Names and faces

This image released by NBC shows James Spader as Raymond Reddington in a scene from "The Blacklist." NBC is promoting the September return of its hit drama series "The Blacklist" with heavy promotional spots and ads distributed through TV, print, billboards and online. (AP Photo/NBC, Eric Liebowitz)
This image released by NBC shows James Spader as Raymond Reddington in a scene from "The Blacklist." NBC is promoting the September return of its hit drama series "The Blacklist" with heavy promotional spots and ads distributed through TV, print, billboards and online. (AP Photo/NBC, Eric Liebowitz)

• With TV viewers awash in choices, how can a network bolster a freshman hit's chances of repeating its success in year two? Plot a marketing extravaganza that's nearly inescapable. For NBC's top-rated drama The Blacklist, the network has devised a promotion and advertising campaign that will put the show and star James Spader front and center on billboards, faux magazine covers and online before its Sept. 22 return. Various images of Spader as master criminal Raymond "Red" Reddington will decorate the mock covers on the flip side of 10 magazines, including the August or September issues of Vanity Fair, Rolling Stone, Wired and The New Yorker. Playboy will feature a Blacklist cover ad fronting the issue out today, NBC said. Among the eye-catching fakes: the back of the men's magazine GQ, re-labeled BQ, showing a sharp-dressed Spader with a headline that pays homage to Reddington's style: "The Blacklist of criminal chic: fedoras, trenchcoats & more." The network declined to put a price tag on the campaign, but its pull-out-the-stops approach makes sense. The Blacklist was among the reasons NBC finished the 2013-14 season No. 1 among advertiser-favored young adult viewers for the first time in a decade.

• ABC News reporter Elizabeth Vargas has returned to a recovery center to be treated for alcohol dependency, she and the network said Sunday. The 20/20 co-anchor said in an emailed statement that she checked into a treatment facility over the weekend while on vacation. "As so many other recovering alcoholics know, overcoming the disease can be a long and incredibly difficult process," Vargas said. "I feel I have let myself, my co-workers and most importantly my family down and for that I am ashamed and sorry." Vargas, who's married to Marc Cohn and has two children with the singer-songwriter, said she was "committed to battling and addressing this debilitating disease" and expressed thanks for the support she has received. The network said in a statement that it stands "squarely behind her" and was focused on Vargas' health. "We look forward to having her back at ABC News when she feels ready to return," ABC News said. Vargas, 51, spent several weeks in a treatment facility last fall. She acknowledged in a January interview on Good Morning America that she was an alcoholic and that it took years for her to admit it.

A Section on 08/19/2014

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