NBC chief Jeff Zucker made a bold pledge at the network's upfront presentation to advertisers Monday: The peacock's Thursday lineup will grow next season, despite the departure of "Friends."

"Next year our Thursday night is going to be even stronger," Zucker told the crowd of advertisers and reporters gathered Monday afternoon at New York's Radio City Music Hall. Zucker, president of NBC Universal Television Group, touted the strength of "Joey," the "Friends" spinoff that will move into its predecessor's old 8 p.m. time slot, the enduring appeal of "ER" and the heat of the Donald Trump-hosted reality show "The Apprentice."

NBC emphasized its faith in its post-"Friends" Thursday slate by addressing that night first in its two-hour, 40-minute presentation, in which the network unveiled a schedule that includes two new comedies and three dramas.

After detailing the plans for Thursday -- which include fortifying the 8 p.m. hour with "Will & Grace" at 8:30 p.m. -- NBC screened the full pilot for "Joey," something peacock brass said they had only done twice before (in 1984 for the launch of "The Cosby Show" and in 1985 for "The Golden Girls"). Zucker stressed that NBC will have more ammo in its arsenal next season with 24 episodes of "Joey" on tap, compared with only 18 fresh installments of "Friends" this season.

"Joey" garnered more than a few laughs from many of the media buyers in the audience.

"It was much better than I thought," said Arthur Schreibman, executive vp at Initiative Media, who said he'd had some reservations about "Joey" because it was built around star Matt LeBlanc in contrast to the ensemble format of "Friends."

In the presentation, Zucker also placed strong emphasis on the fact that the network will roll out new programming on a year-round basis, as evidenced by the seven shows given midseason orders: comedies "The Men's Room," "Crazy for You" and "The Office," dramas "Law & Order: Trial By Jury," "Medium" and "Revelations" and boxing reality-competition entry "The Contender."

In a conference call with reporters earlier in the day, Zucker and NBC Entertainment president Kevin Reilly noted how hard it has been in recent years for NBC and other networks to launch new comedies, particularly amid the crush of the fall premiere period.

Next season, NBC plans to be opportunistic with most of its comedies, looking for the optimum time during the season and time slot to introduce them. NBC also aims to cut way back on the level of in-season repeats by rotating more than one show through selected time slots.

"The best way to get comedy on the schedule is to keep it off in the short term," Reilly said, referring to the difficulty of launching comedies in the fall.

Added Zucker: "We're putting two new comedies on the air in September. We feel comfortable about that number."

At the presentation, NBC reiterated plans to launch the bulk of its lineup during the week of Aug. 30, right on the heels of its summer Olympics coverage, and continue with original programming through the summer months of 2005. "It's no longer about the fall season; it's about all season," Reilly said.

On the peacock's 2004-05 slate, Monday opens with returning reality stalwart "Fear Factor," followed by the sophomore season of action-drama "Las Vegas" and the debut of airport-based ensemble "LAX," featuring Heather Locklear and Blair Underwood, at 10 p.m.

"I think it's a good fit for Monday night," Zenith Media research manager Allison Johnson said of "LAX." "It looks like a nice mix of action and romance."

On Tuesday, where NBC's freshman comedies were hammered this season by Fox's "American Idol," the peacock will serve up a new installment of "Average Joe" at 8 p.m., followed from 9-10 p.m. by its highly touted new DreamWorks CG-animated comedy "Father of the Pride" and the fourth season of "Scrubs." When "Average Joe" completes its initial 13-episode run, "The Contender" will move into the 8 p.m. berth. "Law & Order: SVU" stays put at 10 p.m.

Initiative's Schreibman was critical of the decision to slot "Pride" at 9 p.m. "You'd expect a family show at 8 o'clock, and if it was edgy, I didn't see it."

Wednesday opens with new police drama "Hawaii" at 8 p.m., followed as usual by "The West Wing" -- which will be benched at some point during the season for the eight-episode run of "Revelations" -- and "Law & Order."

Friday once again finds newsmagazine "Dateline NBC" at 8 p.m., followed by returning drama "Third Watch," which made a successful move from Monday to Friday this season, and 10 p.m. newcomer "Medical Investigation."

Jim Quinn, national broadcast supervisor at Active International, said that the premise of "Investigation" looked a bit contrived, and questioned, "How many forensic shows can primetime sustain?"

Saturday will feature an 8 p.m. repeat of "The Apprentice" followed by the 9-11 p.m. movie slot. And the peacock isn't messing with success on Sunday, where it has won in the second-half of the season on the strength of "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" and "Crossing Jordan" in the 9-11 p.m. block. Those two dramas are staying put, as are "Dateline NBC" at 7 p.m. and 1960s retro-drama "American Dreams" at 8 p.m.

Among other upfront announcements, NBC confirmed that it has given a two-season pickup to "Scrubs" and signed Carson Daly to three more years as host of "Last Call With Carson Daly." Daly also will host a New Year's Eve special for the network.

Another NBC late-night personality, Conan O'Brien, provided some comic relief as NBC's presentation headed into its final hour. As he ran through a list of potential new slogans for NBC, O'Brien got a big laugh with a dig at the competition. "NBC: At least we're not ABC," he quipped.

Andrew Wallenstein reported from New York; Cynthia Littleton reported from Los Angeles.