CABLE AIMS TO BE A 'RESOURCE'.

Byline: Valerie Kuklenski Staff Writer

The Television Critics Association press tour usually spawns a buzzword or two as programming executives present their latest efforts, such as the verb ``repurpose,'' introduced a couple of years back to describe airing a show produced for one network on another to save lots of bucks.

At the three-week meeting kicking off Monday at the Renaissance Hotel in Hollywood, ``resource'' proved to be popular, as in, ``We view our cable channel as a resource.''

Fine Living, a 9-month-old sister network of HGTV, the Food Network and DIY, is positioned as a how-to-live instructional covering adventure, cars, personal space and everyday stuff.

``(HGTV) shows you how to do it, we show you how to live in it,'' noted Fine Living president Ken Solomon. Gordon Elliott (Food Network's ``Doorknock Dinners'') hosts ``The Genuine Article,'' a series pursuing the best of everything from mattresses and single-malt scotch to surfboards, and interiors maven Sheila Bridges aims to demystify decorating in ``Sheila Bridges: Designer Living.''

Up-and-comer Tech TV was described by chief operating officer Joe Gillespie as a ``resource'' and a ``lifestyle channel.'' Programming chief Greg Brannan went on about one of its new offerings, ``Spy School,'' hosted by former MI5 officer David Shayler ``from a safe house in an undisclosed location in London.'' It aims for James Bond buffs with insider secrets on high- and low-tech espionage techniques and gadgets.

``We do believe there's a segment of the audience who wants to go home and say, 'OK, now I feel confident that I know how to survive an interrogation,' '' Brannan said, laughing along with the critics at the strangeness of that idea.

``Spy School'' is but one example of the very tailored niche products that cable programmers pitched Monday. AMC, which has dumped its original American Movie Classics brand and given Turner Classic Movies, with its bigger and better oldies library, a firm grasp on the nostalgia market, presented a new documentary series titled ``Gay Hollywood,'' which follows five struggling actors and filmmakers who are out of the closet personally and professionally. Among its other original series is ``The Wrong Coast,'' a stop-motion animation series from executive producer Mark Hamill that humorously sends up movies and Hollywood personalities with premises such as ``Quentin Tarantino's Snow White,'' Woody Allen as Spider-Man and a cross between ``Braveheart'' and a Britney Spears video.

With reality television overflowing the programming pipeline, AMC executives see a plethora of future stories for its ``Fame: The New Reality'' series, which revisits how assorted real people have coped - or not - with their newfound recognition.

Some candidates for that show may come from WE's ``Single in L.A.,'' which follows a dozen incredibly attractive young things as they attempt to find Mr. Right.