By DON KAPLAN
New York Post
Honest.
"Deadline" stars Oliver Platt as a hard-bitten New York tabloid columnist for a newspaper called The New York Ledger.
His boss, the paper's editor, will be played by Broadway star Bebe Neuwirth in her first return to series TV since playing Lillith, Frasier's ultra-uptight wife, on "Cheers."
Platt - who co-starred in "Bulworth" opposite Warren Beatty - plays a character patterned mostly on the late Mike McAlary, a former Post columnist, sources say.
In fact, the pilot for NBC was shot last month in The Post's old newsroom on South Street near the Brooklyn Bridge. (The Post moved its newsroom to midtown in 1995.)
The paper the show revolves around even looks similar to The Post.
"The Ledger looks suspiciously like another newspaper that has a red [banner] across the top of the front page," says our source.
NBC is expected to announce today that "Deadline" has been added to its fall schedule.
The series will not stray far from the tried-and-true formula that has made Wolf's "Law & Order" the longest-running drama on the air.
It will be filmed totally in New York.
Each episode of "Deadline" will begin with a story that ultimately makes its way into the newspaper. Each show will be a "stand-alone" so that viewers can pick up the series at any time.
"There are no personal arcs that can tie down the viewer or prevent the viewer from appreciating the story-telling or the completeness of each episode," the source said. "The stories will be complete in each episode."
Meanwhile, among the other new series NBC is said to be ready to announce are some familiar faces.
The network will air new comedies from "Seinfeld" star Michael Richards - which stars Richards as a bumbling private detective - and "Married with Children's" Katy Segal.
David Letterman will also be back on NBC - in a manner of speaking. "Ed ," an hour-long show in the comedy/drama mold of "Northern Exposure" and produced by Letterman's production company, World Wide Pants, will debut next fall.
Another new drama is the highly anticipated show, "Titans," from Aaron Spelling. It is already being called the "Dynasty" of 2000.