Will NBC Laugh Its Way to Bank?

“Make ‘em laugh” will be NBC’s motto next season, as the network followed the cliffhanging drama surrounding its renewal of “Seinfeld” for another year by assembling a prime-time lineup heavy on situation comedies.

With the “Must See TV” team of “Friends,” “Seinfeld” and “ER” still anchoring Thursday, NBC is expected to unveil a new roster featuring comedies from 8-10 p.m. Monday through Thursday. In the process, several programs will shift to different time slots, including the popular “3rd Rock From the Sun,” which changes from Sundays to Wednesdays--the show’s third move in as many seasons.

The No. 1 network, which officially announces its fall schedule today, didn’t come to terms regarding a ninth season of “Seinfeld” until late Friday, in a deal industry sources estimate could pay co-stars Jason Alexander, Michael Richards and Julia Louis-Dreyfus as much as $600,000 per episode.

While less than their $1-million asking price, the salary is roughly four times what the trio previously received for appearing in the top-rated sitcom and could translate to more than $13 million each next season. The actors also agreed to a subsequent year, though star and co-creator Jerry Seinfeld at this point has committed only to next season.

Uncertainty as to whether a settlement could be reached was serious enough that NBC drafted two schedules--one with “Seinfeld” and one without. Negotiations dragged on in part, sources say, because of concern that paying the actors too much might haunt NBC (and for that matter other networks and producers) in future renewal talks on hit series.

NBC will add eight new programs--a half-dozen sitcoms and two dramas. Room will be made for those newcomers in part by eliminating one of NBC’s two prime-time movies, while the network adds a fourth hour of the news program “Dateline NBC.”

NBC also renewed several comedies that will move to new nights after benefiting in previous seasons from exposure Thursday, where the network has strong lead-ins to help cultivate new series.

Among the programs coming back, for example, are “Suddenly Susan,” “Fired Up,” “Caroline in the City” and “The Naked Truth”--all four of which aired at one point after “Seinfeld.” Sources say NBC will group those shows (which star Brooke Shields, Sharon Lawrence, Lea Thompson and Tea Leoni, respectively) together as a female-oriented alternative to “Monday Night Football.”

Other returning comedies are “News-Radio” and “Just Shoot Me,” filling in a Tuesday lineup that also includes “Mad About You” and “Frasier,” and the low-rated “Men Behaving Badly,” which is expected to replace “3rd Rock” on Sundays.

Programs not making the fall schedule include “The Jeff Foxworthy Show,” “The Single Guy,” “Boston Common,” “Something So Right,” “Dark Skies,” “Mr. Rhodes” and “Chicago Sons.”

Perhaps the most surprising absentee from NBC’s fall lineup, however, is the long-running reality program “Unsolved Mysteries.” The series will be replaced Fridays by “Players,” which stars rapper Ice-T and Costas Mandylor (“Picket Fences”) as convicts released to capture other criminals. Sources say inquiries have already been made about the prospect of placing “Unsolved” on another network.

NBC’s other new drama, “Sleepwalkers,” stars “St. Elsewhere’s” Bruce Greenwood as part of a scientific team that invades people’s dreams. The show will air Saturdays between “The Pretender” and “Profiler” as part of the network’s “thrillogy” of escapist fare.

New sitcoms star Tony Danza as a divorced sportswriter, MTV cover girl Jenny McCarthy as a celebrity’s assistant and “Cheers” alumna Kirstie Alley as a romance expert who faces her own marital woes. The Alley program, from the producers of “Friends,” landed the network’s most-coveted time slot, between “Seinfeld” and “ER.”

NBC also ordered “Working,” a workplace comedy featuring “The Wonder Years’ ” Fred Savage; “Union Square,” described as “ ‘Cheers’ in a department store”; and “Built to Last,” an African American comedy in which a son takes over the family construction business from his father.

NBC drew criticism last year for a shortage of shows featuring minority lead characters.

The other networks will set their prime-time schedules over the next 10 days. Sources say the WB network has already decided on its lineup, which includes a new comedy starring Tom Arnold.