• by Adam Buckman , April 7, 2015

USA Network has unveiled a handful of new shows focused on brave, heroic central characters. The network also talked about Donny Deutsch. The famed adman is due to star in a situation-comedy of his own creation for USA with the one-word title “Donny!”

USA made its programming announcements at a breakfast-time upfront event staged for the press Tuesday morning in the ultra-luxe Rainbow Room atop 30 Rockefeller Plaza in New York.

“Last year, Donny sent us this fantastic, self-scripted pilot -- and it’s phenomenal, really funny,” said USA Network President Chris McCumber. “We took a look at it and said, ‘we have to do this series!’ ”

Deutsch, who attended the breakfast, but did not appear onstage, told Media Daily News he plays a “Dr. Phil”-type talk-show host on the show. He said it’s a single-camera sitcom done mockumentary-style. Six episodes have been ordered for the show’s initial run, which will begin later this year.

A promo reel was played at the breakfast and ever the adman, Deutsch managed to insert a bit of product integration into the show -- in a scene in which his character snacked on Fritos Corn Chips.

The Deutsch show was the sole original comedy presented at the event, with much of the presentation devoted to three upcoming original dramas: “Mr. Robot,” premiering in June and starring Rami Malek as a cybersecurity engineer who moonlights as a “vigilante hacker,” “Complications,” about a doctor (Jason O’Mara) who finds himself in the middle of a gang war (also premiering in June), and “Colony,” starring Josh Holloway of “Lost” as a family man coping with the occupation of Los Angeles by an unknown foreign (or alien) power some time in the near future.

“Colony” will likely premiere next fall.

McCumber took pains to link these drama shows centered on heroic main characters to USA Network’s apparent adoption of a “heroes” and “heroism” theme in its program development.

“As we’re developing our shows, as we’re finding new characters, we want to find those unexpected heroes who bravely go up against the odds,” McCumber said, trumpeting the theme. He connected these hero dots to USA’s millennial target audience.

“Two -hirds of the 18-49 audience is made up of millennials,” he said, “which is why … we’re targeting people that have a millennial mindset. They are unified by … confidence, perseverance, self-reliance, optimism, bravery. We love the term ‘bravery’,” he said. “It really reflects USA [Network] and the country.”

A more specific pitch to advertisers (who didn't attend) was made by Peter Lazarus, senior vice president of ad sales for the NBC Universal Entertainment Group, which includes USA Network.

“Integral to USA’s success has always been scale,” Lazarus said, in the hope that journalists would help him deliver this message. “We deliver 52 weeks a year across all screens. That scale comes from the diversity of our programming mix, including scripted dramas, comedies, live sports and entertainment.

In a world of diminishing GRPs, scale matters more than ever, and brands crave our mass reach,” he added.

The stars of USA’s three new dramas were all in attendance, but the star who commanded the most attention was John Cena of the WWE, who took the stage to announce that “Smackdown,” one of the signature, ongoing series of the hugely popular WWE, is moving to USA Network from NBC-owned SyFy. The move means USA will now be the home of three WWE franchises — the other two being “Raw” and “Tough Enough.”