LOS ANGELES – Built on a solid foundation of teen angst, the WB could stand for the Weepy Boys network. Or the Weepy Babes channel.

In trumpeting its brand to television critics this week, the No. 5 network replayed intense scenes of young characters crying and arguing on “Everwood,” “7th Heaven” and “Smallville.”

Those tears have been lucrative, but that style has its limits. As it enters its 10th season this fall, the WB is scheduling adventure, TGIF-style comedies and splashy specials. “Tarzan,” a modern drama set in New York, presents underwear model Travis Fimmel as the jungle hero, a figure less talkative and introspective than Dawson or Felicity.

A warning to young fans: This isn’t your older brother’s WB.

The network is branching out and pushing comedies to a greater degree, says Jordan Levin, president of WB Entertainment.

“You’re starting to see a transition of this network to a broader base with a greater concentration of adults,” he says. “We try to be very careful about creating a barrier of entry for our older audiences and saying, “These aren’t for you.”‘ He says series with multigenerational casts and points of view have broad appeal.

Hilary Duff, star of Lizzie McGuire, will star in two WB music specials. The network also will try a talk/variety show in the fall, Steve Harvey’s Big Time, in which the comedian interviews everyday people with unusual talents, such as a 4-year-old girl who can name the nation’s governors.

The special Play for a Billion could give away $1 billion to a contestant. That special will air live Sept. 14 from Orlando, home to the network’s strongest affiliate, WKCF-TV.

The perception of the WB as a teen network is eroding. It enjoyed a 17 percent jump in the 18- to 34-year-old demographic last season, the most of any of the six broadcast networks. (Most other networks concentrate on the 18-to-49 demo.) The WB dabbled a little in the then-hot reality trend last season, but kept its focus on scripted comedy and drama.

“You can’t run these networks just focusing on the teen audiences,” WB President Jed Petrick says. “We’ve made a conscious effort to draw more 18- to 34-year-olds.”

Advertisers noticed that approach and rewarded the WB with $700 million in early buying for next season. “They recognize the strength of the scripted shows,” Petrick says. “And 18-to-34 is a third of all adults in the population today. No marketer, no advertiser can get by today trying to sell a product, good or service without talking to this adult audience.”

The network blossomed while UPN, which also debuted in 1995, stumbled along without a strong identity or a scripted series that intrigued the public. UPN’s boldest move to win viewers was taking a series away from the WB: “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.” But that cult favorite ended its first-run adventures last season.

The WB borrowed the most powerful ingredient in its success story from old Hollywood. The network builds stars just as the studio system did years ago. Some of the WB’s brightest stars were Sarah Michelle Gellar (“Buffy”), Keri Russell (“Felicity”) and James Van Der Beek (“Dawson’s Creek”).

“This is a network where talent and stars are front and center,” Levin says. “We have consistency in management that allows us to really groom stars over time. And we bend over backward to make opportunities available to them when movie opportunities come around, to shut production down and to help launch their movies.”

The process pays off big time with viewers, Levin says. “The audience gets to feel like they take ownership of these personalities,” he says. “They’re the ones who do make their careers.”

But WB President Petrick says the star machine “lost a little bit of that heat this year.” He cites Gregory Smith of “Everwood” as the network’s only new star last season.

The WB has more potential candidates for stardom in the coming season. Chad Michael Murray started as a model, won a small role on “Gilmore Girls,” moved on to “Dawson’s Creek” and then played the title role in the WB’s movie “The Lone Ranger.” He has a central role as a brooding teen in the drama “One Tree Hill,” which the WB added to its fall lineup only last week.

New Tarzan Fimmel is making his acting debut in the WB series. He appears bare-chested, the better to show off his remarkable abs, on the current cover of TV Guide. And there’s Sarah Wayne Callies, who plays the strong-willed Jane to his Tarzan.

“The problem is, she’s playing with a guy who’s even more beautiful, maybe,” Petrick says. “It will be hard for her to pop out.”

Popping out is what it’s all about in the television business. The WB doesn’t seem to have one new series that announces itself as another “Smallville” or “Gilmore Girls.” But that might not matter.

“At the WB, the sum is greater than the parts,” says John Rash, senior vice president at Campbell Mithun advertising agency in Minneapolis. “They are a pop culture destination for their targeted teen and young adult audience, with a consistent programming strategy and delivery. They will continue to succeed.”

The WB will continue to be stable, says Stacey Lynn Koerner, executive vice president at Initiative Media, an ad-buying company in New York. “Stability could mean an improvement over everybody else,” she says.

The network has varied its strategy by night. Family dramas air on Mondays. Younger-skewing comedies fill Thursdays. Fridays accommodate comedies aimed at wider audiences. On Fridays, sitcoms with white stars (“Reba,” “Grounded for Life”) will alternate with new series with black casts (“Like Family,” “All About the Andersons”).

“When you create a night of programming that features largely African-American leads, it starts to say to the non-African-American audience, “This isn’t for you,”‘ Levin says. “We didn’t want to do that.”

The WB renewed “Angel,” the “Buffy” spinoff, in part because “Buffy” was ending on UPN. “You’ve got to understand, this is a network of TV fans,” Levin says. “Even though “Buffy’ went over to UPN, we still emotionally held that very dear and near to our hearts. And we were fans, and we watched the show. So we didn’t want to see that whole world come to an end.”

The network has been making more changes to its fall lineup. The romantic adventure “Tarzan and Jane” is now called simply “Tarzan.” “We think it’s misleading to say “Tarzan and Jane’ because it implies that they get together immediately, which isn’t going to happen,” says executive producer Laura Ziskin.

The network last week pushed the action drama Fearless to midseason because the producers – including Jerry Bruckheimer of “CSI” – wanted more time to work on it. The series focuses on a young female FBI agent who doesn’t have the gene for fear. With the extra time, the WB is “trying to address the idea of fearlessness not equaling emotionless,” Levin says.

As a replacement, the WB added “One Tree Hill,” an emotion-filled series in the tradition of “Dawson’s Creek.” It’s about two teenage boys in a small North Carolina town who become basketball teammates. “They are bound by the dark secret that they share the same father,” WB publicity says.

If nothing else, “One Tree Hill” proves that the WB still has something for the weepy boys.

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Hal Boedeker can be reached at hboedekerorlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5756.

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(c) 2003, The Orlando Sentinel (Fla.).

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AP-NY-07-18-03 0905EDT