes a superhero of sorts when he's infected with nanites (molecular-size robots).

At least UPN's shows no longer look like something you might see on public-access cable. The network is spending money to make the shows look good, although making good shows is a separate issue.

But UPN programs only 10 hours a week of prime time and no other original programming. Its biggest franchise is the fading "WWE Smackdown!" Its only homegrown hit, "America's Next Top Model," is only a hit when measured against UPN's low audience levels.

Not that they aren't milking "Model," which returns at midseason, for everything they can get. "We're very encouraged by the performance of 'America's Next Top Model.' It gave us a footprint in the sand, and it let people say, 'Yes, UPN is there. Yes, UPN can make a difference,' " Moonves said. "And we think with the shows that we have coming up, we're going to make a real difference this fall."

"It clearly shows that with the right programming our strategy of targeting 18- to 34-year-olds is working," Ostroff said.

But not really working all that well.

Are UPN affiliates better off as part of the network? Well, at least they have less syndicated programming to buy. And they can claim to be network stations, even though UPN isn't exactly a network, yet.