"Felicity" stands as a classic example of a perfectly orchestrated symphony of buzz, and of its limitations.

In every way "Felicity," a new drama on the fast-charging WB network about a girl's journey to college and self-discovery, was the single new show to go into the television season resounding with buzz -- the swirl of publicity, promotion and press coverage that usually converts into a cultural phenomenon and the next big thing on television.

The hype was so exquisitely successful that during a season-opening lunch in Hollywood, program executives at rival networks identified "Felicity" as the new show they would most like to steal.

Now, though, only two weeks into the run of the series, "Felicity" stands not only as a classic example of a perfectly orchestrated symphony of buzz, but perhaps of its limitations.

No other new show this fall attracted anything like the attention given to "Felicity," whose star, Keri Russell, was on the covers of "Seventeen" and "Detour" magazines before the show went on the air. And indeed, the build-up resulted in the best rating for any new show in WB's short history.

But unlike "Dawson's Creek," the object of a similarly crafted campaign last season, "Felicity" is apparently not escalating -- or even holding -- the prepremiere excitement.

The second episode of "Felicity" finished behind the cancelled "Costello" in women between 18 and 34, a category most suited to WB's other successful shows.

More pointedly, last Tuesday, the second episode of "Felicity" finished behind "Costello" -- a comedy on Fox considered such a flop that it was the first series of the season canceled last week -- in the categories of overall number of viewers; viewers between the ages of 18 and 49, considered the most important sales category for advertisers, and even women between 18 and 34, a category more suited to WB's other successful shows.

WB merits a break when measured against the larger networks because the latter's station lineups are much stronger. But even Paul Schulman, whose agency buys time for advertisers, and the man whose early endorsement of "Felicity" was used by WB as the fuse to ignite its promotion campaign, expressed concern about the drop-off.

In a comparison that made "Felicity" sound like a high-tech initial public offering whose price was bid up before it hit the market, Schulman said: "A six share in the second week is respectable. If week three is a four share, I'd say, if that's a stock, it might be time to sell."

That's not likely to happen. In an exercise that illustrates the symbiosis between the world of network television and national magazines, both of which gear themselves disproportionately to attracting younger consumers, Entertainment Weekly and TV Guide have already discussed cover deals with "Felicity" for upcoming issues.

"They need to do another good episode. 'Dawson' took off and just kept going." - Mary Kaye Schilling, TV Guide

Steven Reddicliffe, the editor of TV Guide, said the magazine has done extremely well in the past with youth-oriented covers on "Dawson's Creek," "South Park" and "Buffy." He said the goal of increasing newsstand sales was one reason to go for a "Felicity" cover this early in its life. Another, he said, is "it's a good show."

Those reasons all apply to the decision-making at Entertainment Weekly as well. Mary Kaye Schilling, the assistant managing editor who oversees the magazine's television coverage, said, "We made them an offer of a cover."

But one thing does concern her. "The second episode was very slow," she said. "They need to do another good episode. 'Dawson' took off and just kept going. We need to see what happens before we commit to the cover."

Ms. Schilling was among the first targets of WB's skillful efforts to make "Felicity" its new "Dawson's Creek." She was sent a copy of the show's script before it was even filmed and made the decision to assign a writer to follow the show's path to the air.

Of the $4.5 million the network spent to promote its new season, about half went to 'Felicity.'

First, WB takes the daring step of singling out just one new show for special saturation promotion. Of the $4.5 million the network spent to promote its new season, said Bob Bibb, the co-executive vice president of marketing for WB, "about half went to 'Felicity.'"

Getting advertisers -- and the press -- excited is at the heart of the strategy. It begins, said Brad Turrell, the senior vice president of publicity for WB, with the program department "delivering a really good show."

Convinced that "Felicity" was just that, Turrell said, the network, weeks before the May presentations of fall schedules to the advertising industry, sent off the pilot to Schulman, who acknowledged that "I'm known as someone who will take a public stand on something if I like it."

He liked "Felicity" and Keri Russell very much. "She couldn't have been more precious," he said. Schulman was so immediately taken with the show, he said, that he contacted several of his clients, including Ralston-Purina, Gap, and Pier One. "All of them are now sponsors," he said.

"Polished execution and an enormously appealing cast may make the hype prophetic rather than a curse."
TIME

After that, the show was marketed as though WB was releasing a movie, with posters in movie theaters, hanging mobiles above the popcorn machines, even trailers that played along with the coming attractions. To reach rock music fans, WB not only purchased a Madonna song, "The Power of Love," to use as the "Felicity" theme song, it also bought up the rights to the background music on the hold-button message on Ticketmaster's phone lines for people calling to buy tickets to rock concerts.

The network also bought commercials on Channel One, the news channel fed daily into high schools. To bring in Seventeen, WB made a deal that got Ms. Russell on the cover. In return, Seventeen got to join with WB to produce an hourlong special on the network about teen-oriented movies and television shows in the coming season.

Beyond the cover treatment, "Felicity" received splashy, predebut features in numerous other magazines including Vanity Fair and Time, the latter writing: "Polished execution and an enormously appealing cast may make the hype prophetic rather than a curse."

But might the glittering build-up have created unreasonable expectations for a show that may take time to find its true footing? Ms. Schilling thinks so. "We really loved the pilot," she said. "But the show has to find its way. It has to lighten up."

Serial dramas take time to build.

Fox stayed with that show and it emerged as a true hit, not just a buzz hit even though it was on the cover of People magazine before it went on the air.

The connection is no accident. Many of the top WB executives learned the business of buzz creation in the early days of Fox. They know how to tap into advertising and media outlets hungering for the next big hit with the young audience.

So get ready, Turrell said, for a show called "Zoe Bean," a midseason comedy WB is already labeling "'Seinfeld' for teens."

"Once the dust settles on 'Felicity,'" Turrell said, "we'll start hitting key people with 'Zoe.' We'll be getting the first tapes out in early November."