• by Wayne Friedman , April 4, 2006

The WB may be going away in September--but that's not stopping it from launching new shows, such as "Pepper Dennis," as it slowly fades to black.

"Dennis," a new one-hour drama starring model Rebecca Romijn as a beautiful and ambitious TV reporter, debuts tonight amid the hype of a multimillion-dollar outdoor, mall, radio, cable, and broadcast on-air marketing campaign.

Although The WB is ending, all its existing and upcoming programming assets are to be merged with rival UPN into the new network the CW. WB executives say they are handling the marketing of "Dennis" like any other show.

"We are treating this like any other network asset," said Bob Bibb, co-president of marketing for The WB. "We want it be to a hit."

WB had wanted to launch "Pepper Dennis" last fall, but Romijn was in the middle of filming "X-Men 3." Back then it would have competed for marketing time and effort with "Supernatural," which has become a good performer for the network.

Instead, WB put its effort behind "Just Legal," the Don Johnson legal drama that made no impression on viewers and was quickly cancelled.

"Dennis" has been hyped with outdoor advertising in three markets--New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago. The WB also bought signage in five mall markets--Los Angeles; Boston; Washington, DC; Houston; and Dallas. Local cable in 20 markets and radio in 10 cities were also purchased for the show.

Characterizing the size of the marketing effort, Bibb said: "It is exactly on par with our last two mid-season launches. But maybe not as big as a fall launch."

Outdoor ads feature Romijn in a fiery red dress holding a TV microphone against a drizzly Chicago city background. She works for the fictitious WEIE-TV station. Although the ads show off the beautiful Romijn, Bibb says the aim was "to sell her friendliness. She is completely less than perfect."

Other special marketing efforts for the show will include a brand integration deal. An upcoming episode of the show will have a product placement deal involving bright white teeth, something that is important to reporters and TV anchors. The product, Crest Whitestrips, is a product used by Dennis' lover and rival, Charlie Babcock.

The WB's initial marketing efforts touted the show's romance elements, especially with Babcock, the station's anchor as well as Dennis' love interest, who is played by Josh Hopkins. "We have since moved on to show her relationship with her sister to align it more with 'Gilmore Girls,'" said Bibb. "Gilmore Girls" will, in fact, be the lead-in for "Pepper Dennis" on Tuesday night.

"Pepper Dennis" has a few short weeks to impress the new brass of The CW. Even then, it may not remain there for next season--as UPN show "Veronica Mars" also plays in the 9 p.m. Tuesday time slot.

Says Bibb: "It'll give the new network some options for Tuesdays." "Pepper Dennis" has 13 episodes already produced from 20th Century Fox Television.