NBC hopes 'Earl' leads network back to top

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. -- NBC, the former powerhouse network that faltered last year in the wake of losing ''Friends" and ''Frasier," has placed its hopes for a rebound in the hands of an unlikely white knight -- a quirky man named Earl.

Earl is the protagonist of a Tuesday night comedy, ''My Name Is Earl," set to debut this fall. It stars Jason Lee as a crook who wins the lottery and begins to do good deeds.

Kevin Reilly, NBC's president of entertainment, told attendees at the Television Critics Association summer conference here yesterday that ''My Name Is Earl" has tested higher among focus groups than any other NBC show in 15 years, including ''Friends."

''Eighteen-year-old men are saying they love it. Thirty-five-year-old women are saying he's adorable," Reilly said. '' 'Earl' is going to get a tremendous amount of attention."

NBC needs some excitement. For the 2004-'05 television season, the network that defined ''must-see" TV over the last decade came in fourth place in total viewers.

Reilly said yesterday that NBC executives are just getting over that blow. ''People were a little beat up and stunned last year," he said. ''That sense of entitlement, who we think we are, is gone."

Now in rebuild mode, Reilly said NBC is trying new things, including introducing the highly anticipated ''Apprentice" spinoff hosted by Martha Stewart. Reilly declined to disclose many details about her show. But he confirmed that she will have a catch phrase different from Donald Trump's ''You're fired," and she will reveal personal things about herself, including reflections on her jail time. He declined to provide more information.

''The mechanics of the show will be exactly the same. The tone, look, and feel will be quite different," he said. ''She's not hamming it up. [She acts] as if she's interviewing people for a job."

''Joey," the ''Friends" spinoff that had disappointing ratings last year, will be updated, Reilly said. For the first time, the character Joey will actually land a successful acting job. The change is intended to give the comedy new energy, Reilly said.

Like all of the broadcast networks, NBC has struggled to find new comedies. ''We had enormous history-making hits going away," Reilly said, referring to ''Friends" and ''Frasier," which went off the air in 2004. ''We needed to [replace them]. We didn't. Now we are what we are," he said.

Greg Garcia, the creator of ''My Name Is Earl," said his aim for the show is to get people emotionally invested in the character, a lovable man who tends to attract misfortune. ''I'm concentrating on finding big, funny moments people will talk about the next day," he said.

In the pilot episode, for example, Earl, who is rather down on his luck financially, jumps for joy after winning $100,000 on a scratch ticket. He runs into the street, only to be hit by a car. As he lays on the ground, he watches his lottery ticket blow away.

Garcia pitched the show to Fox in 2003, but the network passed. ''They didn't feel it could be a series," he says. NBC, however, was sold.

Reilly certainly has a lot riding on ''Earl," as well as on the other new programs.

The network president came to NBC last year from FX, where he helped revamp the cable channel's lineup, launching the Emmy Award-winning ''The Shield" and ''Nip/Tuck."

Although speculation has swirled in the industry about how much time Reilly will be given to turn around NBC, the executive said he's not worried about it.

''When you take these jobs, you're under the gun," he said. ''You never wake up saying, 'I feel pretty good. I'm feeling confident today.' "

''My eyes were open when I went into this. . . . I don't know if we'll see a ratings difference this year," he said. ''We're going to see a new tone."

Suzanne Ryan can be reached at sryan@globe.com