"So, when was your last HIV test?"

-- Natalie (played by Melissa DeSousa) in the UPN sitcom One on One

On the same early December day that Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley declared a "state of emergency" in the battle against HIV / AIDS, a group of Hollywood writers and producers finalized the script for a prime-time television show set in Baltimore that treats the HIV / AIDS crisis as an integral fact of life.

You could call it art imitating life. But forget about art. This is television as a social force for the good: Producers -- in this case, of a sitcom that is often described as silly -- exhibiting conscience and using their series to tackle a stark reality.

Called One on One, the UPN series airs Monday nights at 8:30 in a lineup of sitcoms featuring African-American casts. It stars Flex Alexander as Mark "Flex" Washington, a 33-year-old Baltimore sportscaster and single dad to a teen-age daughter, Breanna (played by Kyla Pratt).

Last fall, in only its second season, One on One became the most popular series on television among African-American viewers. The AIDS episode, which is titled "The Test" and will air Feb. 10, is risky business for a show that became No. 1 by "keeping it light," in the words of Alexander.

"You know, there is always a worry when you do what's called 'a very special episode.' We're constantly warned about being too preachy, [we're told] that people don't want to be preached to," said Eunetta T. Boone, co-executive-producer and creator of One on One.

"But at the same time, you have to have a relatability factor, you have to find a way to feel real. I try to limit my number of 'very special episodes.' But what I said to my people is, 'This episode about AIDS is a very, very special episode.' And, in that case, it is something we just have to do," she said last week in a telephone interview from her Hollywood office.

The 47-year-old producer, who is a former Baltimore Evening Sun sportswriter, said that she felt compelled to address the issue in part because of the reality of the city in which the fictional series is set.

"I don't think you can be an African-American show and not take on the issue of AIDS, especially an African-American show set in a city like Baltimore," Boone said, citing statistics that show the city with one of the heaviest caseloads nationally of people living with HIV or AIDS (12,000 people in the year 2000 with African-Americans accounting for about 85 percent of that figure).

But One on One producers have been touched personally by the AIDS crisis. Alexander lost a brother to AIDS. And Boone lost "two male friends, a girlfriend and a cousin to this epidemic." Two of the supporting characters in the series are named in honor of Alexander's brother and one of Boone's late friends.

Crucial questions

One on One's "very, very special" episode centers on Flex and his latest romantic interest, Natalie (Melissa DeSousa), as he attempts to make love to her for the first time -- and she stops him cold by asking when he had his last HIV test.

He admits he's never been tested and defends his action by saying, "Look, do you take a driver's test every time you get in your car? I'm healthy and I've always practiced safe sex."

"Flex, before we have sex, I need you to get tested. ... And I'm going to want to see the results," Natalie says in the final version of the script made available to The Sun.

The two scenes that give the best sense of how HIV / AIDS awareness plays out in the episode are set in the barbershop and doctor's office, two locations crucial to the way masculinity is depicted in the series.

At the barbershop, after a bit of talk about the Washington Wizards, Flex blurts out that Natalie has foreclosed the possibility of sex until he has an HIV test. He seems embarrassed.

"Flex, you don't have to be ashamed. I get a test every six months, or every 2,000 miles, just like an oil change," responds Candy the manicurist.

"Well, as a gambling man, I've studied the stats. The odds of me catching the big 'A' are very slim because I am a non-drug-using, extra-heterosexual brother," says Walt, one of the hair stylists.

"You? I'm so straight, I don't make left turns," a hair stylist named Malik adds. "But Flex, my brother, I, too, have been tested. Magic Johnson proved that all players can be at risk."

"That's right, boys, men can get it from women, too. So you hetero fellas can go straight to dead if you're not careful," says Candy.

The messages about responsibility, masculinity and health are reinforced at the doctor's office the next day when the doctor says he wants to discuss Flex's "risk level," and Flex replies: "There is none. I look good and I feel better."

"Well, one in three people who have HIV don't know it," the doctor says. "It's now the leading cause of death for African-Americans ages 25 to 44. ... HIV is on the rise globally. Two out of five new HIV cases are from heterosexual transmission. How many sex partners have you had?"

Viacom campaign

When One On One had its premiere in September 2001, the series celebrated Flex's life as a sexually active ladies man. Its comic tension sprang from how the arrival of 14-year-old Breanna, who comes to live with him, would cramp his lifestyle.

The show, which airs during what was once called television's family hour and always includes a Breanna story line, initially looked as though it could be double-barrel bad news: a program that sexualizes children and promotes less-than-responsible parenting.

That history makes "The Test" seem all the more surprising -- until you talk to Boone and Alexander, that is. Boone says it is Flex's history of sexual activity that makes One on One perfect for an HIV / AIDS story line.

"I just think it is so relatable, and so credible for him to behave this way. He was a womanizer. He dated a lot ... and was involved in the kind of activity that could spread the virus if you do not behave responsibly," she said.

"But, if you've been following the series, you know that we have kept our promise to have this character grow. When the opportunity to put him in this kind of growth situation came up, we were ready for it."

That chance came in October when Viacom, the media giant that owns UPN, joined the Kaiser Family Foundation in planning a worldwide HIV / AIDS awareness campaign in 2003. "The Test" is one of the early products of that initiative. Among the other Viacom-owned or distributed series scheduled to do HIV / AIDS episodes or include discussion of the issue in coming months are: Girlfriends, Half and Half, Becker, Frasier, The District and Queer as Folk.

Last fall, Kaiser offered seminars for writers and executives of shows produced at Viacom-owned Paramount studios or airing on such Viacom properties as CBS, UPN, MTV and Showtime.

Boone said co-executive-producer Meg DeLoatch returned from one session saying: "I think we might have a story here with Flex's new love interest demanding, because of the urgency of the problem in the African-American community, that he get tested."

Boone agreed, and DeLoatch began working on "The Test."

"I knew Baltimore with its heroin problem probably had a problem with HIV / AIDS, too, in terms of this virus ripping through the community," Boone said. "While we were shooting the show, we learned the mayor had declared it an emergency."

Aiming higher

For 32-year-old Alexander, episodes like "The Test" have been a goal from the day he signed on as executive producer and star of One on One. But, in the world of commercial television, a show must prove itself in the ratings before its writers can aspire to being much more than amusing.

"Last year, we were just trying to get the numbers, and we did shows with lighter subjects. And we got beat up so bad sometimes in places like TV Guide," Alexander said referring to reviews that called the series buffoonish or stereotyped.

"But I always believed in my heart we could have a really good show -- a show with good messages. I'm not saying we should be a one-hour drama. But I always believed we could laugh and joke, and still have subtext, too."

That might not seem like all that much to wish for until you look at the history of African-American identity on network television and notice how few opportunities there have been for black performers to do more than sing, dance, tell jokes or play broadly-drawn comic characters.

"You know I hate the title and the stigma when people say 'black shows,' because you don't call Everybody Loves Raymond a white show. But we get that stigma of just going out there and being funny and making faces, and that's it," Alexander said.

"But I wanted a show that is Emmy caliber, even if they never recognize us with an Emmy for whatever reason. And I feel with an episode like "The Test" that we've got a show worthy of winning an Emmy, especially in the writing. And that makes me so proud of what we've accomplished. We got the chance and we weren't afraid to take it."

Alexander believes a half-hour, laugh-oriented sitcom can make a difference. "I think this episode can help young people understand AIDS is not a game," he said. "There's a lack of literature, a lack of support groups, lack of information, education and medicine especially in the African-American community. We can help a little with the information.

"I think with a little help and some of what we have now, maybe my brother would still be alive."

On television

Top 10 TV shows among African-American viewers:

1. One on One (UPN) 4.28 million viewers

2. Girlfriends (UPN) 4.23 million viewers

3. Cedric the Entertainer (FOX) 4.17 million viewers

4. Half & Half (UPN) 3.71 million viewers

5. The Parkers (UPN) 3.56 million viewers

6. Bernie Mac (FOX) 3.22 million viewers

7. My Wife and Kids (ABC) 3.14 million viewers

8. Fastlane (FOX) 2.76 million viewers

9. CSI (CBS) 2.37 million viewers

10. Monday Night Football (ABC) 2.36 million viewers

Source: Nielsen (9 / 23 / 2002- 11 / 24 / 2002)