OSCAR'S UNKNOWNS NOMINEES NEED CELEBRITY HELP.

Byline: Greg Hernandez Staff Writer

ABC network executives could hardly be blamed if they had secretly hoped for Oscar nominations for Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman, Russell Crowe or Julia Roberts this year.

But instead of that high-wattage quartet of superstars, such largely unknown actors as Keisha Castle-Hughes, Samantha Morton, Djimon Hounsou, Patricia Clarkson, Shohreh Aghdashloo and Ken Watanabe will be among those competing for Oscar gold on the Feb. 29 Academy Awards telecast.

The dearth of Oscar-nominated superstars this year adds to the challenge facing ABC and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences: reversing a ratings decline for the show during the all-important February ratings sweeps period. Last year's Oscars were the least-watched in history.

``A lot of critics are delighted with the Oscar nominations because they feel (Academy members) really nominated things that deserved to be nominated. But, often times, what makes critics happy may not bring people to the sofa,'' observed Robert Thompson, director of the Center for the Study of Popular Television at Syracuse University.

Apart from maybe Johnny Depp, Bill Murray, Diane Keaton and Renee Zellweger, none of the acting nominees has been in many big box-office hits. Even Sean Penn, Charlize Theron, Jude Law, Ben Kingsley, Alec Baldwin, Naomi Watts and Holly Hunter - all well known and respected - have never been big box office names or ratings grabbers.

Further, of the five best-picture nominees, only ``The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King'' is a major blockbuster, although ``Seabiscuit'' quietly trotted past the $100 million mark last summer. Since ``Rings'' did not have any acting nods among its 11 nominations, it may not be able to bring the same level of viewership to the Oscars as, say, ``Titanic'' did in 1998.

With Revolution Films' head Joe Roth at the helm for the first time, the network is counting on the return of popular Oscar host Billy Crystal and a plethora of big-name stars to get viewers to tune in. This week alone, Roth announced that both Cruise and Roberts would be presenters on the telecast, and their appearances are sure to be promoted heavily.

``(Roth's) ability to bring the star power into this, beyond the movies nominated, is critical for us,'' said Mike Benson, ABC's senior vice president of marketing, advertising and promotion. ``If he has the stars coming, that's something we are going to be marketing to make sure our audience knows who is coming to the Oscars this year.''

So far, Roth has also lined up Kidman, Tom Hanks, Will Smith, Oprah Winfrey, Steven Spielberg, Colin Farrell and Catherine Zeta-Jones as presenters.

The star power will be needed. With the Oscar show moved up a month during this compressed awards season, the telecast will face more than token counterprogramming from its competitors who don't want to simply concede a night during February sweeps.

``We'll have competition,'' Benson said. ``It's important to make sure we are putting behind as much as we can to get a good number.''

On the East Coast, the Oscar broadcast will be preceded by Barbara Walters' annual Oscar night special, which will include profiles on Crystal and Keaton. The program follows the Oscars on the West Coast.

For its part, ABC has been doing all it can in the weeks leading up to the program to get viewers in an awards frame of mind. The network is having its first-ever Oscar week, which features Oscar-theme episodes of nine regular series, including ``The Practice'' and the sitcoms ``According to Jim,'' ``Hope & Faith'' ``8 Simple Rules...'' and ``It's All Relative.''

In the sitcom ``I'm With Her,'' viewers are watching as the show's lead character, portrayed by Teri Polo, is nominated for an Academy Award and prepares for the occasion.

``The relationship we have with the Academy (of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences) has never been better,'' Benson said. ``We are both really trying to do everything we can together, creating events, marketing partners and marketing opportunities for our affiliates. We are going above and beyond everything that we've ever done to market this program.''

The Academy for the first time hired a full-time marketing director to promote the show.

``There's a lot of award shows, and we feel the Academy Awards are an American icon, and it's important to stay true to what the Oscars are all about,'' said Beth Harris, who was hired as marketing director last fall.

Syracuse's Thompson believes the hiring of Harris, the ABC tie-ins and an ambitious marketing campaign with the Blockbuster video store chain are steps in the right direction for the Academy.

``For the Oscars, before the hemorrhaging goes too far, marketing and hyping it up is probably a good idea.''

Greg Hernandez, [phone]

greg.hernandez(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

4 photos

Photo:

(1 -- 4) no caption (photo collage)