Paula Bernstein

PROFILES

March 9, 2003, Sunday
TELEVISION

FOR YOUNG VIEWERS;
After the Homework: Cartoons, Cream Pies and Slime

By Paula Bernstein

Their big brothers and sisters may be riveted to MTV's ''Total Request Live,'' which presents music videos selected by viewers' online votes, but the preteenage crowd prefers choosing favorites on Nickelodeon's ''U Pick Live'' - favorite cartoons, that is.

Telecast live from Nickelodeon's headquarters in Times Square on weekdays from 5 to 7 p.m., ''U Pick Live'' is the cable network's first full-length show programmed entirely by viewers.

"That kids get to pick and control the network is the ultimate empowerment,'' said Cyma Zarghami, executive vice president and general manage of Nickelodeon. ''We tell kids to vote and then we put the show on. They see the results immediately. Instant gratification is what will make multimedia television move forward into the future."

Since its premiere on Oct. 14, 2002, ''U Pick Live'' has become the highest-rated time period on Nickelodeon outside of Saturday mornings.

''We have captured the energy of kids in what is prime time for them - 5 to 7 p.m. is a great time in kids' lives,'' Ms. Zarghami said, adding that ''hopefully, they've done their homework already and can relax.'' Most often, they choose to unwind the ''SpongeBob SquarePants'' and ''The Fairly OddParents,'' the two most popular requests on the show.

In between cartoons, the show's hosts, Brent Popolizio and Candace Bailey, interview guests, hand out prizes, take viewer telephone calls, perform skits, interact with the studio audience and accept outrageous challenges from viewers. So far, they have had cream pies thrown in their faces; drunk smoothies made of tuna, sauerkraut and ice cream; and, in typical Nickelodeon fashion, had slime poured over their heads.

On Nickelodeon's Web site, viewers can vote on which embarrassing ''daily challenge'' the hosts will have to endure. In one particularly memorable segment, Mr. Popolizio, who, at 27, could pass for a gangly teenager, donned a dress and interviewed the girl group TLC.

''I wore a very svelte, short-cut black dress and a choker. I was wearing sneakers and bad knee socks an it was pretty embarrassing,'' said Mr. Popolizio, who, in a recent telephone interview, was as childishly giddy as he is on television.

''There's no difference between me on screen and me off screen. It's kind of weird,'' he said.

Before making his television debut on ''U Pick Live,'' Mr. Popolizio worked in New York theater and film and attended the Shakespeare Lab at the Public Theater. He is not
ashamed to gush about how much he loves his job and the opportunity it gives him to work with young people.

''Adults are fine, but there's just a stiffness that they have that kids don't have,'' said Mr. Popolizio.

''The coolest thing,'' he said, ''is to give all these kids out there the opportunity to have a show like I always wanted when I was a kid.''

Ms. Bailey, with her model good looks and cheerleader pep, plays the straight woman to Mr. Popolizio's goofball. ''I think Brent and I work really well together because he is wild and crazy and I'm ore to the point,'' she said. ''We have good chemistry.'' Ms. Bailey, 20, is studying communications at Marymount Manhattan College and has appeared on ''The Sopranos'' and ''As the World Turns

Mr. Popolizio fondly recalled how Mr. Sandler gleefully wrestled a cooked turkey on the show. ''And we ate it in the next segment,'' he said.

So far, both hosts agree, Mr. Sandler was the best guest. ''He was like Brent. He was a big kid,'' said Ms. Bailey.

- Paula Bernstein