The big four broadcast networks were saying all the right things yesterday in response to NAACP President Kweisi Mfume's threat to sue them over the fact that, of the 26 new series set to debut this fall, not one has a leading character who is African-American.

If you closed your eyes and forgot everything you knew about the history of the networks and how they have handled such images, you might even believe ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox were really going to start offering more diverse programming. But, if you did believe, you would be a fool.

"We agree with the NAACP that insuring racial and ethnic diversity in TV is an important goal, and we welcome the opportunity to meet with Mr. Mfume," Fox said in a statement.

"ABC takes the issue of diversity in our programming seriously. We are making improvements in this area, and we understand that we need to do more," ABC responded.

Scott Sassa, the West Coast president of NBC, said, "Including minorities on air is an issue that has been a priority for some time."

Leslie Moonves, president of CBS, said, "Those of us in the entertainment industry need to make sure the characters on the screen reflect the diversity of our population as a whole."

But, taken in context of what they have pledged in the past vs. what they have delivered today, the statements virtually define "lip service."

A year ago, Jamie Tarses, president of ABC Entertainment, told a group of television critics one of the network's "major goals" was to make ABC "more inclusive." When asked how soon that was going to happen, she said, "Next Friday."

Realizing how flip she sounded, Tarses quickly added, "No, I mean, I think we are always looking to make the ensembles of all our shows as eclectic as we can. It's genuinely something we aspire to."

Six months ago, Sassa, an Asian-American who had just taken charge of NBC in Los Angeles, told a group of critics one of the network's major goals was "more diversity" in its prime-time lineup. Four months later, Sassa canceled "Homicide: Life on the Street," the very model of a show with a range of featured roles for African-American actors.

"In terms of race, 'Homicide' is the most progressive program on network television," said Sasha Torres, director of the film and media studies program at the Johns Hopkins University and author of "Living Color: Race and Television in the United States."

It is an assessment Mfume has agreed with on-air during installments of his "Bottom Line" talk show, in which he celebrated "Homicide" for its "rich array of African-American images."

What truly undercuts the sincerity of NBC's commitment to diversity is that it canceled "Homicide" in May and kept on "The Profiler," a far less honored drama that actually did worse in the ratings than "Homicide."

Tom Fontana, one of the executive producers of the series, said NBC told him the network did not yet have enough episodes of "Profiler" to make the maximum in the secondary market of syndication sales, while they had already reached that number with "Homicide."

I have no doubt the extra dollars were a factor. But, in the economics of network TV, such secondary sales for a series like "Profiler" amounts to nickels and dimes. If that's all excellence in images of diversity is worth to NBC, then it isn't worth much.

As for Fox, this is the network that Rupert Murdoch built on the backs of blacks viewers. Then, once Fox started crossing over to more and more white viewers, it started dumping such shows as "Roc" and "South Central."

Remember "Roc," the sitcom about the family of a hard-working Baltimore sanitation worker played by Charles "Roc" Dutton? Too realistic and gritty for Fox, so they canceled it in May 1994.

Two months later, the Rev. Jesse Jackson announced on behalf of his Rainbow Coalition a boycott of Fox in part over the cancellation of "Roc" and "South Central."

Fox withstood the boycott with no measurable loss of advertising or viewership. Some in the industry yesterday said, off the record, that the weakness of that boycott probably helped lead to the current mindset by the four major networks.

Beyond the four major networks and in fairness to the overall TV industry, members of the creative community stressed yesterday that African-American images are not totally disappearing from our screens.

"They [the NAACP] are taking it a little bit to the extreme to say there are no black faces on network TV," said Paris Barclay, a producer and director for "NYPD Blue" and one of the few African-Americans working at the executive level of a network series.

"The networks haven't hired a diverse and broad enough group of people, and these shows are the byproduct of who they hired. If the networks start to take chances with new kinds of producers and writers, they will get more diversity and they will get better TV," he said.

The improvement might be seen as early as January, when CBS debuts "City of Angels," a hospital drama with a predominantly black cast. Barclay and Steven Bochco are the creators of the series. A spokeswoman for Bochco said yesterday that CBS has been "fabulously supportive" of the series.

Two places viewers can find African-Americans are the fifth and sixth broadcast networks the WB and UPN. Together they account for slightly less the 10 percent of network viewing most nights, while the big four combine for about 50 percent. But the WB often beats all but NBC in terms of young demographics, and UPN is adding three new series with African-American stars this fall: "Shasty McNasty," a sitcom about hip-hop performers; "Mo'Nique," a spinoff of the popular "Moesha"; and "Grown Up," with Jaleel White.

HBO and Showtime, the premiere cable channels, were also cited as examples of where some of the very best African-American talent is flowing.

For example, Braugher left NBC's "Homicide" before it was canceled and has since been seen in several quality Showtime and HBO productions. Last year, Showtime added the series "Linc's," from producer Tim Reid, about a bar frequented by African-American patrons in Washington. Last week, Showtime introduced the drama series, "Hoop Life," with a predominantly black cast. The executive producers are Barry Levinson and Tom Fontana.

As for writers, David Mills, the Humanitas-award-winning writer of "NYPD Blue" and "Homicide," wrote a pilot script for ABC this year that was not picked up. But ABC loss is HBO's gain; Mills is now co-executive-producer of "The Corner" with David Simon for next season on HBO.

A couple of minor points about Mfume's analysis: There are 27 new series next fall, not 26. And two of dramas -- the David Kelley drama "Snoops" for ABC and "Third Watch" on NBC -- have ensemble casts that include an African-American character. What it comes down to with these shows is how you define "leading character."

But the larger truth of what Mfume said Monday remains.

"This glaring omission is an outrage and shameful display by network executives who are either clueless, careless or both," Mfume said.