THE EXPRESS ROUTE : KRANTZ’S ‘MANHATTAN’: CBS GOES FLASH! BAM!

Even in the fast-paced world of television, which can turn real-life events into movies-of-the-week in a matter of months, CBS’ handling of the Judith Krantz novel “I’ll Take Manhattan” is something of a land-speed record.

The miniseries begins shooting in London on June 30, only six weeks after its official publication date of May 15. It will air nine months after its publication, during the February, 1987, “sweeps,” a key period for audience measurement when the networks typically unveil their biggest guns.

Unlike motion pictures, which usually firm up top cast members as the first step in establishing box-office potential, TV is more likely to shoot from the hip. In the case of “I’ll Take Manhattan,” the main character of publishing heiress Maxi Amberville was only cast last week. She’ll be played by Valerie Bertinelli.

“It’s always that way--these things come together in a blinding flash,” said Steve Krantz, the miniseries’ executive producer and the author’s husband of 32 years. “It worries me, but on the other hand it would drive me to an early grave if I let it get me down.”

Krantz revealed, however, that one key cast member has been set: author Krantz herself, in a minor role.

The producer said that he had had “two arms and a leg” twisted to agree to this particular casting.

“It’s been a bone of contention,” he said. “I’ve kept her out of all of her shows that I’ve produced until now. She’s too attractive on the set. She loves to talk and people love to talk to her, and somehow or other some work gets dropped in the process.”

Judith Krantz said that acting is the only part she wants to play in the translation of her work from page to screen. “I’ve never set my finger to a teleplay,” she said.

She prefers instead to pound out books on her old Smith-Corona 2200, the same typewriter she used to write her first novel, “Scruples.” She averages only five triple-space pages a day, working 7 1/2 hours a day, seven days a week for 15 months to complete a book.

Fortune--as opposed to fame--which lures so many writers to the screen trade, is not necessarily relevant to Judith Krantz. Her second book, “Princess Daisy,” brought in $3.2 million for paperback rights, which she split with the hardcover publisher (her share was bigger). That amount was a record at the time, she said, but she has since topped it.

Krantz’s popularity, in fact, was central to CBS’ scheduling strategy, which will break a publishing tradition by bringing the work to the air concurrently with publication of the paperback.

“Since the paperback companies pay out more than hardback, they don’t want the sales to be vitiated in any way,” explained Kim LeMasters, formerly CBS vice president for miniseries and recently appointed vice president of all programming. “You’d (typically) like some time for paperback to be out, if you can possibly do that.”

“I’ll Take Manhattan,” however, is expected to be an instant No. 1 seller in paperback. In hardback, it has already hit No. 1 on the New York Times best-seller list, making Krantz four-for-four, an unprecedented feat.

“For better, not for worse, Judy is a brand name now,” said Steve Krantz.

The book is the third of Krantz’s works turned into a CBS miniseries (following “Scruples” and “Mistral’s Daughter”; “Princess Daisy” was on NBC) and the third CBS miniseries to be produced by Steve Krantz (“Mistral’s Daughter” and “Sins,” which earlier this year pitted Joan Collins against NBC’s “Peter the Great” and won).

The Krantzes’ arrangement apparently benefits them both. Steve, who began his career writing sketches for Milton Berle and Arthur Godfrey, speaks of “great benefits from having lived with the novel as long as Judy has, so the characters are much more significant for me.”

Judith refers to Steve as “my only control” over the miniseries: “I at least have the ear of the producer.”

She insists that even if Steve weren’t her husband, “I would still want him to produce the miniseries. But I would have my agent renegotiate a very different deal.”