PASADENA, Calif. — Cincinnati Bengals rookie Brad St. Louis could get married on a WB reality show during February sweeps, one of four new low-budget non-scripted series being developed as a hedge against a threatened spring strike by TV writers and directors.

        Mr. St. Louis, the Bengals' long-snapper on punts, surprised his girlfriend, Michelle Jones, by proposing to her on a snowy December night on the Paul Brown Stadium field.

        TV critics at the winter press tour here Saturday were shown the proposal, which was arranged and filmed for Kiss the Bride, a Feb. 12 WB special (9 p.m., Channel 64).

        “He heard about it on a (Cincinnati) radio station, and sent in a video tape and a letter,” says Suzanne Gomez, WB publicist.

        The Bengals seventh-round draft pick lured his girlfriend to the stadium Dec. 19 by saying she was to be interviewed on Channel 12's weekly Bengals show.

        The Cincinnati couple will fly to Holland next month to compete with two other couples in a TV game show produced by Endemol Entertainment (Big Brother).One couple will win “the ultimate Valentine prize,” a televised wedding in Endemol studios in the Netherlands during the show.

        If ratings are strong, WB will order 13 episodes for fall.

        Susanne Daniels, WB Entertainment president, warned viewers to expect inexpensive reality shows to “be far more prolific.... because of the potential strike.”

        Networks are stockpiling reality programs in anticipation of a strike. They also may withhold original series episodes from May sweeps and save them for fall, says Jamie Kellner, WB CEO. WB could add a movie night from Turner Broadcasting, a sister company.

        “We've got a lot of plans on how to schedule against the strike,” Mr. Kellner says.

        Kiss the Bride could be the TV wedding of February sweeps — which is not always a good thing. Last year's most talked-about February TV wedding was Fox's Who Wants to Marry A Multi-Millionaire? nuptials with Darva Conger and Rick Rockwell.

        The WB special definitely looks more romantic and less sleazy than the Multi-Millionaire beauty pageant.

        One TV critic joked that if Fox produced Kiss the Bride, a football team would come out and try to seduce the woman and the cheerleaders would try to seduce Mr. St. Louis. That was a reference to Fox's new Temptation Island (11 p.m. Wednesday, Channel 19), where four committed couples test their love for each other at a resort with 26 single men and women.

        “We don't want to have the woman seduced on the WB. It goes against the brand of the WB,” says Mr. Kellner, noting that the WB's core audience is women ages 18-34.

        WB has rejected many reality TV proposals. “A lot of these things boil down to taste issues,” Ms. Daniels says.

        WKRC-TV news: Channel 12 President William Moll is leaving the Clear Channel station after nine years to become president of Clear Channel's 19-station TV division based in San Antonio, Texas. Mr. Moll, 63, will be moving back to San Antonio, where he served 10 years as president of Harte-Hanks TV division.

        Station Manager Chris Sehring has been promoted to vice president and general manager.

        All the Jazz: Here are my top 10 favorite songs in order of appearance from the premiere of Ken Burns' Jazz (9 p.m. today, Channels 48, 54, 16), an episode called “Gumbo” (Beginnings-1917). A complete Jazz music list is posted on Enquirer.com.

        • “Stardust,” Louis Armstrong, 1931

        • “Body and Soul,” Benny Goodman, 1935

        • “Dunn's Cornet Blues,” Johnny Dunn, 1924

        • “St. Louis Blues,” Sylvester Weaver and Walter Beasley, 1927

        • “The Pearls,” Jelly Roll Morton's Red Hot Peppers, 1926

        • “Wild Cat Blues,” Sidney Bechet, 1923

        • “Castle Walk,” James Reese Europe's Society Orchestra, 1914

        • “Memphis Blues,” James Reese Europe, 1919

        • “Stomp Time Blues,” Jasper Taylor and His State Street Boys with Freddie Keppard, 1927

        • “Livery Stable Blues,” the Original Dixieland Jass Band, 1917.

                Talk show highlights: Catherine Zeta-Jones gives a Traffic report on Live With Regis (9 a.m., Channel 9); Rosie O'Donnell hosts Dean Cain and Laura Linney (3 p.m., Channel 5); Jimmy Carter appears on Larry King Live (9 p.m., CNN); Jay Leno talks with Dennis Franz on the Tonight Show (11:35 p.m., Channel 5) and David Letterman talks with Sarah Jessica Parker on the Late Show (11:35 p.m., Channel 12.)

        E-mail: jkiesewetter@enquirer.com

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