`BUFFY,' `ENTERPRISE' HERALD NEW ERA AT UPN.

Byline: David Kronke TV Critic

UPN can finally look itself in the face. ``I'm actually looking forward to seeing you,'' the netlet's president and CEO, Dean Valentine, told assembled journalists Monday in Pasadena, trumpeting the ``improved quality'' of its programming. (Granted, there were few directions to go other than up.)

If Valentine was sounding invigorated, it's because UPN was preparing launches of one of the WB's most acclaimed series, ``Buffy the Vampire Slayer,'' as well as its cult series ``Roswell,'' which it poached from its competitor by offering more cash to 20th Century Fox's TV-production arm (a couple of TV stations owned by Rupert Murdoch staying on as UPN affiliates were thrown in on the deal, along with possibly a player to be named later). UPN will also debut the much-anticipated ``Enterprise,'' the fifth live-action TV iteration of the ``Star Trek'' franchise.

Despite the high price of ``Buffy'' - UPN is paying approximately $2.25 million per episode for a series that traditionally draws about 5 million viewers - Valentine declared the show would be profitable for UPN.

``Very successful shows are very seldom stand-alone businesses,'' Valentine said, offering an interesting economics lesson. ``We don't make as much money as we spend, but it decreases our losses significantly.'' Unproven shows, he added, ``lose more money compared to their licensing fees.''

UPN is the only network offering a full evening of African-American- themed programming, with a bloc of sitcoms on Mondays. ``It's a valuable audience on an economic basis,'' Valentine said. He added that while it has been presumed that white viewers don't watch programming aimed at blacks - and, in large part, vice versa - ``over time, the younger generation, with its more multicultural sensibility, will be changing that presumption, and we want to be there when it happens.''

Journalists were to get a first peek at ``Enterprise'' Monday evening, but Valentine offered a vague assessment of the series that takes place a century before the original ``Star Trek'' series: ``It's closer to 'The Right Stuff' than guys in spandex. And Trekkies can go back and find out where all the cool stuff started.''

``Buffy'' star Sarah Michelle Gellar, who had earlier said she wouldn't be happy at UPN, sucked back those words. ``For five years, we had a home, a place we were supported, and the thought of a move was scary,'' she said. ``Unfortunately, the WB didn't want to make the show the way we wanted to do it. Dean has been incredibly supportive. I'm nervous; I'm excited. UPN has made us feel incredibly welcome - it feels like we're starting fresh.''

As for ``Buffy's'' perennial Emmy snub, Gellar shrugged. ``We don't make a show to win awards. We don't have difficulty getting recognition.''

UP, UP AND AWAY: Here's an interesting reading on ``Smallville,'' the WB's new series about the teen years of Clark Kent, before he becomes Superman (Superboy doesn't exist in this updated incarnation, whose production motto is, ``No Tights, No Flights''): John Schneider, who plays Kent's adoptive father, says, ``We're not dealing with Superman as a teen-ager; we are really in effect dealing with a special-needs child.''

And here's a thought that may age you: 19-year-old Sam Jones III, who plays Clark's best friend in high school, says that kids in his age group aren't really all that familiar with Superman, which suggests that although purists may raise their eyebrows at some of the show's conceits, the WB's target audience will readily accept it.

Speaking of purists, here's to the guy from the science-fiction magazine - who adhered to the unfortunate cliches of such folks, leading with the adenoidal voice - who absolutely grilled, in his best Woodward-and- Bernstein fashion, ``Smallville'' executive producer Alfred Gough over what the show would be retaining from the comic book. Answer: not a whole lot. As executive producer Miles Millar put it, ``It's how interesting and unexpected the journey is to Metropolis. We are always going to play with people's expectations and what they think ... Clark is about. That's the fun. That's the series.''

SYNERGY: Speaking of the WB, other concerns owned by the AOL-Time Warner media giant, including America Online and the various Turner cable networks, will be expected to promote WB's new schedule, said Jordan Levin, president of entertainment for the network.

Fox's decision to move ``Buffy'' ``does have long-term ramifications'' to the TV industry, warned Jamie Kellner, chairman and CEO of the network. ``We're going to see the industry polarize itself toward a vertical structure. That's not good for the industry. We have to find a way for the networks to deal with various program providers without fear of being ripped off or betrayed after a show becomes a hit,'' Kellner added.

``Angel,'' a ``Buffy'' spinoff series, remains on the network, but Levin advised viewers not to expect the ``Buffy''-``Angel'' crossover episodes of the past.

Kellner and Levin shrugged off last week's Emmy snub of their network. ``We do something different, for a younger audience,'' Levin said. ``We're disappointed for our creative talent, who want to be respected by their peers, but I don't think Emmys and nominations mean as much to our audience.''

One new sitcom, ``Maybe I'm Adopted,'' has been renamed ``Maybe It's Me'' after some complaints about the connotation of the word ``adopted.''

``I did cave to PC pressure a bit,'' Levin admitted. ``It's an emotional issue, and we're not in the business of creating emotional discomfort for children or their families. Maybe if we lead by compassion, a positive result will come.''

STOP THE PRESSES: We have located the one business that will not be destroyed or even mildly compromised by thoughtless executive manipulations and cost-cutting after a spate of megaconglomerate mergers: HBO. At least that's the word from Jeff Bewkes, the network's chairman and CEO, and Chris Albrecht, president of original programming.

``We don't have concerns about it, and we haven't seen it,'' Bewkes said about interference from higher-ups in AOL-Time Warner, the media giant to which HBO belongs.

Bewkes explained, yet again, that HBO is not beholden to ratings and viewers in the same way networks are, adding that lower-rated, more recherche programs may in fact help the network by appealing to viewers who might not otherwise subscribe to the service.

``When you add that audience segment to the subscriber base of HBO, that obviously is an economic return to us, and it is a clear commercial economic reason why we do some of the things that are distinctive.

``So when you go to the question of whether the parent company would want to interfere, I think you all know - it's nice for us to have (a press conference) the day after Emmy nominations (where HBO garnered a record 94 nominations, highest of all broadcast and cable outlets). HBO is doing very well financially. It seems to be doing very well creatively in the estimation of all of you, as well as what the award committees do, and it's working very well financially.''