LOS ANGELES — These days, when you talk about days with TV exec Peter Tortorici, you’re probably talking about "The Days," his new collaboration with ABC and a few other influential TV types. The summer series, set in Philadelphia and arriving on the tube after an unusual journey, will premiere at 10 p.m. EDT July 18.

"The Days," six episodes so far, is the story of the Day family, Cooper (age 15), Natalie (17), Nathan (8), and Mom and Dad, Jack and Abby. Nobody will mistake the drama for such cult classics as "My So-Called Life’ or "Freaks and Geeks,’ but it does have hooks for the whole family.

Jack and Abby are all about midlife confusion. Lovesick genius Nathan has panic attacks. Sports star Natalie sees her life go topsy-turvy. And disaffected Cooper, played by Evan Peters, soaks it all up and writes it down, day by day, in his journal. Don’t worry if you’ve never heard of hearttrob Peters. All the actors are obscure.

Each episode covers one day in the life of the Days. The premiere crams a year’s worth of incidents into 24 hours. In an interview, Tortorici said, "Trying to get the audience’s attention is always the problem with the first episode."

This debut should do it. In the rest of the initial arc, the Day family will deal with problems set up in the premiere, titled "1412," which is the number of days until Cooper Day graduates from high school and can escape from the house he calls his prison, mailing address: 821 W. Olive St., Philadelphia.

Uh-oh. There is no 821 W. Olive St. in that fair city. Like "thirtysomething" or "Cold Case," or a fistful of other Philadelphia series before it, "The Days" doesn’t spend a lot of time establishing local verisimilitude. Vancouver, British Columbia, plays the part of Philly.

Executive producer Mike Tollin, raised in Havertown, Pa., a Philadelphia suburb, put the show in Philly just because he could. Tollin has resided in L.A. for more than a decade, but his heart remains in his hometown, and he still lives and dies with Philly sports, which means he’s getting a lot of stimulation this summer as the Phillies triumph and swoon.

Behind the scenes, "The Days" has more heavy hitters than the revitalized Phils.

Tollin and partner Brian Robbins produced HBO’s "Arli$$" and the sports tearjerker feature "Radio," among a million projects, and they oversee WB favorites "Smallville" and "One Tree Hill." Former MTV programming boss Joe Davola is another partner on "The Days," along with Tortorici, who used to run CBS.

Most producers would balk at starting their show in the dead of summer, but these guys got some nice trade-offs. In a highly unusual arrangement, ABC gave the illustrious lineup go-ahead on "The Days" — six episodes, bang, zoom — without making it produce a pilot to show what the scripts might look like on the screen. And the network gave the show the very comfortable Sunday at 10 slot, too.

"Television’s in transition," Tortorici said. "Everybody’s kind of scratching their heads and saying, `What’s next?’ We’re trying to find the answers one show at a time. ... If ABC can come out of the summer with a series that they believe is a keeper, and if we can be responsible, it’s a huge win for both of us."

Everybody has that pre-premiere enthusiasm that goes with all new series, but these guys have been around long enough to know not to get carried away.

Said Tortorici: "We’re taking it one day at a time."

(c) 2004, The Philadelphia Inquirer.

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