Buffy The Vampire Slayer

"Buffy the Vampire Slayer" could return next season even if its star, Sarah Michelle Gellar, doesn’t appear in every episode, CBS President Leslie Moonves, who also oversees UPN, told reporters yesterday at the Television Critics winter press tour.

UPN is currently in talks with the show producer 20th Century Fox, about keeping the show for another season.

"Buffy" was the first breakout hit for the WB Network. But UPN acquired the series last season, after the WB and Fox could not reach an agreement on a new license fee. Now it’s UPN’s turn to negotiate and the network is looking at a range of options since Gellar is not signed to the show beyond this season.

"One possibility is she comes back, one possibility is she comes back a couple of times, one possibility is we do a spinoff," Moonves said. "Another possibility is that we have a brand new show on Tuesday at 8 o’clock."

The future of "Buffy" is just one of the challenges UPN executives face as they decide what the 8-year-old network should be. While the focus is on viewers between 18 and 34, the network’s personality changes nightly - sitcoms with black casts Monday, "Buffy" Tuesday, sci-fi with "Enterprise" Wednesday, wrestling Thursday and action movies Friday.

After surging with the addition of "Buffy" and "Enterprise" last year, UPN’s ratings have lagged this season, with the WB taking over fifth place in the prime-time ratings race.

Moonves said UPN, while still a money-loser, is in better financial shape than it has ever been. Growth targets include black viewers, who not only watch Monday but also tune into "Buffy" and "WWE Smackdown" in large numbers. Future UPN shows will have multi-cultural casts and more contemporary themes, said Moonves and UPN’s entertainment president, Dawn Ostroff.

UPN is already headed in the direction, with the addition of the sitcom "Abby," which stars Sydney Tamiia Poitier, and "Platinum," a drama set in the world of hip-hop. The network has projects in the works from Will Smith and Jada Pinkett-Smith, and hip-hop artist Eve.

"Diversity is very important to this network," Moonves said. "I think we’re serving an audience that is not really served by a lot of the other networks. I’d like us to continue along in that vein."