PARRIS ISLAND, South Carolina: As soon as the cast of "Semper Fi" arrived at the Parris Island Marine Corps Recruit Depot, drill instructors were in their faces, ordering them to form up and drill like recruits.

"It basically went on for 10 minutes and that was all the 10 minutes we needed," said Michael Pena, who plays one of the eight main roles in the pilot being filmed here by DreamWorks Television and NBC Studios.

"When I first stepped on this island, my whole perception of the Marines changed," said another cast member, Vicellous Reon Shannon. "My respect for them has grown 10,000 percent."

"Semper Fi" is short for the Marine motto "Semper Fidelis," Latin for "always faithful." The prospective series, conceived by Steven Spielberg, would follow a group of recruits through basic training and their subsequent Marine careers in special forces. Of course, "Semper Fi" will have to run its own Marine-like gantlet past the program-pickers at NBC as they assemble the network's fall schedule. Just as at the other broadcast networks - all of which will announce their 2000-01 lineups with fanfare in mid-May - many pilots are called by NBC, but few are chosen. 

"Semper Fi" is one of about two dozen series that NBC execs are considering. Among the six networks, some 120 candidates are in the running. For most of them, a pilot episode serves as their entry exam. To film theirs, the "Semper Fi" cast was mobilized in early April. For about 10 days before the cameras rolled, they experienced life as recruits under the watchful eyes of drill instructors. "We have maybe an hour or two of drilling and then we go back to our apartments," said cast member Tammy Townsend. "Just from the little bit, I'm bruised. I have the marks to show it." 

Spielberg hit on the idea for the series after filming the movie "Saving Private Ryan" about the D-Day invasion, said Jim Uhls, one of the executive producers. "Basically he wanted to do a show about a young Marine's enlistment - having a private in the Marine Corps going out into the service," Uhls said.

The pilot focuses on the rigorous 12 weeks of Marine basic training. The producers wanted to film where Marines are trained, and Parris Island is the only base where women take basic training. One floor of a barracks has been transformed into a production office. Above, a second-floor room with rows of neatly made bunks, weapons hanging from the foot of each bed, is used to shoot interiors. 

No one in the "Semper Fi" cast had had military experience - "just the police," laughed Reon Shannon, who has appeared in "NYPD Blue." Director Michael Watkins, whose credits include "NYPD Blue" and "The X-Files," said working with the Marines has made the show more realistic. "Until you come on this base and you start to experience what really happens to the human psyche and spirit here" it is hard to realize what recruits go through, he said. "The power of this base seeps into you." The island, linked to the mainland by a causeway, is fringed with marsh, and the barracks, parade ground, and firing ranges are scattered between stands of palmetto and live oaks dripping gray moss. Marines from the eastern United States have trained here since 1915, and each year about 19,000 go through basic training.

Three Marine drill instructors worked with the cast, making sure they experienced recruit life. "I think all the actors have done a tremendous job - their willingness to learn, their eagerness, their tenacious attitude. It's just unbelievable how they try to conquer everything we throw at them," Gunnery Sgt. Ann Hubbard said. "We basically turn the stress on and then turn the stress off when it's called for," said Gunnery Sgt. Ondra Armstead, another drill instructor. "When the actors first got here, we were pretty stressful. We were pretty hard on them. We wanted to give them that initial feeling that recruits get."