DREAMWORKS SUFFERS GROWING PAINS; STUDIO'S TV ARM MIRED IN FLOPS, NONSTARTERS.

Byline: Bill Carter The New York Times

Although the DreamWorks SKG studio has yet to release its first movie, you could have found an especially scary title playing at the studio's headquarters in recent weeks. It was called ``A Nightmare on Television Row.''

In this installment, Freddie Krueger turned up to slash the schedule board listing the DreamWorks television productions. By the time it was over, the carnage was extensive:

Only one DreamWorks show was left standing out of four in prime time, one that was being readied for syndication and several others that were intended to make it onto the new network lineups.

So the company born three years ago out of the extraordinary partnership of three of the most successful names in Hollywood - Jeffrey Katzenberg, Steven Spielberg and David Geffen - and backed by a hugely generous deal from ABC learned a lesson that is frequently imparted to television newcomers.

Even for the truly gifted and very well-financed, television can be a humbling business, where the evil sorcerer shows up far more often than the genie from the magic lamp.

``It's been a terrible time for them,'' said Alan Berger, the head of the television department at ICM Inc., the big talent agency. ``They hit a major speed bump.''

Here's how things went for DreamWorks:

The studio lost two shows at ABC, ``Arsenio,'' the highly touted comedy starring Arsenio Hall that flopped as a midseason entry, and ``High Incident,'' the police drama that never made an impact against the mighty NBC Thursday lineup. An earlier ABC comedy, ``Champs,'' had flopped quickly.

The studio also lost a show at CBS, ``Ink,'' the eagerly anticipated comeback vehicle for the former ``Cheers'' star Ted Danson, which faltered from the start, making four episodes that were never broadcast, then restarted and stuttered through most of the television season.

Several possible new entries for next season never made it to the pilot stage, including one that fell victim to a showdown with NBC over the network's demands for profit participation in the show.

Another project announced with much fanfare, a syndicated news half-hour to be anchored by Connie Chung, formerly of CBS News, and her husband, Maury Povich, was canceled by the company after slow commitments from stations and Povich's decision to continue with his syndicated talk show instead.

That left DreamWorks with one show in production, ``Spin City,'' yet another promising star vehicle, this time for one of television's most popular performers, Michael J. Fox.

The show is an adult, sophisticated comedy about the New York City mayor's office. But for the fall, ABC has surprisingly moved the show to 8 p.m., a time usually reserved for shows children might like, a move that may put the show at risk.

``We'd much rather the show got at least another 13 episodes in a protected time period,'' said Dan McDermott, the head of DreamWorks' television division. The company hopes it can bring some adult viewers to that early hour.

The downturn in fortunes has led to predictable cackling in Hollywood, where watching the famous falter is a favorite parlor game. ``It's a combination of inexperience and enormous resources at the same time,'' one comedy series producer said.

The company was hardly a garage start-up. In 1994, ABC signed on as a partner, anteing $100 million. While most producers are compelled to absorb any deficits when they supply shows, DreamWorks has had its costs totally covered.

Last season began as a coup for DreamWorks: Katzenberg had aggressively maneuvered to sign Fox, Danson and Hall in the face of tough competition.

But critics of the company say that approach - signing big stars and slotting them into vehicles - was all wrong.

One rival studio executive said that DreamWorks brought a ``movie mentality'' to television: ``They think in terms of how to open a movie: Sign a big star,'' the executive said. ``That's how you get a big opening weekend. But in television it's not about the opening weekend. It's about the 30th and 40th episode.''

The executive added: ``Jeffrey is a great bird dog for talent. But signing a star and then getting a network to give you 22 episodes is not the television business. It's doing what Carsey-Werner does: Finding ideas and developing shows and talent.''

Carsey-Werner, with shows like ``Cosby,'' and ``Third Rock from the Sun,'' is, in fact, the model that McDermott said his company is striving to emulate.

He added, ``Ted Danson didn't agree to sign with us based on nothing. We pitched an elaborate idea. It just didn't work.''

The DreamWorks team thought the Danson show was very close to working and might have done so if it could have stayed on one more year.

If that show had survived and no conflict with NBC had arisen over another pilot, the company could have had three shows on and nobody would be talking about lean times at DreamWorks, McDermott said.

``The ball was bouncing around the rim. Sometimes it falls in, and sometimes it falls off,'' he said. ``We still for the most part feel terrific about the television business.''

Given that insulation provided by the ABC deal and CBS's money on ``Ink,'' the company remains unhurt financially. So far.

``You have to question whether or not they've used up their reputation capital,'' the comedy series producer said. ``Will talent rush to sign up with them again?''

Berger of ICM thinks so. ``They're going through growing pains and learning pains. It wasn't surprising they got all that money. This was three genuises showing up and saying they were going to do TV. But they're still the same guys. Jeff Katzenberg is too smart and too aggressive not to be successful. DreamWorks will be back.''