VALENCIA FIRM TO SHOOT THREE PILOTS FOR TV NETWORKS BRACING FOR STRIKE.

Byline: Jesse Hiestand Staff Writer

VALENCIA - Showing no letup in television's appetite for reality programs, Valencia Entertainment plans to begin shooting three new pilots - two game shows and a hidden-camera revenge show - by month's end for likely debut in the fall season.

The shows will be handled through the company's production arm, Woody Fraser Productions, whose namesake has pioneered the reality genre for three decades with shows ranging from ``That's Entertainment'' to ``Amazing Animals.''

Fraser's latest offerings come as Hollywood teeters on the edge of a crippling strike by writers and actors, a prospect that has the studios and networks drawing up contingencies to fill the fall schedule if scripted shows become unavailable. The last writers' strike, a 22-week stoppage in 1988, pushed back the start of the fall television season.

``It is unusual to sell two shows at the same time to one network so I'm sure they have that in the back of their mind,'' Fraser said.

That network, TNN, was ramping up production anyway when it ordered up ``Ultimate Revenge,'' a half-hour prime-time undercover look at revenge, and ``What are the Odds,'' a prime-time weekly hour game and stunt show, he said.

The other show, ``Face Off,'' is a variety game show for Nickelodeon, and Fraser will also produce a public broadcasting pledge special with Frankie Avalon, ``Let's Do It Again,'' to be taped in Las Vegas.

Other heavyweights in reality TV, like Bunim/Murray Productions in Van Nuys, creators of MTV's ``The Real World'' and ``Road Rules,'' say they have several new shows in the starting gate awaiting a green light from the networks.

``They're sort of waiting to see which way the wind blows as far as a strike,'' Jon Murray said Friday. ``One gets the sense that they're lining things up but not committing.''

Since many of these reality shows are shot on location instead of a sound stage, that activity will not show up in statistics compiled by the Economic Industry Development Corporation, the group that coordinates production in Los Angeles County.

Still, the stepped-up taping is evident, as the number of production days devoted to television in Los Angeles County climbed to 1,025 in February, from 941 the month before and 821 the same period a year ago.

``There's a tremendous amount of activity in the areas of features and television,'' said EIDC spokesman Morrie Goldman.

Hollywood has increasingly embraced reality TV since ``Who Wants To Be a Millionaire'' became a hit on ABC almost two years ago. CBS' success with ``Survivor'' only added to the momentum, he said.

In fact, fear of a strike and the networks' quest for shows to plug their schedule coincide with an unrelated return to popularity of the reality genre, as happens about every five years for genres like sitcoms, one-hour dramas, newsmagazines and other, said Chuck Slocum, director of strategic planning for the Writers Guild of America West.

``The next time a sitcom is a big hit there will be 10 more like it and sitcoms will be hot,'' Slocum said.

But the studios stand to suffer if they saturate the airwaves with reality shows, since it will further blur the distinction between the networks and cable in the eyes of many viewers, Slocum said.

WGA President John Wells said it is understandable the networks and studios would stockpile movies, TV episodes and ramp up alternatives to scripted shows, which began last fall when concerns about a strike first surfaced. Talks between the two sides broke down on March 1 and are not scheduled to resume before the writers' contract expires May 2.

``They want to cover themselves if there's a problem but in the end it's not a long-term business strategy,'' Wells said.

Valencia Entertainment and Woody Fraser Productions are both subsidiaries of ValCom Inc., a Delaware corporation with six sound-stage and production facilities in Southern California.